Purposeful Primitive Online
This Is How We Roll. Snow Shoveling is Easy As Pie
I’ve often said that one of the best reasons to train and condiiton yourself is so that the rest of your life becomes easier. My theory was put to the test dramatically in the past week. We have received over 30 inches of snow this past week here in the Baltimore area and I’ve been shoveling off and on all week.
Marty Gallagher and I chatted this morning and I told him how much easier shoveling is now than it used to be. Keep in mind we haven’t had an snow accumalation to speak of in the last few years. The lack of winter precipatation coincides with the approximate time of my kettlebell training. I told Marty that shoveling is a piece of cake and we talked about the great amount of sustained strength that kettlebells gives those of us who train with them. When I’ve been moving snow this week I’ve had absolutely no huffing and puffing or any back pain while working or after. Another example of the famous kettlebell WTH effect. Meanwhile, I’ve seen comment after comment on Twitter and Facebook complaining about post snow shoveling muscle soreness as well as how hard it is while doing it.
So Marty asked me to conduct an experiment today. I strapped on my heart rate monitor and set out to shovel my sidewalk for the umpteenth time since last Friday. Since I’ve been doing my best to keep the walkways clear there wasn’t a ton of new accumulation. I spent 20 minutes working, and my average heart rate was 65% of my Maximim Age Related Heart Rate. I burned an average of 8.3 calories a minute. Not a huge amount considering I can get to over 20 calories per minute in a intense kettlebell session.
And that proves my point. If I work hard in the gym and focus on working hard then real life is much easier. If you don’t work out or don’t work out hard enough to make the real world a piece of cake what’s the point?
February 10th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Yet another in a Long Long Long list of why the Kettlebell is so powerful. Great heads up for all those not training Hard Style!
Go RKC!
Justin
February 10th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
This is an example of one of the main reasons why I train…..great post Sandy! Not only are you not having a heart attack while shoveling snow in your late 40′s (sorry to out you on your age!) but you aren’t even breathing hard.
Chris
February 10th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Hey Sandy,
I agree 100%. I got caught in the Baltimore blizzard — 30 inches of snow — and spent 2 days shoveling around the car and around the house. I happened to be on a street that had not been plowed as of Monday, and I had to leave the house, so I ended up also shoveling out half the street, by myself. I was only able to do this because I had been training in kettlebells, and so had the stamina and core strength available to shovel 30 inches of snow for hours on end.
Kettlebells — they improve your life.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:01 am
I used to go to the gym and do cardio and circuit training, but then I discovered kettlebells. Over the past couple of years, I’ve combined KB training with Crossfit and changed my diet significantly. I wasn’t sure how sore I’d be after shoveling all week (I helped clear an 80 ft driveway at least 4 times, a couple of parking spots at my condo, and a pathway around a very large house), but surprisingly only my wrist is bothering me a little. Past snowstorms of 5-10 inches used to leave me pretty sore, but not this year! Strength training really does pay off
)
February 11th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Kendall and Jess,
Good to hear from you! The sustained strength that we enjoy as kettlebell users really does have real world carryover. I train for the Tactical Strength Challenge and to make life easier. Seems to be working for you as well.
Train with purpose,
Sandy Sommer RKC
February 11th, 2010 at 9:40 am
[...] Dr. Chris Hardy and I continue our ongoing conversation about nutrition; he and I see eye to eye on nearly everything nutrition related. Both of us feel that modern diet and nutrition is all about strategy and not enough about nutrient purity. Our collective motto is: seek out the finest locally grown and seasonally appropriate proteins, fruits and vegetables – then do with them as you like. Elite chefs are positively fanatical about obtaining the finest, freshest foods possible; strictly for taste. Chris is currently at Johns Hopkins and is one of the very few physicians that not only talks the talk but walks the walk. He trains under kettlebell whiz (and webmaster) Sandy Sommer’s tutelage. Speaking of SS, check out his “turning lemons into lemonade” piece on snow shoveling. [...]