# Sled Push: how to do it

- Main muscles: quads, glutes
- Also works: calves, cardio
- Equipment: sled
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/sled_push/485d37d6fb/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Hold the sled's uprights near the top with your arms nearly straight.
2. Walk your feet back until your body leans forward at about 45°.
3. Drive one knee forward and push the floor back with the ball of your foot.
4. Keep stepping powerfully, straightening each back leg fully.

## Cues

- Lean in, straight line head to heel.
- Push through the balls of your feet.
- Finish every step with a straight leg.

## Common mistakes

- Rounding your back: brace your stomach and keep your head in line.
- Heels touching down: stay on the balls of your feet.
- Tiny shuffling steps: drive the knee and push each leg all the way back.

## The version in our demo

High-grip sled push: hands near the tops of the uprights, arms nearly straight, body leaning about 45°, driving steps on the balls of the feet. Healthline names the high grip as the safer starting position; the low-grip (body near horizontal) push is advanced and is not shown.

## Starting position

Standing behind a loaded sled, hands on the uprights near the top, about shoulder-width apart. Walk the feet back until the body leans forward about 45° in a straight line from head to back heel, arms nearly straight. Abs braced, spine neutral, head in line with the eyes on the floor 1–2 m ahead. Feet hip-width, on the balls of the feet with the heels off the floor.

## The movement

Drive the sled forward by stepping like an accelerating sprinter: one knee drives forward under the body and the foot lands under the hips, then pushes down and back through the ball of the foot until that hip and knee are fully extended behind; the other leg drives forward as it finishes. The trunk angle, arm position and hip height stay constant; the hips stay level and do not sway.

## Breathing

Short, steady breaths in rhythm with the steps; brace without holding the breath for long.

## Form in numbers

- Body line about 45° from vertical throughout (Healthline, Breaking Muscle).
- Elbows bent 10–20°, hands near the top of the uprights at about head height in the lean.
- Step length 40–50 cm; heels stay 3–5 cm off the floor on every step.
- Hips level side to side, within about 3 cm.

## Sources

1. [Healthline, "Sled Push: How to Use It to Build Power, Speed, & Endurance"](https://www.healthline.com/health/sled-push)
2. [Breaking Muscle, "A Six-Week Sled Training Program"](https://breakingmuscle.com/a-six-week-sled-training-program/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/sled-push