Random thoughts on sled pulling

***iron addict*** · 09-16-2007, 03:54 PM

It is finally cooling down here in Arizona. We just had a heat spell of 33 days of 100+ most days over 105 and lots of 110. So.......I quit puling some time ago because it just made me puky pulling in 100+ degree weather, many nights at 10-11 PM it was still 96 out.

I just started again (just pulled a 1/2 hour ago in 90 degrees) and have been thinking about a few things. Since it has been so hot, I didn't feel like doing my usual couple of light passes to warm up. I have found that 3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats with fast acceleration done with less than 2 minutes rest between sets warms everything up fine to pull heavy, at least for me.

Intervals are way better than steady state pulling.

If you pull fast enough with enough weight you don't need that many pulls from a conditioning standpoint. 4-6 is fine. I just pulled 5 interval as fast as I could without momentum taking over--and I pull in sand. I went to failure on backwards pulls and when I un-hooked and went in the house my quads were so pumped for about 10 minuted I wanted to cry--lol. I also noted I am in shitty conditioning since not pulling regularly for almost 3 months.

If you are pulling to drop bodyfat, more intervals at a lower intensity for more time will be better all around from a recovery and fat loss standpoint.

After you are conditioned upper body pulls are important and are great for recovery.

I will likely be revamping my pulling program for trainees based on their needs. I have been using intervals for awhile, but will likely change to heavy and fast for minimal pulls for conditioning only, and lighter and longer for fat loss. I have had most pulling likely to many heavier intervals. While guys with great recovery thrive on it and I will still use it with these guys, frailer. folks will get one of the two above prescriptions.

IA

Swellin · 09-16-2007, 07:40 PM

Interesting.

I've been considering dropping the weight and going for an all out pull of 3 minutes; 1 minute rest; 3 minute pull; 1 minute rest; 3 minute pull, in order to mimic a fight. As I get accustomed to it, I planned to drop the rest interval by a little bit...hopefully ending up at 30 seconds for the rest period.

What do you make of this?

***iron addict*** · 09-16-2007, 08:04 PM

I think that is a great idea. When training for sports, as much specificity to the actual sport is always a better idea. If you do 3 round fights, 3 minutes pulling will be much better.

Wesley

musclemilk · 09-21-2007, 05:03 PM

Since I recently started submision wrestling again. I am so focused on conditioning.

So Wes when you say 5 pulls at very fast pace--did you pull the sled and fast walk for a total of 10 minutes?

Thanks Wes Great read as always.

***iron addict*** · 09-21-2007, 05:12 PM

Yes, it is actually pulled at a crushing pace with 1 minute rest periods. The forward pulls are extremely fast without letting momentum do the work, and the backward pulls result in failure about 3/4 of the way through. Distance is about 70 yards in this case which is my short side fence to fence , but 50 yards will do.

IA

***iron addict*** · 09-21-2007, 07:21 PM

Well I just did the indoor version of conditioning work. Loaded the leg press with a weight that allowed 20 continuous reps with a few left in the bag. Did a set, rested a minuted, and so on. At set 5 I got about halfway through it and got real puky so stopped the set.. Was somewhat nauseated after set 3. Got up gagged once and went and laid on the coach 20 minutes later went and got a waxy maize shake. Drank it and it came right back up.

Please note, this is NOT a substitute for sled pulling as their is doms. I just did it because it was hot (93 30% humility) and it was leg day.

IA

musclemilk · 09-22-2007, 02:12 PM

That sounds like a good time :-) Guess I am sick like that.
Another great piece of advice and good thing you stated there is DOMS.

Loving this thread Wes.

**TheBrent** · 12-11-2007, 02:52 PM

Is it cool to pull the sled the day BEFORE a leg/back/bi day?

dbcb314 · 12-11-2007, 03:06 PM

ive done it

sled shouldn't wear you out... in fact it should help you recover

(not talking about "heavy" days... I have never done them)

**TheBrent** · 12-11-2007, 03:11 PM

Well it helped out a ton last week when I did them the day after legs...

SO my schedule would be like this, this week.

Tues- sled
wed- leg/back/bi
thurs- sled

That's fine as long as I'm not killing my legs today with heavy sled?

09-16-2007, 03:54 PM	#1
*iron addict* Voice of Reason Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In Zen Posts: 22,132	Random thoughts on sled pulling It is finally cooling down here in Arizona. We just had a heat spell of 33 days of 100+ most days over 105 and lots of 110. So.......I quit puling some time ago because it just made me puky pulling in 100+ degree weather, many nights at 10-11 PM it was still 96 out. I just started again (just pulled a 1/2 hour ago in 90 degrees) and have been thinking about a few things. Since it has been so hot, I didn't feel like doing my usual couple of light passes to warm up. I have found that 3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats with fast acceleration done with less than 2 minutes rest between sets warms everything up fine to pull heavy, at least for me. Intervals are way better than steady state pulling. If you pull fast enough with enough weight you don't need that many pulls from a conditioning standpoint. 4-6 is fine. I just pulled 5 interval as fast as I could without momentum taking over--and I pull in sand. I went to failure on backwards pulls and when I un-hooked and went in the house my quads were so pumped for about 10 minuted I wanted to cry--lol. I also noted I am in shitty conditioning since not pulling regularly for almost 3 months. If you are pulling to drop bodyfat, more intervals at a lower intensity for more time will be better all around from a recovery and fat loss standpoint. After you are conditioned upper body pulls are important and are great for recovery. I will likely be revamping my pulling program for trainees based on their needs. I have been using intervals for awhile, but will likely change to heavy and fast for minimal pulls for conditioning only, and lighter and longer for fat loss. I have had most pulling likely to many heavier intervals. While guys with great recovery thrive on it and I will still use it with these guys, frailer. folks will get one of the two above prescriptions. IA __________________ For info about personal training consultations email me at ironaddict@ironaddicts.com "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us, universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein __________________________________________________ _____ If you are NOT a paying client, a friend, or a staff member, do NOT PM or email me asking for advice. Please post your questions on the forums. I simply do not have time to answer everyone's questions. Last edited by iron addict; 09-16-2007 at 03:56 PM.

09-16-2007, 08:04 PM	#3
*iron addict* Voice of Reason Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In Zen Posts: 22,132	I think that is a great idea. When training for sports, as much specificity to the actual sport is always a better idea. If you do 3 round fights, 3 minutes pulling will be much better. Wesley __________________ For info about personal training consultations email me at ironaddict@ironaddicts.com "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us, universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein __________________________________________________ _____ If you are NOT a paying client, a friend, or a staff member, do NOT PM or email me asking for advice. Please post your questions on the forums. I simply do not have time to answer everyone's questions.

09-21-2007, 05:12 PM	#5
*iron addict* Voice of Reason Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In Zen Posts: 22,132	Yes, it is actually pulled at a crushing pace with 1 minute rest periods. The forward pulls are extremely fast without letting momentum do the work, and the backward pulls result in failure about 3/4 of the way through. Distance is about 70 yards in this case which is my short side fence to fence , but 50 yards will do. IA __________________ For info about personal training consultations email me at ironaddict@ironaddicts.com "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us, universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein __________________________________________________ _____ If you are NOT a paying client, a friend, or a staff member, do NOT PM or email me asking for advice. Please post your questions on the forums. I simply do not have time to answer everyone's questions.

09-21-2007, 07:21 PM	#6
*iron addict* Voice of Reason Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In Zen Posts: 22,132	Well I just did the indoor version of conditioning work. Loaded the leg press with a weight that allowed 20 continuous reps with a few left in the bag. Did a set, rested a minuted, and so on. At set 5 I got about halfway through it and got real puky so stopped the set.. Was somewhat nauseated after set 3. Got up gagged once and went and laid on the coach 20 minutes later went and got a waxy maize shake. Drank it and it came right back up. Please note, this is NOT a substitute for sled pulling as their is doms. I just did it because it was hot (93 30% humility) and it was leg day. IA __________________ For info about personal training consultations email me at ironaddict@ironaddicts.com "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us, universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein __________________________________________________ _____ If you are NOT a paying client, a friend, or a staff member, do NOT PM or email me asking for advice. Please post your questions on the forums. I simply do not have time to answer everyone's questions.

12-11-2007, 02:52 PM	#8
TheBrent Teen Forum Moderator Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: California Posts: 1,689	Is it cool to pull the sled the day BEFORE a leg/back/bi day? __________________

09-16-2007, 07:40 PM	#2
Swellin Retired Mod Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,205	Interesting. I've been considering dropping the weight and going for an all out pull of 3 minutes; 1 minute rest; 3 minute pull; 1 minute rest; 3 minute pull, in order to mimic a fight. As I get accustomed to it, I planned to drop the rest interval by a little bit...hopefully ending up at 30 seconds for the rest period. What do you make of this?

09-21-2007, 05:03 PM	#4
musclemilk Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,366	Since I recently started submision wrestling again. I am so focused on conditioning. So Wes when you say 5 pulls at very fast pace--did you pull the sled and fast walk for a total of 10 minutes? Thanks Wes Great read as always.

09-22-2007, 02:12 PM	#7
musclemilk Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,366	That sounds like a good time :-) Guess I am sick like that. Another great piece of advice and good thing you stated there is DOMS. Loving this thread Wes.

12-11-2007, 03:06 PM	#9
dbcb314 Strength Verified Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Pinellas County, Florida Posts: 9,728	ive done it sled shouldn't wear you out... in fact it should help you recover (not talking about "heavy" days... I have never done them) __________________ Best Gym Lifts: 555 (wraps)/370/570 (straps)

12-11-2007, 03:11 PM	#10
TheBrent Teen Forum Moderator Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: California Posts: 1,689	Well it helped out a ton last week when I did them the day after legs... SO my schedule would be like this, this week. Tues- sled wed- leg/back/bi thurs- sled That's fine as long as I'm not killing my legs today with heavy sled? __________________

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