By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
“Sia na nan ulo ay men agto agto
Sian na nan poke ay mensakbasakbat….”
Thus goes our Igorot version of the popular Tagalog action song “Ito ang Ulo”. It’s a favorite ice breaker (sleep breaker would be a more appropriate term) in our health trainings.
“Agto” means carrying a load on one’s head and “sakbat” is carrying something on your shoulders. “Agto” is usually done by women and girls while “sakbat” is usually done by men and boys. I say “usually” because anybody, male or female, can “agto” or “sakbat.” Like it would be more convenient for me to “sakbat” a bundle of firewood than to “agto” it. In Kolkata, India, we observed that men carried loaded wide baskets (really wide) on their heads.
In the past, “agto” and “sakbat” were the usual means of carrying heavy things from one point to another. This is true all over the world. The Ibalois and other indigenous peoples have this “kayabang” where the basket is at the back but the weight is still more on the head. This was the era before shoulder bags were introduced and before roads and motorized vehicles changed our lifestyle. We have the “sangi”, our beautiful indigenous backpack, but it has a limited carrying capacity so even if we use “sangi”, we still “agto” or “sakbat” if necessary. Camote were placed in the labba (woven rattan basket) and carried on the head because the labba is better carried on the head than on the shoulders. Try it. Camote, though, can also be placed in the “gimata” (my kumare translates this as a pair of baskets tied on both ends of a wooden pole) and carried over the shoulders of men. Same with palay – it can be carried by women in the labba and by men in the gimata. I could remember how impressed I was seeing the camote beautifully arranged in the “labba”, carried gracefully and effortlessly by a Bontoc woman walking by the clinic. Such sights are rare nowadays. Sigh.
It’s natural for us to carry heavy load over our head. That’s perhaps one of the reasons why we have two arms that can reach down on a load and place it on our head. I tried carrying a heavy load (by my standards), backpack style, going up the road from our house. I was out of breath even before I reached midway. When I shifted the load to the top of my head, I was amazed at how so much lighter it seemed so I was able to reach my destination faster and with less effort. This is not surprising actually because the top of our head is where the crown chakra is located. A chakra is an energy center. Thus pregnant women who experience difficulty in childbirth would ask the husband or anybody nearby to press the crown of their head hard. With this intervention, bearing down gets stronger pushing the baby out into this world.
Research shows that strength training like weight lifting over time can prevent bone loss or even build new bone! For us Igorots, we don’t have to go to the gym for weight lifting and strength training. Just go to the farm and the river and volunteer to “agto” or “sakbat” whatever needs to be carried. It’s still harvest season now and some people have to haul the palay from the rice terraces. We have to carry stones to rebuild the eroded “tuping” (riprap). Volunteer to carry water for the alapo. Etc. These are real strength training and weight lifting activities which are not only great ways to develop bone mass and muscle strength but will also produce our food and water. So we can understand why our people then had such strong bones and muscles even up to old age. Fractures were unheard of. Osteoporosis was unheard of. Remember osteoporosis means brittle bones not arthritis. Brittle bones break easily, meaning fracture easily. I hope you heard the story about the old Igorot woman who got fractured from a bad fall and when the surgeon tried to hammer a nail to fix the fracture, the nail got broken. Such is the bone density of people who carry weights daily all throughout their lives.
Nowadays that we have roads and jeeps and buses, it’s easy to forget the benefits of carrying load on our bodies and opt for convenience. Strength training like weight lifting and mountain climbing, develop bone mass and muscle strength. Studies also show that as we age we lose bone mass and muscle mass, precisely because as we age, we tend to move less and carry less. Osteoporosis and weak muscles put one at risk of accidents and fractures. Also if you don’t do anything to replace the muscle loss, it will be replaced with fat. But weight training can help reverse this trend, at any age.
There are many other benefits of “agto” and weight lifting aside from preventing osteoporosis. Good posture is one. Just carry what you can, don’t overload. Good posture, in turn, benefits your back and front, meaning with good posture, you’ll have no or less back problems and have better breathing. Better breathing is, without doubt, good for your health. Good health is a great feeling. See how all these are interconnected. The lesson is we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Our forebears already have tried and tested ways to live life fully and well, let’s just be humble enough to learn from them.**
“Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.” Job 12:12
