Tip: pumping iron to beat steel more easily
Hey guys, I thought I'd share this tip with you. Since a couple of months, I do a lot of upper body strength exercises with dumbbells, slowly building up strength in all muscle groups around shoulders and arms, front and back. I do this as part of getting back into shape. Or rather, getting in better shape. Anyhow... I do this 2 to 3 times per week, just a couple of different muscle groups each time.
As a side effect, I noticed that I can now easily swing my heaviest hammer (3.5 pounds) for a full hour without getting tired arms at all. In the past, this was not the case, and I gradually lost fine control of my hammer while pounding steel when using that hammer.
Now, I bet that if I did this for a living or as an apprentice, every day, that would be all the exercise I needed. But I don't. I only have hammer time once or max twice per week. Dumbbells and weights don't cost that much, and if you like smithing in a limited amount of time, the small investment in time and money will allow you to have more fun during fun time :) And it is healthy exercise at the same time. :)