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I'm generally in great health but have a persistent niggle in my lateral muscle on one side. Nothing serious it's just easy to pull it.

I've started doing a lot of log splitting with an axe but this favours one side and I'd rather avoid that. Is there an axe technique which is symmetrical, or a way to avoid one shoulder getting ready more muscled than the other?

Mr. Boy
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  • You need to try, slowly, being ambi dextrous. Slow movement mimicking the movements you know how to do without thinking on your favored side. Lie on your abdomen nose to floor, stretch out your left arm and lift atst stretching out (reaching lengthening you lift) your right leg. Shoulders down from your ears. Breathe out as you lift blowing the air out with your abdominals and diaphragm. Open your nostrils and allow your lungs to refill passively. Shoulders down away from your ears. Switch to right arm, left leg. Do a bit more work on your weak side. Do not over do! Start with 3 reps. – stormy Dec 02 '18 at 05:05
  • If you are chopping wood everyday you will get in trouble. Chop wood every other day! The muscles need 24 to 48 hours to REBUILD. Too much breaking down, the muscles start protesting! Especially the spine muscles. They will start spasming in order to get you to stop and give them, the muscles time to heal. Without that time your muscles you've worked out are not able to heal and get stronger. They start whining to get you to slow down! Also, push up while prone on the floor to stretch the anterior ligament of your spine. Keep hips glued to the floor. Breathe. Shoulders down. Easy... – stormy Dec 02 '18 at 05:11
  • Omg, stormy, I think these are the most interesting bits of info I have read on this site. Please consider making them an answer. I'd upvote with two hands if I could. – Alina Dec 02 '18 at 08:23
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not about gardening it is about how to exercise properly – kevinskio Dec 02 '18 at 15:47
  • No, it's about how to use a tool safely and effectively. If I was asking about a shovel or chainsaw surely that would be ok – Mr. Boy Dec 02 '18 at 16:31
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    The axe is intended to be a lightweight cross-grain tool. It is kept sharp and there can be a tendency to use one shoulder to throw the axe head at the log. Log splitting is a with-the-grain operation and calls for a tool called a 'maul' or 'malle'. It is basically a heavy weight with a dull edge. We raise the weight high and bring it down vertically using both sides of the body equally. While your muscle status is fragile choose only easy logs, saving the knotty problems for when you have readjusted. – Colin Beckingham Dec 03 '18 at 06:30
  • A _chopping_ axe is a light-weight tool which should be kept very sharp. A _splitting_ axe is heavier (say 2.5kg or 5lb) and does not need to be very sharp, it is useless for chopping. A _maul_ is essentially a light sledgehammer with a tapered end. There is some overlap especially between US/UK descriptions – Mr. Boy Dec 06 '18 at 12:50

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