Sled push

Movement

How pushing differs from towing

A sled can be pushed from in front or pulled from behind². Authors of a 2025 sled-push study describe three differences when pushing²:

• The athlete leans further forward².
• The arms push the sled along².
• The sled meets more friction, because more of it touches the ground².

The same authors note that how this leaning position changes muscle activity has not been directly analysed². Authors of sled-push studies in 2020 and 2025 describe the research on pushing as scarce, especially in young athletes^1,2.

What towing does to a sprint

In towing, the sled is tied to the athlete, for example by a cord around the waist¹⁰. In 14 trained men towing a sled that slowed them by 10%, sprints showed more horizontal force than normal sprinting¹¹. They also showed more impulse (force added up over time), and the hips, knees and ankles bent further¹¹.

What it loads

Thigh, calf and trunk muscles in one pushing study

One randomised crossover study compared a sled push with the back squat in ten resistance-trained men⁶. In a crossover study, each person tries each option in turn. The men did a 20-step maximal push and a 10-repetition maximum squat, the heaviest load they could lift ten times⁶. Muscle activity was measured by electromyography (EMG), which picks up a muscle’s electrical signals⁶:

Muscle	Push compared with back squat
Quadriceps, front of the thigh	Similar6
Hamstrings, back of the thigh	Similar6
Transversus abdominis and internal oblique, deep belly muscles recorded together	Similar6
Gastrocnemius, the calf muscle nearest the skin	61.2% greater in the push6
Lower erector spinae, beside the spine	74.5% greater in the squat6

Thigh and hip muscles when sprinting against a sled

In 12 male rugby players sprinting 30 m against sleds, heavier loads gave lower activity in the biceps femoris long head, a hamstring muscle¹². Activity in the rectus femoris, the quadriceps muscle that also bends the hip, rose¹². Leg stiffness, how strongly the leg resists being compressed, fell¹².

In 37 elite athletes, a robotic device was set to resist like sleds of 25% and 75% of body mass¹³. As resistance rose, hamstring activity fell and quadriceps activity rose¹³. Late in the leg’s swing, activity in the gluteal muscles was higher with faster running and less resistance¹³.

The lower back when towing at a walk

In nine men walking while towing a sled, the highest estimated forces at L4/L5 were 4378 N of compression and 626 N of shear¹⁴. L4/L5 is the joint between the fourth and fifth bones of the lower back. A shear force pushes two surfaces to slide across each other. Spine loads rose as the sled got heavier¹⁴.

Heart and effort in older adults

In 36 older adults, a session on a sled-push machine was compared with walking¹⁵. As intensity rose, the pushing group had higher heart rate, blood pressure, blood lactate and rated effort than the walkers¹⁵. No adverse events, or unwanted effects, were seen, and all finished the session¹⁵. One-third of the pushing group reported minimal body discomfort¹⁵.

How the body adapts

One trial of push training

One trial tested sled pushing over 8 weeks in 50 high school athletes¹. Three groups pushed twice a week with loads that cut top speed by 25%, 50% or 75%¹. Split times from 5 to 20 m improved in each pushing group, but not with unresisted sprinting¹. Gains were largest over the first 5 m and in the heavy group¹.

In the same trial, the balance of force and speed each athlete could produce changed little within groups¹. Every group gained force and power, most with the heavy load¹. The authors suggest heavy loads may give the largest gains in short sprints¹.

What reviews of sled training found

These reviews pooled towing or other resisted sprints, and they disagree on whether these beat unresisted sprinting^3,4,7,8. One 2025 review named pushing among the methods it included¹⁶:

Review	What it pooled	Compared with unresisted sprinting
2016 systematic review	11 towing studies3	Whether it is better remained unclear3
2018 meta-analysis	13 studies of towed or pulled sleds4	No significant advantage in studies with a control group4
2022 meta-analysis	Sled or vest training in soccer players under 2017	Not better than unresisted sprints or soccer training alone17
2024 meta-analysis	15 studies, such as sled or parachute towing7	A small gain in acceleration, no different from unresisted running7
2025 meta-analysis	49 studies of horizontal resistance, 1281 people, mostly male8	Better, with moderate certainty8
2025 meta-analysis	7 studies of trained people towing or pushing16	Better for horizontal force, power and 5, 10 and 20 m times16
2025 meta-analysis	14 trials of sled drag in 344 team sport athletes18	Better at 5 and 10 m, not 20 m, with high risk of bias18
2026 meta-analysis	12 studies of sled towing, 324 people5	Slightly better, but significant only over the first 10 m5

A meta-analysis pools the results of several earlier studies to get one combined answer. Certainty of evidence is how sure reviewers are that a finding is right. Risk of bias rates how likely it is that flaws skewed a result. The 2018 meta-analysis found gains from baseline in early acceleration and full sprint time, but not at top speed⁴. The 49-study meta-analysis found the edge from very heavy loads was larger in trained people, and negligible in recreationally active people⁸.

Soreness and recovery after towed sled sprints

One randomised crossover study tested ten athletes used to sprinting while towing a sled¹⁹. Sprints with no sled, or towing 10% or 20% of body mass, all raised muscle soreness¹⁹. Soreness in the muscles that straighten and bend the knee stayed up for up to 72 hours¹⁹. So did creatine kinase, a blood marker of muscle damage¹⁹.

Only the 20% load slowed 30 m sprint time at 24, 48 and 72 hours¹⁹. That study had a no-training control and did not describe blinding¹⁹.

Soreness that starts hours to days after exercise has its own page, delayed-onset muscle soreness¹⁹. In 27 team field sport athletes, a heavy session of 12 resisted sled sprints of 20 m was harder than a light one^2,20. It raised heart rate, blood lactate and rated effort more^2,20. With either load, sprint and jump performance were back to pre-training levels within 24 hours^2,20. A later study describes these as sled pulls^2,20.

In a Delphi survey, which polls experts in rounds, 21 elite football practitioners reached no agreement on resisted sprinting against muscle injury²¹.

Effects of a push within minutes or a day

In a randomised crossover study of 20 rugby league players, a single push at 75% of body mass was tested²². Their 20 m sprints were faster 4 to 12 minutes later²². After a push at 125% of body mass, sprints were slower at each time point²². In 16 young semi-professional footballers, four 15 m pushes at body weight the day before a match were followed by faster sprints and higher jumps².

Progressive overload

Three ways to set the load

A 2016 systematic review found sled loads set in three ways³:

• As a share of body mass³.
• As a velocity decrement, a target drop in speed compared with sprinting free³.
• As a fixed load in kilograms³.

In 90 male high school athletes doing sled-push sprints, each athlete’s load and speed fell on a reliable straight line⁹. The authors concluded velocity decrement could reliably set push loads⁹. Among 90 male high school athletes, the push load that halved top speed ranged from 45 to 85% of body mass⁹. The ranges for each drop in speed were⁹:

Among 90 male high school athletes, the push load that halved top speed ranged from 45 to 85% of body mass.

Drop in top speed	Push load, as a share of body mass
25%	23 to 42%9
50%	45 to 85%9
75%	69 to 131%9

Why the surface matters

A 2026 review notes that one towed load, as a share of body mass, makes different demands on different surfaces⁵. Towing a sled over four sports surfaces gave friction coefficients from 0.21 to 0.58²³. A 2018 meta-analysis concluded that rigid surfaces appear to boost the effect of sled training⁴. The 2026 meta-analysis of sled towing found no significant effect of surface, load or distance, and proposed loads set by velocity decrement as a hypothesis⁵.

Heavier and lighter loads in sled sprint trials

Trials of sled sprinting set and raised the load in different ways, with mixed results^{10,24,25,26,27,28}:

• 21 active men towed for 8 weeks with loads cutting speed by about 30% or 10%; both groups got faster, with no significant difference²⁴.
• In 17 professional soccer players, loads rose from 45 to 65% of body mass over 11 weeks²⁵. Sprint times improved, while jump height and thigh strength fell²⁵.
• In 21 highly trained soccer players, loads cutting speed by 15% or 40% both improved 10 m speed, with no group difference²⁶.
• In 32 adolescent sprinters towing for 8 weeks, the 40% and 50% groups improved 30 m time more than the unresisted group¹⁰.
• In a pilot study of 16 male amateur soccer players, sled sprints at 80% of body mass raised maximal horizontal force²⁷. The effect size, a standard measure of how big a change is, was 0.80, against 0.20 with unresisted sprints²⁷. Whether the groups differed was unclear²⁷.
• In 35 under-19 rugby players, towing at 50% of body mass did not cut 30 m time²⁸. Unresisted sprints did, but the groups did not differ significantly²⁸.

The adolescent sprinter study matched people on 30 m time before placing them in groups¹⁰. In the 49-study meta-analysis, the edge over unresisted sprinting became significant beyond 20.7% of body mass⁸.

Distance, sessions and weeks

The 2018 meta-analysis concluded that load did not decide sprint gains⁴. The same review recommended over 160 m a session, two to three sessions a week, for at least 6 weeks⁴. The 49-study meta-analysis found that heavy loads at small volumes gave benefits similar to light loads at large volumes⁸. In a pilot study, a small first trial, 20 under-19 rugby players did equal heavy sled work in short or long sprints²⁹. How it was split made no significant difference²⁹.

One six-week soccer programme raised heavy sled sprints at 70% of body mass from one to three 10 m efforts³⁰. The sprinting page describes that study.

Connections

The muscles it works

The one pushing study of muscle activity measured these muscles in ten men⁶:

• The quadriceps, which straighten the knee through the kneecap³¹.
• The hamstrings, which extend the hip and bend the knee^31,32.
• The gastrocnemius, which points the ankle down and helps bend the knee³³.
• The erector spinae, the main muscles that straighten the spine³¹.
• The transversus abdominis and internal oblique, recorded together⁶.

The gluteus maximus extends and turns the hip outward³⁴. On this page, gluteal activity comes from sprints against a robotic device, not from a push¹³.

Related exercises

Sled pushing was compared with the back squat for muscle activity⁶. The sled training reviews on this page compared resisted sprints with unresisted sprinting^5,8. Running has its own page too.

Sources

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Every source the library cites

Changes

• October 15, 2026 First published.