Core · Bodyweight
Woodchop Diagonal Pick and Carry
How to do the woodchop diagonal pick and carry, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Rotation
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and clasp your hands together. Squat down and reach toward the floor outside one foot, then drive up and across your body, finishing with your hands above the opposite shoulder. Lower under control and repeat before switching sides.
- 1Obliques driving the rotation across your body
- 2Legs and glutes powering the stand-up
- 3Core bracing as you chop from low to high
Common mistakes
- Do not let your lower back round at the bottom
- Avoid pulling with your arms instead of rotating your trunk
- Do not twist your knees; let the hips and torso turn
Muscles worked
The woodchop diagonal pick and carry mainly works the obliques and lower abs, with the upper abs, quads, glutes, lats, lower back, hamstrings, and front delts assisting.
- ObliquesPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- Upper AbsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- GlutesSupport
- LatsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Upper TrapsMinor
- Mid TrapsMinor
- Lower TrapsMinor
- CalvesMinor
- Side DeltsMinor
- Rear DeltsMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the woodchop diagonal pick and carry for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More abs & core exercises
- How to do the ab wheel rollout
- How to do the ankle tap plank
- How to do the ankle taps
- How to do the resistance band dead bugs
- How to do the resistance band pallof press
- How to do the rollout
Last reviewed June 2026.