Homestead-Fitness-1Eating healthfully with whole foods, properly raised and prepared, is very important. However, there’s another side of the coin: it’s also very important to stay healthy through activity and fitness.

Why? First, we are aging and we need to keep up with our homestead’s work load. Second, in the case of an emergency, we need to fend for ourselves, confront challenging situations, and sustain a high level of endurance despite possible injuries.

I and my family don’t require a gym to stay fit. We live in a very remote location with a long walk ahead of us if our truck were to break down. We’ve been snowed in for eight and a half weeks before — one of our biggest struggles was the ten-mile round-trip hike to the mailbox to pay the bills! It was an invigorating and adventurous experience and made me think: the original homesteaders’ greatest skill was in their improvisation, adaptability, and ability to overcome difficult situations.

Staying Fit on the Homestead | Eating healthfully is very important. However, there's another side of the coin: it's also very important to stay healthy through activity and fitness. We are aging and we need to keep up with our homestead's work load. Also, in the case of an emergency, we may need to fend for ourselves, confront challenging situations, and sustain a high level of endurance. Here's how my family and I stay fit on the homestead — no gym required.

Every day, at least a few chores provide ample manual labor. And we always enjoy it, whether it’s pulling weeds in the garden, chopping firewood, or hauling a hay bale out to the goats. Anything that keeps us outside in the fresh air gets a thumbs up from me! (Plus, we get to invest our time and love into projects that later we can survey with pride and joy.)

When we hike to the post office, we carry our pack frames on our back. Sometimes they’re empty, but often my son will carry back 25 pounds, and I’ll take 45 pounds. We get an all-body workout, but it isn’t exhausting because our day-to-day life prepares us for challenges like these. We make it our business to prepare for the unexpected.

So today, I’m sharing more over at GNOWFGLINS.

VISIT GNOWFGLINS TO READ MORE.

Below please share – What’s your favorite form of homestead exercise?

Paid Endorsement Disclosure: In order for me to support my time spent blogging and educating, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.