How many of you have heard this from your doctor? I had one doc who always gave me black marks on my chart b/c I did not engage in a formal exercise program. I explained to her that when I was at work, my job was physically demanding. And at home, I was engaged in all manner of what I called "functional exercise". My functional exercise includes building stone walls, planting an orchard, lugging buckets full of water and wet feed, shoveling, digging, removing boulders, building various "stuff". Yet, she insisted that a formal exercise program was the "be all and end all" of physical fitness. Yeah, I have a few more pounds on my frame than I should. I've been loosing the same 10# for the past 10 years! But, that is caused by too much elbow and wrist flexion (bringing tasty morsels to the mouth) rather than not getting enough exercise. So, in the name of physical fitness without doing mindless repetitive exercise, I've compiled a functional exercise program:
Weight lifting: building stone walls, digging stones out of the ground, building Hugelkulture mound, cutting, splitting and stacking fire wood, hauling firewood up stairs. The F&G (farmer and gardener) yoga poses: There is the Stand on one foot pole lean while reaching in all planes (otherwise known as picking pole beans), Followed by the dance step when you over-reach your center of gravity, causing COG to shift precariously towards the ground. The tip toe alternating single leg stance combined with Full circle rainbow arc of the contralateral leg to clear electronet fencing. Extra points for doing so with a bucket of water or FF in one hand or catching your heel in the electronet, causing you to become hopelessly tangled and loose your balance. But, if this maneuver is undertaken, it counts as a balance work out and upper body strengthening (because your arms are going through rapid gyrations as you try to regain your equilibrium. Multiple back kicks to get doors closed to keep chickens from escaping. Then there's the Full squat forward creep without using hands, to scrunch into tight places without getting your hands, or clean clothes dirty while fending off testy broodies with a black spoon. Extra points if you don't loose your balance and fall forward onto knees or backwards onto your butt. This activity should always be followed by the Stork: a single leg stance quad stretch, as you stretch the quad to get an over the shoulder view of the bottom of your sandals, and use the hose to dislodge the chicken poo from the tread of your sandals. Extra points awarded if you don't end up spraying yourself in the face, or dislodging the poo to splash on your "I'm leaving home, and want to do so while not smelling like chicken poop" clothes. Then, there's the upper body work out, a daily exercise program involving full length arm swings (to ward off the deer flies) and random single stroke tapotement (to kill mosquitoes).
Next time I go to the Dr. office, I'll hand her a copy of my exercise program.
Weight lifting: building stone walls, digging stones out of the ground, building Hugelkulture mound, cutting, splitting and stacking fire wood, hauling firewood up stairs. The F&G (farmer and gardener) yoga poses: There is the Stand on one foot pole lean while reaching in all planes (otherwise known as picking pole beans), Followed by the dance step when you over-reach your center of gravity, causing COG to shift precariously towards the ground. The tip toe alternating single leg stance combined with Full circle rainbow arc of the contralateral leg to clear electronet fencing. Extra points for doing so with a bucket of water or FF in one hand or catching your heel in the electronet, causing you to become hopelessly tangled and loose your balance. But, if this maneuver is undertaken, it counts as a balance work out and upper body strengthening (because your arms are going through rapid gyrations as you try to regain your equilibrium. Multiple back kicks to get doors closed to keep chickens from escaping. Then there's the Full squat forward creep without using hands, to scrunch into tight places without getting your hands, or clean clothes dirty while fending off testy broodies with a black spoon. Extra points if you don't loose your balance and fall forward onto knees or backwards onto your butt. This activity should always be followed by the Stork: a single leg stance quad stretch, as you stretch the quad to get an over the shoulder view of the bottom of your sandals, and use the hose to dislodge the chicken poo from the tread of your sandals. Extra points awarded if you don't end up spraying yourself in the face, or dislodging the poo to splash on your "I'm leaving home, and want to do so while not smelling like chicken poop" clothes. Then, there's the upper body work out, a daily exercise program involving full length arm swings (to ward off the deer flies) and random single stroke tapotement (to kill mosquitoes).
Next time I go to the Dr. office, I'll hand her a copy of my exercise program.
Last edited:
Great one LG!
