The World's Best Hand & Grip Strength Training Instruction
What's in the bag...
A Bulgarian Wrestling Coach's #1 'Secret Weapon' for Super Strength
and Unstoppable Conditioning
Something Different Than "Weight-room" Strength...
I've been around strength training for a long time and thought I had seen it all...but I was dead wrong.
See, I've seen or tried almost every kind of barbell, dumbbell, kettelebell, strength machine, or workout gizmo you can think of. I've
researched almost every training technique known to man and I've read enough training books and old-time magazines to fill
an Olympic-size swimming pool - but I had never seen anything like the mysterious bags (or rather what was in them) that appeared
under the Christmas Tree this year...
They weren't quite heavy enough to be solid weights so that was out - and they sure weren't kettlebells either. It wasn't dumbbells,
it wasn't cables, it wasn't anything I could have guessed - but when I finally did find out their contents...
Before I can reveal the secret of what was in those bags, there is someone I want to tell you about first...
Who is Ivan Ivanov?
Ivan Ivanov coaching one of his wrestlers
Ivan Ivanov was a six-time Greco-Roman Wrestling National champion in his home country of Bulgaria as well as a 3-Time winner of the Nikola Petrov
Grand Pre-International tournament and the 1995 Petrov Gold Belt winner.
Ivan placed 5th at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the 62 kg class.
When his competitve career ended in 1997, Ivan was brought to U.S.A. wrestling to
coach and help develop Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States.
After a stint as an Assistant Resident Greco-Roman wrestling coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the
Treehouse Athletic Club in Utah, Ivan was hired to serve as Head Greco-Roman wrestling coach at the Olympic Training
and Education Center (USOEC) in the city of Marquette, Michigan.
At the USOEC, Ivan sure had his work cut out for him - he had to basically build his team from scratch since Greco-Roman style wrestling
isn't as popular in America as it is in other countries.
In less than 4 years, Ivan Ivanov was able to build the Greco-Roman Wrestling Program at the USOEC into
one of the top programs in the United States, and in 2006, four of his athletes medaled in global competition.
While he was building up his athletes, Ivan wanted to implement some of the techniques and training methods that had
led to his successful career. One thing that he had always relied upon back in Bulgaria was
intense work with various kinds of dummies and throwing bags.
Throwing dummies were easy enough to find but
there was a unique training bag that he had used back in Bulgaria which he could not find in the United States.
He made some mock-up versions so his wrestlers could train with them. This made such a noticeable difference that he
had more substantial versions of these bags made up.
The result became Ivan Ivanov's Bulgarian Training Bags and now they
are not only a valuable part of the program at the USOEC, they are helping athletes around the world achieve Gold Medal performances.
"The training on the bags really helped me to prepare my athletes to win the High School
state championships in Utah and cadet and junior nationals in Greco-Roman Wrestling in
Chicago and Fargo. We use the bags almost every day for different types of training with
our team at the Olympic Training Center in Marquette, Michigan." - Ivan Ivanov
Bulgarian Training Bags: Something New Under The Sun?
Swinging and/or training with unusual and unbalanced objects is nothing new - the wrestlers of India have been doing
this for centuries.
The exercises certainly aren't new either but the bags themselves are like nothing that anyone has ever seen before - specially designed and
crafted for a unique training experience.
These Bulgarian training bags are made of the highest quality tough leather, then hand-sewn and stuffed to perfection.
The bags are flexible, durable, and highly-respected among elite athletes in wrestling, Judo, and martial arts.
These bags can be swung in sport-specific wrestling drills, carried to add weight to bodyweight movements,
or thrown for the best upper body combat workout you've ever had.
Builds Something Different Than "Weight-room" Strength
Ivan's training bags infuse elements of sandbag training, odd obect lifting, and traditional ancient Indian training techniques such as jori (heavy Indian Clubs)
and gada (mace) swinging to produce a unique combat training tool.
You can also use these bags for new applications of "freeweight" exercises as well as a way to efficiently add resistance to bodyweight movements.
Due to the unique "yoke" shape, these bags can be used for a variety of effective movements such as squats, lunges, hill/stair running, full body
and half-moon swings, bridging, side-to-side "core" and abdominal work, good-mornings, "ground work," overhead pressing, hammer curls - the possibilities are endless!
A look at some of the unique exercises that can be done with Bulgarian Training Bags
Built for Wrestlers but Made for Every Athlete
Even though the Bulgarian Training Bags were built for wrestlers, every athlete can benefit from them. Upper-body strength,
lower-body strength, conditioning...all very important - but there is somthing else...Athletes in every sport have to be strong -
and they have to be in shape - but most of all they have to be tough...If there is one
thing, above all else, that these bags will help develop - it's mental toughness.
Weights are good - but when it comes to weights, many athletes are conditioned to do a certain number of reps and then stop.
With the Bulgarian Training Bags, the set only ends when you've had enough...and
you'll be able to push yourself farther than you ever thought you could.
"...The Bulgarian Training Bag is a great sport-specific conditioning device
for all grappling sports. The training bag adds a lot to classic exercises and makes
them more challenging.
There are a lot of very unique drills that can only be done
with this bag. I would recommend the Bulgarian throwing dummy and training bag to
grapplers of any style. Thanks again for introducing these fine products here in the U.S."
5 Sizes of Training Bags for All Sizes of Athletes:
The Bulgarian Training bags come in 5 different sizes:
Extra Large Training Bag
(not pictured at right): 50 lbs.
Large Training Bag: 37 lbs.
Medium Training Bag: 26 lbs.
Small Training Bag: 17 lbs.
Extra Small Training Bag: 11 lbs.
Detailed Training Materials Included
There's nothing worse than getting a brand new piece of training equipment but having no clue how to use it to get results.
Each Bulgarian Training Bag comes with the instructional DVD which illustrates over 30 different exercises and training methods.
You will also get a chance to witness an incredibly intense 10-minute workout sequence performed by training
bag creator Ivan Ivanov.
My First Workout with the Bulgarian Training Bags
Combat Core Strength!
I think now would be a pretty good time to tell you what about my first workout with the Bulgarian Training Bags - and why I like them so much.
So there I was, having just walked in the door after an early morning run with my sister and those bags were calling my name. My run was through
the hilly Cincinnati streets at dawn - only about a mile and a half or so.
That particular route is challenging by itself but I wanted to supplement it with something else and that
is exactly what was going through my head when I noticed the bags - sitting there - waiting to be picked up and
trained with...Now was the time.
Although I now have a full set to train with, back then I only had two of the bags: the "Medium" Bag (at 26 lbs.) and the "Large"
Bag (at 37 lbs.). Right there in the front hallway, I began slow with the smaller of the two bags - one minute of "around the worlds"
to wake up the core. Then one minute of swings, followed by good-mormings and ab-twists.
I was feeling pretty good after the run but you bet the ol' heart rate was starting to climb again.
I grabbed the big bag and repeated the circuit but this time it was no walk in the park - the "around-the-worlds" with the
heavy bag had fried my midsection.
The intensity of everything else that followed was kicked up a notch as a result. The only thing
that I changed during the second circuit was to put the heavy bag across my shoulders and jog up and down the front steps.
I followed this up by a final round of "around-the-worlds" with the smaller bag and called it a day. All in all, 15 minutes of running
followed by 15 minutes of bag work and I felt as solid as a rock and ready to take on the world.
A few days later I repeated this workout but those bags felt a little lighter - Hmmmm. Now here's the interesting thing - after a month of
having added the bags to my routine, I've lost an inch off my waist without changing anything else...
Wonder where I'll be after a few more months of this?
My rule of thumb has always been that great equipment makes you want to use it and gets you fired up to train.
These Bulgarian Training Bags passed that
test with flying colors which is the only reason they are here right now. I know you'll feel the same way once you try them for yourself.
Grab a set and get trainin' - you'll be glad you did!
Train hard,
John Wood
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