It's obvious that I like working with pretty much anything I can get my hands on. Sandbags are one of my favorite toys because they are relatively cheap, durable, and can dish out some serious punishment!

I like the Shoulder Switch-Press because it's a nice simple exercise that can be used as part of a workout (like Perpetual Motion) or it can be an entire workout all by itself.

If you're not familiar with Sandbag Lifting, familiarize yourself with some basics on my Overhead Pressing page.

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Lower the bag to the opposite shoulder. Now, this is where the hand positioning gets tricky. The natural tendency is to reposition your hands for the next rep. If you're doing something like a 5 reps for 5 sets routine and you're not pressing for time, go ahead and adjust if you want to.

However, if you're doing this for "time" (as in, how many reps can you get in 20 minutes), you'll want to keep your hands in one place so you don't waste time switching your hands around every rep. If you're knocking out as many reps as you can in a set period of time, dip down as the bag lands on your shoulder and drive the weight up and over. (pic 3)

Now, you could do just the Shoulder Switch-Press and leave it at that but as you get stronger, throw a squat in each time the bag hits your shoulder!

Believe me, this exercise may not look like much but it will set your lungs on fire in quick fashion! Make sure you start with a weight that allows you to learn proper form with minimal risk of injury.

Have fun with this exercise and keep me posted on your progress!