From 8 (9) to 12 (13) pounds

Take a sledgehammer and wrap an old sweater around it. This is your "shovelglove." Every week day morning, set a timer for 14 minutes. Use the shovelglove to perform shoveling, butter churning, and wood chopping motions until the timer goes off. Stop. Rest on weekends and holidays. Baffled? Intrigued? Charmed? Discuss here.
Post Reply
JoshT
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:32 pm

From 8 (9) to 12 (13) pounds

Post by JoshT » Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:34 pm

Yesterday I finally got around to weighing my shovelglove, and was surprised to find that, for over a year now, I've been using an 8 pounder. I thought I had a 10 or 12 pounder, but wasn't sure, and had never bothered to weigh the thing. With the sweater, it came to right around 9 pounds.

My shovelglove routine hasn't been very challenging for the past few months, so I figured I would (finally) upgrade. I went to the hardware store and picked up a 12 pounder, figuring it would help make things challenging again without making them impossible.

It did indeed make things harder, moreso than I expected. For example, for a long while, I've been doing 50 shovels per side; with the new hammer, I was doing good to get 20 per side. And flip the lever now makes my arms burn again. :)

pirateman2k
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:08 pm
Location: Colorado

Post by pirateman2k » Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:45 am

Josh--

That doesn't surprise me: think about it, you upped the weight by 50%!

That's a lot more effort per repetition.

Good job, keep it up, and don't be afraid to dial it back if you start getting extra sore.

blujay
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:40 am

Post by blujay » Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:07 pm

Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?

JoshT
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:32 pm

Post by JoshT » Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:37 pm

pirateman2k: I hadn't really thought of it that way (increasing the weight by 50%)!

blujay: Well, I started shovelgloving in August of 2008, and was using the 8 pounder up until now. I think I could have upgraded a few months ago, though.

While I've missed some days / weeks since starting, depending on what was going on in my life, generally speaking, I've stuck with the overall plan: Monday-Friday, 14 minutes a day, with weekends off.

Regarding progress, I can't say, exactly. I realize that sounds silly, but I'm also doing No S, so it's hard to say what caused what. However, I can say that since starting both, I've lost around 20 pounds while putting on some respectable arm muscles. A long way to go regarding weight loss, still, but progress is progress, I suppose. :)

fungus
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:31 pm
Location: Valencia, Spain

Post by fungus » Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:11 am

blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?
8 pounds is a bit wimpy... :D

blujay
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:40 am

Post by blujay » Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:18 am

fungus wrote:
blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?
8 pounds is a bit wimpy... :D
What weight do you use?

User avatar
phayze
Posts: 297
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:57 am

Post by phayze » Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:07 am

fungus wrote:
blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?
8 pounds is a bit wimpy... :D
If that's what you think, then you're doing it wrong. ;)

When the hammer starts to feel light, you just have to move it faster! I can get a serious sweat going with my little 6 pounder! You just have to think "cardio", and not "strength training". :)
1 Picture = 1,000 words
0:01s Video = 30 pictures
therefore, 0:01s Video = 30,000 words

fungus
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:31 pm
Location: Valencia, Spain

Post by fungus » Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:10 am

blujay wrote:
fungus wrote:
8 pounds is a bit wimpy... :D
What weight do you use?
See the thread "Hammer upgrade time!" a couple of threads below this one ... http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=76229

blujay
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:40 am

Post by blujay » Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:49 am

What weight did you start with? How long did you use it before upgrading?

fungus
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:31 pm
Location: Valencia, Spain

Post by fungus » Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:20 pm

phayze wrote: When the hammer starts to feel light, you just have to move it faster!
Agreed ... but I get to the point where I can't physically move it much faster. When I can do eight or nine sets of 50 movements in 14 minutes then it's time to add weight.
Last edited by fungus on Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

fungus
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:31 pm
Location: Valencia, Spain

Post by fungus » Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:26 pm

blujay wrote:What weight did you start with? How long did you use it before upgrading?
I started with the 4kg hammer in the pic. That lasted about a month before I got the 5kg hammer.

That one lasted about six months then I added two 500g weights to it - 6kg.

The 6kg lasted about a year and I made it 7kg a couple of weeks ago.

With 6kg I was doing eight or nine sets of movements (ie. 50 moves left/right) in 14 minutes. With the 7kg hammer I'm down to five or six.

kykaos
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:11 am

canon

Post by kykaos » Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:14 pm

Lets not forget that... its not the weight... days on habit is the metric that is crucial...

That said i prefer to do exercises that wear me out 8 to 20 reps as to still be in a strength training zone.... so i do a full lunge when I shovel and chop and work on power and speed.

Also the further out you hold the hammer the more leverage the weight has and teh more resistance it has.

Unilateral exersices can also make a "small weight " seem very big.

Single leg squats?

I also do a flip leverish move which is very good for the posterior chain. its flip lever only doing a one legged deadlift...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oaZMERD ... re=related

User avatar
gratefuldeb67
Posts: 6256
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Great Neck, NY

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:43 am

phayze wrote:
fungus wrote:
blujay wrote:Josh, I'm also on an 8-pounder. I've been wondering if I should upgrade too. I'm curious, how long and how regularly did you workout with the 8? How much progress did you make with the 8 compared to before you started shugging?
8 pounds is a bit wimpy... :D
If that's what you think, then you're doing it wrong. ;)

When the hammer starts to feel light, you just have to move it faster! I can get a serious sweat going with my little 6 pounder! You just have to think "cardio", and not "strength training". :)
I'd love to downgrade from 12 to 8... one of the reasons I didn't stick with it was cos it was just a little too heavy and my shoulder was recovering from an injury already, so i just stopped completely.. I'd prefer to be able to do more deft movements and be able to move quicker, than what i could do with the 12 lbs, and have it be more cardio vascular :)
I'm not working much lately so I have to put a halt on buying anything non essential (food, bills, etc..) but once I'm in a better position financially, I'll probably get an 8 lb'er, and give away my 12...
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

fungus
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:31 pm
Location: Valencia, Spain

Post by fungus » Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:35 am

gratefuldeb67 wrote:I'll probably get an 8 lb'er, and give away my 12...
I'd keep it for when you've been doing it regularly for a few months...

Post Reply