According to author and NPR correspondent Mickalene Doucleff, the exercise habit is a strangely regional phenomenon. Esther NgumbiFor example, the entomologist, who grew up in rural Kenya, says movement and “exercise” are simply a necessary part of life, from fetching water to home farming.
“Every day, we do something from dawn to dusk… We had to carry buckets of water from the river.” “It’s a very difficult situation,” Ngumbi told NPR’s Doucleff.She added that she’s essentially “lifting weights” without actually going to the gym.
Inspired by the purposeful framework of functional fitness, Doucleff began incorporating unconventional exercise habits into her life: “15 chicks, two chicken coops, and a book on how to raise chickens in your backyard.”
If you struggle with habits and workout routines, “chicken sizing” might be the exercise trend for you.
Common alternatives to the gym include daily walks, dancing at a club or keeping a pet, but Doucleff instead opted to keep chickens in his backyard to recreate the routine Ngumbi remembered from her childhood.
Caterina Trimarchi | Shutterstock
In modern facilities, it’s essentially impossible to replicate Ngumbi’s functional routine, especially given the infrastructure of many of our nation’s cities. But building her own exercise ritual was easy.
Her family loved eggs, animals, and learning, so they decided to try keeping chickens themselves.
“I’ll be honest, sizing up chickens is harder than I thought it would be,” she admitted. “Much harder. Caring for flightless birds really tones your core and thighs, as it requires bending, squatting and carrying heavy loads around the yard.”
In the end, raising my own flock of chickens was more fulfilling than simply exercising every day. Not only did I produce more eggs (and I did a lot), but I also experienced a sense of responsibility and camaraderie that other exercise routines don’t provide.
Chicken Sizing eliminates the “reward and punishment mentality” of traditional exercise routines and instead focuses on a “goal-driven” routine.
Just like having a dog or any other pet, her chickens relied on her compassion and attention every day, without fail.
“Failure is not an option,” she writes. “There’s no excuse not to train. You can’t just put on a chicken-sized outfit, sit down for 30 minutes, and decide, ‘Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow.’ These women are counting on you.”
Of course, this kind of accountability doesn’t have the same negative vibes as the punishment-centric training routines that thousands of people across the country rely on.
Moving your body may feel like a burden, a punishment against the rewards that come with self-satisfaction, a “positive” body image, and toned thighs, but as Doucleff and Ngumbi show, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Choosing something that better suits your lifestyle (whether that’s a chicken coop or something completely different) will not only make your routine easier to stick to, but it’ll actually make it something to look forward to.
While “chicken sizing” was born from one person’s vision for everyday life, the trend can be applied in a variety of ways depending on your lifestyle.
“Measuring the size of my chickens might be a great thing because it gives me purpose, but I don’t really need to do it,” Doucleff acknowledged. “If I forget to close the cage one night and a skunk comes along and decapitates the chicken, my family will still eat it.”
She acknowledged that for many people, daily physical activity is a habit that is purely out of necessity, not a choice they make to be healthier or improve their mindset: “In other words, chicken size may be a good compromise between moving all day to earn a living and moving only because your body is sitting all day.”
IRA_EVVA | Shutterstock
Going to the gym can be fun in many ways – relaxing outdoors, motivating accountability, and just moving your body without any time or frequency commitments – but it’s also just something you do. You don’t have to be motivated to go to the gym – it’s simply your lifestyle.
Think about what’s most meaningful in your life: Maybe it’s planting a garden that you care for, raising healthy animals, or, like Doucléf, developing the habit of “chicken sizing.”
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango, specializing in health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.
