How to do a Sled Push

Reviewed by JP Michelsen, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology

About Sled Push

Sets Logged
100,415
Popularity Rank
610th
Difficulty
Intermediate
Hamstrings Strength
64 mSCORE 82nd
Equipment Required
  • Photo of Sled
    Sled

Target muscles worked

Primary Muscles
Hamstrings
Secondary Muscles
Shoulders, Quads, Glutes, Chest, Calves

Instructions for Proper Form

Sled Push is an explosive exercise that involves pushing a weighted sled across the ground, usually for a duration or distance. This is a great full body exercise that can easily fit into your lower body or push days. This exercise has plenty of functional applications, and is often used to improve sport performance.

  1. Grab ahold the prowler sled with extended arms by either the high or low handles.
  2. Angle your torso to 45 degrees with the ground and flex your right leg underneath your chest with your left leg extended behind you, both feet on the ground.
  3. Drive the sled forward taking short strides for an allotted distance.

Common Form Mistakes

  • Hips Up

    Allowing your hips to rise can lead to rounding your back. This will make you less effective at pushing the sled, as well as increase your risk of injury. Drop you hips down, and focus on driving into the sled.

Alternative Exercises to Sled Push

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  1. 1. Seated Leg Curl

    Photo of Seated Leg Curl being performed
    98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 148 TIMES

    Seated Leg Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. Because a vast majority of lower body exercises tend to be compound movements, this exercise is a great way to isolate the hamstrings for building muscle mass, and developing strength. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability, allowing you to focus on exertion more than stabilizing the movement.

  2. 2. Lying Hamstrings Curl

    Photo of Lying Hamstrings Curl being performed
    95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 104 TIMES

    Lying Hamstring Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. There’s a relatively short list of isolation exercises for lower body muscle groups. Because of this, this is a great addition to a lower body workout in order to build strength and muscle mass in the hamstrings specifically. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability to the movement, allowing you to focus on exertion rather than stabilizing the movement.

  3. 3. Sled Drag

    Photo of Sled Drag being performed
    24.3 mSCORESWAPPED 99 TIMES

    Sled Drag is an explosive exercise that involves pulling a weighted sled across the ground, usually for a duration or distance. This full-body exercise targets the glutes, hamstrings, and back muscles, and it can easily fit into lower body or pull days. Sled Drags enhance functional strength and are often used to improve athletic performance and overall conditioning.

  4. 4. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

    Photo of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift being performed
    97.6 mSCORESWAPPED 90 TIMES

    This exercise is a variation on Romanian Deadlifts. Like other Romanian Deadlifts, this is a compound exercise that primarily targets your hamstrings and glutes. The use of dumbbells can help with some limitations in mobility, and is a great starting point for anyone working towards performing Deadlifts or Romanian Deadlifts with a barbell.

  5. 5. Kettlebell Sumo Squat

    Photo of Kettlebell Sumo Squat being performed
    87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 76 TIMES

    Kettlebell Sumo Squat is a squat variation. Like other squat variations, this exercise is a compound movement that targets the hamstrings, glutes and quads. Positioning your feet wider than you would for a standard squat helps to recruit the inner thigh, as well as help individuals with mobility limitations.

  6. 6. Sled Pull

    Photo of Sled Pull being performed
    25.9 mSCORESWAPPED 76 TIMES

    Sled Pull is an explosive exercise that involves pulling a weighted sled, usually for a distance or duration. This compound movement primarily targets the legs and back, but also engages the core and arms for stability. It's an excellent exercise for building strength, power, and endurance. It's often used to improve sport performance, particularly in activities that require strong pulling movements.

  7. 7. Kettlebell Swing

    Photo of Kettlebell Swing being performed
    87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 62 TIMES

    Kettlebell Swing is a compound, explosive movement that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes. This is a great exercise for improving power and explosiveness. It's especially helpful in developing glute drive which can help improve a number of different exercises, and sport performance.

  8. 8. Good Morning

    Photo of Good Morning being performed
    90.4 mSCORESWAPPED 55 TIMES

    Good Morning’s are a compound exercise that primarily target muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), but especially the hamstrings, and lower back. While this can be an effective exercise, there is some risk to performing this exercise with a loaded barbell on your back. If you’re unfamiliar with this exercise, try starting with a dumbbell variation as you learn the movement.

  9. 9. Romanian Deadlift

    Photo of Romanian Deadlift being performed
    98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 51 TIMES

    Romanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Deadlift. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets your glutes, and hamstrings. Unlike the standard Deadlift, this variation focuses mostly on driving your hips forward to raise the weight, and restricts movement in your knees. This is a great exercise for building strength, and can translate well to other exercises that utilize a hip hinge.

  10. 10. Deadlift

    Photo of Deadlift being performed
    98.7 mSCORESWAPPED 50 TIMES

    Deadlift is one of the three powerlifting movements. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), and is great for developing strength in these muscles. It’s a staple in most programs, and is often used as a metric for tracking strength.