Happy Hump Day! Thought to squeeze in a midweek post about my latest workout and mention a belated International Women’s Day to some pretty cool and inspiring ladies in my life. I did a pretty cool workout yesterday with stairs and a sandbag and I’d say WHAT a great way to celebrate!! Weights make me feel empowered and strong, just like some of the women in my life. Why not double up and celebrate it with an intense workout? EXACTLY.

I know not all of us causally own sandbags at home (I sure don’t but am using the Y’s!), but using weights or some form of resistance is the point. Yes, you can forgo the weight and do it bodyweight style…BUT I find the added weight adds a great challenge and the awkwardness of holding the sandbag stimulates my muscles differently compared to hand weights aka balance and grip strength strength…both of which don’t get a lot of attention. The sandbag offers a few ways of holding it complete with multiple handles depending on what you’re doing. It’s the ultimate challenge in carrying weight, AND you can do almost anything with it. You name it, it can be done. Throwing, pushing, holding, pulling, swinging, carrying, etc. the list goes on. If the stair component is missing for you, add the stair master if in a gym. If outside: a ramp, stadium steps, or just replace the climbing movement altogether and add sprints or some plyometric cardio moves like burpees or jumping jacks. You’re carrying the bag WITH you to the top and back down all ten flights (in my case) twice so don’t drop it! Reconfigure the bag each time but don’t leave it behind! 😉

I used a parking garage adjacent to the Downtown Y. For you Tampa friends, I used the Old Ft. Brooke parking garage downtown. Since the Y is right there, it was perfect for grabbing a mat and the sandbag without going too far. I was in the mood to not be in the gym and wanted to challenge myself in a new way that wasn’t on machines or lifting traditional weights. I felt like getting creative and stepping out my comfort zone. I remembered the sandbags and stairs nearby and BOOM, I wrote a circuit, grabbed the sandbag and mat, and was ready to go!

The sandbag I used weighed about twenty five pounds. With this workout, especially for us ladies, that’s all you’ll need…lol. Remember its bulky and awkward to hold so that is also another consideration, especially as you get tired. The workout uses the sandbag almost the entire time but some it uses bodyweight exercises without the bag and just the mat. Make sure you find a nice few flights of stairs!! I climbed ten flights twice. Needless to say I was wiped and am sitting her writing this sore, BUT it was awesome and if anything the beautiful views of downtown were worth climbing to the top for. I can’t wait to continue incorporating stairs and sandbags for future workouts!

What you’ll need:

• One sandbag or heavy weights
• Mat
• Ten flights of stairs/an incline/whatever is available to you

Two sets x 25 reps each (total four sets) back to back sets. Keep bag and climb stairs to the top. Don’t forget to include a warmup and cool down/stretch. *This workout took me approximately forty/forty-five minutes with some rest in between circuits.*

Lower Body circuit (bottom of stairs):

-Reverse Alternating Lunges (double count–each leg counts as one) 25x

-Basic Squat 25x

~climb stairs with bag~

Upper body circuit (top of stairs):

-Basic pushups *using sandbag under chest as a marker to GET LOW* 25x

-Plank pushups on sandbag (good way to challenge yourself on a non-even surface and makes is softer on forearms) first set pushing from one arm, second set other arm 25x

~back down stairs with bag~

Core: Lower Back (bottom of stairs)

-Deadlifts 25x

-Supermans on mat 25x

~climb stairs with bag~

Core: Abs (top of stairs)

-Russian twists with bag 25x

-Bicycle crunches on mat (double count) 25x

~back down stairs with bag~

Cool down and stretch!