Today I was swinging an ax downward into a big piece of wood and realized that this is a great upper body exercise if done lefty and righty, especially for baseball. As CW notes that exercises that involve most of the body like rope pulls are best for hypertrophy. Would this be a good exercise to use, and if so what muscles would it work?
Lats, Pecs, triceps,mid traps, core (obliques etc) The main benifit though is that it is working the body as a coordinated unit. It’s hypertrophy benifits would be enhanced with addition of isolation exercises just like any multijoint BB exercise.
[quote]jreed212 wrote:
Today I was swinging an ax downward into a big piece of wood and realized that this is a great upper body exercise if done lefty and righty, especially for baseball. As CW notes that exercises that involve most of the body like rope pulls are best for hypertrophy. Would this be a good exercise to use, and if so what muscles would it work?[/quote]
It’s definitely a good excercise.
In fact, I’ve seen it recommended as a great GPP option a couple of times, along with it’s close cousin, sledgehammering (Find an oversized old tire, like an 18-wheeler uses, and beat on it for a little while with a heavy sledge).
And the firewood is cheaper if you buy it not split!!!
Good on a lot of different levels.
I don’t know if this would even interest you but Ernie Shavers is said to pack the hardest punch in the history of boxing. According to his autobiographay, “Welcome to the Big Time,” chopping wood was the secret to his punching power.
Definately good exercise for your core. But depending on the amount of wood you are goind through, be careful about developing tennis or golf elbow with all the impact.
It’s fine, until you bean yourself in the eye with a wood splinter. Unless you desperately want to build a fire, similar movements in the gym will produce the same results with less impact.
DI
I wonder if anyone has ever gotten wankers elbow, or beer elbow?