How-to:

Warmup: 15 forward-to-back shoulder dislocates, 2 Grok hangs.

Before you do anything else, procure the proper equipment. This workout is designed around a sledgehammer, which you can find at any hardware store for around thirty bucks. I use a 16-pounder, which may not sound like much, until you try to handle the thing by holding onto the very end of the handle and find it feels like triple the weight. Mess around with some in the store and choose the one that is legitimately hard for you to support. You can always choke up on the handle to move your hands closer to the weight and, thus, make things easier until you’re ready to progress, but you can’t add weight to a too-light hammer. Buying a light hammer will end up a waste of money.

If you don’t have a hammer and you can’t buy or find one, there are alternatives which I’ll discuss later.

I detailed Around-the-Heads in the old mace workout post from a couple years ago. In it, I say to use a mace, but I’ve since found that using my hammer works just as well. Begin by grasping the handle and holding the hammer in front of you just below chest level with the weighted head pointed up and at, or just above, head level. Push the hammer back and to the right, so it descends over your right shoulder toward the ground. Pull the hammer around your back to the left side and then pull it up and over your left shoulder, using your upper back musculature to move the hammer. Keep your entire body tight. If you’re swinging to the right (clockwise), place your right hand on top of your left when grabbing the handle; do the opposite for the other direction.

Shoveling should be second nature, especially to you east coasters (I hear there’s been some kind of little snow flurry, or something), but there are a few details to keep in mind. First, adjust resistance by adjusting your hands’ position on the handle. Both hands at the end make for a harder workout, while moving one or both of them closer to the weighted end makes it easier. Second, this is not simply an arm workout; use your legs and hips to generate most of the power. Say you’re shoveling to the right: turn your body and move the hammer across by pivoting off your left heel and squeezing your glutes and engaging your hamstrings. Once the weight has moved to the right, then use your arms to “shovel” it back over shoulder, as if tossing snow or dirt into a pile. Pull with your right arm, externally rotating that shoulder (while keeping the right shoulder blade tight and retracted to protect the joint), and push with your left arm. Staying tight all over will engage your abdominals and make your movements stronger.

Hammer Slams are normally done against tires, but anything that you don’t mind bashing with a hammer will work – sand, soft dirt, an old tree trunk. They’re pretty straightforward. Just hold your hammer in a comfortable position that gives you just enough leverage without making it too easy, and go to town. I like making this a full body workout by involving the hips on the upswing, but you can just as easily isolate the upper body. Your choice. Just go hard and fast and minimize breaks in between reps. It should be a fluid circular motion.

That’s it. Get yourself a hammer and go to town. Oh, and I apologize for the horrible title. I just couldn’t resist.

Variations:

Obviously, a sledgehammer is ideal, but any dense object with a highly concentrated weight will work. A kettlebell, a large rock, a medicine ball are all viable options. You won’t be getting the benefit of wielding an asymmetrically weighted object on a stick, but these will all work. Just mimic the sledgehammer movements and know that they’ll be slightly truncated and the range of motion limited.

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