Firing Coal
Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:54 pm
Here is an exercise I have been working on for the past month. The video explains it the best...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meko1EcQKA4
Fire Coal: Sledgehammer exercise
This exercise is meant to imitate the movement of a locomotive 'Fireman' shoveling coal on the footplate of a steam engine. Having heard an interesting anecdote attesting to the impressive abdominal strength of coal shoveling 'Firemen' on steam trains, I became interested in researching HOW this movement was done. There are a few photographs of men 'firing coal' to be found online. They help us understand the basic position of the Fireman: stooped over with a short shovel. But WATCHING a Fireman at work would be much better. I did some searching on the internet and found a few good movies of people working on vintage steam trains. You can see the clips in my video... Not only is the Fireman stooped over as he shovels, but he is also rotating back and forth between the coal chute behind him and the steam boiler at the front of the locomotive. This works the Abs by creating a perpetual 'crunch' position while the body rotation works other parts of the core muscles.
Admittedly, you can also hurt your lower back this way if you are not careful. So how do we approximate a safe version of this movement with our sledgehammer / shovelglove? Start by holding the hammer with one hand near the head. Place the palm of the other hand on the end of the handle. Position the head horizontally and parallel to the ground. Now imagine you are sliding the coal shovel along the bed of the coal chute at waist level. Then rotate your waist and put the coal into the furnace near your legs. Twist the hammer head vertically to 'dump' the coal out. Remember to engage your Abs. Some trains did dump the coal directly on the floor of the footplate and had a very low furnace mouth. You can take a deeper stance when 'firing coal' if you wish, but be careful not to harm yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meko1EcQKA4
Fire Coal: Sledgehammer exercise
This exercise is meant to imitate the movement of a locomotive 'Fireman' shoveling coal on the footplate of a steam engine. Having heard an interesting anecdote attesting to the impressive abdominal strength of coal shoveling 'Firemen' on steam trains, I became interested in researching HOW this movement was done. There are a few photographs of men 'firing coal' to be found online. They help us understand the basic position of the Fireman: stooped over with a short shovel. But WATCHING a Fireman at work would be much better. I did some searching on the internet and found a few good movies of people working on vintage steam trains. You can see the clips in my video... Not only is the Fireman stooped over as he shovels, but he is also rotating back and forth between the coal chute behind him and the steam boiler at the front of the locomotive. This works the Abs by creating a perpetual 'crunch' position while the body rotation works other parts of the core muscles.
Admittedly, you can also hurt your lower back this way if you are not careful. So how do we approximate a safe version of this movement with our sledgehammer / shovelglove? Start by holding the hammer with one hand near the head. Place the palm of the other hand on the end of the handle. Position the head horizontally and parallel to the ground. Now imagine you are sliding the coal shovel along the bed of the coal chute at waist level. Then rotate your waist and put the coal into the furnace near your legs. Twist the hammer head vertically to 'dump' the coal out. Remember to engage your Abs. Some trains did dump the coal directly on the floor of the footplate and had a very low furnace mouth. You can take a deeper stance when 'firing coal' if you wish, but be careful not to harm yourself.