Me man, me chop wood

I chopped some trees down yesterday around the doll house. 

It's something I've been looking forward to doing for a while.

Maintaining the land, chopping wood for the fire etc. 

I love manual labour. 

Having been a personal training for 12 years carrying weights around all day, to suddenly stop will likely make my fitness drop significantly if I'm not careful. 

It was a mixed start, 

The (attempted) manly shirtless start resulted 3 mosquito bites in 5 minutes. 

Shirt back on. 

Then the girls started to help. 

Addressing me as Mr Lumberjack, 

Ego restored. 

In a recent study on men of all ages chopping down trees boosted testosterone by 48% compared to footballs boost of just 30%. 

Our bodies respond to not just the demands placed on it but the needs too. 

High testosterone is associated with increase in muscle mass, improved memory and concentration, high energy levels, and a boost in libido. 

Which is to say low testosterone results in reduced muscle mass, decreased memory, lower concentration, lower energy levels and loss of libido. 

It frightens me that I could swap the first line of that paragraph for 'In the last 10 years of a mans life he experiences'... 

and it not be untrue. 

The truth is that just exercising a few hours per week is not enough. We just haven't evolved to be that sedentary. We talk about things like testosterone levels as if we can take or leave them. 

In truth, 
if they are low, 
you are not in good health. 

So if you need me.

I'll be chopping wood. 

Ed Ley