Your great-great grandmother strength trained daily. Her household responsibilities included carrying wood into the home to keep the fires warm, gathering water from the spring or well in buckets, milking cows, and possibly moving feed to tend to the animals.

In the home, cooking was demanding from kneading dough, moving cast iron pots and pans, to stoking the fire and cleaning. The laundry was a tremendous exercise of arm strength with the scrubbing boards and lye soap cleanings, and hanging the laundry and beating rugs was no small feat. Scrubbing floors and any number of chores without the use of modern day electricity required strength. Walking and horseback riding were the modes of transportation.

Studies and scientific evidence were unnecessary for great great grandma to stay fit. Her family's survival depended upon her strength. Our ancestors lived a physical lifestyle using their muscles in day-to-day activities. Because of technology and modern day conveniences, a healthy lifestyle, today, requires artificial stimulation through "current strength training methods." We know what is good for the body, yet as a nation, we are more unhealthy than ever before. Even though our lifespans are increasing, preventative measures to deal with lifestyle choices are ignored by a large portion of the population. What's happening?

Read the rest of this entry at Go Workout Mom...