One of the things I love about Physical Culture and Fitness overall is being able to research things and finding various resources on training to help give me ideas on what could work and utilizing it in my own way. Doing research and actually testing things out is a big step to finding what could work for you and gaining a perspective from other aspects of training. With that said, there's also an overwhelming side of the coin when it comes to researching and learning things because many put their own spin on what works and how they obtained info and is it possible to trust that info?
Let's face it, when you research certain topics in the world of working out, you're going to get a lot of posers, arm chair shmucks, ghost writers and even dumbasses that claim they know what they're doing but all they do is talk a good game while spewing crap that is completely irrelevant (like bluntly revealing how much you hate your wife or talking shit about other people that have nothing to do with you). The marketing skills can be very immaculate and have the best looking format to tell you how great a method is but in reality, there are far more rip offs than original ideas.
I'm not the biggest fan of set and rep schemes because everywhere you look, it may seem reasonable but a lot of it is crap and it's not about how it builds muscle or endurance or to test your conditioning, it's really an arbitrary number for specific purposes but yet tries to generalize the idea. Very few people have great ideas on how to utilize a set and rep scheme that not only works but gives the majority of people great benefit. When it comes to Sledgehammer Training, there's really very few who have any actual knowledge.
People want to compare this type of training to an actual job in the Labor world when there's no comparison whatsoever other than the fact you're hitting something. It's two very distinctive animals that have very different aspects of strength, endurance and metabolic protocols. Yes, working with a sledgehammer will build crazy strength and will have you huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf trying to blow down a brick house but those who actually work for a living with a sledgehammer have a a very different level of strength and work a distinctive swing that keeps them going all day instead of an hour or so at a time. That's like trying to compare Slim The Hammerman to a regular guy who trains with Sledgehammers. Slim will destroy that guy any day of the week and twice on sunday even after his prime.
So for training purposes, let's understand the aspects of Sledgehammer Training when it comes to building muscle. There isn't a single way to do it but a variety of ways. One of the things that I prefer (even though I've written in the past isn't a favorite per se) is high rep training to a degree. You can also do it as a way like sprinting (going as fast as you can for a small period of time and resting for the same amount of time or longer) or in a tabata like style. A key to remember is that to keep things even, you do have to switch the underhand to work hard. I prefer the deck of cards approach where you can count your strikes that way and for each type of card you can do a different style swing. I learned the different styles of swings from the Late Bud Jeffries.
I have done hammer workouts that lasted well over an hour and some barely 30 minutes all together but either way, I always felt strong, worked and most of the time hungry as hell afterwards. Also there's the speed aspect where the heavier you go, the less speed you'll generate and it just becomes more of a strength format. If you've done a lot of reps with say a 10-25 lb hammer at a solid clip, there's no way in hell you'll be at the same speed with a 50-70+ lber. I've done 1000+ rep workouts that took me 30-35 minutes but the last time I did that was with a near 60 lb hammer and it took me nearly 2 hours to complete which I never did again.
Will you build muscle working with a sledgehammer? Absolutely but it depends on how you do it and what you're striving to do. How many reps would it take to get there? That also depends on what you want to do. Some people would do great with working for a period of time and using quality rest periods and recovery, others have incredible muscle come in from doing High Reps. Could you do it everyday? That depends but for safety sake, let's go with 2-3 times a week. In my time of consistently using the cards, I did hammer workouts once every 3-4 days because it's really fucking taxing and your body needs to rest. My goal at the time was to add weight every time I beat the deck. Sometimes it took 4 workouts to do it which meant to beat the deck it took up to 3 weeks to be able to finish in one workout.
Do what works for you to build the muscle you want to achieve. Work your ass off but be careful to not hurt yourself breaking your back and tearing up your rotator cuff. I've never experienced injuries doing this kind of training and I've worked up to a near 73 lb hammer. Be mindful and only do what you're capable of doing and progress with intentions on recovering and resting with great quality. It's not the same as a job that has guys working 12-16 hours a day and jarring the body with very little recovery.
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