Everyday Systems

slothlike

Hey, Check out http://neilarey.com/. They have a lot of different bodyweight workouts that you could do in a hotel room.

slothlike

Welcome back Kayvan. It's a bit quiet around here, but I've found a few other small groups of shuggers in different parts of the internet.

slothlike

I agree with Reinhard, hickory is a better choice for Shovelglove, especially if you sand off the lacquer. Fiberglass is slippery when you get sweaty. If you're going to use the sledge for actual work get the fiberglass, it's less likely to shatter if you hit your splitting wedge with the handle.

slothlike

Great idea, when you get back in the field you'll have to let us know how well it maintained your strength.

slothlike

This is an old query, but I'll throw my two cents in anyway. The occasional unplanned S day isn't a big deal, but when you're having multiples of them, it shows that you haven't built the habit. My rule is never miss two in a row, find a way to make it happen - a minimal workout is only 14 minutes ...

slothlike

Thanks Reinhard. I worded that funny. I think Shovelglove is the best thing that I've done for my seemingly fragile back, far better then anything the PTs have suggested, just so long as I keep doing it. I hurt it during that long spell of not working out. I really do think Shovelglove keeps my back ...

slothlike

I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I posted here.

I took a few months off starting in February when my mom and my father in law went into hospice care. Somewhere in there I hurt my back, I blame the lack of Shovelglove's magical back protection properties, and am just now starting to ...

slothlike

Did you start Shovelgloving with your sledge?

slothlike

I can only tell you about my experience as a skinny-fat ectomorph.

Shovelglove lost a lot of weight for me, all of it fat mass. My muscles didn't get substantially bigger, but they got harder, denser, and more defined. But I also didn't gain much muscle mass when I was doing a body builder routine ...

slothlike

Welcome back.

slothlike

Hah. That looks good. I'll have to try it when I can swing outside again.

slothlike

Tough circuit. I do something similar when I'm out of town. It really makes me miss the sledgehammer.

slothlike

Thanks.

My training was kind of erratic until July 1, then everything fell in place and I don't think I've missed a workout since then. I know I haven't missed one since Sep. 1. Some of the Shovelgloving was traded for mountain biking.

My body feels really strong and stable right now. I'm ...

slothlike

10" loss? Wow! Nice job.

slothlike

20 pounds. Nice; keep it up.

I really like the hickory handles, but the aren't very good for real work. One misplaced blow and they shatter. Home Depot sells a line of sledgehammers with a fiberglass and rubber handle. I think they're called RockForge. My local store caries 6-16# (no 14).

BluJay ...

slothlike

"Don't call it a comeback!" But I am back.

I had to take a few months off on doctor's orders (enforced by my wife).

About a month after my last post I started weight lifting again and I was benching much more than I should have been and I re-tore my rotator cuff. The PT said no to Shovelglove, but ...

slothlike

Congratulations on the weight loss.

-ted

slothlike

I log it as Kettlebells too. The training affect is very similar.

I used MyFitnessPal to track calories for a while when I was losing weight. Based on calories in and rate of weight loss, I calculated that I was burning 250 cal per 20 minutes with either a 10# or a 12# hammer. Lots of possible ...

slothlike

I found that Shovelglove (or kettlebells) could maintain my cycling fitness even when I wasn't riding much. I also found that I was faster in the spring after SGing all winter than in past springs when I tried to use an indoor bike all winter.

I have a few ideas as to why. While SG isn't pure ...

slothlike

I'm glad you like it.

As long as you aren't swinging wildly or out of control you aren't going too fast. I find the faster I swing the more I benefit.

-ted

slothlike

A good set of posts. It definitely sounds like you needed a heavier hammer. How's the 12# working out?

slothlike

I felt the same, but I eliminated DFP from my circuit.

slothlike

Pure Shovelglove

Life's been crazy, I won't go into details or whine too much, but I've felt like I've been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I needed to simplify my life, but the only thing that could go was my crazy workout schedule. So I'm back to Shovelglove every morning and nothing else ...

slothlike

Hi I'm not a girl, but when I read through the archives a long time ago, I seem to remember most females started with an 8# or 6# sledgehammer depending on how active they were before they started.

slothlike

Thanks Guille. I used to hate calisthenics, but Shovelglove got me strong enough that I could start to do them halfway decently and I stopped hating it.

I also got started with bodyweight work wanting a way to measure how strong I got, but then I got sucked into trying to improve that too and ...

slothlike

Welcome Pezz. I go into Zombieland too - it's a good way to motivate myself.

slothlike

Hi MustardTiger,

I am honored to have inspired you. How have the first days been going? It takes a while for your body to get used to it.

My friends think I'm nuts too; they refer to it as the ove-glove workout whenever I try to evangelise them about it. Even after I posted before and during pics ...

slothlike

It's been seven months since I started working out. I haven't updated because I haven't been doing pure Shovelglove. I fell into the progress trap and tried to speed it up by lifting weights two or three times a week and kettlebells once or twice and shugging the rest of the time.

I found out that ...

slothlike

Men's Health take on shoveling as exercise http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/dumbb ... =NLS860358.

Reinhard, you should write an article for them.

slothlike

Well, I've got to the stage with my 10lb-er where my rear hand is literally at the end of the handle & there's a gap of, maybe, four to six inches between the top of my rear hand & the bottom of my forward hand.

Wow. I can't imagine doing that with even my lightest sledge. I would lose control ...

slothlike

Honestly, DST threw me for a loop and I missed a bunch of workouts. I really wish we'd just get rid of it.

slothlike

Burpees are a fast way to get a good workout in when you're sans sledgehammer.

slothlike

23 1/2 hours This is in the same vein, but it motivated me when I got serious about getting back in shape.

slothlike

I agree with fungus. Shovelglove is going to make you stronger, it'll burn calories and increase your metabolism, but it isn't going to bulk you up.

As far as space, the hammer is pretty close to you and you are not swinging wildly like a baseball bat. I do it on a 3'X5' rug and I bet the hammer ...

slothlike

Nope, I tried, but I couldn't commit to it.

The Shovelglove movements are multi-muscle, there isn't much isolation. In my opinion, none of the movements work the chest all that well. However, the fireman and chop tree do work the chest, churn butter hits the chest/ front shoulder junction, and ...

slothlike

I am obese. I am too obese to start serious excersizing now. I have to shrink 5 more kilos before I can start walking 1 hour a day. Doctor's orders. My goal weight is 60 kilos, which is realistic. Not model skinny.

I really hope this doesn't mean you'll be doing no exercise. Walking for 15 ...

slothlike

Awesome. I'm glad this is going to work out for you.

Did you try the grips? I put hockey tape on my latest sledge and it really helped, almost seems like cheating.

slothlike

That's awesome. Merry Christmas Mattman.

slothlike

I won't be doing this, but it looks like a good workout.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... w_ECLCWqew

slothlike

Hello Hanear21,

Lurking here, just waiting for something to happen?

I did enjoy the article, I put the quote, "Every action must have a purpose," into the notebook I use as my back up memory.

-ted

slothlike

November wasn't a good month for me. I spent about 3 weeks sick and/or tired; the flu shot didn't work. I managed to Shug 21 out of 30 days, but several of those days were with a 10# hammer for the minimal 14 minutes, otherwise I used the 12# for 20 minutes.

My weight dropped one pound to 178#, my ...

slothlike

Hi Heidi,

Chopping wood for real is great exercise - it takes me forever to split and stack a load of wood. Definition after a week? I guess all those hormones coursing through the teenage body are good for something.

The smallest sledgehammer I've seen is a 6 pounder. If you go to an old ...

slothlike

This looks like a sensible way of easing back into it. I'm not sure what would be clicking, but that would make me pretty nervous.

slothlike

Hi Schnebit,

Interesting question. I'm planning on getting back into bike racing so I've thought about this too, although I haven't actually been able to muster the will power to officially commit to No-S yet.

I don't know what your sport is, or how you train, but long-slow-distance is surprising ...

slothlike

I brought my daughter to the Y today for a dance class. I forgot my homework and I've already read to latest Onion, so I hit the weight room.

Shovelglove has made me a lot stronger. After two monthes I went up at least two plates on every machine I hit. It probably would have been more, but I ...

slothlike

Hi Tim, I'm sorry to hear about your back. My guess is that it's just your body needing some time off.

It takes a while for your back to get used to swinging a heavy sledge around. Even if you start out reasonably strong, the movements are much more dynamic that it's used to. I'm new at this too ...

slothlike

Hi Tim, I hope some time off is all you need.

No, my back has ached for years. I was sway backed and with it came near constant lower back pain, usually not a lot, just enough to bother me. I tried stretching, yoga-like exercises, heat, ice, ibuprofen, but nothing helped, so I wrote it off as being ...

slothlike

Thanks Reinhard. I've used the 16# for four days so far and it was too much, too soon (I do that a lot). I'm backing off and using it every third day and will work up from there.

I decided to move up to make sure I stayed in my aerobic training zone, mostly because I don't want to have to run this ...

slothlike

In October I worked out 25 of 31 days. I didn't do the planned 25 minute kettlebell/shovelglove workout very often, mostly it was 15 minutes of pure shovelglove.

My weight stayed stable at 179# all month - normally when school is back in session I put on almost a pound a week from Labor Day to ...

slothlike

I'm sleeping again and I'm working out regularly again. I moved up to a 16# hammer this weekend. 10 months early according to official Shovelglove doctrine, but my body had gotten used to the 12#; I wasn't feeling sore afterwards and my heart rate had dropped out of my training zone for at least a ...

slothlike

I don't need to give up sweets. I need to move out of the city

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/ ... -diabetes/

slothlike

Welcome Captain. It's a hard workout, but I think you'll be surprised how quickly your body adapts to it.

slothlike

Reinhard, I don't junkies would bother a man swinging a 20 pound hammer.

I found that if I put the tire on a rubber mat and hit it at 10 and 2 o'clock, it stays in place.

slothlike

The original question was about whacking tires. I'm in the 165-170 range when I do that.

slothlike

Hey Mattman, I got my tire. I had a blowout this weekend and had to get a new set, so I asked to keep one. The manager looked at me weird until I said the word sledgehammer, then he had it rolled out to me.

I've only smacked it for one workout, but it was lot of fun. A car tire is too small, it ...

slothlike

It's nice to meet you, Who Me? I haven't looked through much of your blog, but Robb looks pretty fit in the pictures I've seen. Also, I love the urban farming posts. Unfortunately, we live on a small corner lot, so I haven't been able to talk my wife into chickens or bees (which the city doesn't ...

slothlike

Thanks Mattman. I gave it a try and it helped. I think my biggest problem is that I'm not as strong as I used to be and the KB is a too heavy for me now.

slothlike

Some chatter:

My form must be bad, kettlebell cleans are leaving an ugly bruise on my forearm.

I just bought this because I wanted some data to track. http://www.amazon.com/AccuMeasure-MyoTape-AM-3000-Fitness-Personal/dp/B002VAPHXW/ref=dp_cp_ob_hpc_title_1 I'm sure it has a big margin of error ...

slothlike

I don't, but I'm keeping my eye out for a tire. I'd like to trade Chop Wood for Whack Tire.

slothlike

This goes against the Shovelglove philosophy (which I think is a good one), but I'm trying to find my maximum daily sustainable workout. This is what I'm doing for October.

I do this circuit twice - it takes 27 or 28 minutes.

Kettlebell Goblet squats (50)
Kettlebell swings (50)
Fireman (all ...

slothlike

Looking through the archives, I saw that some people use a 6# hammer when they want a cardio workout and swing it faster. So I thought I'd try it.

Fireman 121 bpm
Shovel 117
Spear 126
Chop Wood 118
Churn Butter 126
Flip the Lever 112
back Scratchers 112

I didn't get much of a cardio benefit from ...

slothlike

I like that it's so efficient. I get both a functional strength workout and cardio all in one 14 minute package, plus I can do it in my underwear.

slothlike

I'm bumping up my workout to 25 minutes every day. It's getting to be about half shovelglove and half kettlebells. The days when time is really short and I just do 14 min. of shovelglove, the time flies by and I'm always surprised when the timer goes off.

I do urban ranger by bike, almost all my ...

slothlike

It seems everybody weighs more than 300lb's, and they all want to be carried down the friggin steps.

There are a few firefighters at the Y that I go to. They all are amazingly strong and have these hard and efficient workouts, now I know why.

slothlike

Thanks Mattman. I really liked kettlebells when I did them at a studio, but all the twisty movements felt too awkward to do at home, so I just mix in the straight-forward movements.

I tore my rotator cuff about 20 yrs ago when unloaded trucks at UPS and then dislocated that shoulder in a mountain ...

slothlike

Thanks. I try to work out every day. It takes about 22 minutes, but I do planks, kettle bell swings, and squats first. Shovelgloving takes about 16 minutes.

I do 3 sets of 15 per side and go as hard as I can:
Fireman
Shovel
Spear Thrusts
Chop Wood
Churn Butter
Flip the Lever
Back Scratchers

slothlike

After one month:

I've Shovelgloved 26 of 30 days.

I went from a 10# hammer being hard to swinging a 12# hammer at full speed with my front hand almost half way down the handle. I can now do 1 pull up - up from 0 and 7 full push-ups - up from 2.

My weight went from 184 to 179 without changing my ...

slothlike

Here's my data - numbers are typical, not exact:

Planks 127
Kettlebell Swings 151
Goblet Squats 164
For each exercise it took about 30s. for my heart rate to get that high, then it stayed there.

Fireman 154
Shovel 149
Spear Thrust 158
Chop Wood 151
Churn Butter 154
Flip Lever 142
Back Scratcher ...

slothlike

Hey Sixty, If you're still here I'd like to see your HR numbers for going slow and steady. Do you use a heavier sledge to compensate?

I go hard and fast and my heart rate doesn't really work through the zones. It hits my training range almost as soon as I start and stays there until I finish. How ...

slothlike

Hi Sweetness, It's nice to see another Minnesotan here, even if you come from the wrong side of the river :D

I would guess that shovelglove with a light weight would be rehabilitative on your neck and shoulders - it's strengthening and gives you a range of motion movement.

If you went to a old ...

slothlike

Hi, Thanks. Are you Robb from the blog? It looks like you're getting some nice rides in on your bike.

I am, but I'm not riding much. I put in about 120 miles a week in the summer in addition to putting the kids in the box bike and going to the park or pool, which is probably another 25 miles a week ...

slothlike

â€¢ 1 minute of pain (planks)

â€¢ 100 kettlebell swings w/16 k. kettlebell
â€¢ 100 goblet squats w/kettlebell

Main Shovelglove routine (3 sets of 15/side ~ 14 min.)
â€¢ Fireman
â€¢ Shovel
â€¢ Chop Wood
â€¢ Spear Thrust
â€¢ Churn Butter

Finishing Moves (1 set of 15/side)
â€¢ Flip the Lever
â ...

slothlike

Thanks bazilla.

I'm gonna have two red days in row (my life doesn't have S days, so I don't take them). The family did an overnight camping trip on Sunday and the 2 year kept waking up, not know where she was and crying hysterically. I didn't fall asleep until 5, the 3 mo. old slept through it all ...

slothlike

20 #

I'm impressed.

slothlike

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 ...

slothlike

Fall has hit Minnesota. My basement has gotten cold and I'm no longer leaving a pool of sweat. This morning I had to don the traditional pajama bottoms as I worked out. My shovelglove, however, is still naked.

BTW men stick with a workout plan longer if it has a social aspect, even if its only a ...

slothlike

To make this just a little more difficult I twist my wrist as I raise the hammer. That doesn't sound too clear; the handle still lays on my forearm for the whole movement, but as I raise the hammer my palm goes from facing my body to facing up.

This allows me to raise the hammer just a bit higher ...

slothlike

I have a baby and a toddler, so I understand needing to take a little break for your self. But if peanut butter and nutella is the only thing keeping you from your goal, it sounds like you're doing pretty well.

Why not make this a modification? Officially schedule a PB & N mini-meal at 11:30 or add ...

slothlike

Thanks. After the first day it didn't hurt, it was just sore, like I had worked hard.

So I worked out again today, but I stayed focused on my movement and keeping my core tight. I feel better now than I did before I worked out. It really felt good to work up a sweat and to loosen up my muscles. I ...

slothlike

Thanks for the info., that makes a lot of sense. I think I'll stick with 3 X 15s until I've been at it at least for a full month then I'll start mixing it up. I think I'll try rotating sets of 7s, 14s, and 21s on different days. I'll let you know how it goes.

-ted

slothlike

Yesterday I was stressed out about work and school and I wasn't really into my workout. Right after I started the hammer seemed extra heavy and I thought that I should use the lighter one, but I didn't want to stop since the timer was running. So I decided to just muscle through it.

I did most of ...

slothlike

I did some experimenting and discovered that I like doing three sets, so I'm going to stick with that. I also figured that if I thought 50 reps was a possibility, I should probably get a heavier sledge. So I'm now working with a 12# hammer - 50 reps isn't possible anymore.

slothlike

I'm doing 3 sets of 15 per side per movement, but I see that a lot of people do high reps, like 50, and do each movement once. Is there a benefit to one way over the other?

BTW I started at 7 reps and worked my way up to 15 and stopped there just because the three sets used the 14 minutes almost ...

slothlike

I'm swinging a ten pound hammer, I try to transition from movements as fast as possible - no rest, I do 15 reps on each side, I get through the Shovelglove circuit 3 times with a little extra fireman and sometimes shoveling. It's 20 minutes total, with 15 minutes of Shovelgloving.

1 minute of pain ...

slothlike

Hello, I'm a former competitive cyclist who has seriously let himself go in the last ten years since getting married and having kids.

After eight years of saying I was going to get back in shape and start racing masters classes, I finally tried to do something about it. This summer I spent two ...

slothlike

A tip I learned from my brief foray into blacksmithing is that varnish causes blisters, so you should sand it off. I use 120grit so its not too slippery, but you could go as fine and smooth as you like. If you don't like the look of bare wood, linseed oil doesn't seem to cause blisters, but ...

Everyday Systems

Search found 86 matches

seven months so far

"Shovel away the fat"

Sledgehammer used as Indian clubs [video]

3 month progress

Another Metric

back ache

Month two

16# sledgehammer

An interesting article

October workout

My Results So Far

Ted's Anti-Sloth Workout & my over-thinking

variation

Ouchy Back

sets vs. high reps

my workout

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