Basic routine??

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:31 pm

Every now and then, I flirt with the idea of doing Shovelglove. It's fast, it's a good workout, yada, yada - a lot going for it.

What's holding me back is that I think of it when I'm short on time to exercise. And at that point, I don't have time to figure out a routine.

So, I want to prepare in advance, so that I have a routine "in my back pocket" when I need it. Can some of you make suggestions, or direct me to posts that have already covered this?

I'm a rank beginner, in decent though not awesome shape. My arms are probably my weakest area. I'm looking for a reasonable "beginning routine" that's not so complicated that I'll spend most of my 15 minutes trying to remember the moves.

Thanks in advance!

Finnigan · Post by **Finnigan** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:04 pm

This is the routine I started with maybe 3 weeks ago.

Shoveling, 7 reps each side
Churn butter, 7 reps each side
Chop wood, 7 reps each side
No name (Flip the lever?) 7 reps each side (I have been only getting 5 a side towards the end of the routine though)
Lift the sack, 7 reps each side
Ab Killer, 7 reps each side

repeat for 14 min.

I wrote the routine down on a pad I keep near where I work out. I place the timer on my pad. If I forget the next move, I just look at the pad. Recently, as I've been trying new moves, or adding reps of a move, I just alter the notes on the pad.

chentegt · Post by **chentegt** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:13 pm

As a 'default' routine when I'm tired to invent one, I do the beginners one: the first 4 or 5 exercises listed in the shovelglove movements section, with their suggested reps.

I don't see the old section where Reinhard put the evolution of his routines... I remember those routines were useful as a guide. Was it removed?

navi · Post by **navi** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:20 pm

KCCC, when I started, I watched the videos of the basic moves first, and made a few notes. I then did the exercises using a broom for a few days until I felt like I had the moves down. Visualizing the action you are mimicking really helps to get the form right. I started with 5 of each, worked my way up by adding one rep per week. I am using an 8 pound sledge hammer. I now do 10 reps of the basics on each side (shovel, churn butter, chop wood, flip lever, drive fence post, hoist sack, tuck bale, shovel coal, fireman/break down door), alternating with 5 hindu squats for the butt and legs between each exercise (there are many internet sites showing how to do these squats). This routine really wakes me up in the morning! I have been doing it religiously for 3 months now (weekends off) & I can really see a difference in my arms, shoulders and butt (from the squats I think). I am MUCH more successful with this than i am with noS - only missed a few days due to illness in 3 months. I guess i am better at sticking to DOING something rather than NOT DOING something

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 1:57 am

Thank you - this is VERY helpful!

Gionta, I really like the broomstick idea - great way to practice moves.

Finnagan, making notes will help a lot (and I'm amazed it didn't occur to me, since I make a make a lot of lists!)

chentegt, it didn't occur to me that those exercises represented a "beginner's routine" - will take a closer look.

This is very helpful. My beloved exercise classes are drawing to a close, and there is a LONG break before the next set starts. So, I need to prepare in advance and have something else to do so I don't turn into a couch potato during the hiatus. This may be the perfect time to start shovelglove.

Thanks!!

Post by **reinhard** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:20 pm

KCCC,

I haven't given this quite as much thought as I probably should...

Generally, my feeling is that which moves you do are far less important than carving out the time and easing in very gently with low rep count sets. 7 reps is a good, satisfying number. Different people find different moves difficult... but the "suggested rep counts" column on the movements page can serve as a rough guide to which are easier. Experimenting a bit, either with a broom or very slowly with a hammer, is probably the best way to decide which moves are keepers.

I moved the "shovelglove evolution" section from the home page because too many people were viewing it as prescriptive, which it's emphatically not. The rep counts at several points (like, right at the beginning) are way too high for most people to do regularly (even I don't do 50 rep sets anymore). I think it's much better to do a larger variety of movements with lower rep counts -- safer, more full body, and more interesting.

http://shovelglove.com/routines/evolution/

The shovelglove routines section of the bulletin board is a probably better place to look for ideas than this.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

Reinhard

Finnigan · Post by **Finnigan** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:59 pm

Reinhard, I was wondering, on that list you link to, was that count per side, or total? Were you doing 50 shovels per side?

Edit: Nevermind. I found the note at the bottom. Wow! I don't think I could do 50 a side, or one of those long sets in 14 minutes!

chentegt · Post by **chentegt** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:34 pm

Thank you for the link.

When I started, I remember I followed those 50 reps suggestions religiously... Now I do 21 max and add more exercises, as Reinhard says. Variety = more fun.

david · Post by **david** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:13 pm

I still do a "beginner" type routine about once a week:

10 churning type movements
10 shoveling type movements
10 chopping type movements
10 squats
10 pushups

(keep the pace moderate to slow)

Repeat for 14 minutes.

--david

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:47 pm

Thanks again, all. This is very helpful! Reinhard, appreciate the links, and I'm checking the "routines" section too.

As a quick update - I went through the videos last night, and this morning when I got up I tried to remember them using a broom. (Note: Tuck bales and churning butter both need to be done VERY CAREFULLY with a broom if you have regular-height ceilings.)

I found I didn't remember them all as well as I thought I did, watched again and figured out what I'd missed (on chop wood, you don't circle back - that's fence posts).

It didn't feel quite like real exercise with no real weight, but that's okay - it wasn't meant to be. I had workout class later in the morning. This was practice for real exercise. I'm pleased to have something in place for the upcoming end-of-classes.

navi · Post by **navi** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:56 pm

oops - I forgot to warn you! I whacked the ceiling with the broom, too! (not a problem with sledge). have fun!

I had to do some "real work" with the shovel this week (moving mountain of woodchip mulch) & found it was really easy & fun after SGing all these weeks. I got into the groove, alternating arms, & made sure my form was good - no back pain, & a satisfying (and productive)workout. If I had a woodstove I would probably be out there chopping wood, too.

morganalefay · Post by **morganalefay** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:37 am

I had to do some "real work" with the shovel this week (moving mountain of woodchip mulch) & found it was really easy & fun after SGing all these weeks. I got into the groove, alternating arms, & made sure my form was good - no back pain, & a satisfying (and productive)workout. If I had a woodstove I would probably be out there chopping wood, too.

Me too - yesterday I was wielding an actual spade, trying to root out some particularly recalcitrant brambles from my front garden. I used to get quite severe lower back pain after hard digging and have to go and do some serious yoga but yesterday - nothing. I call that a result, and I've only been SGing for three weeks.

twa2w · Post by **twa2w** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:13 pm

Since SG imitates life why not have your routine do the same.

Dig a hole for the fence post.

Go out and chop down a tree to make the fence post

Hoist the sack to put the concrete into the hole

churn butter to mix up the concrete

pound the post into the hole

shovel again to fill in the top of the hole

squat up and down to attach wire to the fence

OK so maybe not - but it does sorta make it easy to remember the sequence of exercises -and who cares if you go out of order or miss one when you are beginnng.

Cheers
J

phayze · Post by **phayze** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:38 am

KCCC - feel free (and encouraged, for that matter) to use one of my routines, either as-is, or as a starting point for something original. It'd make me feel like there was a point to posting them.

Usually, I just pick a handful of moves that sound like fun at the moment and cycle through the list as fast as I can.

twa2w wrote:Since SG imitates life why not have your routine do the same.

Dig a hole for the fence post.

Go out and chop down a tree to make the fence post

Hoist the sack to put the concrete into the hole

churn butter to mix up the concrete

pound the post into the hole

shovel again to fill in the top of the hole

squat up and down to attach wire to the fence

Bravo! I try to think like this sometimes when writing a routine, but mine are never quite so logical.