Absolute Beginner

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.
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confusionisnext
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:30 am

Absolute Beginner

Post by confusionisnext » Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:36 am

Any suggestions for a Shovelglove workout for an absolute beginner? As in, what movements and how many reps would be best? I have a 12 lb. sledge.

Thanks!

slothlike
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:16 am
Location: Minneapolis

Post by slothlike » Mon Sep 26, 2011 7:02 am

Welcome! I've only been at this a few weeks, but I'll give you my unseasoned advice.

Shovelglove is different than lifting weights, the movements are, if not full body, than at least multi-muscle. So it's not that important which particular ones you're doing, just pick 5 or 6 movements that you like and you'll likely hit all your upper body muscles either directly or auxiliary.

A beginner sequence that makes sense to me is:
Fireman
Shovel
Chop Wood
Churn Butter
Flip the Lever
Back Scratcher

I started with 7 reps at first and built up from there.

12 pounds on the end of a three foot stick generates a lot of force. Don't be surprised if you can't do a full 14 minutes right away. Do what you can and build up.

Make sure you keep some bend in your legs as you work your back will thank you. Also try to keep your core engaged, don't just throw the weight around with your arms.

Have fun,
-ted

confusionisnext
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:30 am

Post by confusionisnext » Mon Sep 26, 2011 11:53 pm

Cool! Thanks for the suggestions and the advice.

I really like the idea of Shovelglove because it's a minimalist strength training program that doesn't require workout equipment or a gym membership. And that's just perfect for someone like me who lives in a small one-bedroom apartment with relatively low ceilings.

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Tue Sep 27, 2011 1:24 am

I would stick with low rep count sets (7 is good), nice and slow. If anything hurts or feels weird, stop immediately. The supremely important thing at the beginning is not to overdo it. Keep it slow and safe and fun to deprive yourself of excuses to give up and build the habit. Then add difficulty as a "reward" for your restraint and good behavior.

The precise movements aren't so important. I do a bunch mostly to keep it interesting; as slothlike mentioned, they're all (well, most of them) pretty full (upper) body. Maybe sample all the canonical movements and go with the ones you feel confident about, then add more as you need more spice.

Reinhard

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