Everyday Systems: shovelglove: message 21 of 649

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Reinhard,

I have a physiology-dork comment to make about your
routine. You might make faster progress if you backed
off every fourth week--this means go back to the
lighter weight and do 1/2 of the volume (sets x reps)
of what you normally would. This is an easy way to
"cycle" and will keep you from stalling for long
periods of time. Plus it gives your tendons and
ligaments a break so you won't get overuse injuries. 
So even though you back-off a little bit every fourth
week, the increased level of vigor and ability you
bring to the table when you come back in weeks 5-7
will more than make up for the lesser calorie burn of
weeks four and eight. Give it a try for one month and
see if you notice a difference when you come back. 

I find that planned-backing off (active recovery, if
you want to use the snobby term for it) is really
important to my overall progress. If you have time,
you might want to track down a book called "Consistent
Winning: A Remarkable New Training System That Lets
You Peak on Demand" by Ronald D. Sandler, D.P.M. and
Dennis D. Lobstein, PhD. It's out of print, but it's a
nice little book that describes the benefits of
backing off in no uncertain terms. The simple cycle I
described above isn't from that book, though--it's
culled from Bulgarian Olympic Weightlifters' methods.
All I know is it works like a charm without getting
overly complex. Back off every fourth week. How hard
is that? 

I know what you mean about having a weird "top
priority". I am a student, and my "top priority" of
the day is getting in my weight workout. A lot of
times when I don't want to be in class, that training
session motivates me to go to school and get through
my day so I can get to it. Despite this, I sometimes
dread training. But it's still my top priority... and
it's actually pretty fun once I pull that first
deadlift. :) People look at me like I'm a caveman
who's just grunting and dropping 400 pounds in the
corner over and over again, but it's my therapy. 

I am probably going to incorporate some shovelgloving
into my workouts in January. I've been focusing on
building limit strength at the expense of body
composition (I'm up to a fairly chubby 18%), and
nothing leans you out faster than old-fashioned hard
work. Plus, swinging a sledgehammer is so much more
"butch" than running on a treadmill with a little
heartrate monitor strapped on. 

Actually, I've heard of people who have actually
gotten injured as a result of too much treadmill work:
since the treadmill moves beneath you instead of your
muscles working to push you forward, the treadmill can
chronically underdevelop certain muscles. Then when
you try to, say, run or walk in the real world, you
hurt yourself because your musculature isn't ready for
the loads. Then you have to ice your feet, and that's
no fun.

Actually, not to get off on too much of a tangent--a
lot of gym equipment does the same thing. If you press
on a "pressing machine" you develop the primary movers
without developing any of the supporting musculature
that steadies and balances the load. Then when you
have to press something in the real world, your
stabilizers aren't up to the task, and you fail on the
press, or drop the thing on your head, or you hurt
yourself. And I find that completely ironic, since
machines are supposed to be "safer". They turn you
into a muscle-moron who can't use the strength he(or
she--women LOVE machines) has built. 

On the other hand, Shovelglove is imminently "real
world" applicable. When the time comes to, say, shovel
or sledgehammer or chop wood or even just heft a heavy
object, you will be ready to do it, because you've
done it so many times in training. I like that there's
a chance you could hurt yourself while you use it--you
have to respect it, which makes you mindful of your
workout. And I like that. There's nothing worse than
just "zoning out" while you work out. Why waste that
time? You should be alive instead of mindlessly
pumping out digital "miles" on a treadmill (urban
ranger, anyone? the real world has real miles to walk,
and much better scenery) or endless reps on a mindless
machine. 

Anyway, here's hoping from my end that shovelglove
starts to take off like the NOS diet. Because I think
its as simple and just as practical--and perhaps even
more useful in the end when physical fitness is
suddenly called for. (This happens more often than
people seem to think.)

Wow--sorry that got so long, I'm living on an hour of
sleep in the last 24. I tend to ramble--altered states
and all that.

Dan 

--- Reinhard Engels <beautiful_idiot@...> wrote:
> I should have taken care of this when I did nosdiet.
> Oh well. Done now.
> 
> My routine is still pretty much as described in the
> last stage of the site. The only difference is I'm
> now
> using the 16 pounder and am actually able to get
> through it all with some time left over for
> freestyle.
> I also have a couple of preferred freestyle
> movements.
> The "fireman" which mimics chopping through a door
> ("battle axe" might be another good way to imagine
> it). And "smash the ceiling" which is sort of like
> butter churning in the opposite direction.
> 
> My lack of tweaks to the routine (and the site)
> doesn't mean lack of observance. If anything, I've
> only gotten more religious about doing it over time.
> I
> very rarely miss a (non-s-day) morning. I'm able to
> do
> this because: 
> 
> 1) I know it doesn't take a lot of time 
> 
> 2) I know how miserable I feel if I don't do it and
> how happy and energized I feel when I do. 
> 
> 3) I know it's actually kind of fun once I take that
> first swing.
> 
> 4) I make it my top priority every day. Once I'm
> sufficiently awake to remember what planet I'm on, I
> think "before I leave the house, I'm doing
> shovelglove. No excuses." It might sound crazy when
> you think that there are more objectively more
> important things (discovering the meaning of life,
> not
> getting fired from work, not being a bastard to
> people
> I care about, etc.) but having a top priority that's
> so completely within one's control and easy to
> achieve
> only helps these other bigger but fuzzier ends. 
> 
> Reinhard
> 
> --- Dan McVicker <pirateman2k@...> wrote:
> > I knew you would--just like the NOS group. But
> this
> > group gets so little traffic that I didn't think
> > spam
> > was going to be a problem. 
> > 
> > Whoops.
> > 
> > How's your training going, Reinhard? Any new
> > shovelglove innovations?
> > 
> > Dan 
> > 
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