Burly.

Built.

Broad.

Bearded (?).

These descriptors probably paint a particular picture in your head.

Perhaps, one of a grizzly faced man driving out to the middle of a forest at the break of dawn. Wearing warm thermos and holding a freshly brewed mug of coffee. Ax sitting in the back seat of his beat-up pickup.

He pulls up to his worksite surrounded by what appear to be mammoth’s legs with leaves on them. Undaunted by their enormity, he grabs his worn down axe and swings away at a 3,000 year-old monster of a tree, his plaid shirt nearly busting at the seams with each repetition.

Chunks of wood fly off the handle of the axe as the now pumped lad persistently pummels the pine.  

Heck of an image right?

I know it’s just a word picture but we can admit it’s not hard to be intimidated by our fictional character’s manliness. But what makes this man so, well, manly?

Simple. It’s the same thing that makes all men manly >>> Testosterone.

But this guy probably has more of it in the bank than most. Why?

Well, it’s not the black coffee. It’s not the plaid shirt. It’s not the pickup truck.

It’s his workout: Chopping wood.

That’s right. Chopping wood increases testosterone. A lot.

In fact, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara have found that chopping wood significantly increases testosterone levels, even more so than competitive activities.

These analysts conducted their study in the Bolivian Amazon, comparing testosterone levels in men who had played soccer for an hour to men who had chopped trees for an hour…

The results were staggering.

They found that men who chopped trees for an hour spiked their testosterone levels by 48 percent while those who played soccer only increased their testosterone levels by 30 percent.

Based on those numbers, to say that chopping wood increases testosterone is simply an understatement.

Chopping wood skyrockets testosterone production in your body…

And as with any other physical activity, testosterone production doesn’t simply stop once you’ve stopped working out. It continues for days later…

After a day of lumberjack work, you’ll be getting manlier all day and all night in the week ahead.

Also, consider a hidden factor of chopping wood and higher testosterone.

Have you ever chopped down trees before?

I can tell you, it’s impossible to not feel manly when you’re chopping down trees.

There’s something about swinging an ax that has alpha male written all over it. Naturally, this alpha male complex makes you feel more confident. 

As you see, chopping wood will take your testosterone to new heights, like greater heights than the tree you just chopped down.

“But what if I don’t have a place to chop wood? What if I live in the city?”

Well, the good news is that you don’t have to become the hermit of the Redwood Forest or go out to an abandoned parking lot and try to plant apple trees…

You can have an equally effective wood-chopping workout at your local gym.

Don’t know how to replicate a wood chopping workout? Don’t stress. We’ve got you covered. Here’s the ultimate gym wood chopping workout that we’ve prepared just for you:

Standing Cable Wood Chop (high to low)

To perform the standing cable wood chop exercise, you’ll need to connect a standard handle to a pulley tower. Move the cable to the top position of the pulley tower…

Standing with your side to the tower, grab the handle and then take a step to the side…

Pro Tip: You want to step far enough away from the tower so that you maintain tension on the cable throughout the movement.

In a single motion, rotate your torso while pulling the handle down and across your body.

You want to pull the weight towards the knee that is farthest from the pulley tower.

Keep your arms straight and your core tight while performing the exercise. Bend your knees in order to get the full range of motion.

After you’ve pulled the cable in a wood chopping motion, slowly return to the starting position.Repeat this until failure and then, switch sides…

Standing Cable Wood Chop (low to high)

This exercise is similar to the last one, except you’ll set the cable at the bottom of the pulley tower to start. Again, standing with your side to the tower, grab the handle and take a step to the side.

Step far enough away from the tower so that you maintain tension on the cable throughout the movement.

Begin this exercise with your knees bent.

In a single motion, rotate your torso while pulling upward and across your body.

Pull the weight past the shoulder that is furthest away from the pulley tower. As you pull and twist, straighten your legs. Keep your arms straight and your core tight while performing the exercise.

After you’ve pulled the cable in a wood chopping motion, slowly return to the starting position. Repeat this until failure and then, switch sides.

This testosterone boosting, wood chopping exercise is easily reproducible with other types of weights…

That means you don’t have to worry about the guy in the gym who’s somehow using all of the cables in the pulley tower at once.

If you don’t have access to the pulley tower, replace the pulleys with a dumbbell or medicine ball.

Or, you can find a keg and put it to good use like this guy…

Remember, the importance of this testosterone boosting workout is the motion of the exercise, not the means of the exercise.

Chop “wood” by whatever means are available to you and your testosterone will reach new heights.   

This chopping wood testosterone secret is sure to get you the brawn you’ve been looking for. Before you know it, you’ll look and feel like the grizzliest man in the gym and you’ll have a testosterone high that’ll last for days.

Make this routine a priority in your week.

Perhaps you’ll even consider letting your beard grow out a bit, you know, just to show off your superior t-count.

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