All in a Day’s Work

Do you think the Austrian Oak (Arnold the Terminator to the rest of the world) got his body building start pushing stubborn sheep and goats around in his homeland of Austria? Maybe not, but there are a lot of homegrown musclemen right here on local farms.

I wasn’t surprised to read about the Clark County farmer that blew away the competition at the National Strongman Competition held last week. To read the blurb for yourself, visit Wisconsin Ag Connection web site at

http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=1266&yr=2006

In winning the overall title, Carl Frommel had to press a 300 pound log, drag a loaded truck more than 80 feet and carry other assorted weights. What’s funny is that Frommel probably spent a lot less time training for the event than the other 60 competitors. The farm holds a virtual plethora of muscle-building activities 24:7. Here’s a sampling of the daily regimen that your average farmer encounters every day:

The Bovine Squat – for those still milking in stanchion barns, you probably have thighs as big as Olympic speed-skaters from the repetitive motion of putting on and taking off milk machines. Some fussy cows will enhance your workout by kicking them off a few extra times.

The Sheep Scramble – will test the dexterity of even the most nimble of farmers when trying to upend the sure-footed creatures for a shearing.

The Harvestore Crawl – excellent cardio-workout, especially when the blower pipe clogs up and several trips up and down the ladder are needed.

The Hernia Maker – when the hitch on the chopper is eight inches from the self-unloading wagon and you choose to make up the difference with a little elbow grease rather than jump back into the tractor and try again.

The Resistance Training – the act of pulling, pushing, and (at times) towing a stubborn animal into any place she refuses to be.