SG Supplemental: The Cinderbell

[phayze]

The idea that "weight lifting" somehow requires specially designed equipment is something that I've always had a hard time with. Sure, deadlifting a 90 pound barbell feels different from picking up a 90 pound bag of concrete, but is there anything magical about the bar that makes it "better"? I'd love to see some valid science that would answer that question for sure, but until that happens I'm going to assume that there probably isn't. A weight is a weight - regardless of whether you're picking up an over-weight house cat or a 20 pound dumbell, you're still "lifting weight"

So, one day I was reflecting on all of this while taking down, relocating, and replacing a block foundation wall. There was bending, lifting, carrying, lowering, and heavy stuff, so I began to wonder how I could use this to my advantage, and secured one of the old blocks for my own devious purposes. I still haven't actually weighed it, but my guess is that it's somewhere between 50 and 70 pounds - heavier than what Lowe's is selling for a buck (I know because after the old ones came out, that's what they were replaced with), but about the same dimensions. I have affectionately dubbed it "The Cinderbell", though I also like Reinhard's "Shovelblock" suggestion.

MOVES

There are some interesting youtube videos of people balancing two or more of these things on closet rods and whatnot to use as improvised barbells, which is a good idea, but more contrived than I was willing to go with. I needed shovelglove simplicity, so I dedicated a 14 minute workout period to "Cinderbell Freestyle", and these are some of the ideas that I had.

Shouldering: Set the block on the floor in whatever orientation works best (I think that having it stand upright makes it easier to get ahold of), bend at the knees and hoist it up onto one shoulder, gently set it back down and hoist to the other shoulder. That's 1 rep.

Farmer Walks: Grab on with one hand and walk as far as you can before your grip gives out. Switch to the other hand and walk back. Imagine a farmer carrying buckets of . . . whatever it is that farmers carry in buckets. Milk? Fertilizer? Manure? I don't know, I don't have a farm. You get the idea.

Kettle Bell Swing: Crossfit Journal explains this one better than I can.

Plyo Obstacle: As shown in these really awesome animations

Step ups: It also makes a good stair-stepper, and you can do High Steps over it for hip mobility.

"Traditional" Lifts: I use scare quotes here because I generally don't like the idea of "Traditional" anything, but I think you understand what I mean. Anything that you can do with a barbell, dumbell, kettlebell or whatever-the-bell you could do with a block. I like High Pulls, but I've played with snatches, curls/cleans, overhead presses, deadlifts, squats - there's not limit. Be creative.

Hand Ups: This takes some of the above and rolls it together. Imagine that your helping to build a wall and you need to hand blocks up to the brick layer who's on a ladder above your head. Start with the block on the floor, shoulder the block and then lift it over head as if handing it up to someone. Obviously, the brick layer isn't there, so you'll have to set it back down (gently!).

I've also found that it's handy for elevating my feet to make pushups and ring rows more challenging. Alternately, if pushups are hard for you, use it to elevate your hands to make them easier. Oh, and it works as the "box" in a box squat.

THOUGHTS

The first thing I noticed is that working out without gloves results in tiny bits of concrete and gravel becoming embedded into my hands. That sucked, so I wrapped a little duct tape around the parts that I was grabbing into the most. This works okay, but my next plan is to get a good thick layer of plasti-dip on the whole thing (it's a kind of spray-on rubber for coating tool handles and such. They sell it at Lowe's).

The second thing I noticed is that it's really hard to get a good grip on this thing - and I mean that in a good way. Most of the heavy stuff that one has to move in real life doesn't have a conveniently balanced and comfortably ergonomic hand grip, which makes the simple act of picking this thing up a useful movement. The downside, obviously, is that it becomes slightly dangerous, but then swinging sledgehammers around your living room probably carries a similar level of risk, so I'm willing to accept that.

Overall, I'm very pleased with it. Somehow, even "traditional" lifts feel less contrived and more enjoyable with the block, and I really dig the extra challenge on my grip. For me, this is a completely different kind of challenge than I get from SG (not better, not worse - different). The higher weight and linear motion make this more about raw strength and endurance and less about conditioning. Both are essential parts of fitness, so it's fun to find ways of solving both problems with the same mentality.

[Kevin]

Love the idea.

I do something similar with an old truck tire after I beat it with a sledge hammer for a while - squats to flip 50 times, lift it, throw it, etc. Great exercise, but dirty. Plus, it's soft(er).

[Huffdogg]

I think that a bit of research might show you that certain lifts ARE better than their "useful movements" equivalents, in terms of body health and risk of injury. The bar is milled to the dimensions it is for maximum strength of grip with little chance of losing it and causing injury, and the specificity of the movements inherent in the Olympic power lifts like deadlifts are designed to stress the muscle groups without offering much chance of injury, also. I'm not saying that I favor them, but I AM willing to concede that they might be more effective when you're talking about the major lifts that involve all of your muscle groups, as opposed to something like "curls," which maybe work 4 muscles.

That having been said, I've seen a few different websites offering workout ideas using bags of sand or concrete, homemade kettle bells using nothing more than a duffel bag and the filler of your choice (sand, gravel, etc), and similar things that sound a lot like what you're doing with your cinderbell.

I would caution you about doing your Farmer's Walk one-handed, however. loading that much weight on one side without loading the other is asking for back, shoulder, and hip issues. You'd be better off with one in each hand to balance the load, especially over your lower back.

[phayze]

Kevin: I've seen cool things done with tires - looks like fun!

Huff, good points. I'm sure that barbell work is probably safer in some ways, so words like "better" are difficult to throw around. I prefer to keep an element of risk in my workouts because it helps me to focus on what I'm doing (maintaining grip, controlling motion, etc.), plus, like I said in the OP, most of the heavy stuff that I find myself moving around in the course of a normal week are more like block than like barbells, so I guess I'm seeing "better" from the perspective of "the best way to get good at something is to do it over and over" (Obviously, that's not to say that doing deadlifts won't make picking up blocks easier). It's really all about perspective and goals, I think.

I've seen the sandbag stuff, too, and I think that did help put the idea in my head. They're probably safer in a lot of ways, too, but the Cinderbell was one of those "what do I have handy?" kind of things. Anything heavy and hard to get a grip on can fill basically the same role.

[reinhard]

I love it! And it looks like the domain (both domains, actually) are up for grabs if you're interested in starting another internet phenomenon.

Reinhard