Everyday Systems: shovelglove: message 205 of 649

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Okay, these are slightly more dull than Standing Crane, but I still 
like them, hope you all try them during "Freestyle" perhaps...And 

unfortunately, my creative stick figure artistry is on hold, so just 
use your imagination : )
First one is just like pushing a raft off the banks of some 
riverbed, but you might be able to visualize it better if I call it 

"Row the Gondola"...
If you have a good voice, it helps to sing Oh Sole Mio, LOL.
So much of Shovelglove are forward motions, this one is about the 
only thing I could think of that, albeit boring as it is, does go in 
the other direction...Probably good for the Lats, Serratus, and 
Triceps to some extent, but this is just off the top of my 
head...Whatever, it just is a nice flowing move, and not hard to do. 
As you smoothly push the gondola along, remember not to bring the 
weight too far behind you, or in front of you...Just push that boat 
along and alternate arms to keep the "boat" from going in circles : 
)
I like to cup the end of the handle and use my lower, gripping hand, 
to act more like a pivot point, rather than overworking my shoulder 
to create movement...If this is cheating, so be it...In the end I 
will still probably wind up with very sexy shoulders :)

Okay, the other move is what I have decided to call
"Fetch the Water" (aka Jack and Jill...)
Again, the existing shovelglove movements are very "swingy" for lack 

of a better term...This move is good for beginners, who are
a: Not Lumberjacks
b: Not Massage Therapists
c: Grip Deficient
d: Live where there is no running water

Its good for not so new shuggers too, because it is basically a 
static hold, which will build up hand and arm strength for 
maintenence of your workout, and give you what Reinhard previously 
described as a "Fearsome Grip" lol.

It's very easy to do, but not exciting, and probably won't fit into 
any "Warrior" scenarios :)

Simply hold your shovleglove from, say, the last two hand widths 
away from the end of the handle, at just about mid chest level, 
hanging down...Then, without raising or lowering your shoulder 
height, and without extending or flexing your elbow (ie: dont bend 
and unbend your elbow to create the motion), and holding the sg 
directly infront of your body, not far out away, imagine the weight 
of the sg is infact a bucket which you want to lower and raise from 
a well to get water...You just let gravity do the work going down, 
and let your hands just walk, hand over hand, till you get to the 
end of the "rope" (the handle) and then, you pull up the water by 

doing the same hand over hand motion till you raise the head of the 
sg to around solar plexus area, or the end of the stick, whichever 
comes first. Again, this is really controlled and especially meant 
to work on improving the grip of the finger and wrist flexors in the 
forarm...No swinging, just static, dead weight...Remember to breathe 
and not hold lots of tension in your neck...As always, take care to 
keep your low back from arching...And also remember that you don't 
have to get the water in a rush...I believe that doing this slowly, 
is actually harder...It's like trying to hold down a chord on the 
guitar, when you never played before, it takes a while for the hand 
muscles to really build up...I do a lot of pumping and wringing with 
my hands, so this is a good, maintenence move for me in times when I 
don't have a body to "wring". And it does give you a break from 

swinging stuff, which can be pretty taxing...

Have a great weekend you guys!
Love,
Deb