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Want a workout: Try chopping wood By: Jonathan Bille  |
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 With the price of home heating fuel on the rise, it’s no wonder that many homes across America are starting to use wood as a primary heating source. But did you know there was a health bonus to using wood as a heat source? What is that bonus? Gathering, chopping, stacking and hauling that wood is incredible exercise.
Unlike a gym workout, working with wood seems to stimulate and work every muscle in the body. But before you garb the axe and head out to the forest, consider some of the following techniques to ensure you don’t injure yourself when stocking your wood pile for winter:
Always remember proper lifting techniques: When you work with wood, you are going to have to pick up some pretty big pieces. Always lift with your legs and not your back. Bend down to the wood with your knees out and your back straight, put your arms around the log and lift straight up using your legs not your back. Always keep your back straight and never bend your back while lifting.
Wear gloves: Your hands are the most advanced tool you will ever own, so you need to protect them. Gloves will not only prevent many accidental scrapes and cut, but will also help prevent the formation of blisters.
Wear pants and long sleeves: When working with wood, you’re going to get close and personal with the logs you chop. Wearing pants and long sleeves will help prevent cuts and scrapes as you lug and haul logs and branches.
Wear boots: As strong and as coordinated as you might be eventually you’re going to drop the wood you’re working with. If you’re like me, eventually you’re going to drop a log directly on your feet. Wearing boots will protect your feet and toes from being injured or even broken from taking the full weight of a dropped log.
Breathe when chopping: Using an axe doesn’t take a lot of training, but using an axe for a long period of time can be exhausting. When splitting logs with an axe, be sure to breathe properly, in through the nose and out through the mouth, in long evenly spaced breathes.
Remember to rest: Working with wood is an extreme workout. It’s important to rest in between your wood chopping sessions. Consider a schedule that has you chopping for two days and resting on the third.
And perhaps most important, remember to stretch: working with wood is a workout, and like with any workout it’s very important to stretch before and after your work. You don’t want to injure your muscles and stretching will help ensure that you’re loose after your extreme wood workout.
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