Everyday Systems

Okay folks, I'm trying this again, but with a small mod.
I'm going to alternate SG days with days I dance around the room, as my 14 mins a day of exercise default.
I will be happy if I do SG between 2 and 3 times a week, and that's what it will be if I alternate it with dancing.
I've never seemed to stick to SG, but I'm hoping that I will this time.
I have to try.
Winter has made me more inactive than I've been in ages, and I'm gaining so fast. Plus, my left shoulder has been developing some tendonitis, which has been really uncomfortable, and I hope that moderate weight stuff will help to reverse that by strengthening my shoulders.
Here I go!
Debs

Hi again!
Okay, much to my surprise, I was very easily able to get right back to using the SG.. I think I will try it 5 days a week after all.. This was a good workout, but not as hard as I thought it would be after so much time off.
My special SG music, which I had used for a few years, goes for about 12 minutes, so that's how long I do SG for, and then I add a few extra mins of dancing to other music.
I'm shocked how much easier it is to actually *DO* the exercise as opposed to how hard we (or at least *I*) make it by thinking and procrastinating about doing it.

Debs

Nice! Good luck.

I think alternating/mixing shovelglove with other kinds of moves (as long as it adds up to 14 minutes or whatever you decide your N-daily number should be) is a great idea. If you look in the "routines" forum, you'll see many (if not most) people do this, at least to some degree.

Allowing yourself *any* kind of move deprives you of the seductive (and perhaps, on occasion legitimate) excuse that you're too sore and don't want to overdo it. If your "shovelglove" muscles are sore, do something else. If your arms are sore, focus on the legs. If you're sore all over, do something ridiculously soft core. Just keep the time sacred, keep the externals of the habit going.

Reinhard

I have been doing what Reinhard suggested. Having a small spreadsheet of SG moves along with additional legs/arms/abs or whatever nearby keeps me on track. I don't check them off; I just look at them as I move. I can usually remember what I've done from day to day (from feeling sore) so I skip those and pick a different leg or SG.

This might be a little free-flowing for most folks. I've had a weight-training class before. The moves are no strangers to me. I just needed the 14 minutes and my sledgehammer to keep me motivated.