Sled: Lifter's Best Friend

Anyone familiar with the sport of powerlifting might envision big fat men who can barely breath while walking up a flight of stairs, yet they can squat over 1000 lbs. Although this was once the norm, things have changed in recent years. No longer is carrying excess bodyfat thought to be necessary for the greatest level of performance in the sport. Just look at guys like Matt Kroczaleski who are ripped up even with a grand on their backs.


It should be pretty obvious that in other sports, dragging around extra weight in fat just won't help you to perform as well as a guy or girl who is built solidly with muscle. Enter the sled. Whether you want to use the Prowler or a regular dragging sled, pushing and pulling weight around for time or distance is a great way to condition your body (and we all know by now that the Prowler is awesome for losing fat).

Not only will dragging a sled or pushing the Prowler help your body composition, but also it will jack up your legs and definitely help you to run faster. There are people out there who don't support athletes running while dragging weight. They claim that this will mess up running mechanics. Although I can see how a person could come up with this argument, dragging a sled and sprinting in a game or competition are two different activities. The sled's purpose is to expose the legs (and really the entire body, e.g. musculoskeletal system, circulatory system, endocrine system, etc...) to a new and challenging stimulus. This makes the sled an invaluable tool for people who may not have access to a barbell with which to squat and perform other lower body exercises.

Performing conditioning work with a sled will greatly increase an athlete/lifter's work capacity, which is the ability to keep going (running, lifting, rowing, etc...) for longer periods of time and with minimal rest. This is more commonly known as being "in good shape." You can pull a sled many different ways. You can back-drag it, forward-drag it, or you could attach a long rope and do hand-over-hand pulls. The possibilities are nearly endless and the benefits are extremely numerous. The guys who lift at Westside Barbell, the strongest gym in the world, will drag the sled in tons of different ways. They do it either to warm up, or for conditioning, or for strength, or even for recovery purposes. Athletes will benefit hugely from dragging a sled in that they will put on muscle in their legs, which will in turn make them faster; and, they will be more capable of moving at top speeds for longer periods of time.

Tomorrow I will post some video(s) of how you can make your own sled, as well as tons of different ways to use it. What's even better is that the weather is getting nicer so there's absolutely no excuses for not getting your ass outside and dragging that sled all over town! Peace!