The weight sled is increasingly found in most modern gyms; their versatility makes them a great functional training tool. You can use sleds to build strength and power development as well as rehab, speed and cardio fitness. Today, we will look into building conditioning workouts with the sled that is designed to enhance cardio fitness, muscular endurance and functional fitness.

How heavy or light you load up a sled will depend on your current goal and the intention of the workout. As a general rule of thumb, for strength/power based you want to load the sled with heavier weights, such as a couple of 20kg weight plates. For conditioning and endurance based workouts, a light weight would be ideal.

The surface you’re pushing the sled on can also have a great impact on the intensity. For example, if you’re on concrete outside it may be harder than on turf or a hardwood floor.

Six Great Weighted Sled Exercises

1 - Sled Drag with Harness

• Attach a harness to the gym sled which can be secured using a shoulder harness and connective straps.

• Stand facing away from the sled, and create initial tension by leaning forward with your core engaged.

• Step forward, pulling the sled and driving through your legs.

• Alternate Version - facing towards the Weight Sled and walking backwards will help to target your quads.

2 - Sled Pull with Ropes

• Attach a battle rope to the bottom of the sled, start by gripping the end of the rope and face the sled.

• Lean back slightly to create tension in the rope and keep your arms extended.

• Pull back, using a hand over hand motion dragging the sled towards you.

3 - Plank Pull

• Attach a Battle Ropes to the weight sled. Get into a plank position, facing the sled, and holding the other end of the rope.

• Pull the rope towards you and alternating this motion between your hands, continue until the sled reaches you.

• Keep your core engaged throughout.

4 - Alternating Lunges with Sled Drag

• To start, stand facing away from the sled with either a harness or straps attached to the sled

• Step forward into a lunge position with one leg, until the knee of the front leg hits 90 degrees.

• Push through your front leg and rise back up to a standing position while pulling the sled with you.

• Repeat this on your alternate leg with forward motion, dragging the sled behind you.

5 - Sled Push

• Start behind the weight sled, gripping the handles in an athletic stance with your weight leaning slightly into the sled.

• You can either have your arms fully extended or flexed with your head forwards.

• Begin driving one knee up towards your chest and pushing back into the ground to propel the sled forward.

6 - Lateral Sled Pull

• Wearing a harness, stand side onto the gym sled.

• Create tension on the harness before starting, then step laterally away from the sled while keeping your core engaged.

• Continue stepping laterally until you reach your desired distance and then repeat on the opposite side.

Including sled exercises into your routine can be a great conditioning workout, and it is also an amazing method to build on your cardio fitness and enhance your overall strength.

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Tags: Equipment > Weight Sleds ; Exercise Type > Conditioning