Where to start?

imKarenM · Post by **imKarenM** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:31 am

Hello, I just discovered this ingenious idea. I think it is a good answer for me, providing I can avoid overdoing it.

I just completed Physical Therapy (for Fibromyalgia) on December 8th. While I made great gains, I still have a VERY long way to go.

I was given a list of exerscise, some of the same ones I did during treatments. I can maintain my gains by doing 3 or 4 of them each weekday, with weekends off.

I'm not satisfied with that. While I do have more strength and endurance than I did before, it's not enough. Now I can finally get a chore or two done, but it takes more time than I really have for that purpose; so some things are still neglected. I still can't keep up.

I refuse to be discouraged, though. I feel like Physical Therapy brought me to the point where I can begin to help myself.

I think Shovelglove could be the ideal solution for me, for building strength and endurance. I MUST, however, make certain that I don't bite off more than I can chew. It will cost me much more than a few days of being a little sore if I choose the wrong weight.

It's also not as simple as just buying the lightest one I can find. I have a 14 year old son. I thought he might like to try this, since he would like to work out with weights and we don't have any room for them. It's tempting to think we could share, but that probably won't turn out to be realistic. What would you recommend?

morganalefay · Post by **morganalefay** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:38 am

Hello, and welcome to the most fun you can have with a piece of household equipment. If you browse through the threads you'll see lots of people have useful advice about starting slow and building up to 14 minutes with a light weight.

To start with, until you've worked out what's right for you, could you borrow a hammer off someone? Or use something else?

morganalefay · Post by **morganalefay** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:29 am

I've just had a poke around and found the following bunch of links to threads specifically about women and Shovelglove, hope this is useful.

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

http://www.everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=500

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=777

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2426

http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3420

imKarenM · Post by **imKarenM** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:25 am

Thank you for taking the time to finde those threads. They were encouraging. I happen to have a sponge mop I'm don't use. I think I will attach some weights to it and try that until I know how much weight I can handle. Thanks for the idea

Post by **reinhard** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:47 pm

Welcome, Karen!

You can't go too wrong starting light. You'll be less likely to injure yourself while you're getting a feel for the movements and get a sense of whether the workout is something that really appeals to you and is worth further investment. Starting with a mop or broom is a great idea. Even if it doesn't provide quite the workout you'll want longer term, a broom is as good as a sledgehammer for building habit -- by far the more important part.

If you by a sledge and find after a few weeks or months that it's too light, a heavier hammer isn't a big investment. Just compare $25-30 once every year or three with the price of a gym membership. And unless you're an Olympian superhero, you're not going to need all that many upgrades. I'm on my third hammer since 2002 and I may never upgrade again.

Lastly, power of leverage is pretty remarkable -- by shifting the position of your hands you can make even a light weight feel very heavy.

Reinhard