Anyone cut firewood for health/exercise?

[savageactor7]

I suppose I would somewhat qualify ...

...but I wouldn't call it exercise because I doubt I reach the target heart rate that real true exercise demands. Good range of motion movement though. We've been using a wood stove since the bi-centennial.

I enjoy firewood production and we appreciate the wood stove.

 

[MossRoad]

We heat our home primarily with wood. Gas furnace for those days when the fire goes low and it's really cold out. In harsh winters we'll go through almost 6 cords. Last year was about 3.

I, too, enjoy the activity of firewood gathering and processing. I use a chainsaw to cut it and a splitter to split it. The only real weight lifting type exercise I get out of it is lifting the wood onto the trailer to bring it home, or tossing it off the trailer when I get home. Then lifting it onto the splitter.

I don't get much weight lifting type exercise tossing or stacking the individual pieces of firewood, as they are so light.

I'd think splitting by hand would do more damage to my body from the extreme shocks of sudden impacts from the maul, sledge, axe, etc., than benefits from lifting weights.

With that said, I still enjoy the process and being outdoors.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah it’s more of a “reason to stay outside” and get more exercise.
I plan on starting by using the Chopper 1 splitter I kept from my teenage years

 

[beowulf]

Henry Ford said “Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.” I have always said chop your own wood and it will warm three times - once when you cut it, once when you burn it, and once when you need a heating pad for your sore back.

We cut and stack firewood every year - have an excess so we offer it free to others - they need to come and gather and cut it, though.

 

[deserteagle71]

Cutting firewood, and then splitting it all by hand, was my primary form of exercise most of my life. Especially after a frustrating day at work, it was a great way to work off stress. Grab a huge round and some big wedges and a sledge and have at it.

That all went by the wayside a couple years ago when I gave up and went to a pellet stove. Gave up because firewood, in the area where I live, is almost impossible to get. The last few years I drove 240 miles (one way) to the Burns, Oregon area and bought my firewood there. Now even that source has pretty much dried up. Drives me nuts - the wildfires kill miles of trees, yet no one is allowed to harvest the dead wood.

Miles upon miles of dead trees going to waste:

Getting ready for some exercise:

Check out those wedges:

Just one knotty round like this was enough to give a guy a pretty good workout!

(The photos of the rounds are of firewood I bought in Oregon.)

 

[K5lwq]

Y’all are nuts! I have done enough swinging an ax in my life. Have fun. Lol

 

[Jchonline]

Not 100% for that reason, but partly?
I have an ideal firewood spot, a 16’x24’ concrete pad I poured years ago. I could split wood on it. Have a friend that will sell me as many rounds as I want.
Quick backround: I grew up in a house heated primarily with firewood wood and backed up with oil furnace. My dad and I would split 15 cords a year or more. Between firewood and hay bales, I developed a really strong shoulders and arms.
Well, now the bales are handled by tractor. I have lifted weights to supplement, but I’m bored with that. Rather be outside. My wife says jokingly “you live outside” (probably helps our marriage lol). Cant stand being cooped up inside.
Anyway, I was curious if anyone else chopped wood not just for firewood or profit, but for healthy exercise?

Buckin does! I love this guy, he doesn't even use a hydraulic splitter. He is 50 or so and still climbing trees.

https://www.youtube.com/c/BuckinBillyRaySmith

I actually do as well. I will usually manually split at least 10 rounds when I am working on firewood then use the hydraulic splitter for the rest. I have a bad back, so I use a logox and a picaroon to pick/stack. Swinging an axe isn't the issue, its bending over for me.

I have tried a few different splitting axes, but have settled on the fiskars splitting axe (not the maul). Lifetime warranty and the head shape is awesome for splitting. Works well with the flick to split easier.

I think its a great idea!

 

[Jchonline]

Cutting firewood, and then splitting it all by hand, was my primary form of exercise most of my life. Especially after a frustrating day at work, it was a great way to work off stress. Grab a huge round and some big wedges and a sledge and have at it.

That all went by the wayside a couple years ago when I gave up and went to a pellet stove. Gave up because firewood, in the area where I live, is almost impossible to get. The last few years I drove 240 miles (one way) to the Burns, Oregon area and bought my firewood there. Now even that source has pretty much dried up. Drives me nuts - the wildfires kill miles of trees, yet no one is allowed to harvest the dead wood.

Miles upon miles of dead trees going to waste:
View attachment 710628

Getting ready for some exercise:
View attachment 710629

Check out those wedges:
View attachment 710630

Just one knotty round like this was enough to give a guy a pretty good workout!
View attachment 710631

(The photos of the rounds are of firewood I bought in Oregon.)

In CO we can get a permit to harvest wood in wildfire areas, works out well. The try to control it a bit because companies will exploit it for a profit, and that isn't the goal.

 

[GregbkH]

Living in the woods, I get plenty of exercise trimming trees, cleaning up wind falls and keeping my trails clear. We had 2 good storms so far that I'm still cleaning up after.
I don't mind doing it and it is good exercise. The wife and I also split and stack firewood also. We use a log splitter.

 

[deserteagle71]

In CO we can get a permit to harvest wood in wildfire areas, works out well. The try to control it a bit because companies will exploit it for a profit, and that isn't the goal.

That's the way it used to be here. Around 30 years ago, their philosophy changed. Now they insist the dead trees need to decompose back to nature.

There was never any interest in the forests around here from commercial logging companies. What we have here is pinyon pine and juniper, all twisted and gnarled, and if it gets to be 30' tall then it is considered a monster.