Casey Hofhenke

The Steel Mace: Because I Still Think I'm He-Man When I was a kid my favorite cartoon was He-Man, I was fortunate enough to have one of those awesome plastic replica swords and I would sheath it inside a towel my mom would tie around my neck like a cape. This was my daily attire, and I wouldn't go anywhere without it. I was He-Man, I had the power, and there wasn't a whole lot my mom could do about it. Fast forward a whole bunch of years and not a whole lot had changed. I spent most of my spare time trying to look like He-Man I suppose. I don't have much hair, nothing I could really do about that, but I could lift the heaviest weights I could and drink every exploding-muscle popping promising shake I could in an effort to feel like a super hero. I thought I looked pretty good, sure I had a little extra belly fat, but my chest and arms looked great. Fast forward a bit more, my wife asked me to dig up a small batch of grass in front of our house so she could plant some shrubs. No problem, I can throw around all sorts of weight, what's a little bit of grass? Grass, tougher than weights, kicked my butt. I had to take multiple breaks, my lower back was killing me, and it was sore for a good three or four days. I was doing fitness wrong, I was out of shape, and I was too damn young to feel that damn old after a few digs with a shovel. I started looking around, as a lifelong martial artist and a huge fan of MMA, I had noticed some of the methods fighters had been using while they filmed some of those "countdown" shows. I had also heard a little bit about this Onnit company, who specialized in natural supplements and "unconventional" fitness. So I went to their website, mostly to check out these kettlebell contraptions, but there was another tool that caught my eye. It was a steel mace, straight out of a movie battle scene, and these guys were swinging it around as a work out. One of the moves was called a "grave digger," you guessed it, simulating a shoveling motion with this large steel mace. It was the clear answer to my shoveling problem. I ordered some kettlebells, and of course the steel mace, and I haven't looked back. The steel mace is my absolute favorite thing to do, I cannot wait for steel mace days. The movements range from simple to very challenging, but more importantly you can feel yourself working muscles you never even knew were there while performing these fun exercises. I use the 20lb mace, which is basically around a 40" steel pipe with a ball on one end. Of course I started with the 20lb mace, because I'm a meathead and have to learn the hard way, it's obviously recommended you start with the lighter mace to perfect form and help avoid injury. However, the beauty of the steel mace is that if it's too heavy, you can "choke up," like on a baseball bat, and decrease the resistance. Getting too easy? Simply slide your hands closer to the end and increase the resistance caused by the weight on the other end. Straight from the Onnit website, “The disproportionate weight displacement is what makes the tool so effective, as it makes normal movements benefit the myriad of stabilizer muscles surrounding our joints and primary power centers. It's a full body workout that is one of the best ways to improve core and rotational strength, but it also allows movements to focus on particular body parts for those who want to focus one those glamour muscles from time to time.” At the end of the day, the steel mace is another highly effective tool to help us optimize our bodies for our overall health and daily lives. I don't recommend it being the only tool you use, and I don't mean to trash "conventional" heavy lifting as I still do that too about once a week, but it's by far my favorite tool to build a fun workout around. After all, it may not be a sword and even though I'm now thirty-one years old, I still like to grab my steel mace and think I'm He-Man. Instead of calling it pretending, we'll just call it working out. I encourage everybody to check out Onnit's site here and read up on the steel mace as well as some of their supplements and food. Everything is naturally sourced and good for you! Remember HelmFit classes are every Tuesday and Thursday at 6am! Feel free to to contact me if you are interested in these classes but that time doesn't work for you, we can always work something else out!