My pal Andy got into forging a few months ago, and I have barely seen him since.

He has a workshop in his garage, including a small forge, a series of anvils, hammers, tongs, and things I can’t even identify.

I go over to hang out with him sometimes, because with every single minute of his spare time he is always working on that forge and smithing new blades and tools. Last time over there I commented to Andy that he had lost a lot of weight, and he said it was that the forge gave him all the exercise he could handle, and then some. Andy and I used to go to the same gym, and while we didn’t go there together we saw each other there from time to time. Since he quit the gym and started forging, I would say he had lost twenty pounds, and was now lean, with a more enhanced upper body. The heat of the forge makes you sweat a lot, and all the intense physical activity ends up being a great workout program! His arms and chest look better than mine do, and I take weight lifting classes two times a week at the gym. Part of me wishes I could do what he does, but forging seems too complicated for me, so I think I will keep going to the gym, and just buy my knives at Walmart instead of making them myself. It turns out he still keeps his gym membership anyway, just to go in after a forge session and sit in the sauna for a while.
Training methods