Leave it to Chris Hemsworth to break the Internet. Many a celebrity has posted a thirst trap or mirror selfie to the ‘gram before, but few can attest to making headlines simply due to video footage of their workout routine. Of course, not everyone can boast the super-human strength and perpetually ripped physique as a Mr Chris Hemsworth, who seems to be perpetually in the kind of shape you’d expect of an A-list celebrity taking up a coveted superhero role.
Hemsworth’s passion for wellness and gruelling workouts has long been documented. It’s a passion that led to the founding of his fitness app, Centr, which brings together some of the best trainers around the world, each of them skilled in a particular discipline, all striving to give you the best routines, recipes and mental health practices to see you become the best version of yourself. For Hemsworth, it’s also led to him sharing his workout routine with followers via Instagram, and in the past he’s been shown to favour bodyweight exercises, outdoor workouts, boxing drills, and even sled pulls.
Now, it appears Hemsworth has added yet another activity to his already captivating fitness routine: chopping wood. In a recent video, Hemsworth’s trainer Luke Zocchi challenges the star to put his strength “to good use” by cutting up some firewood. “If at first you don’t succeed, try try try try again and again,” Hemsworth captioned the post.
In the video, the actor is shown taking swing after swing at the same block of wood with an axe before finally cutting it in half. And with those bulging biceps and incredible strength, it’s clear that chopping wood is not for the faint of heart. It might seem like an off-hand activity when it comes to fitness, but chopping wood also has a number of benefits for the body. The rotational workout targets the abs and obliques, reminding the body it’s designed to twist and turn in different directions.
According to Men’s Health US fitness editor Brett Williams, chopping wood is a functional workout that many would do well to add to their routine (should you have wood available, that is). “It’s not just a great workout that hones my rotational power – it’s also a meditative task that allows me to chart my progress in real time as a bunch of stumps and limbs become a neatly stacked pile of firewood. Anytime you can mix your workout into your daily tasks, I call that a win,” Williams explains.
It’s no surprise that wood chopping is a sport in its own right, with a number of lumberjack athletes training throughout the year to become the best in the sport. As one athlete, Matt Cogar, told Men’s Health US, “You have to have a little bit of that natural strength, absolutely, but you can only do so much naturally. I use a workout routine to build myself up and be a little more athletic…What you do in conjunction with your typical training is what makes a difference. It’s 50 per cent training with all the disciplines, 50 per cent work in the gym.”
For those interested in giving it a go, consider adding other exercises to complement your strength and stature for chopping, such as squats to build power in the lower body, planks for core strength, and cable rotational chops for the swing. The tire sledgehammer workout also serves as a great exercise to add to the rotation, in which you use a weighted sledgehammer to lunge back, squat, and hit a giant tire repeatedly.
