What is a Gym Prowler Sled?

It's an intimidating-looking bit of kit, but the Prowler sled is becoming an increasingly popular feature in gyms, especially facilities with a focus on strength and conditioning or the training centres of sports teams. But what might look intimidating is actually a surprisingly simple - though incredibly effective - tool for strength, conditioning, and endurance training.

What is a Prowler Sled?

A Prowler is a heavy sled that can be pushed or pulled along the floor. You may see them referred to simply as a "push sled" or even a "Prowler push sled." This is because, unlike most training sleds, they are designed to be pushed and pulled, instead of just pulled. There are also other sleds on the market that can be pushed, but a gym Prowler will have very specific features that qualify it to be called a Prowler (more on that in a moment). A very short explanation would be that all Prowlers are push sleds, but not all push sleds are Prowlers!

Prowlers are usually heavy enough that pushing or pulling them on their own provides a challenging workout (the Again Faster Prowler is 34kg unloaded) or you can load it up with additional weights to increase resistance. What specifically makes a Prowler a Prowler is its 3 points of contact with the floor (usually referred to as skids) and two vertical uprights designed for pushing. A regular sled, on the other hand, will usually have only 2 points of contact with the floor, or may even be a more basic, single flat plate, meaning just 1 point of contact with the ground.

Any design features on top of that are an added bonus. For example, the Again Faster Prowler features a "t-bar" at the tip of the Prowler, which offers another angle to push or pull from, and also the two larger vertical push bars are detachable for easier storage. Our Prowler also features eyelets at the front for attaching a harness, ideal for sled pulls.

Where does the Prowler come from?

Although we know a good bit of detail about the origins of the Prowler sled, we're sad to report that we haven't been able to find a definitive answer as to why it ended up being called a Prowler. Unfortunately, there's no story involving a visionary gym inventor called "Professor John Prowler" or anything like that. Anyway, here's what we do know about the history of this type of push sled.

Anyone who has ever watched a game of American Football will be unsurprised to learn that the Prowler's origins lie in the strength and conditioning gym of a College American Football team. The design as we recognise it today can almost certainly be traced to Clemson University of South Carolina, in the early 2000s.

The strength and conditioning coach there, Joey Batson, cooked up an idea based on his personal emphasis on the development of power and speed as essential to the success of his athletes. Williams Strength, a South Carolina company, presented him with a prototype of a piece of equipment, perfect for his training methods. That prototype was essentially what would become the Prowler.

It was designed with Clemson Tigers' linemen in mind, with the main goal being to increase a player's hip drive from a low position. What makes it a Prowler specifically is the 3 skids in contact with the floor and those two vertical handles at the back - even if the original prototype was made mostly out of wood! This design, Batson believed, would be optimal for the sort of workouts his linemen needed to increase their power and performance.

They may come in different shapes and sizes, but any sled that goes by the name "Prowler" should have these features - the 3 skids and the push handles. By 2005, EliteFTS had collaborated with Williams Strength on what would become the first Prowler for the wider market, and its popularity in gyms and sports team training centres around the world has grown and grown ever since.

How to Train with a Gym Prowler Sled – An Introduction

Pushing or pulling a Prowler sled is incredibly physically demanding, but has the benefit of being relatively easy technique-wise. It really is as simple as loading it up with your desired weight and pushing or pulling it in a way that best supports your training goals.

It's a versatile piece of kit that allows you to change up certain variables to completely change the focus of your workout. So, we'll share some things you can think about if you're considering training with a Prowler, and we'll look to share some more in-depth tips, Prowler exercises, and Prowler training ideas in a future article.

The main variables to consider and switch up based on what you want to achieve with a gym Prowler are:

• Adding or Reducing Weight: Obviously, the more weight you add, the greater your strength gains, but less weight will allow, for example, more sustained activity in the form of short sprints or a continuous period of pushing/pulling your Prowler sled. This can be a great alternative to traditional cardio and is ideal for endurance training.
• Pushing VS Pulling: It's as simple as that, the muscles you're activating will be different if you're pushing the sled compared to pulling it. Invest in a harness if you're keen on sled pulls as well as pushing, or get pushing if you want to take advantage of the more unique features of the Prowler.
• Change your Form: Just as pushing and pulling work your body in different ways, the way you push or pull will also make a difference. Getting lower to the ground or changing which end you're pushing from are just a couple of examples of small changes you can make to your workout to target different areas of your body.
• Distances: Pushing 200kg over 10 metres is going to give you a very different workout to pushing 50kg over 50 metres. Similarly, repeating shorter pushes/pulls with a rest period in between will give a different effect to one long, continuous effort. Change up those distances based on your goals.
• Speed: Prowler sleds are great for explosive strength training; a short burst of high output (lots of weight, a short push distance, and pushing as quickly as possible) is great for this. Alternatively, loading that sled up with less weight and grinding out a continuous push or pull over an extended period at a slower pace is going to have your lungs ready to burst; you'll definitely know you've pushed your body to the limit!
• Rest periods: A classic variable but often overlooked, don't neglect thinking about rest periods. Keep those rest periods to a minimum if you're working on aerobic endurance, keeping your heart rate constantly in the "training zone". If you're training for strength, overloading your body, resting, then going again is the better way to go.

Very small tweaks to these variables can give a vastly different workout to your previous Prowler session. Change them up as you see fit and you'll be able to target different areas that you want to improve in no time!

Just remember: the majority of Prowlers on the market (the Again Faster Prowler included) are only designed for indoor use on appropriate flooring. Even the most heavy-duty materials will soon wear down if you're pushing a heavily-loaded sled across concrete or other rough terrains. So, keep it indoors, and make sure to use your Prowler on proper gym flooring/astroturf and you'll be good to go! Otherwise, you're likely to find any warranty claims aren't covered if you've been exposing your gym Prowler to outdoor conditions.

Interested in a Prowler for your commercial gym or lucky enough to have a suitable space at home for trying one out? Check out the Again Faster Prowler today. Alternatively, if you're looking for more information or want to place a commercial order, get in contact with our sales team.

Already bought one for your gym? Send us a picture of your setup, or even a video of it in use! We'd love to see how you're getting the best out of it, and we'll send you a free T-shirt for your trouble if we use your content on our website or social media channels.