Why Fitness Is Central To Homestead Life

Countryside living may be a dream for a lot of Americans, but once it becomes a reality, the dream suddenly comes at a high cost. Indeed, there’s a lot more to it than cute cottage backgrounds and being close to nature. The homestead lifestyle can be highly rewarding, but you need to be willing to put effort into it to make it work. 

This means that you shouldn’t embrace a rural lifestyle without fully understanding what it requires and the level of sacrifice it also takes. For instance, if you are someone who loves the convenience of urban life and 24/7 shops, moving to the countryside means losing access to convenient solutions. 

Besides, if you are in the process of considering looking for the perfect home to leave the city behind, you want to make sure you are prepared for it. 

You will need to find some DIY training to learn to fix everything that may go wrong on a rural property.

Something else you want to secure while you still live in a city is a gym membership, such as a facility like Fitness 19. What do you need to train for? As it happens, the homestead life requires stamina and strength, so it’s best to start working toward those goals early so you are ready when the time to relocate comes. 

Why is fitness training necessary for those who want to move to a rural area? 

You need to work with heavy equipment

You may enjoy the idea of having your own cows so you have access to fresh milk every day, but you won’t be carrying milk bottles around. You will be carrying milk cans. 

Now, how much does a milk can weigh? They can hold up to 10 gallons of milk. To give you a brief idea, 10 gallons of milk weigh around 80 pounds, on top of which you need to add 8 pounds for the weight of the can, too. 

Additionally, if you choose to run a milk farm, you will be lifting not just one can, but dozens or more milk cans a day. Without strength training, you have no hope of managing a full week without causing yourself a serious injury. 

You need to do tough jobs

Even if you are moving into a full farming career, looking after your property will require a lot of work. A remote home usually comes with a vast outdoor space, which requires regular clearing if you don’t want overgrowth to take over your property. 

Clearing the garden may seem easy in a suburban home, but the homestead equivalent consists of anything between 2 and 40 acres. Clearing this space requires a lot of stamina. When you are splitting up areas into coop space or fields and keeping these free of debris, you’ll spend hours working outdoors. 

Without proper training, you are unlikely to be able to prepare your homestead space safely. Unfortunately, you can’t afford to skip preparation if you want to grow your own food. 

A homestead life keeps you active because you’re constantly working and lifting. While it’s the kind of lifestyle that keeps you fit, you shouldn’t approach these challenges without ensuring you’ve reached a sufficient fitness level in the first place.


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Barb Webb. Founder and Editor of Rural Mom, is an the author of "Getting Laid" and "Getting Baked". A sustainable living expert nesting in Appalachian Kentucky, when she’s not chasing chickens around the farm or engaging in mock Jedi battles, she’s making tea and writing about country living and artisan culture.
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