How much wood can a woodchuck chuck?

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

November is a rogue month, a ronin with no master. It lies somewhere in the balance between the days that follow the fallen leaves and those that precede any serious flights of snow. But that doesn't mean that November escapes categorization. Indeed, this seemingly "nowhere" month resides in what many call "Mud Season."

Mud Season has always instilled in me a kind of recreational angst. With the outdoor activities of the warmer months behind me and those of the winter months yet to come, I suffer to keep myself physically fit and conditioned and worry over the impending aches and pains as I call new muscle groups into wintry action. So, every time around this year, I try to focus on activities that bridge the gap from one season to the next. Or in more athletic terms, I try to cross-train.

Now I know that cross-training may drum up images of athletes roller skiing in form-fitting, Technicolor body suits along any number of roads outside of Boulder. But my approach to cross-training paints a far more pragmatic picture, one whose lines weren't lost on Abraham Lincoln when he said "Chop your own wood--it will warm you twice."

Chopping wood is in my blood, or maybe more to the point, my blood has been in many a pile of chopped wood. As a Boy Scout, I'd regularly chop at least a cord of wood in a day. As I grew older, my friends and I would road trip to Pennsylvania for annual woodcutting parties, where we'd cut wood all weekend long, only to feed it to the Franklin all winter long. I didn't really think about it then, but I've come to realize that chopping wood is an excellent cross-training activity.

To see how chopping wood can be a great cross-training exercise, it's important to understand that our bodies are always expending energy. In fact, we expend energy even while at rest. The energy that we expend while resting is set as the base rate against which all other degrees of energy expenditure are measured. The term used to describe this rate of energy expenditure compared with other activities is called metabolic equivalent (MET).

The amount of energy a person expends while at rest is considered a single MET. A two-MET activity uses twice that much energy. According to health experts, an activity that falls between three to six METs is considered of moderate intensity and will provide measurable health benefits to those who participate in them.

Chopping wood is a five- to six-MET activity, making it on par with such activities as hiking or alpine skiing. Based on its MET rates, chopping wood for 30 minutes will burn close to 250 calories. As such, chopping wood is an excellent calorie-burning and muscle-building activity. But would-be Paul Bunyans get more than just a good caloric burn and muscle workout.

By chopping wood, we may get a psychological boost as well. By being outdoors, handling the natural elements of wood and iron, unencumbered by extraneous gear and other technologies, we get the added benefit of nourishing our spirit. Ours is an activity that functions for simpler, more practical purposes, none the least of which may be simply to stay warm during a winter's chill. Indeed, chopping wood is a meditative process for me. Each swing of the ax, my own personal woodsy mantra.

But like any exercise, chopping wood requires that you warm-up and stretch before picking up the ax. Also, stagger your wood chopping time by stacking your wood or by cutting kindling. In this way, you can alternate your grip, relax stressed muscle groups and avoid injuries brought on by repetitive motion.

In the end, perhaps all that is needed in overcoming my Mud Season angst isn't so much a dependence on cross-training activities as it is a refocusing on a healthy lifestyle. With that in mind, I've compiled a few suggestions to keep us "in training" all year through:

• Rake leaves with vigor.
• Keep a quicker pace while walking.
• Take the stairs over elevators and escalators.
• Shop for your groceries with a hand basket instead of a cart.
• Park your car in the furthest spaces of a parking lot.
• Walk or ride your bike as often as possible.

Although following these suggestions may help us to have healthier lifestyles, they're no substitute for the sound of splitting wood against a chilly November air. And that's why I'll never give up my ax.