Training guide
To push a sled, you grip the uprights with long, stiff arms, lean in until your body makes one straight line from head to heels, and drive it forward with short, punchy steps, pushing the ground away behind you. Light and fast, it trains acceleration; heavy and slow, leg strength; repeated with short rests, it's hard interval work. Because the sled only resists, there's almost no lowering phase, so even hard sessions leave little soreness.
The evidence is better for speed than for anything else. In the one sled-push training trial, in schoolboys, 8 weeks of pushes beat plain sprints over 5 to 20 m, though reviews of mostly towed sleds find a sled often no better than the same sprints without one. No study has measured the energy cost of pushing a sled or tested it for knee pain.
This guide covers the technique, straight or bent arms, how heavy (set by speed rather than by the plates), how far and how often, the Hyrox sled, what to do without a sled, and the warning signs.
Grip the uprights with long, stiff arms, lean in until your body is one line from head to heels at roughly 45 degrees, and drive the sled with short, punchy steps on the balls of your feet. Pushing puts you further forward than pulling a sled, makes your arms push, and meets more friction.
Source 1
In 10 trained men, a maximal sled push worked the front and back of the thighs about as hard as a 10-rep-max squat, the calves 61% harder and the lower back far less. The sled only resists, so there's almost no lowering: after a hard session of backward drags, a blood marker of muscle damage didn't rise.
In 50 schoolboys, 8 weeks of sled-push sprints improved 5 to 20 m times more than plain sprints. Reviews, mostly of sleds towed behind, find sleds improve short acceleration but often no more than the same sprints without one, and heavier sleds helped mainly trained athletes.
In schoolboys, the load that slowed them by a quarter ranged from 23 to 42% of their body weight. Floors differ too: by our estimate, the same sled can feel two or three times heavier on a grippy floor than a slippery one. For speed keep it fast, for strength keep your body line, for fitness keep it moving.
4 to 8 pushes of 15 to 20 m with a load you can keep moving briskly, walking back between, is the move page's editorial starting point; for speed, 4 to 6 short, fast pushes of 10 to 20 m. The sled-push trial trained twice a week for 8 weeks.
Source 4
Older adults completed a progressive session on a sled-push machine with no adverse events, and recreational Hyrox racers push a 102 kg or 152 kg race sled (including the sled) in about 2 minutes. A light sled at a brisk walk is a beginner's exercise.
You push a loaded sled across turf, rubber or a track, leaning into it with your arms locked and driving with your legs. Compared with pulling a sled, pushing puts you in a more forward position, makes your arms push, and meets more friction from the sled's larger contact with the floor; research on pushing is scarcer than on pulling.
It's also called a prowler push, after one brand's sled. A sled drag or pull is different: the sled is behind you on a strap or rope, or you walk backwards facing it.
Source 1
In 10 resistance-trained men, a 20-step maximal sled push drew about as much activity from the front and back of the thigh and the deep tummy muscles as a 10-rep-max back squat, 61% more from the calves and far less from the lower back muscles (the squat drew 74.5% more). Your glutes drive your hips, and your arms and trunk brace rather than move. Muscle activity in one session shows effort, not what a muscle will build.
Source 2
Soreness comes mostly from muscles lengthening under load, and a sled has almost none of that. In 11 strength-trained men, a hard session of backward drags (5 sets of two 20 m drags at 75% of body weight) raised lactate to 12.4 mmol/L and dulled jump power for up to 3 hours, but didn't raise a blood marker of muscle damage. That was a drag, not a push.
Source 3
Comfortable brisk walking and a confident hip hinge, as the move page asks. A session of backward sled drags is a good introduction.
The load that slowed schoolboys by a set amount varied about twofold between them. The floor matters: friction on four sports surfaces ranged from 0.21 to 0.58, and on an athletics track it changed with speed. Empty sleds differ too (the one in a 2025 study weighed 40 kg), so the same plates mean different totals. Shorter people often find the high handles with straight arms easiest, and taller people the low handles (our suggestion).
From our sled push move page and its demo, which shows the tall uprights. Keeping your arms and body angle fixed through the push is our suggestion.
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The movement on the figure: Sled push
We found no study of sled-push technique: body angle, arm position or handle height. What follows is coaching practice and our reading.
Your leg drive passes straight into the sled, and it's the easiest way to learn. Start here.
Your body sits lower, closer to a sprint start, and your chest, triceps and trunk work harder to hold the position.
Whichever you choose, keep your arms in one position through the push. Bending and straightening them as you go wastes the drive from your legs.
Your lower back arches. Brace and shorten your steps, keeping one line from head to heels, as the move page cues.
You end up pushing with your arms. Drop your hips into the line and drive with your legs (our suggestion).
You're jogging behind the sled. Take short, quick steps and push the ground back behind you.
Look at the floor a few metres ahead, as the move page cues.
If it won't move at walking pace, take weight off rather than straining against it, as the move page advises.
Keep breathing. Heavy efforts against a held breath sent blood pressure to an average of 320/250 mmHg in bodybuilders.
Source 14
Wear grippy shoes and use a clear, even lane.
In 90 schoolboys, the sled-push load that cut their top speed by a quarter ranged from 23 to 42% of their body weight, by a half from 45 to 85%, and by three quarters from 69 to 131%. Each boy's load and speed fell on a straight line, so by our reading a few test pushes can find your own loads. These ranges come from schoolboys: adults will differ, which is why we set the load by how the sled moves.
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Friction on four sports surfaces ranged from 0.21 to 0.58 in tests with a towed sled, and on an athletics track it changed with speed. By our estimate, the same sled can feel two or three times heavier on the grippiest floor than on the slipperiest, so compare loads only on the same floor.
For speed, a load you can still move fast. For strength, a load that moves slowly while your body stays in a line. For fitness, a load you can keep moving briskly for 20 to 40 seconds. That's our editorial guidance; the move page's rule of thumb is to take weight off if the sled won't move at walking pace.
4 to 6 pushes of 10 to 20 m with a light sled, walking back and resting 1 to 2 minutes between: the prowler sprint move page's editorial starting point. The sled-push trial trained twice a week for 8 weeks, so give it 6 to 8 weeks before you judge it.
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4 to 8 pushes of 15 to 20 m with a load you can keep moving briskly, walking back between: the sled push move page's editorial starting point.
6 to 10 pushes of 20 to 40 seconds with 60 to 90 seconds' rest, once or twice a week as one of your hard sessions, as our high-intensity interval training (HIIT) guide counts them (our editorial starting point).
In 20 rugby league players, one push at 75% of body weight made 20 m sprints 1 to 2% faster 4 to 12 minutes later; at 125% they were slower. In 16 under-18 footballers, two sets of two 15 m pushes at their body weight, the day before a match, went with faster sprints and higher jumps 24 hours later.
Add load, distance, pushes or speed, or cut the rest: one thing at a time (our suggestion).
Step-ups, 2 sets of 8 to 10 each leg, as our Hyrox strength and beginner strongman workouts swap them in; or hill sprints, 6 to 8 runs of 8 to 10 seconds, walking down, as our sprint guide suggests. Some treadmills have a sled setting; we found no study of them.
In 50 high school athletes, 8 weeks of sled-push sprints twice a week, with loads that cut their speed by a quarter, a half or three quarters, improved 5 to 20 m times in all three groups (effect sizes 0.34 to 1.16), most over the first 5 m and most in the heaviest group. Plain sprints didn't improve them significantly. It's one trial, in schoolboys.
Source 4
Across 13 studies of towed sleds, sled training improved acceleration (effect size 0.61) and full sprints (0.36) but not top speed, and controlled studies found it no better than the same training without a sled. In team-sport players (21 studies of resisted sprints) and young footballers (sleds or vests), resisted sprints were no better than plain sprints overall; towed sleds improved 5 and 10 m times but not 20 m in another review of 14 studies with a high risk of bias, and an earlier review called the advantage equivocal.
Across 49 studies of 1,281 people, 90% of them men, resisted sprints beat unresisted sprints overall, but only with moderate (20 to 50% of body weight) and very heavy (80% or more) loads, mainly in trained athletes, with little gain in recreationally active people. The authors conclude that light sleds or none are probably enough for recreational players.
Source 7
An umbrella review of 15 reviews found the most consistent benefit in acceleration over 20 m or less, mostly in young male team-sport athletes; results for top speed and sprinting mechanics were inconsistent, and the certainty of the evidence ranged from very low to high.
Source 19
One push at 75% of body weight made 20 m sprints 0.95 to 1.80% faster 4 to 12 minutes later in 20 rugby league players, and heavy pushes the day before a match went with faster sprints (effect size 1.41) and higher jumps 24 hours later in 16 young footballers. These are small crossover studies.
In 10 resistance-trained men, a maximal push matched a 10-rep-max back squat for front-thigh, back-thigh and deep tummy activity, with 61% more calf activity and far less lower-back activity. No training study has tested whether pushing builds muscle like squatting.
Source 2
In 36 healthy older adults randomised to a progressive session on a sled-push machine or to walking, everyone completed it, there were no adverse events, and a third reported minimal discomfort. Heart rate, blood pressure, lactate and effort rose with speed, and overall enjoyment was similar to walking. It was one exploratory session, on a machine rather than a free sled.
Source 10
In 30 rugby players over 7 weeks, traditional strength training improved sled-push performance slightly more than strongman training did, while both improved strength, power and speed.
Source 20
In a simulated Hyrox race, the sled push was the quickest station for 11 recreational racers (a median of 2.1 minutes), and running fitness, not strength, went with faster finishing times.
Source 11
We found no study of sled-push technique, of pushing for knee pain or knee rehabilitation, or of the energy cost of pushing as conditioning. The advice on those points is coaching practice and our reading.
50 m as 4 lanes of 12.5 m. In the 2026/27 singles rulebook, the sled weighs 102 kg including the sled for women, 152 kg for Women Pro and men, and 202 kg for Men Pro. The whole sled must pass the 12.5 m line before you change direction. Doubles and relay races have their own rulebooks, which we didn't check.
Source 12
Our Hyrox strength workout uses 4 to 6 pushes of 12.5 m, building towards race weight, with step-ups if your gym has no sled; the compromised running workout pushes 25 m between runs.
Each move page's editorial starting point: prowler sprints, 4 to 6 pushes of 10 to 20 m, walking back; sled pushes, 4 to 8 pushes of 15 to 20 m; backward sled drags, 4 to 6 drags of 20 to 30 m with a light to moderate load, resting 1 to 2 minutes (kind to the knees, the move page says); fast backward drags and harness drags, 4 to 6 drags of 20 m, resting 1 to 2 minutes; sled rows, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12; bear crawl sled drags, 4 to 6 crawls of 10 to 20 m with a light sled. Clear the lane behind you before every backward drag.
3D demoProwler sprint (light sled push)Beginner · A sled
3D demoSled pushIntermediate · A sled
3D demoBackward sled dragIntermediate · A sled
3D demoFast backward sled dragBeginner · A sled
3D demoHarness sled dragBeginner · A sled
3D demoSled rowBeginner · A sled
3D demoBear crawl sled dragIntermediate · A sledStep-ups, 2 sets of 8 to 10 each leg (our Hyrox strength workout); hill sprints, 6 to 8 runs of 8 to 10 seconds, walking down (our sprint guide); or accelerations of 15 m with a walk back and 1 to 2 minutes' rest (our sprint speed workout). Nothing copies the push exactly.
Warm up with walking lunges, 6 steps each leg, and knee-to-wall rocks, 10 each side (its move page's dose); the acceleration wall drill, 3 rounds, teaches the same lean and knee drive. Build strength with goblet squats, single-leg calf raises (2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side, as our Hyrox strength workout) and farmer's carries, and finish with the hip flexor and calf stretches, 30 seconds each side.
3D demoWalking lungeIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoKnee-to-wall ankle rockBeginner · A wall
3D demoAcceleration wall drillBeginner · A wall
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoFarmer's carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoHalf-kneeling hip flexor stretchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoWall calf stretch (gastrocnemius)Beginner · A wallOur sled workout has a speed track and a fitness track, then backward drags and sled rows. The Hyrox and strongman workouts use the push at race lanes or at its move page's dose, and the sprint speed workout is the plain-sprint session a sled adds to.
A 40-minute sled session: short, light pushes for speed or steadier pushes for fitness, then backward drags, sled rows and an optional bear crawl drag.
40 minIntermediate13 movesCardio machine, A wallA 50-minute strength session for Hyrox and fitness races: squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, sleds or step-ups, thrusters, carries, calf raises and planks.
50 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallA 60-minute fitness-race session: four 1 km runs at goal pace, each followed by stations at half race distance, from rowing and sleds to lunges and thrusters.
60 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A sledA 60-minute strongman starter session for an ordinary gym: trap bar deadlifts, goblet squats, clean and presses, farmer's and suitcase carries and sled pushes.
60 minBeginner13 movesCardio machine, A wallA 40-minute strongman conditioning circuit: 3 rounds of sled drags, farmer's carries, kettlebell clean and jerks and swings, each about 30 seconds of hard work.
40 minIntermediate9 movesCardio machine, A wallA 45-minute speed session: running drills, five short accelerations and three flying sprints with full rest, then Nordic curls and calf raises.
45 minIntermediate11 movesCardio machine, A wallThe Hyrox training plan uses the sled push in its strength and compromised running sessions, building towards race weight.
Keep breathing through every push and keep loads moderate while your blood pressure isn't controlled, as the move page advises; heavy efforts with a held breath drive blood pressure very high. With heart disease, ask your cardiac team before hard pushes. The American Heart Association calls strength training safe and effective for adults with and without heart disease.
No trial has tested sled pushing for knee pain. Start light, stay a little more upright, and try backward drags, which the move page calls kind to the knees; follow our knee pain guides' pain rule (our suggestion).
The push drives through the balls of your feet. With a sore Achilles or calf, start light and short, and see our Achilles and calf pain guides (our suggestion).
A sled-push machine session suited healthy older adults in one study. Start with a light sled at a walk, on a clear, even floor, and build up over weeks (our suggestion).
Source 10
The NHS advises against starting a new vigorous activity in pregnancy, and says strength training is fine if you already do it. If you already push a sled, keep it light and steady, breathe throughout, and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell.
Source 22
For chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting, or a racing or irregular heartbeat during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
Source 21
For sudden chest pain or discomfort that doesn't go away, pain that spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint; a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful; or the signs of a stroke, even if they've stopped. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Stop, sit or lie down, and breathe normally, as our breathing guide advises. If someone faints while exercising, call 999.
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Same day (call NHS 111, or go to A&E if you feel very unwell): after a big or unusual session, such as a first sled session or many heavy pushes, muscle pain, swelling or weakness far worse than the session explains, and dark pee (red, brown, tea or cola coloured), sometimes starting hours or days later. Dark pee isn't always there, so muscles far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check. It can be rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle that can harm the kidneys. Call 999 for sudden, severe pain in a swollen, tight muscle, as our pain guides advise.
Same day: a sudden snap or pop at the back of the heel or calf, or a feeling of being kicked there, then walking flat-footed and being unable to push off or stand on tiptoe. It could be an Achilles tendon rupture: go to A&E or a minor injuries unit, or contact NHS 111, as our Achilles rupture guide says. Calf or leg pain or swelling with breathlessness or chest pain is a 999 call.
Get advice from NHS 111 if your knee is very painful, you can't put weight on it, it's badly swollen or has changed shape, or it locks or gives way. Call 999 or go to A&E for back pain with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs, loss of feeling around your genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, or changes in genital sensation during sex.
Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, or the injured part has changed shape, points at an odd angle, is numb or tingling, or has turned blue, grey or cold. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful, badly swollen or bruised, or you can't put weight on it.
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See a GP if you think you have a hernia, and get help from NHS 111 for pain in or around it. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a lump at the top of the thigh) with very bad tummy pain, being sick, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
If you haven't exercised for some time or have a medical condition, speak to your GP first, as the NHS advises. Check with your GP before hard intervals if you're inactive and have heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms when you're active, as our HIIT guide says.
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Healthy older adults completed a progressive session on a sled-push machine with no adverse events and enjoyed it about as much as walking, and recreational racers push a race sled. A light sled at a brisk walk is a beginner's exercise.
In schoolboys the heaviest of three loads helped most, but across 49 studies the extra benefit over plain sprints came from moderate and very heavy loads mainly in trained athletes, with light sleds or none probably enough for recreational players. In team-sport players, sleds were no better than plain sprints overall.
No study has measured the energy cost of pushing a sled, so any calorie figure is a guess. Hard pushes are vigorous work by how they feel, and in a simulated race the push took recreational racers about 2 minutes.
Source 11
No trial has tested it. Sled work has almost no lowering phase, so it leaves little soreness, which is why rehabilitation gyms use it; for knee pain, follow our knee pain guides.
Source 3
Mostly easy functional training improved strength and a benchmark workout as much as mostly hard training, and paced work kept effort well below all-out efforts for the same work. Across 137 reviews, training to momentary fatigue didn't consistently change results.
Mostly your thighs, glutes and calves, with your trunk and arms bracing. In trained men, a maximal push worked the front and back of the thigh about as hard as a heavy squat, the calves harder and the lower back far less.
Either, depending on the load and distance. Heavy, slow pushes train leg strength, light fast ones train acceleration, and repeated moderate pushes with short rests are hard interval work.
Set it by speed, not by the plates. In schoolboys, the load that slowed them by a quarter ranged from about a quarter to two fifths of their body weight, and the same sled can feel much heavier on a grippy floor. For speed keep it moving fast; for strength, heavy but with your body still in a line; for fitness, a load you can keep moving briskly.
No study has compared them. Straight arms on the high handles are the easiest to learn; bent arms or the low handles put you lower and ask more of your arms and trunk. Whichever you choose, keep it the same through the push.
It improves short acceleration. In schoolboys, 8 weeks of sled-push sprints beat plain sprints over 5 to 20 m, but reviews of mostly towed sleds found sleds often no better than the same sprints without one, with heavier loads helping trained athletes most.
Start with 4 to 8 pushes of 15 to 20 m, walking back between. For speed, 4 to 6 short, fast pushes of 10 to 20 m with full rests, twice a week, as in the one training trial.
No study has measured it, so calorie figures are guesses. Judge it by effort instead: if you can say only a few words without pausing for breath, it's vigorous.
No trial has tested sled pushing for knee pain. It has almost no lowering phase, so it leaves little soreness, and backward drags are the gentler choice for sore knees. If your knee locks, gives way or swells, get it checked.
They do different jobs. The push puts you in a sprint-start lean and needs your arms to brace; backward drags work the front of your thighs with little pounding; harness drags let you run upright. Most sled sessions use more than one.
In the 2026/27 singles rulebook, 102 kg including the sled for women, 152 kg for Women Pro and men, and 202 kg for Men Pro, over 4 lanes of 12.5 m. The whole sled must cross each line before you turn it, and doubles and relay races have their own rules.
Step-ups, 2 sets of 8 to 10 each leg, hill sprints of 8 to 10 seconds with a walk back down, or a hard uphill walk train a similar drive. Nothing quite copies the push itself.
If your blood pressure is controlled, keep loads moderate and keep breathing through every push, because heavy efforts with a held breath send blood pressure very high. If it isn't controlled, keep to moderate effort and check with your GP first.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
