Chores are homesteading workouts!
Homesteading chores are the mundane things we do every day to keep the homestead going! Feeding, fixing, hauling, cleaning, and all the other things we do to keep the operation of the homestead in tip top shape. I used to loath them, but now I love them…sort of!
With my current fitness leaving a little to be desired, I found a new blessing in performing the chores. Since I’m a little out of shape, they are great workouts in disguise. Today I purposefully went down and split firewood for a half hour to get my heart rate up, and get a good core burn. It’s was a great workout, and I even tracked it on my Garmin to get credit for it! It was a wonderful core workout, and I got the chore complete! I now have a couple more days of firewood to keep us warm, and my back, arms, and core are a little sore!
Now I think I should mention, it is not an entirely safe workout, and you should treat it as such! I did make sure my axe was sharp so it worked better, and that I was wearing gloves, eye protection, and proper clothes. I should also say that as I got tired, I noticed my technique changed and got kind of sloppy. So know your limits! I did stop at that point and dragged my youngest down to help. Luckily I chose a new lighter axe rather than a maul or heavy wedge axe. I chose the Fiskars X27 Super Splitting Axe in the 36-inch length. I chose this new axe so that my son could swing it quite easily also. Knowing he was green with logger techniques, we went over safety and proper axe procedure. A short time later he was able to split some logs. He loved it and wants to continue to help, although only with my supervision for a while!
I can now see all the daily chores as workout gifts in my road back to fighting shape! With a little ingenuity, I should be able to make most of the work around the homestead into great workouts!
What chores do you do that can be homesteading workouts?
