Versatile Spartan Pancake Workouts to Blast Your Upper Body and Core
The Spartan Pancake sandbag is incredibly versatile. You can treat it as a dumbbell or kettlebell, or just use it as a plain old sandbag. The texture is great for gripping, and it challenges both your pinch and crush grips. (You can't grip it traditionally, like you would a dumbbell or kettlebell.)
The other unique thing about this modality is that you don't have to keep it filled with sand. For instance, if you're in the mood for a beach workout, you can take the sleeve (empty) with you and fill it up on the beach. Then, when you're done, you can dump the sand back on the beach and not be burdened by the extra weight on the run home. Either way, it's an all-around great piece of training equipment.
Related: 3 Sandbag Exercises for a Stronger Body
The Purpose of These Workouts
These workouts are all about improving movement patterns, and while there are some "single-joint" motions involved — like the bicep curl — the key is to have the entire body involved when exercising. That's where the term functional exercising comes into play.
Related: What You Need to Know About Staying Fit When You're Stuck at Home
The Core Workout
The core workout has a heavy emphasis on ... you guessed it ... your core! We're not talking about six-pack abs, though. These particular exercises encourage terrific pillar strength and the ability to avoid too much flexion, extension, or rotation of the lumbar spine. This is key when it comes to preventing back pain.
The Exercises
1/4 Get Up
12-Inch Hold
Explosive Chip Lift
Hollow Body Hold
Kneeling Overhead Slam
Plank Row
Press-Out Iso Hold
Rocking Sit-Up
Russians Slams
Toe Touches
The Upper-Body Workout
The upper-body workout focuses both on pulling and pushing muscles. The center of gravity of the Pancake makes each exercise a tad more challenging and beneficial. This will also put extra tension on your core stabilizers. Two for your money, as they say.
The Exercises
Alt. Kneeling Curl
Bear Row With 3-Sec Hold
Bent-Over Row Iso Hold
Front Raise
Kneeling Overhead Press
Push-Up Jumps
Side-to-Side Press
Single-Arm Bent-Over Row
Tricep Extension
