Powerbag compilation:

Powerbags are an excellent training tool that we use a lot at our Results personal training studio to help increase strength, improve muscle tone, reduce body fat and increase cardio fitness. Powerbags are filled with sand to create instability during exercise which means your core and stabilising muscles will be forced to work harder compared to using more traditional barbells and dumbbells. The bags offer plenty of versatility; you can do exercises using the handles such as bent over rows, high pulls, bicep curls etc or you can do even more challenging exercises by just gripping the bags themselves and do exercises such as clean and presses, shouldering, push presses etc. Below are 3 different workouts using exercises with single and multiple bags. I have also included one of our most popular Results fitness challenges that is done with a single bag.  Spend 5-10 minutes warming up before doing any of the workouts.

Workout 1:

This 7 exercise circuit uses a single powerbag to work the entire body.  Perform 12 reps of each of the following exercises back to back without any rest. At the end of the circuit, rest for 1-2 minutes and then repeat aiming to complete 3-4 circuits.

1: Squat with shoulder press and slam

2: High pull

3: Clean and press

4: Clean to throw and catch

5: Explosive press ups

6: Walk over’s

7: Crunch on bag

Workout 2:

This 9 exercise circuit uses a single bag for the first 8 moves and then 3 bags for the plyometric jumps at the end. If you have only one bag to hand then simply perform your lateral jumps over this. Rather than jumping over the single bag and then jogging back around to start again, jump back and forth over the bag for the desired amount of time. Aim to do 12 reps on the first 8 exercises and then 1 minute on the plyometric jumps.  Aim to complete 3-4 circuits.

1: Lunge with rotation

2: Side lunge

3: Squat

4: Upright row

5: Bent over rows

6: Press ups with one hand on bag

7: Seated twists

8: Crunch holding bag

9: Lateral jumps

Workout 3:

This 6 exercise circuit mixes exercises that involve gripping the bag itself along with exercises using the handles. The last couple of exercises are done with 2 bags but again can be performed with a single bag. For this circuit aim to complete 1 minute of each exercise completing as many reps in that time as possible. Again rest for 1-2 minutes at the end of the circuit and complete 3-4 circuits in total.

1: Clean and press

2: Squat and press

3: Overhead lunge

4: Snatch

5: Walk overs

6: Lateral jumps with burpee

Powerbag challenge:

For this challenge all you need is one powerbag. For woman use a 7.5kg or 10kg bag and men 15kg-20kg. Spend 5-10 minutes warming up before starting the challenge.  Perform 5 reps of the following exercises, clean and press, burpees and lateral jumps. This is 1 set and the aim is to complete as many sets as possible as you can within 10 minutes. At the end of the challenge spend 5-10 minutes cooling down and stretching.