Everyday Systems

Hey there!
This is my first post, so I'll introduce myself quickly. My name is Neptunus, and I'm a seventeen year old vegan from Iceland.

That should do it. *grins*

So, I've been reading up on shovelgloving (shugging?), after following a link from a comment on theartofmanliness.com, through which I found the No S Diet. Both sound very good, and I've been hyping myself up be reading old forum posts. Now, I want to go out and get myself a hammer, but I'm not sure where to begin! That is to say, at what weight. I'm fairly scrawny, never been much of a sports person, but I do regularly take walks, and try to run instead of walking when I can. So, any recommendations before I waltz off to the local construction-oriented store for my first SG?

I'm looking forward to starting this thing out, as it seems a whole lot more logical than wasting time in a gym, focusing on cosmetic muscles. Plus, I can do this in private! Most excellent.

Hey-o!

From one scrawny guy to another: Welcome to the forums.

For what it's worth I started with a 10#, though it felt intimidatingly heavy for the first week or two, I was surprised how quickly I adapted to it. It's still my primary SG, though I also have a 6# (originally purchased for my lady wife), which I use for more speed-oriented workouts.

The best advice I can give is to play around at the store and see what feels the most comfortable for you (just use moves that look like something you'd actually do with a hammer, if you want to avoid strange looks ). I found the best selection of weights at Art's Rental tools, of all places, so if you have one in your neighborhood, I'd start there.

Also, try to curb your enthusiasm for those first few days - I didn't, and wound up with a strained bicep that kept my hammer in the corner for a week after I bought it.

Thanks for the tips!
Sadly, there's no Art's Rental Tools here in Iceland. I can only think of one store that might carry these things, actually. With the tiny population(just over 300,000), I guess little variety is to be expected, though.

And by the way: Strange looks = awesome! I think I'll march in wearing my military uniform (US Marine uniform, dark green, with overcoat and everything), then pull a couple of the more militant-looking moves in the store.
That should make for a good laugh, eh? *grins*

Tomorrow will be shopping day, if all goes right!

Well, the store I visited today didn't carry heavy enough hammers for me (They only had 6.6 lbs hammers. I'd rather take a hammer that's a bit too heavy than a bit too light, I can always work very slowly and carefully to begin with. Don't worry, I've read all the disclaimers and a whole lot of forum threads!), so I guess I'll take a bus tomorrow, to one of the stores I was pointed to.
I checked online, and saw that they have both 11 lbs and 13.2 lbs hammers, I think I'll test both weights, if I can handle the 13.2 one, that'll definitely be my choice.
I can always adjust the distance between my hands and the hammer-head to make it easier, right?

Welcome, Neptune!

I think you might be surprised at how heavy even a relatively light hammer seems by the end of 14 minutes -- but yes, you can greatly alter the amount of effort by positioning your hands.

Hope they weren't too frightened by your getup and just hid the heavier hammers

Reinhard

Thanks, Reinhard!

I decided to settle on the 5kg (11 lbs) hammer, and I've got it all wrapped in a sweater and everything!

Here's a picture of the thing + its proud owner.

Will start to routine tomorrow morning, I'll keep you posted![/url]

classy, and yet somewhat frightening . . . I like your style, lad!

All right! First routine over! Boy, this was a blast! I woke up just half an hour ago, 6:30, and I am wide awake! I keep using exclamation marks!

I didn't feel any sort of pain, except for the burn in my arms (feels great!) and I was careful to do many of the movements slowly and carefully. Here's my routine:

shovel 14
churn butter 14
fireman 14
churn butter 14
chop tree 14
shovel 14

I attempted the flip level and scratch the back, but failed
Maybe when the other moves have strengthened me up a bit, eh?

Oh, and my thanks, Phayze!

Oh man, I love this routine. I'm anxious to start again tomorrow! Well, now for breakfast.

Hi Neptunus --

I know what you mean about being wide awake ... after my shovelglove routine, I not only use exclamation marks, I think with them!

I've been SG-ing for almost 2 months now, and you will be pleased to hear that this great feeling continues!

Also enjoyed your post about going to bed at 8 and getting up at 3-4 am. I tend to sleep in too much, and had forgotten what a good feeling it is to get a head start on the day. Will be thinking about how to get back to that!

Good luck with your routine!

!!!!! (just for good measure).

Excellent! I'm so psyched about this, and I admit that swinging my hammer around made me feel just a teeny bit macho. Never felt anything like it before.

And yes, one does tend to forget about such good things, when one gets unaccustomed to them. But it feels so great!

Thank you, and may your luck be great also.

Yeah, I really like the burn I get in the arms after a routine!! A good burn!!

And yeah the hammer really makes you look cool and macho!!

I've only been shoveling a week or two and look:

Notice I have my hammer without the glove because I like the danger!!

Neptunus wrote:
I attempted the flip level and scratch the back, but failed
Maybe when the other moves have strengthened me up a bit, eh?

Welcome to shugging Neptunus. Flip the lever and hoist the sack are isolation exercises for the biceps and triceps. Tuck the bales and butter churn will also work the triceps while many of the other exercises work the biceps to one degree or another. Alter your grip further up towards the hammer head and make sure the handle is tucked under your arm to get good leverage for flip the lever, can't think of any thing to help the other move in the short-term tho.

Since your a vegan you may want to check out Quinoa as a protein source to help built muscles. It's fairly easy to find in most health food stores in the States, I've heard Reykjavik is a pretty cool city so hopefully you can get it there as well. You can use this grain as a substitute for rice in most cases.
Happy shugging!

Man, that was intense!
I did:

stoke oven x 21
shovel x 21
fireman x 14
churn butter x 14
chop tree x 21
shovel x 8
stoke oven x 14
fireman x 7

Very awake now, and ready for breakfast and a shower!

Dai479: That's excellent, nice work! I think I can already see a slight difference, but that may be my overpowered imagination. *grins*

Thanks for the tips, Ranger.
Funny coincidence, actually, my mother purchased some quinoa for the first time ever just a few days ago, so I'll definitely try that out! I do get all of my essential amino acids though, so I think I won't increase protein/amino acid intake by too much.

Well, talking about food, I'm going to get some in me, right away!

Edit, to avoid double-posting: I just discovered something! Looking at the end of my hammer, I noticed a mark in it, which I attempted to photograph with my web-cam:

It looks a bit like a dragon's head, or a sea-horse's! Very cool, methinks!

That was awesome!

shovel 21
churn 21
fireman 14
stoke oven 14
chop tree 14
flip 10
shovel 14
fireman 14
churn 21

My arms were aching while I did the exercises, but now they seem to have recovered, mostly.
I love shovelglove!