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Weird that they describe carrying a log over your shoulders as debilitating - it’s how I carry 150kg+ ash trunks around the place - lift one end, walk along it
by madaxe_again 4y ago
Weird that they describe carrying a log over your shoulders as debilitating - it’s how I carry 150kg+ ash trunks around the place - lift one end, walk along it until I’m at the balance point, and then roll it onto my shoulders, behind my neck, and then loop my arms over the top of it. Takes virtually zero effort to maintain once it’s up there, particularly if the hands going over can hold onto a rope attached under the armpits (I use a lifting strap and thread my hands though the loops), so you can relax them - and terrain is easy - occasionally I’ll have to swing one end or the other forwards to make my way through a narrow gap. When I need a break, I just lift my arms and step forwards. You don’t even have to bend over to pick it up - just stomp on the end and catch it when it bounces up.
I tried tumplines early on. They just make my neck hurt. I do carry buckets and other small dense things around on my head, using a beanbag to cushion, but the torques from a log swinging about are just too much.
- tstrimple 4y agoIt seems that many folk (me included) don’t believe you’re routinely carrying 330lbs on your shoulders without noticing and that it takes zero effort.
- dustymcp 4y agoMaybe he is from Iceland ?
- Luc 4y agoI follow madaxe_again on Twitter, and yeah, he's pretty strong, but he also didn't say what you claim he said.
- madaxe_again 4y agoIt takes zero effort to maintain - not to walk around with! I end up a sweaty wreck after moving a trunk, but the load is basically all on the legs and spine, straight down the column. What I mean by “maintain” is that you expend no bodily energy on the actual grip, and it’s secure enough that it doesn’t move around on you and make life hard when you’re moving over uneven terrain. I honestly didn’t realise how heavy what some of what I was moving was until I started stacking it to dry, as with the method I describe you never actually have to lift the mass - just carry it.
- tstrimple 4y agoThat's fair and makes much more sense. You can rest at the top of a dead lift, etc.
- gregwebs 4y agoYour technique is leveraging the same principle as the tumpline: putting the load mostly directly over the spine. Although I have no doubt this technique is working well for you, there are other factors making the approach in this article better for the long haul. The shouldering technique has the log sit up higher and has farther to fall: a more precarious positioning for carrying something valuable a long distance. Also, the tumpline keeps the hands free. As to shouldering begin "debilitating", they may have been doing one of 2 other techniques when carrying over the shoulders that made it "debilitating": * placing it on one shoulder each (asymetrical loading) * strapping it to the shoulders much like a backpack Even if they were using the same technique, whether something can be comfortably carried in the position you describe depends on several factors: * the size of the person * the size of the musculature that it rests on * the size of the object * your spine and neck positioning On the last point, most people today have habitually stuck their neck forward: this would favor your technique and be more likely to cause neck pain with the tumpline.
- throwaway4aday 4y agoThey should have just gone to the local gym and asked someone using the squat rack how they would have done it.
- gregwebs 4y agoyes, but people can struggle to be able to rest a much thinner and perfectly straight bar in that positioning though, so I can see how it would be unbearable for the professor that is older and looks very thin.
- karaterobot 4y agoHow many kilometers have you carried the logs at one go? It's possible the advantages magnify over long distances.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]