Results:
- Wife mentioned she noticed it's getting me in shape (Que the 70's music here).
- Friday came none too soon. Wow what a great workout. I'm thinking next week will be easier after letting the body rest over the weekend. Not that I'm dying, but 5 days of shugging takes it's toll the first week.
- I'm doing probably a new movement, on accident. What I'll call "working on the railroad." Funny story about this in a minute. First, the movement. It's simply the hammer-the-fencepost but I go all the way down, like you are nailing a spike into the ground. Trying for a full range of movement.
So, my daughter saw me doing this and I started to sing
I've been workin on the railroad,
All the livelong day
I've been workin on the railroad,
Just to pass the time away
-- about right here I noticed she was getting bored, so I threw her a curve ball, I told her the original song actually had different lirics they found just recently. The next part, we've learned, now goes:
All of the fishies in the ocean
Aren't helping me todayyyyyyy....
Which sparked a long debate that I eventually lost about these being the original lirics, but solidified the name of the movement for me. This will probably warp my young child somehow. Oh well.
Anyway, back to the observations...
- My routine is:
1. workin on the railroad -- note no g at the end of workin
2. degraded beast -- love this name
3. shoveling
4. churning butter -- but I go all the way up
5. scratch the back
I go through the routine twice and then have about a minute to futz around. I've noticed the back, shoulders, chest, and biceps seem to be getting the best work out. Legs, not so much. I guess you take care of that with Urban Rangering...not sure what I'll do.
- There's something about this that I really like. Mixing the non-progession-focus, 5-days-a-week, core strenghtening, and logistical convenience together just this way really work out well.
- Lastly, I'm using a 10 pounder. Starting to eye the 16 at the local home depot. Going to hold off till the summer, maybe longer.
That's all for now...happy shugging
First week shugging
lutherdog... good work!
There's a weight between 10 and 16. It's 12. It's a good step up. I stepped from a 10 to an imported hammer stamped 14, but it was more like 12.5, and it was enough. I'm up to a 16 pound hammer now, but it's a huge step from 10, and you'll want to be sure that your ligaments and tendons can take the additional stress.
Given your railroad theme, maybe we should call this new motion "drive the spike".
With regard to the legs, look up "hindu squats" on the internet. Hindus are a kick-butt exercise for the legs. I used to call them "pick up the pieces". Do a set of 35 in the middle of your SG workout and you'll double its cardio-vascular effect. You'll be breathing hard from that point to the end.
Keep it up!
Given your railroad theme, maybe we should call this new motion "drive the spike".
With regard to the legs, look up "hindu squats" on the internet. Hindus are a kick-butt exercise for the legs. I used to call them "pick up the pieces". Do a set of 35 in the middle of your SG workout and you'll double its cardio-vascular effect. You'll be breathing hard from that point to the end.
Keep it up!
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."
-
Jammin' Jan
- Posts: 2002
- Joined: Thu May 05, 2005 2:55 pm
- Location: The Village
-
Matthew Warner
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:57 pm
On the 1st week of shugging, my shovelglove gave to me . . .
I just finished my first week, too, accomplishing the full 14 minutes each day by setting the alarm clock earlier.
Felt like crap by Thursday. But most of the time I feel mantastic.
Shoveling is my least favorite of the exercises, probably because it's the hardest. In the second set of 50, I had to start switching to do 10 each arm rather than 50 and 50.
I'm already doing some other small mods so I don't get bored, such as the modified chopping wood motion (which, although Reinhard says it's "meta" is actually more realistic, IMO, having been someone who's chopped a fair amount of wood). I'm also planning to add driving fence posts to the routine next week.
Audio Slave is perfect music. All gritty and stuff.
Felt like crap by Thursday. But most of the time I feel mantastic.
Shoveling is my least favorite of the exercises, probably because it's the hardest. In the second set of 50, I had to start switching to do 10 each arm rather than 50 and 50.
I'm already doing some other small mods so I don't get bored, such as the modified chopping wood motion (which, although Reinhard says it's "meta" is actually more realistic, IMO, having been someone who's chopped a fair amount of wood). I'm also planning to add driving fence posts to the routine next week.
Audio Slave is perfect music. All gritty and stuff.
I too have just completed my first week of shugging -- however, I feel "womantastic."
I took the advice of those here and started off light -- my broom handle is a bit too long to be swinging around the living room, though, so instead I used a baseball bat. Same basic length as the sledge, and gave me a good idea of how far I can extend my range of motion without hitting the wall, the ceiling, the glass-top coffee table, nearby cats, etc.
Also, as I was a tad worried about blisters and callouses (you menfolk might see these as badges of success, but I prefer to keep my hands ladylike!), I have been using -- what else? -- batting gloves! Improves my grip, too.
As early as Wednesday I was doing half and half with the bat and the sledge, and today I did the full workout with the sledge only (even though it's Saturday) -- feels great! I lucked out finding a 6-lb. sledge at OSH -- the 8-lb'er really felt like it would be too much for me. As I get stronger, my plan is to move my hands further down the handle, thus increasing -- what, torque? And eventually when that's too easy I'll go ahead and get a new sledge.
Thursday and Friday I shugged in the morning before work, and then again in the evening when I got home -- great way to relieve stress after a hard day! I have never in my life actually LOOKED FORWARD to doing exercise, and it's totally unprecedented for me to engage in a workout activity twice in one day. I just honestly enjoy it! Never thought I would say that, but there ya go.
I'm doing shoveling, churn butter, chop wood, a little tuck bales if I can manage it (that one kills me). And another I call "coal train," which is a combination of shovel and stoke fire -- shovel "the coal" from a pile in front of me, pivot, and dump it into the "fire" in back of me, like I'm running an old locomotive.
I do "churn butter" a little differently also -- mimicking the motions of churning butter a little more closely, I think: the emphasis is on the downward motion, then twist the sledge counter-clockwise a couple times, then back up.
I've had great fun lurking here and reading about everyone's progress. Thanks, Reinhard, for coming up with such a fun way of toning up.
I took the advice of those here and started off light -- my broom handle is a bit too long to be swinging around the living room, though, so instead I used a baseball bat. Same basic length as the sledge, and gave me a good idea of how far I can extend my range of motion without hitting the wall, the ceiling, the glass-top coffee table, nearby cats, etc.
Also, as I was a tad worried about blisters and callouses (you menfolk might see these as badges of success, but I prefer to keep my hands ladylike!), I have been using -- what else? -- batting gloves! Improves my grip, too.
As early as Wednesday I was doing half and half with the bat and the sledge, and today I did the full workout with the sledge only (even though it's Saturday) -- feels great! I lucked out finding a 6-lb. sledge at OSH -- the 8-lb'er really felt like it would be too much for me. As I get stronger, my plan is to move my hands further down the handle, thus increasing -- what, torque? And eventually when that's too easy I'll go ahead and get a new sledge.
Thursday and Friday I shugged in the morning before work, and then again in the evening when I got home -- great way to relieve stress after a hard day! I have never in my life actually LOOKED FORWARD to doing exercise, and it's totally unprecedented for me to engage in a workout activity twice in one day. I just honestly enjoy it! Never thought I would say that, but there ya go.
I'm doing shoveling, churn butter, chop wood, a little tuck bales if I can manage it (that one kills me). And another I call "coal train," which is a combination of shovel and stoke fire -- shovel "the coal" from a pile in front of me, pivot, and dump it into the "fire" in back of me, like I'm running an old locomotive.
I do "churn butter" a little differently also -- mimicking the motions of churning butter a little more closely, I think: the emphasis is on the downward motion, then twist the sledge counter-clockwise a couple times, then back up.
I've had great fun lurking here and reading about everyone's progress. Thanks, Reinhard, for coming up with such a fun way of toning up.
Heidster,
I love the batting gloves idea... the baseball bat is excellent too, better than the broom I recommend on the home page.
I'll mention these on the home page with a link to this post to credit you.
Congratulations on completing your first week and thanks for sharing these great suggestions.
Reinhard
I love the batting gloves idea... the baseball bat is excellent too, better than the broom I recommend on the home page.
I'll mention these on the home page with a link to this post to credit you.
Congratulations on completing your first week and thanks for sharing these great suggestions.
Reinhard
I started my shugging routine on Monday of this week, and as soon as I'm done writing this, I'm going to go down my routine for today. I love it, and while I'm not really sure how it's working so fast, I'd swear I can see a difference in my arms.
Thanks for the tip about batting gloves, Heidster; after a mere two days shugging, I'm forming blisters on my hands. I don't mind how they look - my hands are more akin to meaty ogre hands, anyway - but due to where they're forming, they can hurt a bit.
Thanks for the tip about batting gloves, Heidster; after a mere two days shugging, I'm forming blisters on my hands. I don't mind how they look - my hands are more akin to meaty ogre hands, anyway - but due to where they're forming, they can hurt a bit.
Welcome, Josh!
Although shovelglove designed for long term sustainability, it is impressive how soon it tends to get you stronger. I wonder if it's some distant ancestral muscle memory switch getting flipped by the familiar movements, like "ah, time for work again. Better start beefing up..."
Reinhard
Although shovelglove designed for long term sustainability, it is impressive how soon it tends to get you stronger. I wonder if it's some distant ancestral muscle memory switch getting flipped by the familiar movements, like "ah, time for work again. Better start beefing up..."
Reinhard