Everyday Systems

OK, so I'm a girl. Whew, that's out of the way. I already work in my garden quite strenuously (lots of hoeing) so I'm thinking this might work. I wouldn't add it for another couple weeks until my No S habit has had a month to settle in. Are there other females out here in Shovelglove land? I'm just not a zumba/dancy/workout clothes kind of gal. This would be quick and I could do it at home.

I would also be interested to hear what female shovelglovers have to say on the matter. I'm not one for girly exercise either, I love running and used to do a military fitness class which involved getting covered in mud and jumping about in a park. Unfortunately a combination of overentusiasm and bad shoes led to me injuring knees so I have been eyeing up shovel glove for the last couple of weeks wondering if it would suit me.

Would love some advice on moves which women think are effective and also what size sledgehammer they use.

I can't answer much, but I can suggest an 8lb sledge. They are found in most hardware stores, so you don't need to special order anything, they are heavy enough to provide quite the workout, but are also easily converted to a manageable weight by choking up high on the handle. As a Comparison, I would suggest a 10lb for most men.

My Wife and I have been off the wagon for a bit, but she was using a 6lb hammer.

Joy, another girl here. Before I started shugging, I used to dig over the compost heap a couple of times, and I promise you, it was much harder work than shugging!

I started shugging about a month ago, using a 12 pounder (see my earlier post for the reasons). Started out doing the three canonical moves, 10 reps each side, staggered during the day. Because my sledge is so ridiculously heavy, I took things very, very, very easy.

I now do a full set of the three moves, 10 -15 reps each side, three times a day. Still not close to 14 minutes, but a huge improvement from this time a month ago. I often add what I call "pound the mealies", which is basically churning butter, but with the sledge head facing downward.

(I've also renamed Reinhard's shovelling show (snow? in Botswana?) digging the RAV out of the sand -- a much more likely scenario!)

Thanks guys! I believe dh has one in the garage. I shall investigate. And explain what the heck I'm doing, LOL.

Well, I have started shugging too. I am also a girl hehe. I got an 8 pounder and then attached a velcroed washable mop pad thingy to the end (cuz hubby was sleeping upstairs and I didn't want to break into our room to smuggle out a sweater.)

So I velcroed it on (which looked ridiculous.) http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Micr ... 43&sr=8-11 There is a link so you can get an idea lol. I will upgrade to a sweater soon!

At any rate, I decided that I was wussy so I thought I would start out at 7 minutes and then work my way up to the full 14 in the next few weeks. It went pretty well. I was having a really good time. I grew up on a farm so a lot of the moves brought back some fond memories for me.

I am a little sore today. I feel the muscles in my back now but in a good way, like they have been nicely stretched. Overall I don't feel too bad though. Later that afternoon I went to help my mom with some yardwork and she wanted me to shovel. I said, "Why the heck not?" So I guess I got more shugging in on day one than I had anticipated.

I am so looking forward to doing this again. Finally an exercise that is really fun!!