Tip: Ramp Up Your Prowler Training

There are variables when it comes to sled pushing, like the height of the handles, the height of the pusher, and whether you push the sled with straight arms or bent arms. Since the bent-arm style usually involves a slightly more upright torso position, it tends to create a shorter stride length than when you push on the handles with your arms extended.

Most people can push more weight on the Prowler-style sled with the bent-arm pushing style, so the weight-load you use can influence your arm position. When you're pushing heavier loads for shorter distances or durations, you may want to choose the bent-arm position. Conversely, when you're and pushing the sled for longer distances or durations with lighter loads, you may want to go with using the straight-arm position.

Straight Arm vs. Bent-Arm Sled Pushes

Here's how to take advantage of this straight arm/bent arm distinction and get more out of your Prowler work:

• Straight-Arm, Then Bent-Arm With Same Weight: Take advantage of the fact that the bent-arm position is slightly easier because of the reduced range of (stride) motion. You can increase your work volume by extending a set of pushes by switching from the straight-arm version to the bent-arm version when fatigue starts to set in.
• Straight-Arm, Then Bent-Arm With Heavier Weight: Do 2-3 sets of straight-arm pushes. Then do a few more sets of bent-arm pushes using a heavier load for roughly the same distance or duration.
• Bent-Arm, Then Straight-Arm With Lighter Weight: This is the reverse of the previous strategy. Do a few sets of pushes with bent-arms, followed by a few more set with a straight-arm using a lighter weight. In this scenario, the bent-arm sets are done first using heavy loads for shorter distances or durations. You then do the straight-arm sets with lighter loads for longer distances or durations.