Everyday Systems

morganalefay

I have actually been using my 10lb sledge to demolish the crummy old concrete pond and rockery at the end of my garden. Just for half an hour a day. I was doing quite well until I broke my sledgehammer's handle (basically I hit a rock with it, the handle snapped and the head flew off. Fortunately ...

morganalefay

(waves) Regular Shovelgirl of nearly two years' standing here! It's some of the most fun you can have with a household implement, clothed or otherwise (you or the implement ...)

I probably should explain that, like Noel, I don't only do shovelglove - I do about 15 mins of yoga pretty much every N ...

morganalefay

I like to shug out of doors to be out in the fresh air (well, air anyway - here under the Heathrow Airport flight path I'm not sure how fresh it is),
so I usually use my hammer 'naked', as it were. When I do have to pad it to use indoors, as in the past week or so when the UK has been under an ...

morganalefay

I'm very proud to be a Shovelgirl. Genius!

morganalefay

Hahaha, that's brilliant!

morganalefay

I shug outside in my back garden whenever I can, so I don't normally bother to put anything round my hammer. There are noticeable white marks on the concrete outside my garage where I've hit it on the ground while shovelling. I am quite good at hitting myself in the shins or thighs while swinging it ...

morganalefay

Well there's another advantage to shugging I hadn't thought of - building strength in my hands to improve my guitar playing (and boy, does it need it). Nice one, Debs!

morganalefay

I like sitting on the floor, I do it as often as possible. What's a few funny looks compared to not needing a hip replacement?

morganalefay

You forgot to add 'Don't try this at home'.

morganalefay

Jack. Flag. Whatever.

That's awesome, I ought to find a Welsh flag to wrap around mine.

I love how quickly your wife went from ridicule to 'I want some of that'! My husband still watches me with amusement if he's around, though he does keep saying 'I must try it some time'. I suspect my 10lb ...

morganalefay

Just a quick update: I've been using this 'one-sided' routine for some time now - usually once a week or so, as I like to mix my routines up regularly. It definitely counts as 'hard'. Today I did 7 then 14 of: shovel, bell ringing, churn butter, drive fence posts/smite the orc, one-legged squat and ...

morganalefay

That's really good news - further confirmation that this stuff works.

morganalefay

I think us woman can be sexy with muscles. I seriously doubt men are turned off by muscles. And if one of them is... well then a throw back him back! Real men like muscles on women, IMO. Cool

Yay. Way to go, sister!

What you're suggesting does sound quite sensible as long as the weights don't ...

morganalefay

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 ...

morganalefay

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 ...

morganalefay

I wear 'em if I'm shugging outside. I never wear shoes for doing exercise indoors, but then I'm a yoga-head, too.

This is not without its hazards. I once dropped a 5kg dumbbell on my toe, though I have so far managed to avoid doing the same with my hammer.

morganalefay

Oh cheers! Glad to be of service.

morganalefay

More real-life-shovelling anecdotes: yesterday I spent about 2 1/2 hours doing some serious double-digging and weeding in a friend's garden, including excavating 6 or 7 housebricks from about a foot down (his soil is full of building rubble). 'I'm really going to feel this tomorrow' I thought. Wrong ...

morganalefay

I've got two squat things that I do. The first one I call 'bell ringing' as it reminds me of old-fashioned church bellringers pulling bell ropes. I tend to hold the sledge about a foot from the end with the head facing downwards, lift it up over my head and then swing it down as I squat, swinging it ...

morganalefay

I did try this yesterday. I didn't go beserk with it - I did 7 reps of everything on one side, 7 reps of everything on the other side, then did it all over again with 14 reps of everything, which took me up to the timer. I found it an interesting variant which I shall try again some time. It is ...

morganalefay

This is interesting, I think I'll have a go with it. I'll report back on how I find it.

morganalefay

Genius.

morganalefay

That's fabulous.
Great T-shirt, too.

morganalefay

Well, here's a bit of 'anti-stiff' encouragement for you. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours doing actual digging, as I was having a spring-bulbs-planting bonanza in my front and back garden. I was digging 12in deep trenches to stick my tulips in, all through my heavy London clay soil. Now in the ...

morganalefay

I like this 'bash a tyre' (apologies for UK spelling) idea.

I don't have a car, but I'm sure I could scrounge an old tyre off somebody.

morganalefay

It's great to hear how well this is working for so many people. I've been at it for nearly four months now. It's ideal for me since I work from home, as I can just pop out the garden with my sledgehammer while my lunch is cooking. (I usually prefer to do it in the garden as I'm slightly less likely ...

morganalefay

I use a 10lb hammer, though I was already fairly fit and had a couple of years' experience of working out with free weights including a pair of 5kg dumbbells. The whole concept guides you towards starting slowly and keeping the reps down. I would tell her to go for it though, it's tremendous fun!

morganalefay

I've got one in the doorway to my living room. I can't do anything more than hang like a dead fish off it at the moment, but at least I can do that regularly.

It's a bit of a talking point, too, especially since people over about 6' have to duck under it.

morganalefay

I had to do some "real work" with the shovel this week (moving mountain of woodchip mulch) & found it was really easy & fun after SGing all these weeks. I got into the groove, alternating arms, & made sure my form was good - no back pain, & a satisfying (and productive)workout. If I had a woodstove ...

morganalefay

That's an amusingly scary-looking piece of kit. I like the look of the sword-pulling thing. I'm going to try that with my hammer, which I am rapidly becoming very attached to (my dumbbells aren't exactly gathering dust, but they're not coming out to play as often as the hammer). With you on the not ...

morganalefay

No, but I will be now I've read your post, with your wonderfully thorough analysis. Thanks for that. I've always wanted to try T'ai Chi.

morganalefay

Yes, I burst out laughing when I saw the 'cat approved' tag behind the picture as the SG screen loads.

Genius.

morganalefay

I got it from a tiny little hardware shop just down the road from Twickenham stadium. The guy behind the counter saw me considering whether to get the 7lb or the 10lb, and asked how big was the door I wanted to smash down.

morganalefay

I ... managed to have a great time nonetheless (the hospitality of my co-workers, and the charming local custom of hitting the pub before/instead of dinner were instrumental in this).

Reinhard

Ah, that time-honoured British custom which Londoners are particularly good at observing .... everyone ...

morganalefay

I had my first go with it yesterday afternoon, and it felt quite different from anything else I've tried.

The 10lb hammer didn't feel as heavy as I expected, but I was careful to hold it quite near the head. I found I was putting quite a lot of knee bending into the shovelling movements in order ...

morganalefay

I signed up yesterday, and today I went out and bought a sledgehammer, so I thought I'd say hello! This is such a brilliantly simple and functional idea, I had to give it a try.

The obligatory bit about me: I'm a 45-year-old, 5'5" girl who has always done some form of exercise - I walk everywhere ...

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