Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Alternatives to the Sled Push
Looking for alternatives to the sled push? Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or a fitness enthusiast, sled pushes are a fantastic way to build strength, power, and explosiveness. However, not everyone has access to a sled, or maybe you’re simply looking to switch things up.
Give either of these circumstances there are plenty of effective alternatives that can help you achieve similar results. In this article, we’ll explore seven of the 7 best alternatives to the sled push, each offering unique benefits and targeting specific muscle groups.
Here are the exercises we recommend and cover in detail:
- SkillMill Sled Push
- DeadMill Push and Deadmill Sprint
- Hill Climb with a Weighted Vest
- Treadmill Hill Climb with a Weighted vest
- Banded Resistance Run
- Wall March (Isometric Wall Pushes)
- Prowler Plate Push
- Bonus Exercise – Bear Crawl with a Weight Vest and Resistance Chains
Table of Contents
- Alternatives to the Sled Push
- Key Takeaways
- Focus on Lower Body Strength and Power: The Benefits of Sled Push Alternatives
- Understanding the Muscles Worked in Sled Push Alternatives
- Incorporating Sled Push Alternatives into Your Routine
- The 7 Best Alternatives to the Sled Push You Need To Be Doing
- Bonus Exercise: Bear Crawl with a Weighted Vest or Resistance Chains
- Full-Body Training Program (Includes Sled Push Alternatives)
- Conclusion
Key Takeaways
- Sled push alternatives offer a variety of ways to build exceptional leg strength and power.
- These exercises target key muscle groups like the legs, core, back, and shoulders.
- Incorporating these alternatives into your routine can enhance athletic performance and overall fitness.
- Each alternative offers unique benefits and challenges your body in different ways.
- Proper form and technique are essential for maximizing results and preventing injuries.
- Gradually increase the intensity and resistance to continue progressing.
- Listen to your body and adjust your workouts accordingly.
Focus on Lower Body Strength and Power: The Benefits of Sled Push Alternatives
This guide explores effective alternatives to the traditional sled push exercise. These variations offer similar benefits while potentially being more accessible or catering to specific preferences.
Here are some key benefits:
- Stronger Legs: These exercises engage your quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes, building powerful legs essential for daily activities and athletic performance.
- Enhanced Core Strength: A strong core provides stability and posture support, which is crucial for overall health and maximizing performance in other exercises.
- Improved Athletic Performance: By targeting key muscle groups, these alternatives can enhance your speed, agility, and overall athletic capabilities.
Understanding the Muscles Worked in Sled Push Alternatives
Sled push alternatives are compound exercises, meaning they engage multiple muscle groups. Here’s a breakdown of the primary muscles involved and their roles:
- Quadriceps: These muscles are heavily engaged in all the alternatives, especially during the pushing phase. They extend the knee joint, propelling your body forward.
- Hamstrings: These muscles work synergistically with the quadriceps, particularly in exercises like the DeadMill push and hill climbs. They flex the knee joint, helping to control the movement and provide stability.
- Calves: The calves are crucial for plantar flexion, which is essential for pushing against the ground. They are activated in all the alternatives, especially during exercises like the SkillMill sled push and DeadMill push.
- Glutes: The glutes, particularly the gluteus maximus, are the primary movers of hip extension. They are heavily engaged in exercises like hill climbs and banded resistance runs.
- Core Muscles: A strong core is essential for maintaining stability and transferring power from the lower body to the upper body. Core muscles like the abdominals and lower back are activated in all the alternatives, especially during exercises like the wall march and prowler plate push.
- Upper Body Muscles: While the primary focus of sled push alternatives is on the lower body, exercises like the prowler plate push and banded resistance runs also engage the upper body muscles, including the shoulders, chest, and triceps.
Incorporating Sled Push Alternatives into Your Routine
Maximize the benefits of these exercises by adding them to your workout plan. Here’s how:
- Full-Body Workouts: Combine them with compound movements like squats, lunges, and pull-ups for a well-rounded session.
- Progressive Overload: Gradually increase resistance or intensity to challenge your muscles and promote growth.
- Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to any pain and adjust your workouts. Don’t hesitate to take rest days when needed.
By incorporating these alternatives and following these tips, you can experience the benefits of sled push training even without the traditional equipment.
The 7 Best Alternatives to the Sled Push You Need To Be Doing
While sled exercises are a fantastic way to build strength, power, and explosiveness, they’re not always accessible. Here are seven effective alternatives to incorporate into your workout routine:
1. SkillMill Sled Push
Exercise Overview: Simulate the feel of a traditional sled push on a motorized treadmill with adjustable incline and resistance.
Equipment Needed: SkillMill
- Benefits: Targets the lower body, improves power and explosiveness, and simulates the feeling of a sled push.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, and hip flexors.
- How to: Adjust the SkillMill resistance level. Stand in a staggered stance with one foot slightly in front of the other. Push against the belt with your feet, driving your hips forward and maintaining a strong core.
2. DeadMill Push and DeadMill Sprint
Exercise Overview: A low-impact alternative to traditional sled pushes that targets lower body strength and cardiovascular fitness.
Equipment Needed: Belt-Driven or Motorized Treadmill
- Benefits: Builds lower body strength, improves cardiovascular fitness, and challenges your balance and coordination.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, and hip flexors.
- How to: Set the treadmill to a desired incline. Stand in a staggered stance and push against the treadmill belt with your feet, driving your hips forward and maintaining a strong core. Note: This piece of equipment should be turned off.
3. Hill Climb/Hike with a Weighted Vest
Exercise Overview: A natural outdoor workout that builds strength and endurance by challenging the lower body and improving your cardiovascular system.
Equipment Needed: Weight vest
- Benefits: Increases cardiovascular endurance, builds lower body strength, and challenges your body in a natural outdoor setting.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, and hip flexors.
- How to: Find a suitable hill or hiking trail and put on a weighted vest. Maintain an upright posture, focusing on driving your knees forward and pumping your arms.
4. Treadmill Hill Climb with a Weighted Vest
Exercise Overview: A controlled indoor environment for hill training that allows for precise adjustment of incline and resistance.
Equipment Needed: Treadmill, weighted vest
- Benefits: Offers a controlled environment for hill training, allows for precise adjustments, and helps you maintain consistent pace.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, and hip flexors.
- How to: Put on a weighted vest and adjust the treadmill to a desired incline. Maintain an upright posture and power up the incline, focusing on driving your knees forward and pumping your arms.
5. Banded Resistance Run (Partner Band Sprints)
Exercise Overview: A dynamic workout that challenges your muscles with variable resistance to improve speed, agility, and power output.
- Equipment Needed: Resistance band, training partner or coach
- Benefits: Builds lower body strength, improves speed and agility, and provides a dynamic resistance that challenges your muscles throughout the movement.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, and hip flexors.
- How to: Secure a heavy resistance band around your waist while your training parter or coach holds onto it firmly. Run forward, backward, or laterally, allowing the band to provide resistance against your movement.
6. Wall March (Wall Drill)
Exercise Overview: A bodyweight exercise that targets the lower body and core, improving stability, strength, movement mechanics and coordination.
Equipment Needed: Concrete wall
- Benefits: Builds isometric strength in the legs and core, improves stability, spring and acceleration mechanics and can be done anywhere.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, and hip flexors.
- How to: Stand facing a wall, about an arm’s length away. Place your hands on the wall at shoulder height. Step back into a push-up position keeping your body straight while maintaining perfect posture. Begin the exercise by pushing your hands into the wall to create tension. Next, elevate one knee and hold. Proceed to perform a high knee switch on a coach’s command or on your own cue as fast as you can while maintaining perfect posture.
7. Prowler Plate Pushes
Exercise Overview: A high-intensity exercise that builds explosive power and cardiovascular fitness by engaging multiple muscle groups for a full-body workout.
Equipment Needed: Bumper plates, Turf
- Benefits: Builds explosive power, improves cardiovascular fitness, and challenges your entire body.
- Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, shoulders, chest, triceps, and back.
- How to: Place weight plates onto the floor. Get into a low, athletic stance and push the bumper plate across the turf in a linear fashion, driving with your legs and arms.
Bonus Exercise: Bear Crawl with a Weighted Vest or Resistance Chains
Exercise Overview: A challenging full-body exercise that combines strength, power, and core stability.
Equipment Needed: Roque Echo Weight Vest, resistance chains
Benefits:
- Builds upper and lower body strength
- Improves core stability and coordination
- Enhances cardiovascular fitness
- Increases explosive power
Muscles Targeted: Shoulders, chest, triceps, core, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.
How to:
- Put on a weighted vest or attach resistance chains to your waist.
- Assume a quadruped position or all-fours position.
- Engage your core and keep your back flat.
- Elevate your knees 1″ off the ground and slowly move forward, one hand and opposite foot at a time, maintaining a low, controlled pace.
Couch’s Tip
Focus on keeping your hips low throughout the movement.
Full-Body Training Program (Includes Sled Push Alternatives)
This workout is designed to help you build strength, power, and endurance. It includes a warm-up, activation exercises, strength training, conditioning, and a cool-down.
Warm-up: 5 minutes of foam rolling and dynamic mobility drills (hip circles, arm circles, leg swings, torso twists).
- Activation: 10-12 reps of mini-band work each exercise: Monster walks, lateral walks, glute bridges, arm circles, superband pull-aparts
- Strength: Complete 3 sets of 8-12 reps of the following exercises:
- 1a. Dumbbell Snatch (Perform 3 x 5-8 reps. Rest 1 min and repeat)
- 2a. Goblet Squats
- 2b. Vertical Pull Exercises – Pullups or T-Bar Lat Pulldowns
- 3a. Slideboard Reverse Lunges
- 3b. Horizontal Pull Exercises: Dumbbell Rows or Cable Seated Rows
- 4a . Dumbbell Hip thrusts
- 4b. Side Plank/Front Plank/Side Plank (20 seconds – 30 seconds each)
- Conditioning: Complete 3 rounds of the following:
- 30 seconds of SkillMill sled push
- 30 seconds of weighted vest bear crawl
- 30 seconds of mountain climbers
- 30 seconds of rest
- Cool-down: 5-10 minutes of foam rolling, stick mobility and static stretching. Examples: Pigeon, 90/90, spiderman, hamstring stretch, quad stretch, calf stretch, triceps stretch, child’s pose.
Conclusion
By incorporating these sled push alternatives into your routine, you can elevate your workouts and achieve your fitness goals. Remember, consistency is key. Stay committed to your training, listen to your body, and gradually increase the intensity and resistance. With dedication and the right approach, you can unlock your full potential and experience significant improvements in strength, power, and overall athletic performance. So, what are you waiting for? Start incorporating these alternative exercises into your routine today!
Until next time,
Christian Graham—NSCA-CPT, CFSC2, FMS2, KB, VIPR
Functional Strength & Mobility Specialist – @Body360Fit
PS. And remember, you’re just one workout away…
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If you have have any questions regarding how to properly program any of these variations, please ask in the comments below. You can also send me a message via the contact form. I’d love to hear from you!
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