Sled Training

Exercises
Overview

Front lower body (Quads)

 Backward drag with strap around belt
Bear crawls with strap around belt (done for speed)
 Backward drag with split rope (shoulders retracted slightly if weight is light enough)
 Walking lunges with strap around belt
 Forward drag with strap around ankle

Back lower body (Hamstrings)

 Forward drag with strap around belt
 Backward drag with strap around ankle

Side Lower body

 Side (lateral movement) drag with strap around belt
 Side drag while crossing feet over with strap around belt
 Side (lateral movement) drag with strap around ankle

Posterior chain
 Pull-throughs using the split rope
 Forward walking with the rope in pull through position (sumo walks)
 Sled Good Mornings
 Sled Glute Ham Raise
 Bent Over Forward Drag
 Forward drag with split rope, hands behind back

Back
 Rows to chest with split rope
 1 arm rows using split rope
 1 arm rows with rotation
 Rotational pulls (complete designated reps for one side, then switch to the other side) – start
with the rope down by knees and then explosively rotate up and across body
 Extended Arm Pull
 Hand Over Hand Rope Sled Pull
 Upper-Cut (See Louie Simmons chapter)
 Anti Extension Drag
 Reverse Flye Isometric Drag

Chest
 Standing chest press with the split rope (done with elbows in and neutral grip)
 Standing chest press with the split rope (done with elbows out and palms facing down)
 One arm chest presses (alternate left and right one rep at a time)
 Flye
 Flye Isometric Drag
Shoulders
 High pulls using the split rope
 Reverse fly variations (using light weight/empty sled) – we call these the I, Y & T pulls, since
you move your arms in the shape of these letters. These are great for working the smaller
muscles of the upper back and deltoids and do not require heavy weights.
 Front & Rear Raise

Biceps
 Curl with Two Arms
 Curl with One Arm

Triceps
 Forward lean tricep extension with the split rope
 Forward walking with arms extended in front (walk with high knees for extra variety)
 Kickback

Abs
 Standing pulldown abs with split rope (done exactly as you would if using a cable or band
apparatus)
Backward drag with strap around belt

Muscles Targeted:
Quadriceps

Why you want to do this exercise:

Warm up
GPP
Restoration
Increase cross-section

Sets/Reps:
+10 reps per set

Exercise Description:
Secure strap to belt
Face sled
Maintain tension in strap
Take short/quick strides backwards
Stay on balls of feet during push off
Bear crawls with strap around belt

Muscles Targeted:
Quadriceps

Why you want to do this exercise:

GPP
Warm up
Special conditioning

Sets/Reps:
+10 strides per set

Exercise Description:
Attach strap to shoulder harness or belt
Bear crawl
Drive legs/feet forcefully
Forward drag with strap around belt

Muscles Targeted:
Glutes/hamstrings/erectors

Why you want to do this exercise:

GPP
Increase strength
Increase cross-section
Restoration

Sets/Reps:
+10 strides/set
Exercise Description:
Maintain upright posture in order to activate the posterior chain muscles
If you lean forward the drill will involve greater quadriceps activation
Keep tension on strap at start
Maintain knee extension
Take powerful strides
Backward drag with strap around ankle

Muscles Targeted:
Hamstrings, Glutes, erectors

Why you want to do this exercise:

Warm up
Restoration
Increase cross-section
GPP

Sets/Reps:
+10 reps per set

Exercise Description:
Face sled
Secure straps around ankles
Take forceful strides backwards keeping feet close to ground
Side (lateral movement) drag with strap around ankle

Why you want to do this exercise:

Warm up
Rehabilitation
Increase cross-section
Restoration

Sets/Reps:
+10 reps per set

Exercise Description:
Secure strap around ankle
Maintain tension in strap at all times
Maintain knee extension as you abduct your lead leg away from the midline
Pull-throughs using the split rope

Muscles Targeted:
Glutes/hamstrings/erectors

Why you want to do this exercise:

Increase cross-section
Increase strength
Restoration

Sets/Reps:
+10 reps/set

Exercise Description:
Ensure tension on strap at start
Stand with a semi wide/wide base
Inch forward to allow arms to travel through legs
Initiate movement with a flat back
Drive hips forward as your extend your back and pull the sled forward
Bent Over Forward Drag

Muscles Targeted:
Hamstrings, Glutes, Erectors

Why you want to do this exercise:

Warm up
GPP
Strengthen posterior chain

Sets/Reps:
+10 strides per set

Exercise Description:
Grasp a strap handle in each hand
Bend at the waiste while maintaining a flat back
Attempt to hold the straps level with your knees
Take powerful strides
Extended Arm Pull

If you can position your body correctly, a pulldown can be replicated with a sled. When
doing an extended arm pulldown on a cable column, the line of pull goes from high to low.
Since the sled sits low to the ground, you'll need to hinge your torso down pretty far in order
to produce a somewhat equivalent movement (the more upright your torso, the less range
of motion you'll be able to use, and the less it'll feel like a pulldown.)

Face the sled and hinge at the hips as far as you can. With your arms fully extended, reach as
far overhead as possible. Inch back to get tension on the straps. Keeping your arms
completely straight, pull the sled toward you by bringing your arms to your sides. Reset for
the next rep.
Hand Over Hand Rope Sled Pull

Man, this exercise is brutal for the back, shoulders, biceps and grip.

In fact, when performed heavy, your legs take up quite a bit of work just to stabilize the
body!

I prefer pulling until the sled reaches my feet, jogging backwards and repeating for distance
or time.

It sounds crazy, but we've had our guys do this for 5 minutes straight!

Our wrestlers did this to improve strength endurance through pulling since this was a major
part of their movement during wrestling.

This can also be done as an alternative to rope climbing for heavier guys and / or for safety
reasons.
Do these need to be performed for 5 minutes non stop? Of course not, you can perform a
few sets and call it a day!

I believe in going heavy with these, NOT light. You need to really struggle with the pull to
make this exercise closely resembling a vertical rope climb!

These can be used during sled workouts when working on improving GPP or during an
outdoor training day / strongman training day.

You can also see some extra kettlebells loaded on the sled. You can perform the sled pulls
until they reach your feet and then immediately follow up with a kettlebell drill.

This is an excellent way to perform metabolic conditioning for combat athletes.

Here's a sample complex:

1A) back drag x 100 ft.

1B) hand over hand pull to feet
1C) 2 hand kettlebell swings x 10 reps
1D) hand over hand pull to feet

Repeat for time or predetermined sets!

On pavement you need a lot more weight compared to grass. On grass, this athlete would
pull anywhere from 2 - 4 45 lb plates with a sled.

We hold the straps behind us, or arms extended or hands clenched close against chest. Arms
extended is least favourable during heavy drags for shoulder precautions.
The big goal here is to push for improvement in work capacity!

I told this wrestling group about football players dragging 5 plates. They got all fired up and
our heaviest guy, at 195 lbs or so did 7 plates.

Our 120 lbs wrestler did 5 plates, which is what some of our 300 lb football players used.

The point is, wrestlers have waaaay better GPP / work capacity and relative body strength,
all because of their constant wrestling.

Remember, wrestling IS strength training!

So, I emphasize football players to move their body more often through calisthenics, sled
work, prowler work and learning some basic wrestling or judo moves.

Of course, those damn video games don't help with jack sh*t, and yes, I'm ranting!

Young athletes need to be more active.

If you're BIG you damn well better be strong!

If you're not strong and highly conditioned, drag heavy sleds, push heavy prowlers and
perform plenty of calisthenics to improve work capacity!

Notice that at the end of the set we perform hand over hand pulls?

This is a better way to finish as opposed to just stopping!

Now that we have a gym and don't have to drive to fields and parks for sled work, we will be
performing sleds or prowlers after almost every work out.

I've said this so very often, the sled is one of the simplest tools to use, yet one of the most
effective and is absolutely imperative that you use a sled!
Anti Extension Drag

This appears to be similar to dragging the sled with your arms extended in front of you. To
differentiate, work to stay as upright as you can, with your arms overhead as far as possible.
This will shift the emphasis to resisting lumbar extension, with less emphasis on packing the
shoulders. You can make this even more dynamic by making an overhead pressing motion as
you walk. Don't break position through the midsection as you drag.
Reverse Flye Isometric Drag

This variation is antagonistic to dragging while holding an isometric flye. Instead of facing
away from the sled and walking forward, you'll face the sled and walk backwards. Keep your
arms positioned out and to your sides. Your back muscles will work to keep your arms in
place. The video shows a hybrid reverse flye and extended arm pulldown position, but it can
be done with the arms positioned at many different angles.
Flye

Set up similar to how you would do a press, but extend your arms and bring them out to the
side for your starting position. Once there's no slack in the straps, contract your pecs to pull
the sled toward you. You'll be able to move your arms at different angles to target your
chest differently.

A staggered stance can also be used, but isn't as necessary as when doing presses. This is
meant to be an isolated pec and anterior delt movement that won't require as much weight.
Flye Isometric Drag

Get tension on the pecs and begin walking away from the sled. Use the pecs to keep your
arms as static as possible. Don't allow the sled to pull your arms further behind you as you
start dragging, and don't compensate to a position of better mechanical advantage by
bringing the arms forward.
Front & Rear Raise

These two movements have saved my shoulders too many times to count. Attaching a
second strap to the dragging sled stap is how this is set up. Walk forward or backwards while
performing a front raise or rear raise as you would with dumbbells. Try to work on several
different angles. Start with a couple sets each using light weights (25 to 45 pounds) for 100
feet. The greatest benefit to this is there really is no eccentric phase. Many believe the
eccentric phase (in the case lower the weight) is responsible for DOMS (delayed onset
muscle soreness). If you take this phase away then you are left with a movement that cause
very little muscle soreness but still brings nutrients to the site.
Curl

Muscles Targeted:
Biceps

Why you want to do this exercise:

Increase cross-section
Increase strength
Restoration

Sets/Reps:
+6 reps/set

Exercise Description:
Ensure tension on strap at start
Initiate with arms fully extended in plane of scapula
Flex elbows
Kickback

To target the medial and lateral heads of the triceps, face the sled, hinge down, and bring
your upper arms up and to your sides so your humerus is parallel to the ground and your
elbows are pointing behind you. With tension on the straps, straighten out your arms using
only your triceps. Keep your upper arm absolutely glued in place.
Louie Simmons on Sled Work

There are several ways of raising work capacity. One method that we use at Westside is
pullingthe sled for the hips and glutes. We pull the sled with the strap attached to the back
of our power belts. We walk with long, powerful strides, maintaining an upright body
position, pulling through with the feet, which stress the hamstrings and glutes. This is
common practice for throwers
overseas.

I learned about pulling from Eskil Thomasson, who is Swedish. Before he moved to
Columbus, Ohio, he visited Finland to see why so many Finns deadlift so well. Many of these
strong deadlifters were lumberjacks. They routinely had to pull paper wood down to the
main trail where the tractors could pick it up.

Another style of pulling is with a double handle held behind your back and below your knees.
The torso is bent over, and the strides are long. This is great for building the hamstrings. To
work the front of the hips and lower abs, attach a strap to each ankle and walk, pulling the
sled by your feet. Vasily Alexiev used to walk in knee deep water for roughly 1000 steps after
a workout. This is similar to what we are doing but with the advantage of being able to add
or reduce weight, which varies the resistance.

For building the outside of the hips and the inside of the legs, position the straps around the
ankles and walk sideways,first one way, then the other, left then right, forward and
backward.

For the quads and front of the hips, walk backward with the strap around the front of your
belt.
To start this type of work, I recommend doing six trips of 200 feet each. Use only one style of
dragging until you feel confidentt of your ability to include more work. We do this lower
body work on squat day, Friday, and on max effort day, Monday, in addition to the days after
(Saturday and Tuesday) using 60% of what was done on the previous day. This contributes
greatly to restoration.

For the legs and upper back and for building your grip, try pushing and pulling a weighted
wheelbarrow. This has had a great affect on my knee that suffered a patella tendon rupture.
I thank Jesse Kellum for this exercise. He used this for knee rehab for professional football
players. Pushing the wheelbarrow up a mild grade really increases the work on the lower
thigh muscles. Again, start with six trips of 200 feet. Only when you have adjusted to the
additional work should you increase the number of trips.

Now, let.’s go back to the sled, but this time for the upper body. When George Halbert sees
an increase in upper body mass, the process must be working, and that process is pulling a
sled with the upper body. There are many methods for doing this. One duplicates the motion
of a pec machine. Start with the arms behind your back. Slowly pull your arms to the front.
Walk forward slowly, let the tension in the strap pull your arms to the rear, and again pull
forward.
You can also do a front raise motion with the palms facing down. For the lats, start with the
arms behind your back and raise your arms, palms up like a double upper-cut by first flexing
your lower lats. The farther forward the hands go, the more the upper lats are worked. By
walking backward, you can do rear delt work, upright rowing, and external shoulder work.
A good reactive method for the bench press is to hold the straps out in front of you, and as
you walk forward and the slack is removed, drive the sled forward in a shock fashion. This is
very taxing but is great for reversal strength. Do the upper body sled work for time, not
distance. Mix the different styles together.

Start with five minutes of pulling and work up to at least 20 minutes.

I do 30.–40 minutes. Walk slowly and don’t jerk the sled. Only the reactive bench press
method should be jerked. Use the rule of 60%. Start heavy on day one and reduce the
weight each day for three consecutive days. Then go back to a heavy weight the fourth day
(e.g. 90 lbs, 70 lbs, and 50 lbs with each weight representing one day). The same applies to
pulling the sled for lower body power and to the wheelbarrow. This work will greatly
increase your physical ability to train and will double as restoration. This style of resistance
work is for those seeking greater overall strength and power. This includes weight lifters,
football players, or anyone who needs to raise work capacity to reach a higher level of
excellence, which is anyone who took the time to read this book. However, are there
different routes to this type of work? Yes.

As outlined above, there are several ways to drag the sled:

1. forward with strap attached to your belt

2. backward with the strap attached to your belt
3. forward with bent over style
4. forward going one side in front
5. forward doing triceps extensions
6. forward doing presses
7. forward doing internal rotations
8. forward doing front or side delt raises
9. backward doing rows
10. backward doing external rotations
11. backward doing rear delt raises
12. backward with the straps attached to ankles
13. forward with the straps attached to ankles

GPP work is very common in track and field overseas but is still very much overlooked in the
United States. An experiment was conducted at the University of Pittsburgh. Head strength
coach, Buddy Morris, brought in a sprint expert, John Davies, who is very well versed in GPP
work for running. John works with many professional players and has consistently lowered
their
40-yard times. While his GPP work consists of weightless drills such as jumping jacks, line
hops, mountain climbers, it perfects running and jumping skills in addition to lateral speed.

As John simply puts it,.“I have never met a North American athlete from the major team
sports who the inclusion of this work will not cause a remarkable change in their optimum
performance. Simply, without this solid base, substantial gains are limited and success is
restricted to those more genetically gifted. The median improvement in 40-yard dash times
over eight weeks was 0.25. This work is not for the weak of heart as the overall work
volumes are enormous..”