A sledgehammer workout is a full-body conditioning session built around swinging a sledgehammer into a tire, and you can set one up for less than fifty dollars. The sledgehammer costs $25 to $50, the tire is free at the dump, and the workout I demonstrate in this Physical Friday is simple: 25 sledge swings, 25 burpees, repeated four times for 100 swings and 100 burpees total. I filmed this during the lockdown when fitness equipment was sold out everywhere, because fitness should never be expensive or exclusive.
Watch now: press play above to see the full demonstration, or listen in the player on this page.
You need two things: a sledgehammer and a tire. The sledgehammer costs $25 to $50 and comes in 8-pound and 12-pound versions. The tire can be free — I got mine at the dump, where there is a trailer full of them. Pick one that fits in your garage or backyard and bring it home. That is the entire setup, and it delivers one of the oldest, most time-tested workouts there is.
The workout is 25 sledge swings followed by 25 burpees, repeated four times. That totals 100 sledge swings and 100 burpees, and I guarantee you are going to have a good workout. Swing the hammer as hard as you possibly can on every rep — the intensity is the point.
Either works, and the choice comes down to your current strength and conditioning. Both fall in the $25 to $50 range. If you are new to swinging a sledgehammer, start with the 8-pound model and work up. The tire and your intensity do most of the work either way.
Add the tire jump. Do a burpee on one side of the tire, jump through the tire, do a burpee on the other side, and jump all the way through again. Combining the jumps with the swings and burpees turns an already tough workout into a serious conditioning test.
Start out slow and get to know your tire before you go hard. Every tire bounces differently, and you need to understand how much it bounces and where, so the hammer does not bounce back up and hit you in the face. Once you know your equipment, work up the intensity. I also recommend switching sides during the workout so you develop both sides of your body evenly.
Absolutely. There is nothing better than swinging a sledgehammer to get rid of frustration or stress. When you are upset, you swing that hammer with authority and intensity, and I promise you are going to feel better. It is physical training and mental therapy in one tool.
Here is the exact workout I demonstrate in the video, step by step.
When the lockdown hit and every fitness manufacturer sold out, a lot of people figured they could not train anymore. I think that is exactly backwards. Fitness does not need to be expensive, and it does not need to be exclusive to anybody. You can find it all over the place — at your house, at the dump, at places nobody associates with a gym. Some of the oldest and most effective training tools are simple household things. I explain my whole philosophy on this in the episode, so press play above.
The one thing about swinging a sledgehammer is that you want to do it with great intensity. This is not a casual movement. You hit that tire about 25 times, as hard as you possibly can, and you swing with authority on every single rep. I demonstrate the full swing, the rhythm, and the switch from side to side in the video. Watch the demonstration above to see exactly how it looks.
You are combining a powerful rotational striking movement with burpees, which means power, grip, core, shoulders, and conditioning all get hit in one session. One hundred swings and one hundred burpees will humble anyone, regardless of fitness level. There is also the mental side — channeling whatever frustration you are carrying into each strike. I get into why this combination works so well in the episode, so press play above.
This Physical Friday gets back to the fundamentals of what fitness really is. A $25 hammer and a free tire can give you everything a sold-out equipment catalog promises. The workout is brutally simple and brutally effective.
Get your sledgehammer, find a tire, start slow, and then go to town. Press play above to see the full demonstration.
Rogue Fitness · sledgehammer training · tire workouts · burpees · home gym alternatives · lockdown training · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the workouts, nutrition habits, and mindset tools that keep guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong on the water and in the field for life.
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