02/09/2026
“Let’s talk shoveling snow ⛄️”
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We’ve all done the work as of late, but what are we actually doing and how can we prepare for it?
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Honestly, by maintaining good general overall conditioning via a balanced, consistent, progressive training program. Secondly, make sure you’re fueled with carbohydrate, and a mix of healthy fats and protein. With these basics in play, you’re prepared for the energy usage in the work as well as the physical aspects of it.
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In a very short, PG explanation, long work bouts of shoveling snow are lower intensity, longer duration work, fueled by the oxidative energy system of the body with stints of slow glycolytic energy, as long as carbohydrate remains present to use, so there are some harder work elements at play throughout. The duration and intensity will dictate how much work is done in each of these respective energy systems, and the longer the duration of the shoveling, the more oxidative energy will be used as the glycolytic energy becomes tapped.
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All the planes of motion are involved (the frontal, sagital, and transverse), making this work truly 3-dimensional and major muscles of the body are involved, most notably the obliques, back, arm, and shoulder muscles. Keeping these movement patterns and muscles trained will help us stay conditioned for this work, and there are some specific exercises that simulate the variables quite well. You can be ultra specific, but honestly you don’t need to be to be effective l.
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Many times the basics are what we need, with some specialization sprinkled in for various needs and reasons.
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Hope this video is helpful and stay warm!
