Sled dragging is one of the best means of training an athlete can do.
There are many benefits some of which are:
1. Training economy: with an upper body sled strap athletes can do virtually any strength exercise-upper body, torso, and lower body-while doing conditioning work.
2. Developing mass specific force and fast recovery: due to the lack of eccentric muscle action athletes don't get sore after training or build unnecessary muscle mass.
3. Restoration: due to the lack of eccentric muscle action, sled dragging can be used to promote recovery and restoration after extreme workouts.
4. Low impact conditioning: power walking with a sled is a great way to develop both anaerobic and aerobic energy systems with much less impact on the load bearing joints than running.
5. Economics: sleds and weight plates are very inexpensive which will give a coach / training center a massive ROI.
6. Massively increasing training volume: walking while pulling a heavy sled will allow an athlete to accumulate much more training volume than doing traditional sets and reps with a barbell or dumbbells.
One of my volleyball athletes, Sarah, is seen here performing sled dragging to finish her strength training session today as she begins her peak and taper into her National tournament in 3 weeks.
She performed 8 trips of 60 yards with a 120 lbs. sled. She averaged 66 steps per 60 yards, 33 steps per leg.
Her total training volume for the sled dragging portion of today's session alone-not even counting the weighted box jumps, deadlifts, GHRs, full contact twists, shoulder presses and lat pulls-was 63,360lbs (or 31,680lbs per leg).
There are many ways to implement sled dragging into your, or your athlete's, training program, hopefully you are taking advantage of this incredibly versatile tool.
Stay Strong AND Healthy!
-Scott
