I’m a huge fan of sand bags, medicine balls, kettlebells and functional grip training tools so it should probably seem pretty obvious that I would fall in love with a piece of equipment that combined the attributes of those individual pieces of equipment.
The highly innovative folks at HyperWear, who make an astonishingly good weighted vest by the way, have created the SandBell which is a piece (or pieces) of equipment that effectively serve the purpose of several other functional fitness tools. I was honestly a bit skeptical prior to actually getting my hands on a few of these to try (thanks Big John!), but very surprised when I began putting them through the paces of a workout.
These highly durable neoprene disks can be filled with sand to create super versatile training tools that weigh from as little as two pounds up to as much as fifty pounds. I used these for swings, presses, tosses, slams and more and after a few very grueling workouts they didn’t seem any worse for wear at all.
While I don’t necessarily think I’d ever trade in my kettlebells or dumbbells for a full set of SandBells I honestly did get one heck of a workout from the borrowed SandBells and would most certainly invest in a full set of my own for my gym. Thanks to my buddy Jeff I’m a huge fan of grip specific training and found the SandBells to work exceptionally well for grabs, pinches and times holds for working crushing grip.
In addition to the fact that the SandBells are very versatile they are also super affordable. You purchase the SandBells empty and fill them with your own sand from the home improvement center (which costs just a few dollars for a fifty pound bag) so you don’t have to pay the outrageous shipping cost you would for heavy dumbbells and kettlebells.
If you’re looking for a fun and affordable training tool that is great for building functional strength and use in intense conditioning workouts, I definitely recommend SandBells from HyperWear.