Weight sleds offer what is probably one of the more brutal workout regimens you can undergo, improving both lower and upper body strength while increasing, speed, explosiveness, and cardiovascular function. For such a simplified form, weight sleds are a source of nearly unlimited potential for both anaerobic and aerobic training.
While perhaps a little unconventional in terms of weight training, weight sleds are remarkably adaptable for a number of focused muscle groups, especially if you bring a semblance of your own ingenuity and innovation to the table.
For those who have concrete flooring, your options when choosing an appropriate weight sled are a little more limited. Over time, concrete can do damage to the weight sled and, in turn, the weight sled can do damage to the concrete. Either case is avoidable, with the right selection.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do any leg work on this one (pun intended), as we have compiled a list of the best weight sleds for concrete flooring that won’t annihilate your concrete, cut deep grooves in it, or cause the neighbors to come unglued over the grating, screeching noise.
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Since everyone seems to be in a hurry these days, we’re dropping you a little table below so that you can catch the best weight sleds available for concrete flooring before you head out the door.
Our Picks
| Top Choice | Runner Up | Budget-Buy | |
| Weight Sled | miR Heavy Duty Weighted Sled | XPO Trainer Push Sled | Blue-dot Trading Power Speed Sled |
| What it is for | Power workouts and higher weight limits. | Motor resistant wheels are designed for any surface and a lighter, cardio-focused workout. | Very lightweight, cardio-focused with an emphasis on comfort through padded shoulder straps. |
| Pros | Heavy duty for concrete flooring applications and can hold up to 300lbs. | Can be used on any surface. | Versatile and more portable than most. |
| Cons | You can’t put Olympic plates on it. | Wheel resistance isn’t best for heavier training. | Limited to 100lbs capacity. |
The training regimens are highly versatile and while you won’t get specific, single-group muscle focus, weight sleds offer more of an overall workout that can be focused either on your upper body or your legs.
There are several things that you can use with a weight sled to incorporate into your workout regimen
- Sled drags and plyometrics improve your overall speed
- Sled pulls and pushes for upper body strength training
- Core strength improvements
- Hip, ankle, and joint flexibility, and strength
- Builds endurance
- Unilateral lower body strength
Sled drags are an age-old method for building speed and lower body strength. It’s an old method because it’s a validated and working method. These types of exercises also build explosiveness, which is something that is a crucial advantage in competitive sports.
Upper body strength is just as important. Just because it’s a low-frame system doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of upper body exercise. In fact, NFL and college football players use similar sleds on the field to build both upper and lower body strength and explosiveness.
Core strength involves the muscles that stabilize and control your spine down into your pelvis. It’s an important group of smaller and easily forgotten muscles and ligaments that affect your overall upper and lower body strength because everything is controlled by your core.
Core strength is a primary focus when it comes to weight sleds, so it’s not a device that forces you to choose just between upper or lower body workouts. Endurance is not something that you build much of in standard weight training, as it is an anaerobic activity.
However, with weight sleds, the focus is applied to your endurance because of the more aerobic aspects of the workouts that weight sleds offer. It’s a phenomenal workout experience but to take advantage of the best the weight sleds have to offer, you have to have the right one, both for you and for the environment that you will be working on.
Best Weight Sled for Concrete
The best weight sled for concrete is a careful consideration of what is going to work for concrete. Weight isn’t much of an issue, as concrete is a powerful foundation and can handle excess weight just fine.
It’s more a matter of how the device functions on concrete. Since there are not many weight sleds out there with wheels, it’s more a matter of design and the functionality of the weight sled on concrete. In many cases, you will have to be a little innovative and add a base layer under the weight sled on your own.
There are numerous examples of this, with wood being one of the best materials that you can place underneath your weight sled and either bolt it to the sled or wrap it, whichever method works best for you. With that being said, here are our top 7 choices for the best weight sleds for concrete surfaces.
miR Heavy Duty Weighted Sled (Top Pick)
Fortunately, the top pick on our list is rather affordable as well. The miR will set you back around $87 and for what it has to offer, it’s a pretty good deal. It comes in four color variations if the overall aesthetics are your thing, with the premium, black edition being the least expensive of the bunch.
It can hold a maximum amount of 200lbs, Olympic-type weights only. If you own a large set of standard weights, they won’t slide onto the vertical bar at the center. The pull strap that comes with it is a full, upper body strap that sits over your shoulders, strapping at the waist.
The staps have extra padding so you will remain comfortable throughout your regimen. Most importantly, the design implementations on the miR make it viable for most surface types, which includes concrete surfaces.
Of course, it would still be advisable to add something underneath to try and keep metal and concrete separate when you are pulling and pushing the sled around. Speaking of pushing and pulling, the miR comes with a built-in push and pull bar, so you won’t have to attach anything extra to get some lower leg work in.
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XPO Trainer Push Sled (Runner Up)
Our runner-up for the best weight sled for concrete, the XPO is the only weight sled on our list that comes with wheels. It’s an interesting dynamic between what is a traditional weight sled and a weight sled that has wheels, which would make it seem as if the XPO couldn’t provide the kind of necessary resistance for a solid workout.
Fortunately, that’s not the case, as the motorized wheels feature a resistance motor that essentially keeps the wheels locked like a brake pad while you work against them. On the flip side, that makes for an expensive workout tool and the XPO will cost you a pretty penny at roughly $700.
The XPO is designed to react to your workout by becoming more resistant as you work against it, like trying to pull a mule backward when the mule doesn’t want to cooperate and, in fact, wants to go the other way.
The best part about the XPO is that it is perfect for any surface. It’s sitting on rubber, after all, and that’s always going to be an improvement over hard steel. Because of its design and motorized operation, this is the most unique and well-designed sled on our list and it will provide you with an unforgettable workout experience.
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Bluedot Trading Power Speed Sled (Budget-Buy)
The Bluedot is the most lightweight sled on our list but makes up for it with a range of benefits. Since it has such a low profile, including the small, rounded sled rails, it’s not as damaging or loud when you are working over concrete.
The straps are excellent as well, especially considering the fact that this is a weight sled that comes in at a very low price point. A part of that low price point includes a lack of weight and it doesn’t have any kind of push or pull bar with it. If you prefer a push bar, you will have to add one on your own.
It’s also a smaller size, only 15” wide, so it’s not the best choice for larger people with a wider frame. The mesh shoulder straps provide you with a breathable strap alternative that will keep you cooler for longer periods.
The Bluedot was clearly made for people who have smaller statures and frames and the weight that it can sustain stops at 100lbs. It also holds Olympic plates, so you can’t use standard weights with it and you can only stack about 4 before you reach your cap.
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Power Speed Sled with Harness
The Power Speed Sled with Harness closely resembles the Bluedot in both size and capability. This one is primarily designed for and focused on football players and has a relatively low profile, making it a preferred sled for concrete surfaces.
The rails that sit flush on the ground are rounded and won’t touch as much surface area on your concrete. Unlike the Bluedot, the Power Speed Sled is designed to handle both Olympic weight and standard weights, so you have a little more range when it comes to the weights you want to go with.
The belts and straps aren’t as robust and comfortable as the others on this list but perhaps that is the point. What the straps are is functional and if you are looking for solid, functioning straps, then you will certainly get that here.
Currently, the Power Speed isn’t listed on Amazon, but you can find a variation of it here, at a lower price point as the budget buy on our list as well.
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Titan HD Fat Boy Weight Sled for Concrete
The Titan HD Fat Boy is unique on this list because it doesn’t have a dual rail system in a sled design, so it doesn’t resemble Santa’s sled but a column, with a sheet metal base that the center weight rod/rack is bolted to.
The bar is too wide to accept standard weights, however, but it makes sense considering the fact that the Titan is designed for some serious heavy lifting. The sled weighs 37lbs and comes with a simple strap system, with no shoulder strapping for this one.
Another beneficial aspect of the Titan HD is that it comes with Olympic plates, which you don’t see often with these devices, regardless of what kind of weight it takes. The Titan HD is purely designed for a bulkier weight lifting class and it’s not intended for beginners.
Lastly, despite its capacity, it’s ideally portable and won’t take up a whole lot of room in your gym, driveway, or wherever you try to use it.
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YNXing Sled Harness Resistance Training Rope Kit
The YNXing Sled is the most minimal of all of the weight sleds on the list. There’s really not much to it, which works when it comes to concrete foundations. This sled is essentially two narrow, flat rails welded to a central core that holds the vertical bar for weights. 
In fact, the YNXing is the type of sled that is great for parachute training, when the drag weight behind you is going to be the parachute and potential wind resistance. It’s also great for core strength building, especially with a full shoulder and midriff strap design that is both comfortable and well-designed.
Runners and sprinters on a track team will find a lot of use for this sled as it is not designed for holding a ton of weight, as it maxes out at 180lbs. Unfortunately, it comes with some pretty standard spring buckles, the kind that you would find in a BOGO bin at Dollar General, so you might want to grab something more solid to replace them.
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Happy Buy Fitness Sled Red Training
Last but not least, we have the Happy Buy Sled because who doesn’t want to wrap things up on a happy note? When you’re working with the Happy, however, it may not feel that way as this weight sled is built for power house workouts. 
Like the Titan, the Happy can hold up to 500lbs of weight, making this a premium choice for those who are bulking and seeking explosiveness along with muscle growth. The two front bars are designed to switch back and forth with the female ports on the other side so you never have to flip the device around when you’re working.
Considering the fact that the Happy is a workhouse, it only accepts Olympic plates and has a forward-facing drag on both sides for power speed development and control. In terms of aesthetics, the stainless steel frame is spray painted in static electricity paint, which is supposed to be advanced and resilient to the elements and impacts.
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Buyer’s Guide
We covered a bit of the concrete use for these sled designs and we endeavored to choose the best weight sleds that you can use for working on the concrete. However, there’s no getting around the fact that in all of the above cases, you’re looking at the weighted metal on concrete.
Look for Widest Surface Area or Very Narrow Rails
While the prevailing argument is to go with steel and iron, so as not to damage the sled, what gets left behind is the damage that it does to the concrete. Odds are, you’re not going to be working out with your weight sled on property that isn’t your own, and a weight sled, metal on concrete, will damage your concrete over time.
Accessories
Some of the sleds on this list don’t have the best straps and that’s true across a wide range of weight sleds on the market today. Accessories aren’t the end all be all of weight sled choice, but you do want to find ones that come with decent shoulder straps and push/pull straps.
Portability
Portability isn’t the largest factor when it comes to choosing the best weight sled available but it’s worth considering for some people. This is especially true if you do your workouts in the garage or a workshop, where you will need it out of the way when it’s not in use.
Olympic or Standard Weights
If you are looking for bulk workouts, you want Olympic weights and weight sleds like the Titan HD and the Happy Buy. These are the kinds of sleds where you can maximize your weight capacity and really haul a load in whatever routine you are pushing through.
For more aerobic-focused exercises, where your legs, speed, and explosiveness are concerned, you might want to consider some of the smaller weight sleds that take standard weights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Weight Sled Training Beneficial?
Weight sled training comes with enormous benefits, including for your upper body, lower body, and core strength improvements. The number of exercise routines that you can run on a weight sled is highly versatile, even though they are not specifically focused. It’s also an excellent tool for aerobics training and should be a must in a track and field player’s arsenal.
Are Weight Sleds Good for Rehab?
Absolutely. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a better solution for rehab weight training and regaining your core strength. For one, you control how much you take on.
It’s not like lifting a flat bar on a flat bench, where you are immediately under a heavy weight. With Weight sleds, you have a wide range of controllable exercises that can help you heal, and strengthen your injured areas against future damage.
Can You Target Specific Muscle Groups?
Not to the degree that you can with specific, weightlifting exercises, however, you can focus on certain muscle groups with rows or pushing exercises. Similar to weightlifting, these exercises work for multiple muscle groups, whereas weightlifting works multiple muscles with a more singular focus on one.
Final Word
The miR Heavy Duty Weighted Sled is the clear winner and our top choice of weight sleds, however, there are plenty of weight sled options on this list and on the market that will provide you with the best alternative for use on concrete.
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No matter what you decide to go with, if it’s metal on concrete, you should always consider adding a supporting barrier, like 2x4s, between the metal and the concrete. With the added protection, you can work as long as you like without worrying over potential damage to your sled or your concrete
