One on hand, living in rural areas can make it harder to get in a good workout. Driving to the small town gym can be a 20 min drive each way, if you are lucky. On some reservations, it’s a several hours roundtrip just to get to a Walmart.

On the other hand, if you are working out in the yard, moving wood, lifting, hauling and stacking stuff – just basically keeping up a rural property, a day of really hard outside work can offer so much more than cross-fit ever can.

But often, in the dead of winter, you probably aren’t driving into town OR working outside. So home gyms, workout rooms, covered porches, etc. need to be maximized to help us keep it going.

Over the last year, I’ve converted our shop into fitness center but the concrete floors still left much to be desired – until yesterday when I “discovered” something that IS available in most rural areas: HORSE STALL MATs. Available in 4×6 feet black rubber sheets, 3/4 inch thick. Get them at Tractor Supply, Atwood’s, or your local farm store. Brilliant. Looks like Gold’s Gym, but at home. Drop a weight plate, or scoot metal equipment and you won’t crack/scratch your concrete. More importantly, throw a yoga mat down and you can actually do planks or other floor work without tearing up your knees and elbows or freezing. Makes it sooooo much more inviting out there.

And after unloading and scooting all 8 of them around the garage floor, until they were in the perfect spot, I’m feeling that “good sore” this morning.

FYI, when I said that I converted our “shop” to a fitness center – here’s an okie translation: A shop is just a garage or a storage building. You don’t need to be skilled in welding, or be an electrician, wood worker or mechanic to have a “shop.” It’s a place to hang out. Sit and stare at a wood stove. It probably has a used refrigerator in there. And if you are lucky, it has plumbing for a sink, toilet, shower, etc. People are always cleaning out their shop, or just doing something out in the shop. Hiding in their shop. Might as well get some cardio and lift some weights out in your shop, too.