THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

It’s not farm labour

It’s not farm labour

Scientists have determined that farmers and gym rats come from two different planets that aren’t even in the same solar system, but an advertisement video that’s gone viral somehow blends the species.

It’s called “Fit and Farm” and promotes the Khon Gla Kheun Tin project (The Brave Ones Return Home). It has a personal trainer coaching two other guys on basic agricultural skills – digging up dirt, watering plants and sawing wood – using the same kind of movements common to weightlifting and cardiopulmonary workouts.
And that’s actually a professional trainer, Krissada “Por” Sriphurichanya, putting the blokes through their paces.
Posted on YouTube on October 8, the video has thus far scored more than 800,000 views and 15,000 shares. 
Khon Gla Kheun Tin urges fresh university graduates and other young people who’ve left their rural hometowns to study or work in the cities to come back and rediscover their roots, as it were. It says sustainable farming is a fine and noble way to support their families. 
Backed by a network of 20-odd organisations, the project aims to repair a perceived structural weakness among rural communities through workshops on farm planning and organic farming.
“The idea is to encourage everybody, even people in the cities, to produce their own food so they can be self-reliant,” says Phairat Uaphadunglert, a co-founder of Choojai Ka Kalayanamitr, the advertising agency that created the spot.
“For people in the big cities, exercising at the gym is part of their lifestyle, so I used that to appeal to viewers. I wanted to get across the message that doing farm work can make us healthy. If we do it right, we can have beautiful six-pack abs just like people who go to the gym regularly!”
Phairat also points out that modern fitness clubs aren’t the most environmentally friendly places.
“Personally I think burning off your calories at the gym is wasteful in some ways. Exercising might be good for your health, but it’s not really good for the ecosystem when you use loads of electricity for the air-conditioning and the exercise equipment. It’s better to have a way to burn calories and stay healthy and at the same time benefit the ecosystem.”
Farmers tend to be as strong as buffalo, of course, so they must be doing something right. 
“Many of the fitness routines we do in the gym are basically the same movements farm workers use,” Phairat says. “If you have vegetable garden at home, you can get just as good a workout as you have at the gym, and you’re not just burning calories, you’re also growing your own safe food.”
Meanwhile the humble farmer does occasionally over-stretch, so he might gain from some gym-style coaching too.
“Farm workers often suffer muscle and ligament strain if they don’t move correctly when doing their chores,” Phairat says. “It would be better if they used the proper exercise patterns when working in the field, and the routines seen in my ad might give them an idea of how to do it right.”
View the video at www.Facebook.com/konglakuentin.
 
nationthailand