As anyone that knows me knows, I am always trying to push my body with different workout routines, classes and exercises. This is necessary if I’m to reach my health and fitness goals sooner rather than later in life, and as summer quickly approaches, it’s time to step up my game once again.

Last week I revisited an old friend, the push sled (a.k.a. prowler). I haven’t visited him in a while because too many people warned against it because of my faulty knee, saying it would do more harm than good. Can I say that how wrong they were was an understatement? Not only did it feel great, it strengthened my knee and will continue to do so over time. Before I show you my test run, I’ll explain the workout and its benefits.

Besides providing an intense way to blast the legs—which I love—a weight sled puts your whole body under [good] stress and drives your heart rate through the roof, making it a fantastic way to rev up your metabolism. It increases your work capacity, helps in developing anaerobic power, and is great recovery after heavy training sessions. Sled training delivers overall strength, body composition improvement, and if used with the appropriate training protocols, can also make you faster (think sprinter) àall of my goals. Push sled workouts are one of the best ways to decrease body fat, especially *visceral fat, is with high-intensity work using a relatively larger volume. So how do you perform this incredible, do-all exercise, you ask? Keep reading.

Push sleds allow you to push either from a low position (making you more parallel to the ground) or from a high position. The lower position focuses more on your quads and makes for a more difficult workout. Most people tend to load up their sleds, too, but you shouldn’t start with a lot of weight, explains. Try loading the sled with one, 45-pound plate in the beginning, or even nothing until you get the gist of the movement and achieve proper form. Once you have the form correct, only then should you use a 45-pound plate and then add-load weight in increments according to your strength.

“Guys try to move the sled as fast as possible, and in the process they round their back and push through their arms,” says Mack from Men’s Health Magazine. “Instead, you should move deliberately and treat the exercise as if it’s a walking plank. As you move forward, you should maintain a straight line from your head to your ankles the entire time. Your power comes from your legs and hips, so drive your feet diagonally into the ground with each step.”

Since I’ve done this exercise before and I know I can add weight to the sled, I performed my test run with one 45-pound plate. I figured that if this was successful, I can stay at this weight until I become faster without sacrificing form, then add weight in 25-pound increments. Having a video of this is not for vanity’s sake, mind you, but to critique myself and to document my progress. Additionally, I’d like to help others in their journeys as much as I possibly can through any avenue with which I create or am provided. Let’s take a look:

Not half bad, right? I’ll definitely be doing this more and work on improving each time.

*Visceral fat, or abdominal fat, is a type of body fat that exists in the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs. Everyone has some, especially those who are sedentary, chronically stressed, or maintain unhealthy diets. Excessive deposits of visceral fat are associated with many serious health problems including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and increased blood pressure. Though it is possible to lose, it requires a larger commitment than spot exercises, like sit ups or crunches; a combination of cardiovascular activity and a lean diet is typically required. Hellooo push sled!