PDA

View Full Version : A review of Iron Mind Tough-As-Nails™ Sandbag Set



1renox
01-31-2006, 09:25 AM
http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/prodinfo.asp?number=1390

Is it worth the money? Maybe. One could put this together for about half the price with items bought at a surplus store. The outer bag, though, is very tough and has a cool little Iron Mind logo on it.

The book has about 20 exercises and 4 to 5 training programs. It’s pretty basic stuff. However, for those, like myself, who haven’t been exposed to sand bag training, there are some creative and useful exercises. The head lock hold and “push away” with the bag offers the feel of a resisting opponent. There are many possible uses of the bag. One can do set ups, bridges and grip work.

The result of training: My wife bought it for me for Christmas. I have been using it for 5 weeks. For some reason, my foot speed and hand speed have increased markedly. Possibly, this is due to the increased nerve recruitment of the little stabilizer muscles. After using the sand bag, I feel really, really good! Overall, I feel like a coiled spring. Once again, am guessing this is to the recruitment of small, deeper stabilizer muscles.

Do to the unwieldy nature of the bag it can take a full body effort to execute what are considered isolation exercises with free weights. This overall muscle and nerve recruitment and the feeling of having a resisting opponent is what makes sand bag training worthwhile.

If you have the money and are short on time, buy it. The materials are high quality. Due to the results, it is one of the best pieces of training equipment I ever used. If on a budget (and who isn't) and have the time to gather the pieces, buy components separately and one could still get the same training benefits.

FooFighter
01-31-2006, 03:25 PM
Nice review... What did you get the sand?

Ford Prefect
02-01-2006, 05:47 AM
All the sand bags I've built have been from military duffel bags. I did this because of durability. If you were to drag that bag across concrete or uneven ground, how would it fare?

1renox
02-01-2006, 09:18 AM
The sand came from hardware store. Just regular play ground sand. I can see how a varierty of material, like those white garden pebbles might have their use as well. Around here 120lb of sand is about $6.00.

Doubtful if the bag would hold up under much pulled across concrete. It is pretty rugged and does a good job of holding the inner bags while providing a grip. Throwing it around is not a problem. It's made of a woven, cordura type material. It's a little thicker than a good pair of jeans, but I don't think it would last long being dragged.

Ford Prefect
02-01-2006, 11:32 AM
Thanks for the answer. I think I'll stick to the military duffels then. Here is a decent article on making one:

http://www.workingclassfitness.com/sandbagconstruction.shtml

I also duct tape the food storage baggies and I line the duffel with a trash bag. Works rather well. Good GPP tool.

AndrewS
02-01-2006, 01:00 PM
I picked one of these up before Christmas, but haven't gotten around to filling it yet- kinda fortunately as the garage flooded right around the New Year. Anyway, you've gotten me psyched to play- next home depot run I pick up some sand.

Andrew