Well, Hello there!

Take a sledgehammer and wrap an old sweater around it. This is your "shovelglove." Every week day morning, set a timer for 14 minutes. Use the shovelglove to perform shoveling, butter churning, and wood chopping motions until the timer goes off. Stop. Rest on weekends and holidays. Baffled? Intrigued? Charmed? Discuss here.
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IanLacy
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:50 pm

Well, Hello there!

Post by IanLacy » Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:41 pm

Hey all,

My name is Ian. I just graduated from the University of Kansas with a BS in Electrical Engineering. I loved my classes and my discipline, but I hated how it left me with no time to take care of my body. Having just graduated, however, I felt that I could get back to the gym and start running. High hopes have never fallen so far. No one told me that when you start working full time you're only allotted four hours to yourself a night. Needless to say, in three months of working I haven't been able to make it to the gym once. After hearing about shovelglove, that doesn't really matter anymore. I went out and bought a sledge hammer two days ago, and completed my first set last night. I can't believe how great it felt. After 14 minutes, my muscles burned like I remembered them burning after using free weights for 45 minutes at the gym my freshman year in college! Incredible. I think I'm hooked. I'll have to take progress pictures and post them somewhere.

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gratefuldeb67
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Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:13 pm

Welcome Ian :)
Sounds like you like Shovelglove and it's workin for you!
I'm gonna start it again too.
Great stuff!!
Peace

8) Debs
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

Shovel4life
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 1:03 am

Post by Shovel4life » Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:26 am

Ian,

Hey welcome to Shovelgloving! What size hammer are you starting out with? When i started, my options at Home Depot were 10lbs, or 16lbs, and the 10 lber felt heavy enough so i went with that! After about 5 weeks, it felt like a toy in my hand and i wasnt working up a sweat anymore, so i moved to the 16. Now i do smaller reps with that and i can feel the burn way more, then about 10 minutes after the workout i feel normal again. Good Luck on your journey!

IanLacy
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:50 pm

Post by IanLacy » Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:09 pm

Thanks for the warm welcoming. I'm currently using a 10 lb sledge. I'm going to have to find some gloves, though. About halfway through my routine it starts to slip ever so slowly out of my hands! ha.

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winnie96
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Location: New England USA

Post by winnie96 » Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:12 am

IanLacy --

Yeah ... what is it about Shovelglove that it feels so great? Have only been doing it for a week or so, but it's now what gets me out of bed in the morning -- I do other exercise (free weights and walking), but really don't look forward to the others as much as the shugging.

I am starting very slowly with an 8 lb sledge (woman, 55+), but already, after just a week, I am feeling so much stronger. On my daily walks, I now STRIDE, vigorously -- there is something about the SGlove exercises that pumps up your core for other activities. BTW, I thought I would have to start with maybe a 2lb sledge, but another member suggested starting out with what I had, just doing slower reps -- spot on! Don't be afraid of the weight -- you can adjust reps and time.

I definitely recommend using weight-lifting gloves -- the kind with chopped off fingers -- didn't start with them initially, but after reading that tip on this forum, found that they gave me a confidence to really "do" the SG routines safely.

I'm just a newbie, but I've gotten so much immediate encouragement off these posts that I hope to offer some to you, too -- best wishes and we'll see what happens, but I really think this is the long term way to go -- so focus on establishing these habits now!

IanLacy
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:50 pm

Post by IanLacy » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:04 pm

Glad to hear your continued efforts with the 8lb. I'm definitely going to go for some of those gloves. Even putting on gloves like that can do as much to pump someone up! Haha. Everyone here is supportive, this is great. Thanks for your post and welcomings!

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:42 pm

Welcome, Ian!

I've been pretty happy with these gloves:

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic ... ght=gloves

Recently I've been alternating between wearing the gloves and shugging bare handed. Good balance between not slaughtering my hands and a more intimate, tactile grip.

Reinhard

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