The Prowler II Rules All! 😎
Dr. Chiang runs Northeastern Chiropractic is a regular contributor to the BrinkZone and has written several articles – with more to come – on topics such as rehab and injury prevention for the shoulders and other body parts that tend to cause problems for active populations. As you will see, Dr. Chiang knows hard work in the gym, so he can relate to athletes and active people who have various aches and pains. He’s the guy I see for my aches and pains! The other day I took my camera to Gold’s Gym and got him hitting the Prowler sled with some serious weight!
I use the Prowler with tac teams I have worked with on their performance/fitness, myself, and various athletes from all walks, and nothing comes close as both a conditioning tool and a whole body strength tool.
It is without equal as a single piece of equipment one can own that covers the full spectrum of fitness. Vast majority use it as a GPP/conditioning tool, and it’s great for that. Very few use it as a true strength/power builder, and that’s a mistake. Pile some serious weight on it, and it’s killer for strength/power developer. I have posted many Prowler related vids here in the past.
Basic drag sleds are great, but the Prowler sled is a drag sled on steroids! Some of the uses/benefits are:
• GPP Work
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Strength Training
• Prehabilitation
• Increased Work Capacity
• Hypertrophy
• Starting Strength
• Acceleration Strength
• Strength Endurance
Personally, I tend to rotate it in my own program depending on the goal of the day. It also allows for a lot of variety. It’s tough to say with the Prowler do X weight for X distance types recs as people (obviously) have different strength and or conditioning levels, but also, depends on the surface the prowler is being used on. Makes a huge difference to the level of resistance if its turf, black top, rubber gym flooring, etc.
On a conditioning/GPP focused day, I may push for speed using lighter weight down using the high handles, and back using the low handles X 3 cycles. That’s a simple and tough workout, at least for me…
Want more info on the Prowler? Check out the Approved Stuff section.
Will Brink is the owner of the Brinkzone Blog. Will has over 30 years experience as a respected author, columnist and consultant, to the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively published. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.
His often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors.
He’s also been published in peer reviewed journals.
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Impressive !!! I’d like ot have one of those at my gym. I’m curious how pushing/pulling that much weight would affect the ligaments, tarsal and phalanges joints in the ankles over time??
Like anything, you have to work your way up to higher resistance. I have not seen or met anyone who has had ankle issues from heavy Prowler pushing & pulling, but most do not use sleds for strength development like that and we don’t have large scale data on it either.
I can say, the Prowler is the most joint friendly training tool I have ever used and those with problem knees, etc note little no pain using a sled compared to other movements. My back can be an issues on heavy squats, never nothers me on the Prowler, no matter how much weight/resistance I use.
Maybe Dr Chiang can add additional thoughts on that.
I’ve been wanting to get a prowler for a while. Will they slide on rubber gym flooring? Other things i’ve used don’t slide very well on them. I’ve thought about putting in a strip of turf, but I don’t really have that much space. Has anyone ever seen someone use a roll of turf when they want to do sled work, and roll it up and put it out of the way when their not using it?
If you use a prowler on black top, how severely will it start to damage the prowler sled? I used a cheap dragging sled on black top and within a few months it turned the thing into swiss cheese.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
EFS makes replacement skids specific for rubber flooring, or perhaps you can order the sled with skids for rubber flooring. The standard skids do not work well on rubber flooring. Standard skids are very tough and hold up well on black top. Most prowler sleds get used on black top in the parking lot of some gym. Get one!
I love the prowler!! Nothing like getting a good cardio workout while building some leg muscle in my calves. I use the prowler to build speed with a lot of my high school football players.
Nice article
Brad