Versatile Spartan Pancake Workouts to Blast Your Upper Body and Core

Versatile Spartan Pancake Workouts to Blast Your Upper Body and Core

The Spartan Pancake sandbag is incredibly versatile. You can treat it as a dumbbell or kettlebell, or just use it as a plain old sandbag. The texture is great for gripping, and it challenges both your pinch and crush grips. (You can't grip it traditionally, like you would a dumbbell or kettlebell.)

The other unique thing about this modality is that you don't have to keep it filled with sand. For instance, if you're in the mood for a beach workout, you can take the sleeve (empty) with you and fill it up on the beach. Then, when you're done, you can dump the sand back on the beach and not be burdened by the extra weight on the run home. Either way, it's an all-around great piece of training equipment.

Related: 3 Sandbag Exercises for a Stronger Body

The Purpose of These Workouts

These workouts are all about improving movement patterns, and while there are some "single-joint" motions involved — like the bicep curl — the key is to have the entire body involved when exercising. That's where the term functional exercising comes into play. 

Related: What You Need to Know About Staying Fit When You're Stuck at Home 

The Core Workout

The core workout has a heavy emphasis on ... you guessed it ... your core! We're not talking about six-pack abs, though. These particular exercises encourage terrific pillar strength and the ability to avoid too much flexion, extension, or rotation of the lumbar spine. This is key when it comes to preventing back pain.

The Exercises

1/4 Get Up

12-Inch Hold

Explosive Chip Lift

Hollow Body Hold

Kneeling Overhead Slam

Plank Row

Press-Out Iso Hold

Rocking Sit-Up

Russians Slams

Toe Touches

The Upper-Body Workout

The upper-body workout focuses both on pulling and pushing muscles. The center of gravity of the Pancake makes each exercise a tad more challenging and beneficial. This will also put extra tension on your core stabilizers. Two for your money, as they say.

The Exercises

Alt. Kneeling Curl

Bear Row With 3-Sec Hold

Bent-Over Row Iso Hold

Front Raise

Kneeling Overhead Press

Push-Up Jumps

Side-to-Side Press

Single-Arm Bent-Over Row

Tricep Extension

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