Greetings and naked shugging (the hammer, not me!)

[DC++]

Yes, Naked Shugging. Anyone else do this?

Oh yeah it's not what you might think. Basically I haven't bothered putting any sort of padding on my hammer. I work out on a carpeted area clear of furniture plus I have been using the hammer around the garden as well. So I just didn't put a glove on. I think the only problem would be more severe bruising should I slip and hit my knee or shin. So I better be careful. Or grab an old towel and wrap it up.

Anyway, hello to everyone here. I started shugging a month or so ago and thought I would share how it has been going.

For the first week I wanted to use something I already owned and the closest thing was a Log splitting maul which weighs around 4kg (9lb) all up. Since this thing is half axe I wrapped it in an old towel and cloth tape.

After the first week went better than I expected I took the plunge and bought this 12lb hammer. It felt a bit too heavy at first but after a month it is just right.

I also practice yoga (Iyengar style) and have found that even after a month of shugging, the extra strength is really helping me in some of the more difficult yoga poses. I also am finding that shugging and yoga complement each other very well.

My routine is currently the following, with 10 - 15 reps each side, following a vague "build a cabin" sort of theme:

• Shoveling, with dirt thrown to the side.
  Chop the tree.
  Push the tree off*.
  Chop wood.
  Fit post into the hole I dug earlier (churn butter)
  Drive post.
  Fit roof (tuck bales).
  Pull weeds.
  Scythe.
  Rowing forwards. (finished with the cabin so going canoeing)
  Rowing backwards.
  Flip the lever (this doesn't fit into the scenario at all, but I like the movement).

By the end I usually have around 2 minutes left so I fill that in with extra fast shoveling and chopping, but with the dirt being thrown to the front on the shoveling (kind of like a combination of shoveling and stoke the fire).

* Otherwise known as "the tree fell on me and I need to push it off". I haven't seen this described anywhere else so here it is.
First, this move is done lying on your back. I know most movements are done standing, but it's not my fault. The tree fell on me, I didn't have a choice. OK, so lying on my back. The hand doing the pushing is anywhere from halfway along the handle to just behind the hammer head. The closer to the hammer the easier the movement. The other hand is at the end of the handle providing stability and a pivot point. The best way to describe the actual movement is that is a one sided bench press, pivoting the hammer about the end of the handle rather than lifting the whole thing horizontally. It is this pivoting that allows the position of the lifting hand to control the difficulty.

Phew, a longer post than I expect anyone to read. At least I type fast.

[DC++]

I didn't notice until after posting this that there are separate fora for describing moves and sequences. Sorry. I will leave this here for now but if anyone is actually interested I can post a better description of "push the #%&* tree off me" to the moves board.

DC

[CriticalMass]

I too have been committing the sin of non-glove. So far, no problems as a result. I also shug on carpet. However, I definitely intend on adding a wrap in the near future. I think the longer I do the workout the more important the covering will become. Which seems counter-intuitive. My logic is that once you do something often enough for it to become second nature, you can become more careless. As you lose your healthy fear. I know of many climbing accidents that have occurred because of this human nature, by experienced people who knew better.

[morganalefay]

I shug outside in my back garden whenever I can, so I don't normally bother to put anything round my hammer. There are noticeable white marks on the concrete outside my garage where I've hit it on the ground while shovelling. I am quite good at hitting myself in the shins or thighs while swinging it around, so I've usually got bruises, but I regard them as a badge of office (I wear long skirts, anyway).

On the odd day that it's raining too hard to shug outside, I simply tie a fleece round it (usually the one I am wearing, as I work from home in my not very warm front room).

I also am finding that shugging and yoga complement each other very well.

Absolutely. I've had an early-morning yoga habit for years -I do 15 mins or so of yoga every morning (I generally shug at lunchtime) with a longer session at weekends.