Over the past thousands of years, farmers were some of the fittest individuals in society. They would have to walk miles a day, attend to their herds and crops without machinery, and carry heavy objects all day long. According to one study, "male farmers 7,300 years ago had legs of cross-country runners" and "could outrun and outlift today's top athletes." However, just 3,000 years later, farmers have legs comparable to "sedentary students." So what happened to the current state of farmers around the world? A huge impact has been the increasing use of gas-powered vehicles and machinery on farms to do daily chores. In other words, "they are covering less distance on foot and carrying out lighter physical tasks." This usage has led to farmers doing a lot less physical exertion than their ancestors did on farms, resulting in a "reduction in strength of the lower limb bones."
At Fat Mountain Farms, we want to be how our ancestors were and bring back fitness and farming. Our team are already large advocates for staying physically fit; we all exercise daily and come from athletic backgrounds. We decided to combine our chores and love for exercise to create 'The Fat Mountain Farms Fitness Test.'
The test is simple: complete all morning farm chores without any use of equipment or machinery. In summary, it involves moving the chicken coop, carrying the water, moving the sheep shade, moving electric fence, and a whole lot of running (one time with a 50lbs bag of feed).
We hope to create more farm tests over time, which will hopefully improve the image of how farmers are and make them the elite athletes they once were.
To see the video of the workout, click the link below:
instagram.com/fatmountainfarms
References:
dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech