If there were a pill that could make you stronger, faster, and leaner, how much would you pay for it? What if it also warded off depression, made you more energetic, better looking, and even younger on a cellular level, what would you be willing to trade for it?
Since we ultimately pay for all things with our time (even if that is time for money, money for stuff), then how much of your time in a given week would you give for such a pill?
A hour?
Three hours?
Would you trade three of your 168 hours each week for those benefits?
Of course exercise is the magic pill.
It amazes me that people aren’t willing to pay the price. The funny thing is that if there were simply a price tag, more people would pay it, because it would be easy. Exercise, in most people’s minds, is hard and unpleasant. It requires a gym, a lot of sweat, and a lot of time.
But that doesn’t have to be the case.
In more than 20 years of training and coaching, I have tried many things to get all the benefits of exercise. Lots of them work, but most of them are hard and unpleasant and didn’t give me the results that I wanted.
And then I discovered sled training.
Sled Training
Sled pushes are great. If you were to do only one thing, that would probably be the best (even according to some of the very best and most well known strength coaches out there).But sled programs can go well beyond that and allow you to perform movements that are truly full body compound exercises. The sled is the most versatile piece of equipment you can own. If you were to have only 1 tool in your quest to get into better shape, the sled is it!
Sled training is great for you if you are:
- Getting ready for your season
- Wanting to be stronger
- Wanting to get faster
- Trying to lose weight
- Tired of the gym
- Rehabbing
- Looking for a quick, fun resistance workout
- Wanting a hard workout that won’t make you sore
For some background, I have been training for more than 20 years. I have been a certified Sports Performance Coach for many years and I am a college strength and conditioning coach that has worked with National Champion athletes. I love to experiment and test things out, with myself, and then with my athletes.
I have tried many techniques to get stronger and faster. I have also tried a lot of different things with the athletes that I work with to help them get stronger, faster and leaner, while keeping them injury-free, including Olympic lifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, TRX, HIIT, Triphasic, plyometrics, 5×5, compensatory acceleration, to name a few. All of these work to a degree, but none were ideal.
But none of them compare to sled training. The benefits of sled training are numerous, and I discover that more every week, both with my athletes and with myself. I spend less time training, am not sore, and my joints don’t hurt. Oh, and I am stronger, leaner, and faster than I have ever been.
Sled Benefits
- Perform all movement patterns
- Most people think of sleds just for pushing or basic dragging. But you can work your upper and lower body and get a true full body workout. You can even “replicate” Olympic lifts like cleans and the snatch, and do so in a very safe way. I wrote about the advantages here.
- Safe
- You aren’t “lifting” weights, so you aren’t putting your body, especially your joints, through that strain. And sleds are self-limiting. You if “fail” you simply stop moving, as opposed to dropping a weight (or dropping yourself).
- Easy
- Sleds are very easy to learn and use. Technique is quite simple, unlike squats and deadlifts, where bad form can lead to serious injury. And of course the Olympic lifts require significant dedication in terms of time and effort to learn properly.
- Don’t make you sore
- Unlike weightlifting, sleds don’t have an eccentric movement (the lowering of the weight). That is where muscles are mostly broken down and what causes the muscle soreness that you feel after lifting.
- Train for speed, power, size, endurance, or fat loss
- Sleds can meet your goals, regardless of what they are. Load a sled with light weight and increase your top speed. Heavier and you can build power. Load it really heavy and you can build your maximum strength. Done right, it will all increase your endurance and maximize fat loss.
- Increase speed (starting, maximal and lateral)
- Sleds are proven to increase speed more than squats or other weightlifting exercises. And sleds are the best way to load lateral movement.
- Everyone can do them
- I have effectively used sleds with 9 year olds, 77 year old grandmothers and National Champions looking to optimize their performance.
- Quick & Effective
- You can get full body training that makes you stronger, leaner, faster and increases your VO2 max. Get a great workout in as little as 10 minutes – inside or out!
- FUN!
This adds up to make sled training the best investment of time you can possibly make. If there was only one thing I could do for my physical – and mental – health, it would be 10 minutes of sled training a day.
You made it this far… so shoot us an email at info@FHITr.com and we will send you a week of free programming.
What others are saying
“I have gotten so much stronger. I think the focus on the posterior chain and generating power has made a huge difference in my skiing. Can’t say enough about the positive changes.” Division I Ski Racer
“I have worked with Topher for the past three years of my racing career as a trainer and workout coach. He has prepared me for elite skiing performances, one of which resulted in a NCAA Division I Championship title.”
“I’ve seen the incredible impact his coaching has had on my strength and the strength of my teammates.”
“If I had to trace the catalyst for our success to a single cause, it would be early morning sled workouts with Topher. The team met at six am to push, pull, drag, and crawl with workout sleds. Topher used a variety of different weights, distances, and repetitions to ensure all levels of athlete were working at their maximum capacity.”
“His technical expertise and natural teaching ability allows our athletes to use more advanced lifts than our competitors and to do so safely. Most importantly, the cumulative strength gains our team has made in this time has surpassed our goals.” Division I Coach
“I’ve been extremely impressed how Topher has created plans that have provided appropriate levels of challenge to every athlete”
You made it this far… so shoot us an email at info@FHITr.com and we will send you a week of free programming.
Sled Rx 