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Rogue cube sandbag vs froning medicine ball

Written by Pascal Landshoeft | Sep 18, 2020 4:00:00 PM

Rogue cube sandbag vs froning medicine ball

This is a comparison between the Rogue cube sandbag and the froning medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which rogue sandbag to get. Follow the links for more details.

 

Overview and review of the Rogue Froning medicine ball

This is an overview of the Rogue Froning medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

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Overview of Rogue Froning Series medicine ball

Price: $110
 
 
The Rich Froning series medball is an interpretation of the Rogue Standard medicine balls in Black and red. It is only available in 20lbs and comes with the same specs as the standard black balls from Rogue. These are a nice addition to your gym if you want to tip your hatto the CrossFit legend or just like the colors red and black. The specifications of this medicine ball are:
 
  • Part of the Rich Froning Signature Series
  • Made in Columbus, Ohio
  • Weight: 20LB
  • Diameter: 14”
  • Coated Vinyl Shell – moisture and scuff resistant
  • Soft Shell safe to use at high speeds, but strong enough to maintain stable shape
  • Double-stitched paracord threading on seams
  • Color: Red with Black and White Branding (Rogue and Froning logos)

 

A nice Christmas present for anyone who already owns a home gym and no medicine balls.

 
 

Pros of the Rich Froning medicine ball

 
 
 
The pros of the Rich Froning medicine balls are:
 
  • Red and black color scheme instead of black
  • Double-stitched
This is a nice little customization on the standard medicine ball to get a pop of color into your gym. The standard Rogue medicine balls only come in black. That is not for everyone, especially if it is off-brand for your gym or the color scheme in your home gym.
 
 

Cons of the Rich Froning medicine ball

 

 
The cons of the Rich Froning medicine balls are:
 
  • Only available as 20LB
  • Higher cost than standard ball
 
These balls are $5 dearer than the standard ball of the same size. This can make a difference if you are trying to outfit multiple gyms and buy somewhere between 20 - 100 medicine balls. For your home gym, it will probably be more a question of personal taste rather than pricing.
 
 

Alternatives to the Rich Froning medicine ball

 

 
The alternatives to the Rich Froning medicine ball are:
 
The standard for most CrossFit WODs for males is a 20lb medicine ball. For females, this drops to 14lb. If you like the color blue and want to equip yourself with an inspiring medicine ball you can get the Camille Le blanc version of the medicine ball which comes in 14 lb instead of the 20lb the Froning version has. 
 
Dynamax is the market leader in the US for medicine balls. While Rogue at first resold these medicine balls they went on to produce their own brand to maximize profit margins on low price tag equipment produced in masses. There is not a big difference between the two. Still, if pressed, I would always go for the product that is core for the company. The core competency of Rogue is to work with Steel to build first-class racks and barbells. Dynamax focuses on perfecting the stitch on their medicine balls.
 
The standard Rogue medicine ball is a good alternative to Dynamax if you want to buy a lot of medicine balls and do not care that much about the design. If you like black, you can save some money on bulk buy compared to Dynamax balls the same size. 
 
Slam balls are a great, cheap alternative to medicine balls. If your medicine balls are used 90% of the time to be thrown on the ground, save yourself some money and yourself/or clients some injuries. These balls are cheaper to make and do not bounce back from the floor to hit you in the face. If your training is more about throwing against walls or to each other, stick with the classic medicine ball. 
 
 

Conclusion for the Rich Froning medicine ball

 

 
This is the right medicine ball for the dedicated CrossFit individual with great ambitions or the one's around him who want to give something nice. Anyone who buy in bulk is probably better off to either trade up in quality by buying Dynamax or compromising in price and getting a lot of Rogue standard medicine balls.

Overview and review of the Rogue cube sandbag

This is an overview of the Rogue cube sandbag including pros, cons, and alternatives. It was published first under which rogue sandbag to get. Follow the links for more details.

 

Overview of the rogue cube sandbag

Price: $85 - $127.50
 
The rogue cube sandbag is one of the multiple sandbag variations for strongman training from Rogue. This sandbag enters at the lower price range and is available from 100lb to 200lb when filled with play sand. The cube shape is slightly more challenging as the original cylinder shape because of the corners. While they are good to hold on to, they can make it harder to balance the weight once you have lifted it. The full specifications of the Rogue strongman cube sandbag are:
 
  • Made in the USA
  • Patent Pending Design
  • Sold Individually
  • 1000D MIL Spec US Cordura construction
  • New CUBE Shape
  • Filler Capacity (3 Sizes): 100LB, 150LB, 200LB
  • Built-In Filler Bag
  • Zipper and Hook-and-Loop Closure
  • Filler Material Not Included
  • Color: Black with White Rogue logo on the flap
  • Recommended use on rubber or nonabrasive surface - not intended for slams
This is a good bag to get together with a cylinder bag to get started and still have a little variety for your lifts.
 

Pros of the Rogue cube sandbag

 
Pros of the Rogue cube sandbag are:
 
  • Portable
  • Symmetrical load
  • Robust design
The Rogue cube sandbag is made of military-grade fabric just like the entire rogue strongman sandbag line up. As you can fill these bags with sand or other media and empty them they are also easier to transport than a bunch of medicine or slam balls, nevermind atlas stones. As this bag forms a cube the load is symmetrical and therefore easier to lift than the other, asymmetrical bags from Rogue. All in all the cube strongman bag is a great starter in Strongman training, especially when paired with a cylinder bag. 
 

Cons of the Rogue cube sandbag

 
Cons of the Rogue cube bag:
 
  • Limited weight range
  • Not for slams
  • Slightly harder to handle than a cylinder
The rogue cube sandbag comes with a limited weight range compared to the original cylinder bag. This is not the end of the world as you can play around with lead shot and play sand mixture, but still, big cube bags are currently not available from rogue. They are also not designed for high-velocity slams, which might make the structure of the bag suffer, especially if filled to the brim with crumb rubber and smashed at full velocity. That is not what these bags have been built for and a ball might be the better choice for this intent. 
 

Alternatives to the Rogue cube sandbag

 
Alternatives to the Rogue cube sandbag are:
 
The original rogue strongman sandbag has a cylinder form and is available from weight denominations of 100lb to 400lb. You can also pick some color variations. If you are getting your first bag this might be the better choice than the cube as the cube is slightly harder to handle. 
 
The MK D ball is Rogue's slam ball option on steroids. These slam balls scale up to 150lb at roughly the same size. As the filler gets more expensive to keep the same dimensions, the biggest D balls come in at a hefty price. Still, if you want to slam heavy, these are the best option. Especially in the mid-range from 30lb to 100lb. 
 
The Rogue medicine balls are a valid alternative to the sandbags if you want to throw the balls against a wall or from person to person. The sandbags are not ideal for this purpose.
 

Conclusion for the Rogue cube sandbag 

 
The Rogue cube sandbag is a good option for ambitioned starters in strongman to get together with a cylinder bag. This gives you symmetrical loads of different shapes. Experienced strongman athletes who want to train everywhere or just do not have the space to have multiple stones lying around can get a set of all the different shaped bags to keep training varied and prepared for competition. For maximum lifts, you can still keep reasonably weighted stoned around (but not a full set) to also address the different challenges to grip when you hold onto cement or cold stone.