Shovelgloving for women

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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juniebumble
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Shovelgloving for women

Post by juniebumble » Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:34 pm

Hi, I just found this site and love the concept of "useful movement".

The "country/cowboy strong" postings reminded me of my childhood. My brothers always had that chiseled upperbody and slim waist physique that comes from working on a ranch. They looked great. Unfortunately, I always thought my upper body strength was unfeminine.

Are there any women who have been shovelgloving long enough to notice the effects on a female body? I would love to hear your opinions.

Maybe sticking with a lighter sledgehammer is the answer. When we loaded and stacked hay (incidently Reinhardt, we call it "bucking bales" out west) we were lifting very heavy bales.

One more thing....I know I just found you all, but as a newbie, I like the concept of the chiseled masculine body holding a shovelglove in some way for the t shirt idea. The idea with the separate arms holding the shovelglove in a wheel would probably look cool, but seems exclusionary to anyone who isn't in it.

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Jammin' Jan
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Post by Jammin' Jan » Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:42 pm

I'm middle-aged Mom, 5'1", very petite...and I do Shovelglove sometimes, in addition to other exercises.

My sledgehammer is 4 pounds (6 pounds total, with the handle), and it has a short (almost 14 inches) handle, much shorter than what the others here are using, I think.

I like to look like a lady, not like a man, but Shovelgloving hasn't hurt me any. It provides a good range of motion with a weighted object. I have an easier time carrying groceries in from the car, or lifting heavy cases of food at the grocery store where I work.

As with any form of weightlifting, a man's physique comes from his supply of male hormones, not just from his exercise program. A woman has to spend a LOT more time with very heavy weights to achieve the masculine "muscled" look. If you spend the typical 14 minutes with a lite or medium weight sledgehammer, you will be strong and defined, but still every inch a woman.

Hope this helps.

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:37 pm

The idea with the separate arms holding the shovelglove in a wheel would probably look cool, but seems exclusionary to anyone who isn't in it.
So true!

I agree Junie, I realized that after I wrote that idea! LOL..
Welcome to the group... :)

I don't feel I look anything but feminine.. (And that includes when I am tossing guys over my shoulders and kicking ass in arm wrestling!!! :twisted: ) But really, you would have to be really pumping iron and drinking creatine shakes to end up looking like a WWF contestant.. LOL..
I have lost over two inches of fat from a combination this year of SG and yoga.... Mainly SG has just helped with being strong, not bulky... I'm losing inches not gaining... It's not irreversible, so why not just see how you evolve as you go along and decide if you like your results..
You don't have to do it if end up feeling you are unhappy with what you see... It's a real fun workout so, I say, just give it a try!
Peace and Love,
Deb

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carolejo
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Post by carolejo » Wed Feb 22, 2006 9:26 am

I like it that my arms look better defined and less 'flabby'. I'm losing my 'chicken fillet wings' too.

How can it be unfeminine to have strong and healthy muscles? They're not bulky or bulgy at all, but the shape is definately good. My husband has also not complained at my new 'sculpted' arm and shoulder muscles either - on the contrary in fact! :wink:

Try it out for a few weeks and see what you think. I PROMISE it won't make you look like popeye :lol:

C.
CaroleJo

juniebumble
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Post by juniebumble » Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:37 pm

Thank you all for replying to my post.

I like the term sculpted. I also like the idea of using a sledgehammer with a shorter handel, then as you progress, you could use a longer handel instead of a heavier sledgehammer (if they make them).

The whole idea is just to ammusingly irresistable. I have to try it. I'm going sledgehammer shopping today.

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Wed Feb 22, 2006 3:29 pm

Welcome, Juniebumble.

Besides our fabulous native talent, "Mistress Krista" over at stumptuous.com has a couple of pages in which she describes how she incorporates shovelglove into her routine.

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=47

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=83

There were a couple other bulletin board discussions about this a while ago here that you may also want to have a look at:

http://www.everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=8032

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=244

Don't worry about bulking up into she-hulk over night. It's really, really hard to do this, even for testosterone laden men. It's not something that's going to happen all of a sudden, by accident.

Reinhard

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carolejo
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Post by carolejo » Wed Feb 22, 2006 3:35 pm

Hi Lou,

you don't actually need a sledge with a shorter handle - just hold the handle closer to the head of the hammer. That way, you can use more or less leverage, depending on how hard you want it to be.

Have fun!
C.
CaroleJo

juniebumble
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Post by juniebumble » Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:43 pm

Thanks again everyone for responding to my question.

In hindsight, if I would have really thought about my question, 14 minutes a day of these types of movements aren't going to turn anyone into a she hulk (love it). I must have had a knee jerk reaction to the term coutry strong.

Let's face it, as I sit here in my 30+ year old, post maternity and post breast feeding body, what I wouldn't give to be fit and strong like I was as a teenager......biceps and all.


I found myself a six pound sledgehammer and didn't have a choice on the handle length so I am doing as CaroJo suggested. I don't know how effective my first try was, because it was hard to take myself seriously. But I am going to keep at it because so far the No S diet rules have been so easy.

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:48 pm

Hi Junie,
Also, keep in mind that I think David the aforementioned "country strong" man amongst us (I think?) uses a 16 lb sledge (I think!?)

David? I forget???

Okay..
Peace,
8) Deb

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david
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Post by david » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:58 pm

Yeah, I brought up the "country strong" idea a while back. To clarify, I meant increased strength and capacity for work in "real world" arenas vs. being able to lift a bunch in the weight room. I didn't mean to imply anything at all about bulk.

Also, for the record, I just recently upgraded to a 12-lb. sledge. I feel no need to move up to 16 pounds anytime soon.

thanks,
David

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