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.
I was thinking about starting with shovelglove, but found out that sledgehammers are very expensive here in Norway. Found an 11 pound in a store called Jernia, but it costs $160!!! A 6-pounder costs $120.
So if there is somebody from Norway reading this, where can I get a cheaper one?
So what I have done now is take a dumbbell-set and fashion a 12 pound and 14 inch long dumbbell as such.
Pros:
Already had it
Adjustable
Less chance of banging into things.
Cons:
Short, won't get the leverage
It should be OK to start with this until I get a real sledgehammer?
Did 14 minutes of throwing that thing around yesterday, and my upper arms are burning today. Can also feel it a little bit in my upper back and shoulders, so at least I know it works.
And my dad had an old hammer. Only 8 pounds, but I will test it out for a couple of weeks.
Have you tried someplace like Byggmakker? I don't speak Norwegian very well (I sort of speak Swedish so I can sort of guess some Norwegian, but not much). I couldn't see any non-electric tools on their site but I guess in the store they must have them. I don't know if that's where you looked when you found the one for $120. That just seems like a crazy price. It's just some metal on a stick!
Welcome, Frankster. I'm sorry I can't advise you on the sledgehammer in Norway issue, though I'm stunned that such a simple, common implement would be so expensive there. Your provisional solution looks great, though. And if your dad has an 8 pounder that's a great way to test the waters as well. My guess is you'll find something cheaper soon enough.
