[Captain Scarlet]

Well I never thought I would say this, but I think that its possible for you to be using a pole thats too light. Dont get me wrong, I think that the pole should be reasonably light ( like the sl-x ) so as not to strain the body and make long usage able and speed up the operator. But for younger men, do you think that using a very light modular for day to day use ( domestic ) is going too far.

My reasoning is, over the Holiday season when we had all that snow and living in a rural area and due to family problems I missed out on work for a good 2 and a half weeks. I have a bad shoulder injury and for the first time in years the severe pain reoccurred during this period, but when I restarted work, exercising my shoulder, the pain went away.

My point is, a pole with a reasonable amount of weight is great for strengthening your joints and muscles and for keeping you in shape, do we really want our poles to weigh too little? Its just a point and I'd be interested in peoples experienced and comments.

Another aspect is the hose reels, Im not too sure I agree with the use of self winding ones, as I find the cardiac exercise that goes with reeling in the hose very beneficial, don't you? Any time saving that is gained by an auto reel might not actually be worth it in the long run, as the health benefits of reeling in hundreds of times a week far outweigh any extra money earned ! Or you could use that extra money to go to the gym! anyway its just and idea!

[Captain Scarlet]

Obviously I realise that as you get a bit older its crucial not to strain the body and get rsi, so at this point you would most definitely want the poles weight and manual labour to be more minimal!

[matt]

My reasoning is, over the Holiday season when we had all that snow and living in a rural area and due to family problems I missed out on work for a good 2 and a half weeks. I have a bad shoulder injury and for the first time in years the severe pain reoccurred during this period, but when I restarted work, exercising my shoulder, the pain went away.

that was the exercise though, not the weight of the pole

the lighter the better, less wear and tear on joints

[Dean Aspects]

I want a pole as light as posible so work is as easy as possible
If i want a workout of my muscles and joints i go to the gym and do full and proper exercises
Although i think i might have to slow down on the workouts at three times a week i am starting to feel old  :

[wightsurf]

I found using a 40ft light modular pole in winds of F4 and the odd gust at 5 . I was straining my body more by fighting the wind than cleaning the windows. At one point i was wishing i still had my tucker 

[Niall McAllister]

I want a pole as light as posible so work is as easy as possible
If i want a workout of my muscles and joints i go to the gym and do full and proper exercises
Although i think i might have to slow down on the workouts at three times a week i am starting to feel old  :

you must be charging to much for the work you do if you have time and can afford to use gym 3 times aweek

[Jeff Brimble]

Luke your pain went away  if it had not could you have continued work ? The right excercise is the best way out of injury.
If you needed to work in pain or even when fit then lighter is easier. even at 10ft I also think the lighter the brush the better.

[ftp]

I hang sand bags off my SLX and use a sill brush during the week leading up to Christmas because i know my muscles will wither and shrivel away during my time off.
Hope this helps

[leapstallbuildings]

This guy should be OK with his new pole then.

[ftp]

Tosser  :

[Clive McDonald]

Work is not excercise.But, a lot of gym users only exercise biceps anyway, so probably pole work is good for that.

Squats are the best excerise and the one the opposite sex most notice the results of most.They like bums and legs, not biceps.

The best thing of all for getting a girlfriend is money. Having your own business is a great start. Good luck

[Captain Scarlet]

Luke your pain went away  if it had not could you have continued work ? The right excercise is the best way out of injury.
If you needed to work in pain or even when fit then lighter is easier. even at 10ft I also think the lighter the brush the better.

working wasn't hurting it at all, it was making it better, the movement of cleaning was relaxing it. I just think this job seems to serve 2 purposes, 1 to earn money and 2nd to keep us fit!

[Captain Scarlet]

Work is not excercise

come out on a day with me and try keeping up then 

[Clive McDonald]

Point one.I've got an electric reel, it never gets tired and is four times faster than you are.
point two. Because my hot system needs a high flow, and i get through 600l in six hours, this heavy flow does a lot of the work for me and i do not need to rinse.

I agree physically i couldn't keep up.And i don't think myself that much financially superior either as in the main i find your biz comments pretty savvy- especially for a youngster-

[Captain Scarlet]

as in the main i find your biz comments pretty savvy- especially for a youngster-

  thanks. I do think as a younger guy I like pushing myself physically, while my dad ( 47 ) paces himself when he cleans. My point was aimed at the younger audience on the forum though, it would just seem like a shame to be using a extremely light modular and auto reel when you have the strength. But I wouldn't recommend anybody goes and uses a heavy pole, what Im saying is, that if you go too light, you take the "labour" out of manual labour.

I love the feeling of coming home, my stomach muscles, arms and shoulders all feeling like they've worked hard for me!!

[Alex Gardiner]

Exercise is good, however excessive weight in repetitive movement is not good. Lightness is the key to being able to continue in our profession for a prolonged period of time (15yrs+). Repetitive action with minimum strain to joints will actually help to maintain muscle tone as much as heavier exercise would. The key is not to develop our muscles, but to keep them well toned and working with our joints and ligaments as smoothly as possible. The heavier the weight we work with, the more sudden snatching movements will happen, leading to premature wear and possible injury.

I personally am striving to reduce weight whenever and wherever possible. I have just started trialling a new even lighter design brush. This could knock about 100g off of the weight of a Super-Lite brush. I could not believe the difference when I stuck it on the end of a 35ft carbon pole and went and worked with it for the day. It made the pole feel about half of its previous weight despite only shaving 100g off. To me this has got to be a good thing. I believe that lightness will continue to be of primary importance in our profession. I for one am working hard to keep reducing the weight of the average window cleaner's equipment.

A friend and client has just bought an SL-X as his shoulders and neck are suffering using heavier equipment. He is an absolute 'bull' of a man, incredibly strong and tough. He always thought that he could get away with any weight pole/brush, but his joints and ligaments are still made of the same stuff as the rest of us and he is now suffering because of the job.

riahehttrepuR, you are a strong fit bloke, but I notice that you are currently using the two lightest WFP ranges available on the market. I wonder how you'd be faring if you were still regularly using older, heavier equipment  .

[matt]

The best thing of all for getting a girlfriend is money. Having your own business is a great start. Good luck

clive thats a subtle way of teling luke he needs to get out and get a bird 

[Captain Scarlet]

Youve missed my point a little Alex. I would never work with heavy poles, but if the poles got ridiculously light, then perhaps we wouldn't be getting the health benefits involved with and outside manual job.

Ive used the sl2 for domestics all day, and for me, its so light at shorter lengths it feels ridiculous, id never come home feeling like I pushed myself or had a decent amount of exercise. When Ive used the sl2 for domestics all day I doubt it had much impact on my muscle tone and it barely registered on the cardiac scale. When I get a little older I know Im going to be singing a different tune!!

Surely the exercise aspect is an important one, and for me a big reason why I took up Window Cleaning! The telescopic poles on the market arent light enough yet!! not even your sl-x! But if they got too light, I would feel really lazy at the end of the day   This post is light hearted though, of course the poles are going to keep getting lighter, and me, I plan on buying the lightest..... but when I start getting fat, its you Ill blame ha ha hah

[Captain Scarlet]

clive thats a subtle way of teling luke he needs to get out and get a bird   

perhaps I have 

[matt]

clive thats a subtle way of teling luke he needs to get out and get a bird   

perhaps I have 

good

as that post you made last year about the sun shining of your SLX and makes pretty patterns, still concearns me