Everyday Systems

Awesome stuff here. I have been shugging for about 6 weeks now and I love it. My shoulders feel great and my muscles are a lot firmer.

I do a few reps with a walking stick to warm up, do most of the routine with an 8 lb., and do some moves with a 12 lb. I’ve owned the 12 lb. for about three weeks and I think it will be my upper ceiling for at least the next six months. I had a 16 lb. for a few days and exchanged it for the 12. In the past I have been a textbook yo-yo exerciser and the 16 seemed to be a threat to my habit.

14 minutes is not a big time imposition. It would take me at least that long to get to an affordable gym. I remember something from undergrad psychology about habit and the “12 minute rule.” It was a while ago and this may have been the professor’s pet theory, but the basic idea was that people won’t regularly do something that takes more than 12 minutes to get to. Maybe this is why the gym habit is so hard to maintain. Shovelglove is COMPLETELY DONE in fourteen minutes!

-Dave

Welcome (fellow) library guy!

I'm glad you're into the 14 minutes, because I think they're as important as the fun of swinging a sledgehammer around. You have to balance the sense of doing something fun and free and kind of nuts with the rigor and regularity of a firm time structure. Fun alone won't cut it.

Good for you for downgrading. Again, enthusiasm is great, but within reasonable bounds.

Looking forward to hearing more from you,

Reinhard

I'm glad you stopped lurking.

Let us know how it's going, and if you come up with anything new to do. It's almost infinitely variable, which, for me anyway, is what keeps me at it.

You were right to step back from the 16 pounder. Let your connective tissue adjust to the load before you go nuts. It took me more than two years to feel comfortable to move from my 13 pounder to the 16 pounder, and it still sometimes tweaks me a little. After a month and a half or so, I'm just starting to feel a little mastery over it.

Good to hear from you!

Thanks for the warm welcome! So far I have been pretty standard with the moves. The ROM with these exercises is just fantastic.