shovel movement too easy?

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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Pete
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shovel movement too easy?

Post by Pete » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:08 pm

does anyone else find the shovelling movement too ... easy?

I don't know how else to describe it, I do the shovel and I feel nothing, I do something like the robot axe chop and I can feel it everywhere.

I'm doing like 40 - 50 shovels each side and it just feels like I'm going nowhere with them

trouble is I don't know what to replace em with?

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:31 pm

Ello Pete!
Not feeling it could mean two things..
One: Your arms are already very well adapted to this movement and it's just because the muscles aren't being challenged.. This is good!

Two: Perhaps you are cheating this movement somhow by only doing a partial contraction and not really going for the full range of motion for that movement...

I wouldn't replace this movement, I would just modify it so it's more challenging..

For instance.. you may not really be engaging your whole torso... I say this because of your "robot" comment, which makes me imagine that you are simply flexing and extending your arms in a limited up down movement.. So it turns out that this seems more like a double handed curl rather than a real shovel action...

Try actually bending your knees as you scoop the snow up from the ground... Don't bend at the low back, just engage your quads and psoas...
I feel that where your gaze goes, your body will follow so remember to always keep them in synch.. otherwise you lose that power and connection to your core and start getting into a potential red zone if you start twisting and flinging that snow willy nilly..
Think that your tailbone is tucked under and keep yourself grounded...

I also imagine that rather than truly pretending you are flinging the snow into a far away snowpile (or you can imagine a coal pile! LOL) you are just bringing the SG into a raised position near your shoulder without much momentum... Try to truly imagine that you are throwing that snow to the side and extend your chi beyond your shoulder as opposed to halting there... Don't get too spastic and abrupt, just let your mind and imagination make it into a more real movement..

I bet that will help....
Engage your whole body.. Don't think "I am a robotronic" whatever..
Think "I am clearing a forty foot long driveway"....

You could also up the speed of your stroke, but would tend not to suggest this because the faster you do a movement the easier it is to become less mindful and hurt yourself...

I'm sure some people will say to choke up less on the handle too.. Meh..
I wouldn't.. Your shoulder could get twinged in a bad way, as this movement is semi twisty... I'd save choking up less on the handle for very simple movements like "flip lever"...

Have a great day!
Peace and Love,
8) Deb

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:23 pm

Hi Pete,

I do 42 shovels each arm with the 20 pounder. It's easier than driving fence posts or churning butter (the other moves of which I do that many reps), but I wouldn't call it too easy.

I think Deb's advice is a good start. I'm a pretty enthusiastic shoveler, and my motions are pretty realistic (this is one of the only moves I can check against real life, since we get a fair amount of snow here). I find that much of the moves workout value comes from the side twist "piling" that comes after the digging motion. Do you do this?

I hesitate to suggest this, but you might be doing the move fine, but getting strong enough that a sledge upgrade might make sense some time soon. Shoveling is easier than many of the other moves, and would be the first or among the first to get "too easy." But be careful. Putting up with an extra month or two of "too easy" is better than jumping to "too hard" in another move. If you do upgrade, you might want to consider using the heavier sledge just for this move at first and sticking with your current sledge for the rest.

Reinhard

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Pete
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Pete » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:27 am

thanks for the input guys, I've been paying close attention to my form over the last little while and I can't tell I'm doing anything wrong, guess I just have shoveling muscles already :)

I might just stick to using the shovel movement as a warmup type thing, at the moment I can't afford the $70 for a heavier hammer.

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:50 pm

Here's an idea if you feel like being creative...
Seventy dollars is crazy for another hammer..

You can make your own "Indian Club" by taking a very large can, like an industrial sized coffee can, and a hammer handle and some concrete...
Fill can with concrete and stick the handle into the middle of it...

That would probably be nice and heavy!
I doubt the raw materials would cost more than 20 or 30 dollars?
Not sure though...
Have a great day Pete!
Peace,
8) Deb
There is no Wisdom greater than Kindness

Kevin
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seventy dollars???

Post by Kevin » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:30 am

Seventy dollars? Holy cow... It's iron or steel, not gold!

Another option, at least for shoveling, might be an old shovel and 20 pounds of cement dried onto it...

Or, two five pound weight plates bolted through the handle near the head of the sledge. That'd cost about $5 for the weights at a sporting good store here in the U.S. But I understand that iron and steel are much more expensive in other places.
Kevin
1/13/2011-189# :: 4/21/2011-177# :: Goal-165#
"Respecting the 4th S: sometimes."

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