library_guy wrote:I strained an abdominal muscle ... "pop the lock" and "chopping wood" were out of the question.
Shovelglove definitely works the abs, like Reinhard says.
If you want to increase the effect on the abs, do things with the hammer head as far away from your body as possible.
Try chop the wood but keep the handle of the hammer in front of your body instead of letting it pass behind you.
e.g. If your right hand is near the head of the hammer and the left hand on the handle. Raise the hammer as normal (high over the shoulder if you want to work your pecs) but keep the left hand just in front of the left hip as the hammer comes down. Don't let the left hand actually touch the hip, keep it just in front (very important!)
Fifty of those on either side should leave your abs burning (not to mention your shoulders).
I'm an experimenter and one of the things I like most about SG is that you can get completely different effects just by varying the movements a little like this.