Everyday Systems

Hi everyone, I'm Sammy and I'm a newbie to both the board and to Everyday Systems. I've been doing SG for close to a month now and wanted to share two exercises that I've been evaluating. I do the butterchurn, the shoveling, the piledriving and two other sledge-based exercises.
The first is Paddling. It is basically using the sledge like a canoe paddle. I sit on my inflatable exercise ball (though a chair would do fine) and hold the inverted sledge just above where the sweater is tied to the neck. My other hand is on the end of the handle just like you would a paddle. Sitting on the ball gives the sllight added simulation of balancing in a canoe. This gets my shoulders burning fiercely.
The other exercise I've added is side bend. I hold the sledge upright with the padded sledge neck directly touching my forehead and the handle against my torso. One hand is high up on the neck of the sledge and pointing that elbow directly to the side. The other hand grips the very end of the handle, holding against my bellybutton. I slowly bend to the side, trying to touch my side-pointed elbow to my hip. After my reps on that side I just alternate the hand positions and do the other side. This is tough on your side abs.
Thanks for your attention,
Sammy

I'm all for anything that targets those abs!

Whut up???? Sammy!!!!!!!
Welcome and keep it up!!!!!
Peace and Glove,
Deb

How else does that exercise ball figure in to SGing? Have you worked out any other exercises?

Welcome, Sammy, and thanks for posting these moves. Sorry I didn't respond sooner.

I'm travelling the rest of this week, but will give paddle the canoe a try when I get back next week. I have a dim memory of having tried something similar before, but the image is so compelling that it's worth another go.

Side bends sounds good too, but we need a better name... I'll mess around with it and see if anything occurs to me.

Thanks again, keep em coming.

Kevin wrote:How else does that exercise ball figure in to SGing? Have you worked out any other exercises?

Kevin,
I did consider using the SG for crunches on the exercise ball. You could rest the SG on your shoulder like soldiers do with their rifles. Or if you are silly and morbid you could plant the SG in the middle of your chest with the handle sticking straight out and with each crunch envision yourself as a dying vampire sitting up in their grave, straining against the stake in their heart.
I do use the ball as something to focus on for "driving fence posts".
Other than that, the sitting on the ball does make one less stable (which is generally not good when you are trying to manipulate a heavy object), so it has found limited use in my workout. I don't want to fall and break something.

Ha ha ha, Sammy!!!! I used my SG for weighted crunches in the past, as you described... But not with the awesome and hilariously gory "vampire with a stake in the heart" scenario! LOL...
Good choice to not do too much "balancing" stuff while holding a sledge.. I tried to do some Yoga poses with it, and more than once, caught myself off balance.. I think you need to be totally *planted* firmly into the ground (or in the case of crunches, laying on the ground) when you do SG, no matter what the move is...

Have fun!!!
Peace,
Deb

Thanks for the great ideas Sammy - I may try the paddles and side bends (hurry up on that new name, Reinhard! )

Hey Sammy,

I added Paddling the Canoe to my Shovelglove workout yesterday afternoon. I liked it! Don't have a ball, so I just did it standing. I could feel it in my triceps as will as shoulders. Next time, I will do it in a squat or lunge position; that oughta fire up those thigh muscles!

I've added it to my list of 'regular' Shovelglove exercises.

I just started shovelgloving on Tuesday, August 16. I like the idea of "paddling a canoe", but if you are sitting on something, the exercise works totally different muscles than actual paddling does.
I tried standing legs together and bending foward so that the upper half of my body is parallel with the floor. Then paddling is much more like the real thing, since you are fighting gravity as you pull the hammer head up.
Only thing, though: it might not be a good idea to bend and work like this if your back is weak. Of course, it might not be good to do most shovelgloving if your back is weak!

After a few more days of experimenting with paddling, I would say keep your feet shoulder-width apart and lean forward from the waist about 45 degrees or so. This is similar to the position you might be in in a kayak.

Sammy wrote: <snip>
The first is Paddling. It is basically using the sledge like a canoe paddle. I sit on my inflatable exercise ball (though a chair would do fine) and hold the inverted sledge just above where the sweater is tied to the neck. My other hand is on the end of the handle just like you would a paddle. Sitting on the ball gives the sllight added simulation of balancing in a canoe. This gets my shoulders burning fiercely.
<snip>

Hi. I'm new here too. Been at it for about 3 weeks now. I'm small and have rheumatoid arthritis so I have to be a little careful, especially around my rotator cuff. All I could find was an 8lb. at Home Depot but I did find a 6lb. sledge online and that arrived last week. I've been doing paddling too of a sort and on an exercise ball. I find that keeping my legs less than hip distance apart not only works the arms but also the butt muscles as you have to work at staying stablized on the ball. I'm not in a canoe for this tho. I'm in a Galeon and I'm one of the oarsmen -- ok oarswoman :=Þ
Here's a visual: http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/rowing/trireme/IMG_3246.jpg
and here's where to get a superlightweight sledge:
http://search.hardwarestore.com/exec/?q ... r&x=9&y=16

Sorry Reinhard. I would have ordered using your Amazon link, but they didn't have the light weight I needed.

Thanks for the website.

...will give paddle the canoe a try when I get back next week. I have a dim memory of having tried something similar before, but the image is so compelling that it's worth another go.

Reinhard, I know why you have that dim memory. Well, not why you have a 'dim memory,' but a dim memory of paddling with the shovelglove.

I used it to 'paddle the canoe' in my scenario based shovelglove, one that we posted to the Yahoo group way 'back in the day.' I did it by kneeling on one knee, paddling to that side, then switching knees and paddling to the other side. We were rowing the boat to the other shore to obtain lumber or something, I forget in what scenario specifically that we included this movement.

The stability ball sounds good, it might work your core because you'll use your upper body (and thighs) to hold your balance on the ball while you paddle.

Ah.. the memories...