Chopping Wood a Manlier Feel than Sports | TIME.com Being a lumberjack has long been considered among the “manliest” of professions, but now there may be scientific proof to back it up. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered that chopping wood significantly increases testosterone levels, even more so than competitive activities. Scientists have known for a while that competitive exercise, like sports, tend to increase how much testosterone the body releases. The study, published in Evolution & Human Behavior, sought to determine how non-competitive exercise — like food production — compared. In order to do so, researchers tested the testosterone levels of the indigenous Tsimane people in central Bolivia before and after they cut down trees. Their results showed a 46.8 percent increase in testosterone levels following the wood cutting, a full 17 percent higher than the testosterone bump caused by playing soccer. (MORE: The Axemen Cometh: Scenes From the Lumberjack World Championships 2013) The paper’s lead author Ben Trumble explained why testosterone is created during tree cutting. “If you’re better able to pull blood sugar into your muscle tissue, and better able to use that energy, you’ll be able to chop more trees,” Trumble in a statement. This is especially important for the Tsimane, who can’t just go to the supermarket and buy food. This might explain why his team also found that, while the Tsimane tend to have lower testosterone levels than those in first world countries, they retain the ability to to produce testosterone spikes longer than their developed-nation counterparts. “If you’re a 50-year-old Tsimane man, for example, you probably have six or more children, and you need to be able to feed them,” explained Trumble. If you lose the ability to have the acute spikes in testosterone that increase your ability to chop trees — chop longer and chop harder — that would be detrimental to feeding your family.” Even if your life doesn’t depend on cutting wood, you can still benefit from Trumble’s research. According to fitness expert Ben Greenfield, testosterone also helps increase lean muscle mass and bone density, and can help ward off conditions like depression and osteoporosis. Don’t worry if no trees are handy, studies have shown that weight lifting can also increase testosterone production, and Greenfield has his own list of six other ways to boost your testosterone levels. And despite testosterone being commonly associated with males (who have a much higher quantity of the hormone), women aren’t left out either. Females receive the same benefits from testosterone spikes, and Trumble believes he would have sees the same boosts in women if they had been included in his test. “While we didn’t measure the testosterone of women in this study, women can also produce short-term spikes,” he said. “[This] suggests the importance of acute rises in testosterone not only for competition over mates, but also for critical daily tasks such as food production.”
I read this same article a while back, and decided to try splitting some wood by hand every day for the month of April. I'm on Day 19 now. Every morning I've taken my dogs for a walk, took a maul along, and split 3 rounds...mostly easier splitting stuff like red oak or cherry. On day 14 I loaded up what I had split so far and it amounted to about half a cord. I was surprised at how fast it was adding up. So far I'm noticing that my general mood has improved (of course, it is Spring too), and I really look forward to splitting those 3 rounds every day. I've never split much by hand before, and with daily practice I'm getting a lot more accurate and better at reading where the round will split the easiest. If you're a guy who needs a little more exercise, I'd definitely recommend trying it for 30 days. Carry your maul out every day, carry the rounds to the block by hand, load the splits up in a wheelbarrow and take them to the stack. It gets easier every day.
Uhh ohh, I think I'm in trouble then. I sure don't want to be producing excess amounts of testosterone!Does that mean I'll grow a pair? I have my doubts it works the same way with females, though honestly, my arms do get a little bigger as I go. Last year I cut, split, and stacked over 7 cord starting in mid August and continuing to mid September, with some of it being the worst I had ever encountered. (The yardbird Ash and Elm were killers) I split the majority of my firewood by hand using an array of tools (Fiskars X27, True Temper splitting axe, and a 6# maul. For the really tough stuff, a sledge hammer and a steel wedge and sometimes one of those grenade things. If all of those fail, then I'll just noodle whatever. BTW, did you know sweat has anti aging properties? (maybe that's why people still think I'm in my late 30's to early 40's)
Actually the rule is: "Pictures or it didn't happen!" Meaning the purchase of something, felling of a tree, a load of wood, a new truck or whatever. Not pictures of oneself. In time I will, but on my own time. I've come close a few times but chickened out. But I think I can be safe in saying "soon." Until then y'all will have to use your imagination. (imagine the worst so that it will be gooder when I do post one of me)
Ata girl, Star Gazer! I have been trying to get my 13 yr old daughter interested in the firewood work, but so far she is less than interested. That's darn good work if you've done 7 cords by hand.
I remember when I was 4 to 5 years of age, I would play in and around the wood pile. I was so tiny, I could get into the tightest of places. Little did I know that later in life I would find enjoyment in making the same types of piles, cutting splitting and stacking. Oh and yeah, I have felled hundreds of trees, limbed, and bucked them to size. So I guess you could say I have played with wood most of my life. And here I am at 64, soon to be 65 and still enjoying it. I only hand split, but there are occasions I may have to noodle the round or piece. Dang knots anyway! All in all though, it has kept me young, at least at heart, and has fended off the ravages of time. Sweat, it does a body good!
I could go without shaving my legs for a decade and still not be able to match those legs, let alone a square inch with all of mine combined. That is unless chopping wood changes that!
Bring home the bacon and Fri it up in a pan, bring home the firewood and fire it up in the stove.  :stacke:
