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Ben and his mates were overweight. What they did next changed the lives of many 'fat farmers' like them

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Ben and his mates were overweight. What they did next changed the lives of many 'fat farmers' like them

Twelve years ago, a trio of middle-aged farmers had a good hard look at themselves and weren’t happy with what they saw.

“We were all sort of finished playing footy, had a family,” Ben Wundersitz said.

“And, from 30 onwards, we just began to eat a bit of fast food, go to kids sport [and] lost our will for our own physical fitness.” 

The farmers, from Maitland on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, decided to give the local gym a go.

Fat Farmers co-founders Greg Hean and Ben Wundersitz working out with the Maitland group.()

“To be honest our wives were noticing that the three of us were all snoring so we were booked in for a sleep apnoea test and, at the end of mine, the doctor just said, basically, you need to lose some weight,” he said. 

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“We just couldn’t believe, after two or three weeks of cardio, how much better we felt.

“Eventually, I think we all stopped snoring and then we thought, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be good if we could get a few more people involved?’.” 

Men boxing in a gym, wearing black and white tee with fat farmer log, man in foreground, bald, bearded, blue carpet.
In Millicent, the Fat Farmers group boxes to stay fit.()

They held a breakfast barbecue to fire up some enthusiasm. It attracted about 20 mainly middle-aged farmers.

Since then, the South Australian rural health initiative has also spread to Victoria, benefiting almost 20 rural communities.

The group soon became known as the Fat Farmers, and the catchy, if not politically correct, name proved to be part of the appeal, says co-founder Greg Hean.

A smiling Caucasian man with his thumbs up, wears black cap and tee with fat farmers logo with wheat sheaf.
Fat Farmers co-founder Greg Hean takes credit for the group’s tongue-in-cheek name.()

“One day, I came in years ago and I just yelled out, ‘Hey, f***ing fat farmers’, and it’s stuck,” he said.

 “So, I’ll claim it.”

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Mr Wundersitz said they had considered changing the name.

“We’ve certainly been asked the question if we’d like to change the name maybe to Fit Farmers,” he said.

“But any time we’ve done a survey with all the people involved, they’ve said they love the name and they wouldn’t have come if it was anything else.”

Push ups and saving lives

Behind the tongue-in-cheek name were some life-changing results for farmers like Cameron Ferguson.

Caucasian man on a cross-trainer, wears blue and white uniform with fat farmers logo. Two men using treadmill, one drinks water.
Cameron Ferguson goes to the gym several times a week after joining the Fat Farmers group.()

“My fitness was probably non-existent, almost. I don’t even think I’d ever done a push-up before,” he said.

“I’ve probably doubled my fitness, easy. I can run a lot further, I can do heavier weights and it’s easier doing stuff on the farm.”

Mr Wundersitz  said he was also surprised to see the impact of the combination of exercise and mateship on farmers’ mental health.

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“We’ve had a fellow that was probably doing it pretty tough and his wife actually rang me and said we saved his life,” he said.

“And, I think, that’s what really just keeps me inspired to keep pushing on.”

Smiling Caucasian man wears black tee, grey lining on inside of collar, leaning on the gate, sheep in paddock in foreground.
Sam Croser says he has learnt how important it is to look after his body and mind.()

The mental health benefits were largely why Sam and Nicole Croser decided to help start a Fat Farmers group at Millicent, in South Australia’s south east, where farmers were dealing with one of the driest seasons in years.

A few years ago, Mr Croser was also struggling.

“I did reach a point where I pushed myself too hard and it was getting a bit much,” he said.

It showed him the toll life on the land could take when you didn’t take a breather.

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A man and a woman and three children, one boy, two girls on a farm with a dog. Chidren  on white and red scooters.
Sam and Nicole Croser and their children on their farm near Millicent.()

“We service our tractors and we do preventative maintenance on that [but] we don’t do that for ourselves or our bodies or our minds,” Mr Croser said.

“Some people are struggling at the moment, so I’m a little bit passionate about wanting to help my mates through that.”

Man on an exercise bike in a gym, other men in similar uniforms, of blue and white stripes in the background.
Maitland Fat Farmers group working out.()

‘Not our thing’

Some farmers Mr Croser contacted were reluctant to head to the gym for the weekly early morning class.

A Caucasian man on the ground, green carpet, car tyers near him, he lifts weights.
Sam Croser exercising with the Fat Farmers.()
Four men doing boxing training in gym.
A boxing exercise at Millicent Fat Farmers training session.()
Man carrying weights on both hands, green carpet, yellow stripes, wall has colourful mural. Another man behind pushing weights.
Millicent Fat Farmers at gym doing the farmers carry exercise.()
Smiling men boxing in a gym, pink gloves.
Millicent Fat Farmers group boxing together.()

“If you had asked me a few years ago, I probably would have had the same response,” he said.

“You think gym, mirrors, blokes pumping weights and you know that’s not our thing.”

Someone who was up for the challenge immediately was Andrew Skeer, who had already overcome challenges in his life.

Smiling Caucasian man standing behind a bale of hay in paddock, dark hair, cut short, wears dark hoodie over shirt.
Andrew Skeer says a farm accident changed his life, but he never gave up.()

“When I was 10, I was involved in a farming accident and lost my leg above the knee,” he said.

“My life changed dramatically, but it didn’t end.

“I’ll just gently attempt and have a go at anything I can try, even if the instructor says you mightn’t be able to do that.”

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He’s learnt to skip, something he hadn’t done since he was 10.

A man wearing a dark top and  khaki pants skipping in front of three boys in a shed. farming equipment behind.
Mr Skeer says he is always willing to have a go at anything — including skipping.()

For most of the Millicent Fat Farmers, the gym was a pleasant surprise with a mix of familiar skills like the appropriately named “farmer’s carry”, and less familiar exercises like boxing and stretching.

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Fitness

Manayunk gym aims to provide source of physical and mental wellness

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Manayunk gym aims to provide source of physical and mental wellness

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — GoalsFit, nestled in Philadelphia’s Manayunk neighborhood, has been a community staple for 16 years.

Kasey Manwaring-Loos, who is at the helm, has created an environment that gets people coming back for their fitness fix.

“Kasey has a superpower, she has a lot of them,” said Dan Leinhauser, who’s been a client at Goals for eight years. “But one of them is she can take old guys like me, and young, very fit people, and somehow everybody gets an incredible workout out of it. No one is made to feel less than the other person.”

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Manwaring-Loos realized the impact her gym had on her clients. It was an outlet for their physical and mental wellness. So, she felt the push. She decided to enroll in a master’s program at her alma mater, Saint Joseph’s University, to pursue a degree in mental health counseling. Her hope was to provide her clients with more tools in the future.

“I happen to have a client who was in eighth grade, and after six sessions I just saw how good she was feeling,” Manwaring-Loos reflected. “I remember one session saying, ‘You look so strong.’ And she was like, ‘I just feel so good.’ So, I thought it was the perfect spot to start with because I think it will be so impactful.”

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So “Generation Move” was born. It’s a program launching in the New Year for 7th and 8th graders who may experience anxiety surrounding sports, exercise, and movement.

Manwaring-Loos said it will be a combination of exercise and “chit-chat.”

“One week will be called ‘Lifting to Feel Empowered,’ one week will be ‘Moving for a Clearer Mind,’ one week will be ‘Teamwork Makes Dreamwork.’”

At a time when professional athletes like Eagles tackle Lane Johnson have spoken out about the intersection between sports and mental health, people like Manwaring-Loos are doing the work in our communities.

“When it comes down to it, I want to do this because at least they will leave feeling in a good mood,” Manwaring-Loos shared. “Sure, there will always be struggles, sadness, problems, but at least they will find a tool that will put them in a better mood.”

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Generation Move is set to begin its six-week program on January 15. You can learn more about the various offerings at GoalsFit at goalsfit.com.

Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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RFK Is a Big Proponent of Exercise as Medicine. We Agree.

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RFK Is a Big Proponent of Exercise as Medicine. We Agree.

IT’S GREAT TO see Robert F. Kennedy Jr elevating exercise in the national conversation, and at Men’s Health we’ve been saying exercise is strong medicine for 35 years—because nothing advances health and can’t be patented by Pharma as much as consistently working out.

We’ve been reporting on the styles of strength and fitness that you need to optimize your health for years—and the pandemic, which saw those who struggled with fitness suffer more than strong, healthy people, put a spotlight on that. Since then, gym memberships are booming; 2023 saw with 72.9 million people with gym memberships.

These days, healthspan (the portion of life during which you’re able to do what you want instead of being frail and weak) is a buzzword, as we’ve covered in our stories with Peter Attia, M.D., author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. According to Attia: “Exercise is by far the most potent longevity ‘drug.’ The data are unambiguous: Exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline better than any other intervention. It is the single most potent tool we have in the health-span-enhancing toolkit—and that includes nutrition, sleep, and meds.”

Over the years MH has covered the ideal amount of exercise people should do, and, like Dr. Attia, MH recommend more exercise weekly—ideally 7 to 10 hours— than the government’s regulations. Currently, the CDC says:

Adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. There are multiple ways to break this up, but an easy way to think about it is that you should fitness 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

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Adults also need 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity each week.
The CDC does also note that you’ll gain even more health benefits if you go beyond 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or week – or if you have 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity (think: a pickup hoops game).

The latest research reveals that you need a combination of different intensities of cardio, as well as consistent strength training and stability exercises to be your best self. Here’s how much you should get to be at your best.

Your Cardio Goals

4+ Hours/Week

Dr. Attia says your VO2 max is a good proxy measure of physical capability: It indicates what you can—and cannot—do. Studies suggest that VO2 max will decline by roughly 10 percent per decade after your 20s and up to 15 percent per decade after age 50. Increasing your VO2 max makes you functionally younger. So having average or even above-average VO2 max has long-term ramifications. Dr. Attia’s goal for his patients is to be at an excellent level for the decade (or two) below their age. Many smartwatches can estimate VO2 max, but a real test (e.g., the Cooper 12-Minute Run) is better and VO2-max charts are easy to find online.

The good news?

You can improve VO2 max by as much as 17 percent per year. But you need to put in the work. Dr. Attia advises that patients do at least three 45 to 60-minute cardio sessions per week in zone 2 of their heart rate (57 to 65 percent of max heart rate, a gentle intensity during which you can say a complete sentence). They can involve running, cycling, rowing, even rucking. This is optimal for the health and efficiency of your mitochondria, the factories that burn fat and glucose to power your muscles and that decline as you age.

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Along with cruising in zone 2, Dr. Attia recommends that patients do a weekly 30-minute VO2-max effort, such as high-intensity intervals that last anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes. For instance, you can run, ride, row, or ruck uphill for four rounds of four minutes, with four minutes of rest in between. “This is a much higher level of intensity—a hard, minutes-long effort,” he says. By testing your VO2 max and committing to cardio, you can nudge up your score and win in the long run.

Your Strength Goals

3+ Hours/Week

Age-related muscle loss—which starts insidiously in your 40s and picks up the pace in your 50s—is called sarcopenia, from the Greek words for “poverty of the flesh,” says Dr. Attia. Think of strength training as a form of retirement saving, he says. Just as you retire with enough money saved up to sustain you for the rest of your life, you want to reach an older age with enough of a “reserve” of muscle to protect you from injury and allow you to continue to pursue the activities that you enjoy. That muscle also acts as a buffer against the natural age-related decline in muscle mass. The larger the reserve you build up early on, the better off you will be over the long term. And, there are many categories to train:

Grip Strength

New research reveals that American adults have far weaker grip strength—and thus less muscle mass—than they did even a generation ago. In 1985, men ages 20 to 24 had an average right-handed grip strength of 121 pounds, while in 2015, men of the same age averaged just 101 pounds. Dr. Attia notes that many studies suggest that grip strength predicts how long you are likely to live. In these studies, it’s acting as a proxy for overall strength, but it’s also a broader indicator of general robustness and your ability to protect yourself if you slip.

Try These: Weighted carries, dead hangs, and plate pinches. Your goal: Do a farmer’s carry with a quarter of your bodyweight in each hand for one minute.

Concentric and Eccentric Loading

You need strength when your muscles are shortening (concentric) and lengthening (eccentric) under load. In other words, you must be able to lift the weight up and put it back down, slowly and with control. In life, especially as you age, eccentric strength is where many people falter.

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Eccentric strength in the quads is what gives us the brakes required when we are moving down an incline or walking down a set of stairs. It’s really important to keep us safe from falling.

Try These: Focus on the “down” phase of lifts, whether doing pullups, curls, or deadlifts. Practice slow stepdowns—can you step off an 18-inch box in three seconds or more?

Pulling Motions

Pulling motions help bulletproof your shoulders against injury, and they’re critical in other underrated ways, too, driving your motion when you open car doors, lift boxes from the floor, and give somebody a hug.

Try These: Practice pulling at all angles. Start with dumbbell rows and progress to overhead moves like pullups.

Hip Hinges

You bend at the hips—not the spine—to harness your body’s largest muscles, the glutei maximi and the hamstrings. It is a very powerful move that is essential to life. If you are jumping, picking up a penny off the sidewalk, or simply getting out of a chair, you are hip hinging.

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Try These: Deadlifts, hip thrusts, and kettlebell swings.

With all this exercise, your body may need more TLC. And that’s where stability and mobility training and low impact things like yoga and walking come in. These kinds of activities help your body recover and you can target weak areas to build your overall strength.

If you need somewhere to start and aren’t sure how to get going: Try this simple bodyweight workout: Set a timer for 10 minutes. Start by doing 30 seconds plank walkout, then do 30 seconds of alternating reverse lunges, then do 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Rest 30 seconds, then repeat until time is up. This simple session fires up your core and burns calories, and it gets you moving in multiple planes, an underrated quality you want to preserve for longevity. It also challenges many of the key functions we’ve already listed above. A bonus: As you gain fitness, this can become a warmup drill for any workout you do.

If you’re looking for exercise guidance, check out our Men’s Health MVP Training Lab, which is full of month-long workouts that can help you improve your VO2 max, build total-body muscle and strength, shed excess pounds, and get into optimal shape.

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A new way to exercise is now open at the Smith River Sports Complex

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A new way to exercise is now open at the Smith River Sports Complex

A new fitness court is now open for public use at the Smith River Sports Complex.

The fitness court, located at the Smith River Sports Complex, was completed in partnership with Aetna for its National Fitness Campaign across Virginia. It was created to cater to people ages 14 and older and with multiple levels of fitness in mind by allowing them to move at their own pace.

“We would like to thank Aetna for their support in bringing this important program to our community,” Henry County Director of Parks and Recreation Roger Adams said. “And for recognizing the need to support healthy lifestyles for all Virginians.”

The Smith River Sports Complex Fitness Court is one of the first communities in Virginia selected for the initiative, Adams said.

The fitness court base is a concrete pad with a connecting wall that features different equipment allowing users to work different muscles. The court is separated into seven different sections including: core, squat, push, pull, lunge, agility and bend.

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Some of the different exercises possible on the fitness court include: mountain climbers, pushups, lunges at the lunge station, pullups, burpees and different core exercises.

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“The fitness court is a wonderful example of partnerships across the public and private sectors to help break down barriers to accessible community programming,” Adams said. “Living a healthy lifestyle and taking preventative measures can help reduce the risk of developing chronic yet preventable diseases.”

“By practicing healthy habits through regular exercise on the fitness court with body weight training, individuals could significantly lower their risk of developing these diseases,” Adams said. “A body weight workout enhances coordination, balance and mobility in particular. We encourage everyone to walk, jog and cycle to our new fitness court and spend a little more time outside every day.”

“We know that when your physical health is better, your mental health is also better,” Henry County Board of Supervisors Iriswood District Representative Garrett Dillard said. “When you become a healthier community, that impacts your work, your school, your daily life.”

“We need to do better in Henry County,” Dillard said.

Henry County ranks 119 out of 133 counties in Virginia in terms of health outcomes, the county life expectancy is almost five years less than the state average, 42% of the population is considered obese and 26% of the county population reports having access to exercise opportunities, Dillard said.

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“The key word there is opportunity,” he added. “Yes, we have a fair share of problems, but we also have an opportunity to solve them if we work together.”

“By partnering with Aetna, the National Fitness Campaign … the county is now able to offer free, accessible and high-quality fitness equipment for people of all ages and abilities,” Dillard said. “The fitness court is designed to bring the benefits of exercise to everyone, regardless of fitness level, and its right here in our community.”

Along with the fitness court, users can download the free Fitness Court App which provides a coach-in-your-pocket and enhances the outdoor gym with a digitally supported wellness experience.

The Martinsville-Henry County YMCA also plans to hold classes on the fitness court in the future.

“This is sure to be the first of many initiatives that will encourage healthy habits in our community,” Dillard said. “I encourage everyone to take full advantage of this incredible resource as we work together to improve the health and quality of life for everyone in our community.”

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