Up here in New England we’re very familiar with shovels.
Copyright: bubutu / 123RF Stock Photo
Particularly during our long, cold, New England winters.[footnote]Which are right around the corner. Nooooooooooo.[/footnote]
The shovel I’m referring to in today’s post, however, has nothing to do with that kind of shovel. Unlike traditional shoveling which sucks – and ranks somewhere between getting a colonoscopy and listening to Donald Trump speak as things I’m not rushing to do – the “shovel” variation I’m highlighting today is (hopefully) more palatable and something you’ll find use for in the weight-room.
HINT: you totally will.
Barbell Shovel Hold
Who Did I Steal It From: Kinda, sorta myself. I wrote about a similar exercise a few years ago – the shovel lift – but came across a quick write-up by Boston-based coach, Matthew Ibrahim, describing this variation…which I felt was brilliant.[footnote]And, again, made me want to slap myself in the forehead for not having the brain power to think of it myself.[/footnote]
What Does It Do: First and foremost this is a great exercise to help train rotary stability. The asymmetrical – or offset – nature of this exercise makes it a perfect fit for those struggling with chronic back pain. One must “fight” to maintain a neutral and upright torso position. Not only will this target the more superficial or global musculature – glutes (you need to actively fire these bad boys), erectors, abdominals, traps, rhomboids, obliques – but also the deep, stabilizing musculature as well. Think: the “deeper” muscles like TvA, multifidi, etc.
Note: if you perform this exercise while simultaneously performing positional breathing (inhale with FULL exhale, dialing in on rib position) you’ll hammer those deep, stabilizing muscles).
Because the drill is performed in a more or less isometric fashion, it lends itself as a very user-friendly option that pretty much anyone can do.
As a corollary, even with quote-on-quote “healthy” individuals/athletes, it serves as a welcome way to train core stability and possibly as a way to increase full-body time under tension. To that end, it could serve as a nice way for some trainees to add muscle mass to their frame.
Can you dig it?
See what I did there?
Key Coaching Cues: I feel the thrilling (<— kidding) video above makes things self-explanatory. You load a barbell with anywhere from 10-45 lbs. (start conservative, it’s harder than it looks), un-rack, and hold.
Brace your abs, squeeze your glutes, flex your quads, and think about squeezing oranges in your armpits to add even more body tension. Hold for a 5-10s count, rack the barbell, rest for 5-10s, and repeat for a total of 3-5 “reps.” Then repeat the same process with the load on the other side.
Shoot for a total of 3-5 “rounds.”
I’ve been using this as a quick “finisher” with some of my clients/athletes and they love it.
