If you’ve been bitten by the bug that gets some of us sometimes and feel the need to hoist a heavy weight without the safety and predictability of a barbell, then check out these tips that I’ve learned the hard way.

Tip #1: weigh your sandbag regularly

This applies most to those of us who keep our sandbags out of doors.  I use a piece of tarpaulin to keep it (mostly) dry but it still gets a bit damp occasionally.  The extra water in the material (I use an army surplus bag to hold my sand) makes it heavier and the amount that the bag can vary will surprise you.

Tip #2: use small weights plates to increase the load incrementally

There is nothing sadder than training with the same weight implement day after day after day.  For improvement to happen, we usually need to increase the load carried.

However, adding extra sand to your sandbag is both time-consuming and tedious.  I’ve found that it’s perfectly possible to use a few spare weights plates to bump the weight up by 5kg (10lbs) or 10kg (20lbs) before adding extra bags of sand.  That way, I can programme sandbags into my routine and steadily work the weight up from week to week.

One extra tip, though, if you are going to use weights plates as extra ballast.  Don’t forget where the plate is in the bag.  I tend to use quite tightly packed sandbags and if I put the weight plate on the side that I approach the sandbag to pick it up , it digs into my chest.  It’s an easy solution: just turn the sandbag around and grasp it from the other direction!  Not what you want, though, if you’re working to the clock!

Tip #3: decide what you want to use your sandbag for most and set it up to do that

I have used my sandbag for a number of different exercises, including:

• Lifting and carrying;
• Lifting and loading; and
• Cleaning to the shoulder

I found that I preferred the sandbag to be quite solid for lifting and carrying but I liked the bag to have a bit of material free to hold onto for lifting and loading.  On the other hand, for cleaning to the shoulder, it’s easiest if the bag is nicely floppy.  I decided that I probably benefited most from the lifting and carrying, since I could use most weight that way, so I’ve set my sandbag up so it behaves more like an oddly-shaped Atlas stone.

Wrapped tightly and tied off for easy lifting

What do I need to make a sandbag?

All you need to make a sandbag is:

• a suitable bag;
• some sand;
• weighing scales; and
• something to keep the sand from spilling out of the bag (like plastic bags or sheets).

What does a suitable bag look like?

A suitable bag looks like this tough army duffle bag:

What sand do I put in the bag?

I used normal builders’ sand from the local DIY store.  It costs less than £1.50 per 20kg bag.

How do I put the sand in the sandbag?

If you put the sand in the sandbag loose, it will all drain out the holes in the end of the duffle bag, right?  So it needs to go into the sandbag inside plastic bags.  The next thing to decide is how heavy you want the sandbag to be.  I decided that 40kg would be good for conditioning work.  However, I thought it might be useful to be able to change the weight of the sandbag quickly and easily.

So I used one of the 20kg plastic bags full of sand from the DIY store (wrapped with extra-strong packing tape to keep it together) for the main weight.  I then added several smaller bags, which I made myself out of a sheet of plastic that we had lying around (I think it had been used to deliver something to us).  I knew the DIY store bags were 20kg because that’s what they were sold as.  I used a weighing scale to measure 4 lots of 5kg of sand into smaller bags made out of the plastic sheeting I had to hand. 

So I ended up with 1 bag weighing 20kg and 4 bags weighing 5kg each.  So if I decide that 40kg is too heavy, then I can drop down to 35kg quite easily.  Similarly, if my girlfriend wants to have a go, she can start with a lighter weight, as she only weighs 50kg wet through…

How do I tie up the sandbag?

My army duffle bag came with four eyelets at the open end.  I tied these together with some twine.  Then I folded the loose material of the sandbag over and wrapped two more lots of twine around it to hold the bag in a sausage shape.  Hopefully, these wrappings won’t come loose too soon.

By the time I had finished, the sun had gone in and I was getting a bit cold.  I took the bag inside to warm up, picked it up a few times to test it and within seconds I was bright red and sweating.  Conclusion: it works.