Thoughts on Sleds

Cill94

Hi guys. I think many of you will agree that this forum is basically dead since they updated the site. I figured I may as well start posting some rambling on various topics to generate a discussion. These will generally be extracts from my free newsletter. I'm not sure if I'm allowed post the signup link. Mods please just remove it if not. Again, it's free.

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An Overview

Pushing and pulling sleds has been around for a long time, with peaks and dips in their popularity. There was a big surge in interest in them in the earl 00s, and now again since fitfluencers like KneesOverToes Guy has started promoting them.

Sleds come in a few different types. There's the standard towing sled with a harness attached, and then there's cruel devices like the prowler.

Whatever the exact equipment, the premise is essentially the same. You drag or push something in order to develop your strength and/or fitness.

Benefits of Sleds

Like any exercise, sleds are potentially useful tool given the right context.

Sleds can be loaded with great versatility. Load them light and they can build aerobic fitness. Go heavier and they can be a decent way of building leg mass and general strength. The latter is particularly useful for a lifter who is strapped for time and wants something that will hypertrophy the legs while also building some cardio.

One of the other great aspects of sleds is the lack of eccentric loading on the muscle. This may make them less likely to cause DOMS the day after.

Lastly, it's a very hard exercise to f*ck up. From my time spent coaching beginners, particularly teens, this is one exercise that most everyone will figure out how to do efficiently if you throw enough weight on there, with very minimal risk of injury.

Drawbacks

Like any exercise, sleds have their limitations too.

One of the most obvious ones is space and accessibility. It's becoming more common to see astro strips and sleds in gyms, but it's definitely not the norm yet. Even if you do find a place with the above, you may find yourself constantly having to ask the girl recording herself doing banded glute abductions to vacate the track.

If you are pushing sleds outside, be prepared to get knocked off your neighbours Christmas card list. Sleds on concrete is not a nice sound.

Another drawback for something like a prowler is that the upper body will be the limiting factor for most people. This isn't great if you're looking to tax your legs or your gas tank.

Additionally, as happens whenever any exercise becomes trendy, some really unfounded claims start getting thrown around. Sleds are great, but they might not be a magic bullet for people with knee issues, or at least they might not be the only thing. If you have injury issues but don't want to do the sled, don't be talked into buying one just because some guy on Instagram said so. Research shows that a lot of stuff works for treating knee issues.

Final Thoughts

Sleds are a great tool. I sense they're about to become very trendy again and as always happens, people will forget about the limitations. This same thing has happened before with kettlebells, CrossFit, olympic lifting, powerlifting, unilateral training etc. Use it for what it's good for, not as a magic bullet.

GoogleBot

That's what you would do all day if you are farmer.

I like prowlers. I use them for a bit of high intensity cardio after a weights session.

Chubakazubaka

It seems to me that this is the best cardio machine. Nothing can replace the strain that the body experiences during such a workout. 

Black Sheep

I have owned both prowlers and more conventional sleds relying on ropes and harnesses. Of the two a prowler is my preference.

For a great many trainees prowler pushing intervals are an excellent way to condition without beating up the body, and they’re time efficient.

You can do more rehab and prehab with a prowler if you know what you’re doing but as a conditioning tool, particularly with a buddy, is where it shines.

The main downsides - yeah, space as mentioned, mine is an eyesore in the back yard as we speak.

But also - climate. Rarely do I use it on a rainy day, and in Ireland it’s raining about 1/3 of the time maybe.

Alf Veedersane

There is one in the gym and I've considered using it for a bit of aerobic work.

I have a hip injury that is going to be some time before it's resolved.

Resistance when the hip is beyond a certain level of flexion is out and I was wondering if pulling with a strap or some such? Basically walking backwards with resistance added.

Cycling is the only aerobic exercise (outside of walking) that gives me zero issues but I don't want it to be the only option as I don't enjoy it at all so just trying to think of alternatives I haven't tried and the thread got me thinking

Mr. CooL ICE

Sled sprints are disgusting. Many years ago, I decided to do my own cardio workout: empty sled sprint length x 1, 5 pullups, empty sled sprint x 1, rest 60 seconds, and repeat. I managed 3 rounds before dry heaving and nearly fainting. Still not sure if I underestimated how difficult sled sprints were or overestimated my aerobic capacity at the time.

Herschel Walker is famed for building his strength, speed and physique on his family farm using whatever he could use. He used bodyweight exercises and a combination of hill sprints and tyre pulls on freshly ploughed soil as his form of resistance. He did alright in the NFL world, bobsleigh in '92 olympics, track and field and MMA with all of that as a base.

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118658489#Comment_118658489

Worth a try!

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118666885#Comment_118666885

I'd use sleds for many athletes for a variety of reasons.

But the reality is that someone as talented as Herschel Walker probably could have done almost any kind of resistance training and he still would have been elite!

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118666885#Comment_118666885

An unloaded prowler with skis is enough to wreck you if you’re sprinting. Not to be underestimated.

If it has no skis - a flat bottom - then FML, if you’re pushing it on concrete better write a will. And if on a slope then even more so. The added friction is worth 40kg.

silverharp

I wanted to change my cardio around in the gym, was only doing Concept2 but wanted a break from it plus I am doing more jogging and cycling now so didnt want more gaps with no strength training. Decided on a couple of routines but one was the sled, so basically 30 rounds (forward & back) ~600m total in 30 min increasing the weight each session until the form breaks down then I can see if I can do the 30 rounds in less time.

Formwise I like to keep the heels up, so the feet get a workout, shuffling along flat footed would mean there is too much weight on it for me. Certianly noticed my capacity to do this has increased in the last couple of months

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058232648/thoughts-on-sleds

great post, true with Ben Patrick , one thing I didnt get was saying upper body was a limiting factor, not something Ive noticed?

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118679318#Comment_118679318

Load it up heavy enough or push for long enough, and it's generally the shoulders that will go first. You're basically holding an overhead squat position.

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118684150#Comment_118684150

is that on the assumption you are always pushing it? the prowler in my gym has trx style straps attached to it so I push it one direction and pull it back the other so half the time my arms are just meat hooks.

iguana

A reasonably decent alternative to sleds is to walk/run backwards up a hill. This is fairly easy for me, as I live right at the top of a hill with a safe bicycle path. So I take my son's scooter, scoot down the hill, get to the bottom, pick up the scooter, walk/run back up and repeat around 5 times. Obviously it's only feasible if the ground is reasonably dry as I wouldn't be able to brake the scooter safely on wet ground and I'd mess up it's bearings.

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118690169#Comment_118690169

I started doing the same thing , I go to the bottom of Fosters Ave off the N11 and jog up past Deer Park, hella hill. Im a bit too self conscious to do it backwards, its is an excellent exercise.

A trick I incorporated in the gym is to walk backwards on a turned off treadmill, there is good resistance and its a good warm up anyway, I do it for about 5min. for longevity walking backwards is a great exercise, in China older people do it in the parks and its considered normal.

iguana

I do get a lot of really funny looks doing it. People literally stop and stare and I fear one day I'm going to end up getting videod and put up on someones social media. But, I've not been doing it for long and I can already feel real benefit in my knees. So I can deal with funny looks, knowing that I'm doing something that should hopefully increase both my current athletic ability and longevity. Finding the athletic activity I love in my 40s has made me very conscious of being on a curve, where I'll eventually stop improving and start losing ability. I'm determined to do whatever it takes to push that day as far out as possible. If that means getting laughed at by randomers, I can take it.

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118690599#Comment_118690599

Ive been doing sprints too, short side of a gaa pitch nearby , started incorporating a couple of backward sprints ones. The use it or lose it is important, plus ought to help with injury prevention if you have strengthened parts you wouldnt normally get to.

Black Sheep

Regular sprints or hill sprints are an alternative to pushing a prowler or sled but you can’t load it. You’re limited to manipulating time and rest.

Having the more natural movement pattern of letting the arms move freely might mean they are a better choice for runners or field sports athletes however.

Running backwards may be applicable as a prehab movement but it is not really that comparable to prowler, sled or conventional sprints for conditioning work due to limitations on the ability of the trainee to focus on their work rate and output rather than the movement. The prowler especially is low skill and it’s a huge forte. Running backwards, let alone uphill, has a significant instability and skill element in comparison.

Would it be hard, and get you out of breath? Yes, but picking it *for conditioning* over other sprint alternatives would be suboptimal. If I think of a parallel, it’s akin to someone choosing a highly unstable lift like a bosu ball DB bench as part of a hypertrophy program instead of doing a conventional DB bench or machine press.

iguana

I do the backwards uphills as part of a routine to protect my long term knee health and help me jump higher. I'd prefer to use a sled sure, but I don't have access to one but live right at the top of a very suitable hill. Either way my goal is to build strength and range of motion in the leg and hip muscles that I don't normally engage. So that I can prevent injury and just do better in general. I'm also hoping that it will long term make my stretching routine much more efficient

I have always known I have serious quad dominance issues in movements where I want to engage my hamstrings but starting this routine for my knees has been enlightening about how utterly disproportionate my quad strength is. I started doing Nordic and reverse Nordic Curls recently and the difference between my ability at each has honestly shocked me. I can do set of complete Reverse Nordics without problem, it's not effortless by any means but it's not a massive exertion either as my quads engage and lower me all the way to lying on the floor. Then a bit more effort but nothing crazy to lift me back up. Forward Nordics are a different story entirely, I don't get very far forward at all before I have to drop. I haven't filmed myself doing them yet but I feel like I may be noticeably better on the concentric part of the curl than the eccentric movement which makes sense as I spend a lot more time absorbing forceful landings and slowing lowering myself on one leg than I do maximising the power of my jump up or rising on one leg.

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118684339#Comment_118684339

Yes I’m talking about pushing. Although even with pulling your upper body will still be the limiting factor - grip will go first.

Using a harness is the only way to make it a purely lower body exercise.

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118708493#Comment_118708493

That’s grand, but to clarify - you initially said a “reasonably decent alternative to sleds is to walk/run backwards up a hill”. You’re talking about a different exercise used for different reasons. Fine but the scope for comparison is limited.