Why we use Sleds
If the gym you go to doesn’t have at least one sled then turn around and leave. It is one of the most versatile and humbling pieces of equipment you can use. Load up a sled and your whole body will be fried, both your lungs and muscles. Most personal trainers use the sled to bring their client to the edge of being sick – or to actually make them sick – to justify that they had a ‘great session’ because they puked their breakfast up. But there are many, many more reasons to use a sled, way more beneficial than just making you sick.
You may have seen in many of our videos and pictures of our sessions that we use our tyre sled a fair bit. There are many reasons we use it so often and in this post I’m going to explain the benefits of sled work and then in part two I’m going to explain how to train using the sled.
One of the biggest benefits of a sled is the huge variety of exercises you can do with it. Thanks to the fact that you can attach different handles/implements to it means that you can get a full body workout just using the sled alone. We can use harnesses for dragging, handles for pulling and we can even attach ropes for rowing and pressing. We can; walk with it backwards to target the quads, walk or run with it to target the glutes, hamstrings and calves, row it for the back and biceps, and press it for the shoulders, chest and triceps. It can even be used to challenge the core! That’s why it’s one of my absolute must haves for any gym or fitness facility.
Another great thing about the sled is that it doesn’t make you ache much – or as much as other types of exercises (so don’t tell me I lied if you do ache afterwards). This is because sleds don’t have a lowering phase - or eccentric phase if you want to get technical (think lowering the bar in a squat or bench press). The sled is predominantly concentric – so we’re producing force instead of absorbing it – and as we know, the lowering phase is where a lot of muscle damage happens, which is one of the main reasons we get sore after exercise. So, if we don’t have a lowering phase, then we have less muscle damage and therefore we can train hard again the next day without it interfering with our schedule and we sit on the toilet with relative ease the next day!
The last major benefit of the sled is that you can train for many different goals with just this one piece of equipment. Due to the fact that the amount of weight is variable, means you can load it heavy for strength work and work for a short time, a bit lighter for hypertrophy work and focus on working for a longer period or you can sprint with it or move it quickly for power development. It is also hands down one of the best conditioning tools you can use! Also, because the load isn’t on your back or hands, it puts less compressive forces through the spine, making it great for enabling you to train legs with a bad back.
Pretty impressive hey, not many pieces of equipment can do all that, especially at the price of an old tyre, some wood and attachments.
If you’re looking for a facility that knows how you can get the most out of your training and reach your goals then get in touch today! And share this post if you think it might be of benefit to someone you know.
Keep an eye out for part two, where I show you how to train using the sled, without having to make yourself sick to feel like you got the benefit.