Dumbbell Wood Chop: How to Do, Benefits & Tips

The dumbbell wood chop is an effective full-body exercise that builds rotational power and core strength.

You can easily incorporate dumbbell wood chop exercises into your abs workout routine to strengthen your core muscles.

This exercise keeps your trunk activated in a rotational movement pattern, as well as multiple abdominal and back muscles for stability. In addition, your shoulders, legs and arms provide stability and mobility.

This guide will cover the benefits of the dumbbell wood chop, proper form and technique, common mistakes to avoid, and variations to include it in your workouts.

What Is Dumbbell Wood Chop (High to Low Wood Chop)

The Dumbbell wood chop is also known as the dumbbell up-down twist, you must add these oblique workouts to your dumbbell abs workout arsenal.

This is great for strengthening the twisting movement pattern of your torso, as well as improving your torso’s ability to resist twisting forces.

The dumbbell wood chop is a compound pulling motion and a functional exercise. While it primarily targets the abdominal and obliques, it also employs the shoulders, back, and glutes.

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Muscles Worked During Wood Chop

The wood chop is a great exercise for the core. Your abs and obliques are working hard as you twist and lift, and the overall movement of the exercise means the core strength is working overtime.

• The primary muscles worked during it are: Abs, obliques and back including the erector spine
• Secondary muscle worked: serratus anterior, shoulder, legs, calf as well as the gluteus maximus and hip flexors.

How To Do Wood Chopper with Dumbbell

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold the dumbbell with both hands, with either your fingers interlaced or with one hand over the other.
3. Slightly bend your knees, brace your core, and keep your back straight.
4. Keep your arms straight and rotate the dumbbell in a diagonally downward motion until your torso rotates to the opposite side and your hands are at knee height.
5. Hold for a count of two. Then slowly reverse the movement to return to the starting position.
6. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions. Repeat the exercise on your opposite side.
7. Aim for 3–4 sets of 10–15 reps a side.

Form and Tips

• Ensure your movements are controlled, especially when lowering the dumbbell. Avoid jerky or rapid movements.
• Don’t lock the knees and hips. Allow the hips and knees to rotate slightly.
• Keep your arms straight, and shoulders locked in place.
• Exhale as you lift the dumbbell and inhale as you lower it.
• Make sure your core muscles are engaged throughout the exercise.
• Maintain a steady pace; too fast can lead to loss of form, and too slow might reduce the exercise’s effectiveness.

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Dumbbell Reverse Wood Chop

The Dumbbell reverse wood chop is also known as low to high dumbbell Wood chop. It is a variation of the wood chop and an exercise used to target the muscles of the abdominal complex.

In particular, the standing low dumbbell chop primarily works the obliques.

Use the dumbbell down-up twist to strengthen and stabilize your core, and to strengthen the rotational movement pattern of your torso.

How To Do Reverse Dumbbell Wood Chop

1. Hold the dumbbell with both hands, with either your fingers interlaced or one hand over the other.
2. Keeping your arms straight, rotate the dumbbell in a diagonally upward motion.
3. Hold for a count of two.
4. Then slowly reverse the movement to return to the starting position.
5. Repeat the exercise on your opposite side.
6. Aim for 3–4 sets of 10–15 reps a side.

Tips

• Don’t lock the knees and hips when performing dumbbell wood chops. Allow the hips and knees to rotate slightly.
• Keep your arms straight, and shoulders locked in place.
• Keep the movement under control.

Kneeling Dumbbell wood chop

The kneeling wood chop is a beginner-friendly variation of wood chop.

It is the total-body movement that uses many muscles in your body and gives you the opportunity to lift a little heavier and spike your heart rate.

This exercise is extremely versatile and can also be performed in a tall kneeling stance, a square standing stance, and a split standing stance.

How To Do Kneeling Dumbbell Wood chop

• Kneel on the floor with knees hip-distance apart, holding a dumbbell with both hands, arms extended.
• Rotate the torso to the left, bringing weight to the outside of the left thigh, keeping arms extended.
• Using your core, lift the weight diagonally across the body and above your right shoulder.
• Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

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Dumbbell Wood Chop Alternatives

The best alternative to the dumbbell wood chop exercise in one’s training routine is a similar oblique isolation exercise that makes allowances for the needs of the exerciser and their training routine.

1. Standing Barbell Twist

The standing barbell twist focuses on your obliques. Use the barbell twist to strengthen the twisting movement pattern of your body. It is one of the best alternatives to a wood chopper.

It is a great idea to stop halfway through some reps and attempt to resist the twisting force.

2. Side Plank Dips

The Side plank with hip dips is a brilliant bodyweight exercise that helps you to develop the strength and stability of your core.

It works your obliques and trims your waistline, and by adding the extra dip, you will be improving your muscle control and posture.

3. Cable Wood Chop

The cable wood chop is an exercise that uses a cable machine to simulate a wood chopping action, building strength and power in the core and obliques

Cable chop exercises will challenge your entire core, which is important in helping you lift more weight in your workout, as well as function better in everyday life.

FAQs

What muscles do dumbbell wood chop work?

The primary muscles worked during dumbbell wood chops are the obliques, abs, and back, including the erector spinae and the transverse abdominus.

In addition, this exercise also uses the serratus anterior, deltoids, legs, and calf as well as the gluteus maximus and hip flexors.

Are dumbbell wood choppers effective?

Yes, the wood chop is a great functional core exercise.  Many training programs use the wood chop exercise to strengthen the side-flexion of the torso and improve overall abs appearance.

Takeaways

The wood chop is an excellent core exercise to add to your training program. Try this functional exercise and reap the benefits of all your daily activities.

References

• Gottschall JS, Mills J, Hastings B. Integration core exercises elicit greater muscle activation than isolation exercises. J Strength Cond Res. 2013 Mar;27(3):590-6. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31825c2cc7. PMID: 22580983.

Manish Kumar

Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.

Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.