Shovelglove is a good 1/3 fitness solution ...

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.
Post Reply
Sixty
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:22 am

Shovelglove is a good 1/3 fitness solution ...

Post by Sixty » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:52 am

... with flexibility and cardio making up the other two-thirds. For those of you who have established the 14-minute shovelglove habit, have you also been successful at rounding out your fitness program with flexibility and cardio exercises?

User avatar
reinhard
Site Admin
Posts: 5918
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:

Post by reinhard » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:51 pm

Walking is an easy way to take care of the cardio third.

I still haven't come up with anything for flexibility or coordination. So far not much of a practical issue (except for a few broken plates :-)) but I'm definitely open to finding something, especially for coordination.

Reinhard

User avatar
NoelFigart
Posts: 1639
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:23 pm
Location: Lebanon, NH
Contact:

Post by NoelFigart » Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:58 pm

I have one about the coordination, Reinhard, but I don't know how adaptable it is to a system.

Choose a sport or activity that is HIGHLY technical (Swimming, dance, martial arts, tai-chi, yoga).

I note that ballet tends to yield extraordinarily good results, even with adults.
------
My blog https://noelfigart.com/wordpress/ I talk about being a freelance writer, working out and cooking mostly. The language is not always drawing room fashion. Just sayin'.

Sixty
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:22 am

Post by Sixty » Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:26 am

reinhard wrote:... I'm definitely open to finding something, especially for coordination.
What kind of coordination? Do you want to be able to juggle, do cartwheels, walk a high-wire or just get into the car without bumping your head?
NoelFigart wrote:Choose a sport or activity that is HIGHLY technical (Swimming, dance, martial arts, tai-chi, yoga). I note that ballet tends to yield extraordinarily good results, even with adults.
I second NoelFigart's suggestion - I personally do a martial art (similar to Tai Chi), and find it very demanding in terms of coordination (mental/physical/breathing). But I spend about 6 hours a week training, which is well beyond the daily habit approach.

However, there is a form of martial arts training that fits in very well with your daily approach that might help improve your coordination. It's called Zhan Zhuang (think it's pronounced 'Jam Jong') or 'Standing Like a Tree'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhan_zhuang

There are tons of video on YouTube about Zhan Zhuang. Lam Kam Chuen made a nice 10-part BBC series about Zhan Zhuang: http://www.youtube.com/user/StandStillBeFit

larisa0001
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:53 am

Post by larisa0001 » Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:22 am

What I do is not "pure" Shovelglove - I alternate my Shovelglove exercises with kettlebell exercises, and do 1 minute of yoga at 7 minutes and at 14 minutes. I think that the kettlebell stuff is very good for cardio (as well as for legs and back strength), and the yoga takes care of flexibility. Oh, and I also walk for cardio purposes - that's good too.

chiangmaiboss
Posts: 88
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:20 am

Post by chiangmaiboss » Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:38 pm

Personally when I do shovelglove I do it for at least 30 minutes. this is not because 14 minute plan is not good, it is just that I try to do every kind of aerobic exercise or weight lifting for at least 30 minutes.
Chiang Mai and Nakhon Sawan, Thailand

Sixty
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:22 am

Post by Sixty » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:11 pm

"Personally when I do shovelglove I do it for at least 30 minutes."

I stick with the 14 minutes, which pass very quickly. That way I'm still fresh when I'm done, and already look forward to the next session. 8)

User avatar
zenboar
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:32 am

Post by zenboar » Fri Aug 05, 2011 5:39 am

I don't really shovelglove in the strict sense of the term. I use the sledgehammer as a component in my workouts. The way I do it, it usually takes care of the cardio component as well. I do some stretching after my workouts and usually yoga on Wednesdays to add a flexibility component. So my workouts usually look something like this:

Monday and Thursday
Strength:
Uneven pushups, 8 per arm, 3 sets (a progression plan toward one-armed pushups)
Chin ups, 6x3 (I suck at these, so progression is slow)
Conditioning and Cardio:
kettlebell/sledgehammer/burpee complexes (more on those below)
Cool down and stretching for about 10 min

Tuesday and Friday
Strength and conditioning get rolled into one
Sandbag clean to squat 11x3
Sandbag overhead press 11x3
Sandbag shoulders 6 per side x 3
Sandbag shoulder switch (lift up over head and change to opposite shoulder) with reverse lunge 6 per side x 3
Sandbag bent-over row 11x3
(These are done as a circuit, so rather than 3 sets of each before the next group it's one set of each one continuous and then restarted 2 more times)
Cool down and stretching for about 10 min

Wednesday
Yoga and maybe 10 or so minutes of Turkish get-ups with the sandbag

The KB/Sledge/Burpee complexes vary depending on what I've devised and feel like that day. I might to KB Snatch/16lb Sledge tire strikes/burpees in Tabata fashion 20 seconds active 10 seconds rest. Or I might do reverse ladders for time, 20 snatches per arm, 18, 16, so on to 2. Then do the same with the 16 lb sledge. Then similar with burpees, though 20 is a killer to start out with so I'm at 10 right now. Or I might do them circuit fashion... 20 snatches, 20 sledge swings, 10 burpees, 18/18/10, 16/16/8, 14/14/8, 12/12/6 and so on.

Although, I may have to drop the tire work right now because we are having 100+ days and working out in the garage is a killer. If I go in the house I'll probably use my 10lb hammer and do overhand strikes, wood chops, and gong strikes. As long as you check your space and keep things under control, you can jack your heart rate up pretty good using those movements with the hammer so you're getting a good cardio and conditioning component. I should also note that for the strength work I use the general ideas of strength progression. Once I can do 12 of a move with the sandbag or bodyweight work it's time to add weight or move on to a more difficult variation. Like once I hit 12 with the sandbag moves I'll have to change my circuit up some so I can do the squats, presses, etc. with added sand bags (making like 5lb minis with sandwich bags and duct tape). The shoulders and lunges are at 6 per side now because they are a KILLER.

And the conditioning with the hammer pays off. I had about half of a large tree get blown down in my front yard. I cut it into manageable chunks with the chainsaw and then spent about 3.5 hours clearing limbs and logs and cutting them down with an axe and hatchet. I was a little tired, but still doing well enough to do my workout for that day later that night. So the sledge work really makes a difference!

Post Reply