Beefing up

[Admanfrd]

I have weightlifting sets and a class in school and want to thunk away with a 5-6 pound hammer. what kind of workouts should i do? I also want to keep my left arm equalish with my right, which is WAY  bigger right now. any suggestions?

[Foundryman]

I would suggest working instead of working out.  If you want to use a 5-6lb hammer for forging then use one.  The best way to condition your body to a certain task is by performing that task, so leave the weights where they are, light the forge, pick up a hammer and get swinging!  I have friends that spend 2-3 evenings a week at the gym, I always tell them that my forge is my gym when they suggest I should join them there.  Besides, forging is so much more fun!

[Admanfrd]

True, but how do I keep the other arm equal? I am a stick on one side and the difference between shoulders is already showing

[EricJergensen]

Learn to hammer with either hand.

[Geoff Keyes]

A REAL blacksmith is asymmetrical, if you want to even things out then you have to do the same kind of work on the other side.  There is no magic here.  You can lift only on the weak side, or you can learn to hammer left handed. or you can give it all up and be a stick on both sides.

 

Geoff

[ThomasPowers]

Have you tried to wear a wrist weight on your off side when you are not smithing?  Might help even things out a bit.

[Dan C]

When smithing isn't your tong's holding hand working as well?  Mine is.  True you could try to hammer with the opposite hand but if you're not ambidexterous it could be hazardous to your anvil face.  Another option, why not lift weights as well as smithing?  Most of the joint problems that I've had (47 yrs old) have been because of an imbalance, say front of your shoulders are more developed than the back of your shoulders which can result in an impingement of the tendon.  The resolution was more pulling exercises vs. bench or shoulder presses.

[Glenn]

You taught your right hand to handle a hammer. Start teaching your left hand to handle the hammer as well. It may take a while and most likely they will never be equal but they can come close or at least be functional. Start slow and build up.

[GottMitUns]

Turn a hand cranked blower with your left hand and fill the gear box with a 50/50 mix of 90wt. gear oil and axil grease :D

[Frosty]

Good question. A certain amount of asymmetry is to be expected in any dominant side dependent craft, take a look at carpenters for instance. Even people who used to write by hand had musculature differences.

 

Anyone who has had an arm in a sling for a length of time has discovered how quickly we can learn to do normal tasks off handed. Reverse your set up and start forging off hand. Do everything off hand. Start with a lighter hammer and build up, use the regular learning rules of thumb. Develop control before developing speed and force. It will come to you, don't worry.

 

If you start doing exercises, do them with both sides. One arm curls will help, but just like learning to hammer smooth counts for WAY more than speed. Control THEN power, speed= power. Exercises are going to do more to help keep you loose than develop your physique, it's the hammering that will do that.

 

Unless you have the bucks to seek sports medicine coaching exercises are only going to help, at best, it's the work that'll do it for you.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Simon Wicks]

Work with the hammer and get strong. You dont need mass for strength, just check out some of the guys making videos. They just look like fairly average build, however they'll all be strong as ox's. If you're worried about being asymetrical, weights will get you some of the way but they dont work enough core muscle groups. Do a kettle bell work out. That will increase core strength as well as arm and shoulder strength so you actually be able to do more than a bicep curl or a straight bench press (which very rarely has any real life use). It'll also make you much fitter to boot.

[Geoff Keyes]

I'm one, and the original poster may be one as well, who adds mass whether I want to or not.  This is fine if being a body builder is what you're after, not so good as a blacksmith.  If I hammer every day for 3 days, I notice the difference right to left.  If I spend a week hammering, I'm in 3x shirts.  Much more than that and I'm wider than I am tall.  I'm not kidding, quite.  I was a 42 chest before my last knee surgery in my late 30's.  9 months of full body lifting and I was a 50 chest.  Our poster may be in the same boat.  I suggest a powerhammer.

 

Geoff

[Frosty]

I'm one, and the original poster may be one as well, who adds mass whether I want to or not.  This is fine if being a body builder is what you're after, not so good as a blacksmith.  If I hammer every day for 3 days, I notice the difference right to left.  If I spend a week hammering, I'm in 3x shirts.  Much more than that and I'm wider than I am tall.  I'm not kidding, quite.  I was a 42 chest before my last knee surgery in my late 30's.  9 months of full body lifting and I was a 50 chest.  Our poster may be in the same boat.  I suggest a powerhammer.

 

Geoff

 

Maybe you actually ARE a dwarvish blacksmith and your folks never told you!

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Geoff Keyes]

One of my long time friends did mention that I looked like Gimli......hummm

 

Geoff

[Frank Turley]

Are blacksmiths strong? I'm 78 and I'm not strong nor do I want to use a 6 to 8 pound hand sledge. Blame Longfellow, who said, "The smith a mighty man is he with large and sinewy hands." Well, that of course, is not always true. If a guy started his apprenticeship when he was, say, 10 or 11, he didn't know how big or strong he was going to be when he became a journeyman years later. I have encountered huge, strong blacksmiths who found out that there is more finesse involved in smithery than muscle definition or oversized hammers. Think about Qi gong or yoga rather that lifting weights.

 

My 2¢

[Dogsoldat]

Not entirely off topic,  but was helping a friend unload a super v of hay.  110-130lb bails.  His cousin was out 6'1" and 250 lbs or something could bench 300lbs or so terribly strong.  Didn't last 10 minutes either tossing or stacking .  He could do a few reps but not the steady all day thing.  Better to just practice with what your going to use and have the endurance to do it.  Big isn't always good.  

[Dabbsterinn]

well, if you really wanted to beef up your left arm, i guess you could make massive double lung bellows out of some 5mm sheet metal, you'll save some electricity and it should be useful for the forge

(first i thought of this as a joke, but after a while, this actually would be a nice idea, maybe not 5mm though, more as 2,5 or 2, or aluminium even, and some clear plastic tarp would look neat, now I'll wait for someone smart to tell me why that won't work) 
 

[Frosty]

well, if you really wanted to beef up your left arm, i guess you could make massive double lung bellows out of some 5mm sheet metal, you'll save some electricity and it should be useful for the forge

(first i thought of this as a joke, but after a while, this actually would be a nice idea, maybe not 5mm though, more as 2,5 or 2, or aluminium even, and some clear plastic tarp would look neat, now I'll wait for someone smart to tell me why that won't work) 
 

 

I like it! How about using that mylar film that changes color with different viewing angles? (Chatoyant, means "cat's eye" literally but refers to a shimmery color change lik a . . . cat's eye. for those who are interested in nomenclature)

 

Oh, the topic. Having a chatoyant mylar on the bellows would be a show in itself. Maybe not so great for demos, the audience might end up watching the bellows more than the smith.

 

Still. . .

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dan C]

My take on weight training for the blacksmith.  If the hardest thing you're doing is blacksmithing, sooner or later, you'll break or wear out your body.  Blacksmithing is hard, repetitious, high impact labor.  The best way to get strong, stay strong and stay healthy, is to do a progressive, sane and safe strength training program. 
Start here: startingstrength.com  It's what I've been doing.  Three days a week, I do one of these two workouts:
squat, press, deadlift, chins
Squat, bench press, rows
At the end of each workout, depending on how I feel, I'll do some beach work.

Strength training is the reason that at 54, I can squat 350, deadlift 380 and work all day in the forge.

Agree completely!  I've been strength training since I was 14.  Now 47 my goals have certainly changed but I'm in much better shape than most my age and I can still keep up with my 3 kids.  It's been mentioned here how you should train for what you're doing and maybe someone really strong in the bench press can't keep up as well in other activities.  That's not the fault of doing bench presses, that a fault of not properly training your body overall. 

 

When I noticed my lower back was sore from loading 80 lb bags of mulch all day I began doing power cleans and stiff legged deadlifts.  Next time I had to load bags I wasn't sore at all and I was going all day long when other dads and teenage boys were dragging.

[Jason @ MacTalis Ironworks]

Turn a hand cranked blower with your left hand and fill the gear box with a 50/50 mix of 90wt. gear oil and axil grease :D

Or, better yet, maple syrup and peanut butter... LOL

[VaughnT]

A good workout is a whole-body endeavor.  Get a 25# or 30# kettlebell from walmart and exercise with it while you're at the house.  It will build you up all over, and impress the girls.

 

Working with a hammer for a few hours a day is hardly exercise, but it seems like it if your body is weak overall.  You need a strong core which most kids are decidedly lacking, to support the upper torso.  All the deltoids, latissimus, biceps and triceps doesn't mean a hill of beans if you don't have the spinal flexors and abdominals to support them.  And that falls short if you don't have the quads and glutes to match.

[SpankySmith]

At 50+ I had to adjust my workout routine entirely, the old/battered feet couldn't take high impact anymore.   So I switched to a rowing machine, which is considered a "full body" workout but which most noticeably works the thighs and shoulders.  My shoulders are very strong now and nagging overuse injuries I had to both shoulders within the last year just disappeared.  All without impact or hoisting huge weights, which in and of itself can lead to injuries from bad form, too much weight, etc.  

 

Vaughn's word about core strength is dead on (rower addresses that, too, BTW).  I used to teach an exercise class at a hospital and while I don't recall the exact statistic it was something like 65% or more of the people in nursing homes are there, largely, because they lack the core and upper body strength to rise from a seated position by themselves, without assistance.  Core strength = avoiding the nursing home!   At least for that reason. 

[njanvilman]

To add a comment:  What is magical about a 5 lb hammer?  I use a 2 lb hammer for fine work, and a bit heavier where needed.  I aim to preserve my wrist and elbow to be able to keep hammering.  And I do go to the gym as often as possible; aiming for 5 days/week.  And I have a small power hammer (35 lb Champion) to assist where needed.

[natkova]

well, if you really wanted to beef up your left arm, i guess you could make massive double lung bellows out of some 5mm sheet metal, you'll save some electricity and it should be useful for the forge

(first i thought of this as a joke, but after a while, this actually would be a nice idea, maybe not 5mm though, more as 2,5 or 2, or aluminium even, and some clear plastic tarp would look neat, now I'll wait for someone smart to tell me why that won't work) 
 

 

Tie a chain or rope to pole and tie to that rope some / lumber when you step on lumber it pull pole. You would just have to step on it and you will look sily .

Something like this

[nicole]

I am left handed but am a bit stronger on the right side.  It doesn't bother me to switch off hands every 5 heats or so and it keep me from getting as tired..I miss just as much with hammer in either hand :)    Eventually I hope to have more stamina but now I am pretty tired after only an hour