The Sledgehammer Workout

3 - The Sledgehammer and "pond"

The defunct pond that has been in our back yard since we moved in?  It's time to go!  It's about 3-4 feet wide and had been partially buried the 16 years we've lived in our house.  The previous previous owner (ie the owner before from whom we bought our house) was a do-it-yourselfer in the worst sense of the word.  We've found evidence of this all over the property.  Some things like the electrical system required immediate attention.  This pond is now in the way of trying to plant anything in a very visible area of the back yard. The area under a very large cedar tree has been overgrown with some thuggish shrubs which will either be polite, cut back annually or come out.  

digging out around the pond, pulling out the loose baby head-sized and larger rocks set around the pond and then swinging the sledgehammer to break up the 8"+ cement pond is some workout!  Swinging the sledgehammer and breaking up the cement is very satisfying and therapeutic.  I can swing the sledgehammer right or left handed and am pretty happy that I'm in the sort of shape required to do this. And 30-45 minutes a day is perfect.  This isn't my full time job after all.

So I started thinking, there must be some nuts who do this for a workout.  Sure enough!  A quick internet search of "sledgehammer workouts" brings up a ton of links.  What do you need?  A sledgehammer and a large tire to take the blows.  So you want me to bring more junk into my backyard?  No thanks!