Like most people I like to mix up my training now and then.  Perhaps this is a form of fitness ADD, but I feel that a little bit of variety keeps things interesting.  This is important particularly for those of us who aren't professional athletes.  It can be tempting to fall of the exercise wagon and succumb to the lure of fast food in front of the television.  Eighty pounds later you'll be calling your insurance company to see if they cover gastric banding.  The challenge is to keep it fresh but still maintain some consistency.  I am not a huge fan of the schizoid programming that characterizes programs like Crossfit.  (I will put on flame proof garments at this time.)  I am in no way demeaning this fitness cult; anything that keeps people moving is probably better than nothing.  It is however my opinion that such a system takes variety to the extreme and when combined with maximum intensity as advocated by its acolytes, well it is just a recipe for disaster.  Moderation in all things has its advantages, whether we are discussing intensity, variety, or chocolate covered strawberries. 

Now that I've stirred things up lets talk about the new toy.  Remember a while back when I made one of these from a tire inner tube?  Well it leaked.  I was browsing the web about a month ago and I found these Bulgarian Bags on sale.  They were discontinued because a new model came out with a third central handle.  Being the cheapskate that I am I saved a few bucks and bought the cheaper one. Like I said I have owned it for about a month and let me tell you, it is an ass-kicker.  I have been setting aside one training day for variety and I have been working exclusively with the bag during those sessions.  I do a timed mega circuit which includes rotations, overhead swings, jumping squats, pushups, front raises, presses, lunges and a ton of other stuff.  It ends up being about 3 circuits which are nonstop for ten minutes each.  This thing crushes your grip and makes your whole body tired.  I love it but in the middle of the workout I tend to ask myself "why am I doing this again?".  There are a lot of ways to use this.  Fortunately the bag came with a DVD showing a lot of different exercises.

Overall I am impressed not only with the versatility but also the overall quality of the bag.  It is a nice piece of leather and it is sturdy.  It is  not going to fall apart and leave sand all over your gym floor.  There is no comparing this to a homemade version.  Not having to smell like rubber after you are done training is also a big plus.  You just can't seem to wash that smell off.  Ignore this advice and plan on going to bed early because it isn't going to happen.  Trust me pay the extra money.  It is worth it.

These bags are available in different sizes.  I went with the 35 lb bag and if anything maybe I should have went a size smaller.  I'll probably get the smaller one at some point.  The 35 lb bag is recommended for bigger guys around 200lbs so it tends to drag me around a little but that's fine.  I purchased mine from suples.com.

One thing is for sure.  Next family vacation I am taking this instead of a kettlebell.  My main reason it that it is nearly as versatile but will travel better.  I won't have to strap it down and plus it is lighter than a kettlebell.  I have been doing a lot of full squat jumps with this along with my regular kettlebell training and I have developed a lot of respect for this thing.  Overall I am quite pleased with my purchase.