I first learned about the immense value of sled work way back in 2008 from legendary strength and conditioning Joe DeFranco. Joe frequently pushed the value of what he called HASD's, or "heavy ass sled drags," where the goal was basically to lean way forward like you were accelerating into a sprint and pull as much weight behind you as humanly possible. The idea being that this would ingrain proper acceleration mechanics while simultaneously strengthening the applicable muscles in the required positions, basically creating a double whammy effect for improving acceleration capacity.

After reading about these ideas I started experimenting with a bit of heavy sled dragging as well as lighter explosive resisted sprints with the sled. I was able to improve my sprinting speed substantially with these training methods, especially my ability to accelerate powerfully in the first few strides.

Over the years I have used the sled for everything ranging from hard and heavy work, to light explosive work, as well as conditioning work. The versatility of the sled is part of what makes it so valuable!

This particular training cycle was the first time where I ever had access to a nice stretch of turf with a fancy prowler sled and unlimited weights to load into it. So I decided to start training HASD's (heavy ass sled drags, or pushes in this case) 2x per week. Each session I would work my way up to the heaviest weight I could push for about a 15-20yd stretch. After that I would strip 100-200lbs off the sled and do a few back off sets. I worked in this fashion for approximately 3 months and ultimately I ended up knocking out this big set with 1,000lbs loaded onto the prowler!

This is one of my favorite training cycles that I've ever done.