Next up on my weird and wonderful task for working out my abs – planks. Few exercises work your core as hard as the standing exercise, which keeps your torso engaged throughout the movement. When done with proper form, the wood chipper also works your shoulders, hips, thighs, and calf muscles, as well as your core, which stabilizes your body during the movement.
But what will happen to Bruti if you chop 100 logs a day for a week? I grabbed a dumbbell and set out to find out more — read on to find out what happened.
As a reminder, what works for me may not be right for you and your body. If you’re new to wood chopping, have experienced lower back pain, or are returning to exercise after an injury, it’s a good idea to check your form with a personal trainer before adding reps or weight to a movement. Doing this exercise without proper form may result in injury.
How to do wood chipping
You can do planks with dumbbells, a medicine ball, or on a cable machine at your gym with the pulley set to the highest point. Either way, start with your lunge about shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in both hands to one side of the body. For example, start with a dumbbell next to your left hip. Engaging your stomach muscles, lift the dumbbell and rotate it over your right shoulder. As you lift, move your left foot so that it helps your torso to rise. This is the lifting part of the movement.
Next comes the chopping part. Moving with control, lower the dumbbells back to the starting position, keeping your core engaged — there should be minimal movement of the torso during this exercise.
I’ve been chopping wood every day for a week – here’s what happened
To learn more about this standing exercise, I did 100 repetitions daily for a week, 50 times on each side. This is what I learned:
I had to start lighter than expected
As with a lot of these challenges, I had to put myself aside when it came to dumbbell weight. Planks aren’t a regular part of a strength-training routine, and doing 100 repetitions of anything is a lot, especially if you’re new to the move. I realized on the first day that I was swinging my torso back and forth as I moved, and chose to lower the weight to make sure I was moving slowly and with control. In doing so, I immediately felt like I could engage my torso, keeping my torso more stable.
When it comes to choosing the right weight to use during your workout, it’s important to start light and increase. Although the dumbbells should be hard, they should never affect your posture, as this can lead to injury.
I felt movement in my muscles and lower back
I have sciatica, after a riding accident as a teen, and often have to pay attention to my lower back during certain exercises. This was one of them. By the third day of doing 100 planks a day, I could really feel the movement in my glutes and lower back, so I asked a personal trainer to look at my form.
After 700 reps, I definitely felt the benefits of this move. While I’m not quite ready to pull out the flannel shirt and axe, I will definitely be adding this abdominal exercise to my abdominal routine.
She said I was arching my back a bit during the chopping motion, so she suggested doing exercises with a lighter weight to really perfect the form. I spent day three doing my planks in front of a mirror at the gym, focusing on sucking my belly button into my spine throughout the movement.
I enjoyed the difference
On day 4 of this challenge, I finally felt like I was learning these planks, so I decided to mix things up and use the cable machine at the gym. It felt a little easier – probably because I wasn’t worried about my grip on the dumbbell loosening as I held it above my head.
On the fifth day, I switched to a kneeling log, and was put into a lunge as I moved—again, this felt a little easier and allowed me to lift the weight of the dumbbells. The slower you move, the harder this exercise is, so I often choose to do five sets of 10 reps on each side to reset in rest periods and stop myself from rushing.
It is definitely one I will use in the future
After 700 reps, I definitely felt the benefits of this move—I felt like I worked hard, and while I’m not quite ready to pull out the flannel shirt and axe, I’ll definitely add this exercise to my eternal routine in the future. I enjoyed the variety and the challenge, and this reminded me that sometimes practice makes a difference.
Of course, I didn’t notice any noticeable changes within a week (visible abs are a product of Low percentage of body fat — here’s how to count your muscles), but I felt like I switched abs, hips, and buttocks in this move.
Looking for more ab workout inspiration? Read what happened when our fitness writer did sit-ups every day for a week, check out the best sit-ups, and the best 10-minute sit-ups. We also found this abs workout with 30 million views.
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