The Slice: Get pumped up about shoveling

Sure, it can trigger heart attacks or wrench your back.

But let’s look on the bright side.

All this snow shoveling is bound to leave the Spokane area’s population with some pretty good-looking arms by spring – just in time for short-sleeves season.

Why, we could end up with a national reputation for pleasingly muscular limbs.

“Ever been to Spokane? I’m telling you, folks up there have got some serious guns on ’em. It’s all that snow shoveling.”

OK, you already knew that manually clearing your driveway or front walk constituted exercise. But perhaps you haven’t been thinking of that as a good thing.

Well, maybe it’s time to reconsider.

Other round-up-the-usual-suspects body parts typically get most of the attention. But the truth is, strong-looking and clearly defined arms and shoulders improve anyone’s appearance.

And this doesn’t just apply to guys. There’s a word for women with athletic arms and it is “sexy.”

Now it almost goes without saying that we are not referring to monster bodybuilder balloons here. I’m just talking about biceps that are all present and accounted for. You know, as opposed to formless or flabby.

That’s the beauty part of the Spokane Snow-Shovel Workout. Tossing a few tons of frozen precipitation isn’t going to make you look as if you have been gobbling steroids. It’s not going to pump you up.

Over a span of several months, though, it just might make you appear slightly fitter and more vigorous by the time we shed the parkas.

Of course, you don’t have to be an expert to realize that proper shoveling form involves more than just your arms. Perhaps you’ve heard the expression “Lift with your legs.”

Still, it’s inevitable that your arms are going to experience the equivalent of weight-training.

You know how after you have had your left hand down low on the shovel for a while you get tired and have to switch to having your right hand down low? Sure. Well that, my friend, is working out.

So don’t curse the snow. Just think about how you are going to look in Hawaiian shirts.

Get ready to hear, “Is it my imagination or do your forearms no longer look like those of a 97-pound weakling?”

And we might as well face it. A new Spokane insult is also headed our way.

Mark my words. Sooner or later, some strong-looking shoveler is going to say it to someone who didn’t get the same outdoor exercise this winter.

“Hey, snowblower arms! Do you think you could manage to pick up that stapler and bring it over here?”

•Today’s Slice question: What’s the biggest con job when it comes to winter preparedness?