THE FARMER WHO LIFTS
I didn’t start lifting to compete.
In 2005, I was a high school kid who needed something to change. Like a lot of teenagers, I was searching for a way to build confidence and prove to myself that I could become stronger.
That place ended up being the weight room.
What started as a simple goal to get bigger quickly became something more important. Strength training teaches lessons that extend far beyond the gym. It teaches discipline. It teaches consistency. It teaches you to show up and do the work whether you feel like it or not.
Those lessons stuck with me.
Around the same time, another path in my life was taking shape: farming.
Agriculture runs deep in my family. I’m part of the fifth generation. But my path into farming wasn’t something I stepped into — it was something I built. Starting a dairy farm from scratch meant long days, constant responsibility, and learning quickly how to solve problems as they came.
Through the ups and downs of building a dairy farm, lifting eventually found its way back into my life. Like many farmers, the path didn’t unfold exactly as I had imagined. That chapter eventually came to a close, but the lessons from both worlds stayed with me.
Farming and strength training might seem like two different worlds, but they share the same foundation. Both require patience. Both require discipline. And both reward the people willing to put in the work day after day.
That’s when something started to become clear.
The people who care deeply about building strength also care about what fuels their bodies. At the same time, farmers carry the responsibility of producing real food the right way.
Cows & Kilos was created to bring those two ideas together.
The name actually started as nothing more than an Instagram handle — a simple reflection of my life at the time. Cows represented the farm. Kilos represented the barbell. Over time, it became something more: a brand built around the same mindset that drives both agriculture and strength training.
Today, Cows & Kilos exists for people who live with that mindset.
People who train hard.
People who work hard.
People who understand that progress is built through discipline and consistency.
Because strength isn’t just built in the gym.
It’s built through work.
Through patience.
Through the commitment to doing things the right way.
The same principles that build strong people are the ones that raise good food.
Because whether it’s under a barbell or out on the farm, the principle stays the same:
Show up.
Do the work.
Get stronger.
Live in vision, not circumstance.
— Kipp Hinz