Welcome back! I’m sure you are wondering about my title for this post. Yes, it truly is about fitness. You are probably wondering how you can get into great physical shape by woodworking. Well, even I’m not crazy enough to make those kind of claims. From my own experience, I have noticed that traditional woodworking can improve your overall health. I’m in pretty good shape. I work out several times a week. I don’t get a lot of cardio workouts, but I do walk to work most days.
Over a month’s time, I had my blood pressure measured before and after a series of tests. The test consisted of me using a hand saw to cut pieces off of a 2 by 4. I performed five cuts with each arm. While cutting the wood, I tried to cut as fast as I could while trying to keep a straight cut. I even had a stop watch to time myself. I know, kind of goofy, but I’m weird like that. I was having fun experimenting!
My blood pressure started at 106/66 before the first test, and 128/64 after the test. By the end of the month, my blood pressure had dropped to 101/52 (before the test) and 101/62 (after the test). Now, I only performed this test three times a week for a month. Granted, it’s not a lot of data to go by, but it does prove there is a good possibility that cutting wood, with a hand saw, could be a decent cardio workout. Not only that, but the first couple of days my left arm was a little bit sore. So were my abs! I’m predominately left-handed, but usually cut wood with my right hand. When performed correctly and at the proper height, you can get a really good workout. You work your forearms, upper arms, shoulders, chest, upper back, lats, and your abs.
Since I was timing myself during these tests, I noticed that the time it took me to cut off a piece of 2 by 4 had improved by three to four seconds, on average. Since I didn’t sharpen my saw during this time, I can only surmise that the increase in speed was due to an increase in strength. I should also add that I discontinued my regular workouts during this time frame. Again, I don’t think that I have enough data to verify my hypothesis, but it does make you wonder.
Personally, I prefer good old fashioned hand tools over power tools. I think I need to go out and collect some more data on this subject. Happy workouts!
So You Think Yer a Woodworker? 