Prowler Sled Training
Prowler sled training is an excellent tool for aerobic fitness, strength, power and fat loss.
Read on to learn more about this versatile training tool.
Is the Prowler a Good Workout?
The prowler sled is a great workout!
Pushing a prowler sled can burn fat, sculpt muscle mass, improve your cardio, and boost recovery.
A one hour prowler sled workout can burn 400-700 calories or more depending on your weight and intensity level.
Does the prowler build muscle?
The prowler sled can absolutely build muscle. You can build your thighs, glutes and calves with this exercise mode.
To build muscle, make sure to use moderate to heavy loads on the sled to overload your muscles. You can try loads that allow you to get between 6-15 steps per leg before needing a rest. As you get stronger, make sure to add extra weight, more reps or sets on the sled. Make sure you rest about 1-3 minutes between sets so you can challenge your legs.
What muscles does the sled work?
The prowler sled trains the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, as well as the muscles of the lower legs and feet. Prowler sled training also trains the most important muscle, the heart.
Is the prowler good for fat loss?
The prowler is an excellent exercise for fat loss because it trains a lot of large muscle groups at once, which elevates your heart rate and burns a ton of calories.
In tandem with a good nutrition program, prowler sled training can certainly help you reduce your body fat level.
How many Calories Does Sled Pushing Burn?
Sled pushing can burn 200-500 calories in 30 minutes, depending on your workout intensity, weight and sex.
Bump your workout up to one hour and you can burn more 400-800 calories or more.
In addition to burning a lot of calories, you will train many of your major muscle groups, improve your heart health and improve the strength of your joints and ligaments with this type of training.
Is Sled Pushing Cardio?
Sled pushing can definitely count as cardio.
Short sled pushes with heavy weights followed by longer rest periods will improve your cardiac power. Longer sled pushes with light weights will improve your aerobic capacity. To really improve aerobic endurance, focus on low intensity prowler sled training for 20-60 minutes at a time.
Sled Training Benefits
Prowler sled training is effective and time efficient.
In less than 30 minutes, you can train all your major muscle groups, get a heart pumping cardio workout, and burn serious calories. If you are diligent, you can use prowler sled training to burn fat and sculpt a more athletic physique.
Additionally, prowler sled training is also fun and engaging.
You will not find yourself scrolling social media on your phone between sets or slogging off to the water fountain to escape this workout.
Surprisingly, Prowler sled training is also easy on your body.
Prowler sled training is a cardio modality that is easy on joints and tendons. This makes it a good tool for people who can’t run, who have joint problems or are overweight.
Moreover, prowler training is easy to recover from. The motion of pulling a sled helps you add more training volume without causing much soreness or having to take an extra rest day. Low intensity sled workouts are perfect for a recovery day.
Sled training is also easy to learn. It’s not technical and you can pick it up without much training.
Sled training also improves power. Because it starts from a dead stop, it can improve starting strength and speed. This makes it a great tool to improve athletic performance.
Finally, prowler sled training improves bone density. Old ladies with osteoporosis may not be able to squat or deadlift with heavy weights, but they can get a comparable bone boosting workout with sled pushes.
Can Sled Pushes Replace Squats?
The good news is that sled pushes can even replace squats.
Maddigan et. al found that a ten rep max sled push and a ten rep max back squat showed equal quad, hamstring and core involvement. However, the sled push trained the calves more and the spinal erectors less than the back squat.
What this means is that sled pushes can be a good substitute for the back squat.
Now that you understand the numerous benefits of the sled push, let’s talk about how to properly perform this exercise.
How to Properly Push a Sled
Here are some key technique points for the prowler sled push.
Assume an incline position with hands in line with shoulders. Arms may be straight or bent. Make sure your back is straight. Tighten and brace core with a neutral spine. Position feet side by side. Place hands evenly in line with shoulders. Keeping hips squat, drive one leg in front of the other. Place foot down in a toe to heel fashion as you drive forward with each foot. Repeat until you have completed 10-30 steps.
Now that we have discussed good prowler sled technique, let’s discuss some common mistakes so you know what to avoid.
Prowler Sled Mistakes
Some common mistakes during the prowler sled include uneven hips, a loose core position, placing your hands too high on the sled or placing your hands unevenly on the sled. Many people also do not keep good positioning of their feet in line with their hips.
Final Thoughts
Prowler sled training can help you burn fat, build muscle and sculpt your physique. Do you enjoy this type of training? Let me know in the comment section below.
