Dave and Michael Kennedy are joining forces with the Irish Farmers Journal as part of our ‘Strong Body, Strong Mind’ campaign at the National Ploughing Championships.
The brothers, who grew up on a dairy farm in Skeheenarinky, Co Tipperary, now have over 180,000 followers between them across their Instagram platforms. And they have built an online fitness business called The Lifestyle Blueprint, helping farmers and people in rural areas improve their health and fitness.
The family also run a pub so between collecting glasses and milking 85 cows, the brothers had a strong work ethic from a young age.
“We were always busy. We worked hard, but we ate hard as well. Our mother Mary passed away last year, she was a fantastic cook and we were fed well,” says Dave.
“From a younger age, right up, I would have been a little bit heavier than normal, but strong. The exercise was done in the milking parlour,” he recalls.
In 2021, Dave came back from the Middle East after spending time lecturing in agri business at United Arab Emirates University. The plan was to work as an area sales manager but when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, he was back milking cows with his brother, which they both loved.
“It opened my eyes and I said: 'what am I doing with myself?'” he says.
Having lost a lot of the weight that he put on during his younger years, and after studying nutrition, Dave began helping people in the evening time and at weekends. He started getting messages from clients saying that his work was really helping them change their life and habits.
“That was the best feeling ever; you can’t put a price on it. I said I’m going to go all in,” he says. Dave had The Lifestyle Blueprint up and running as an official business by the end of 2021.
The following year Michael joined him while completing his PhD in Teagasc. Dave and Michael have been working full-time in the company ever since, building up their clientele across rural Ireland while sharing interactive videos to help people to develop positive habits and mindsets.
Focus on mental health
As well as the physical benefits of fitness, the brothers are very conscious of the mental health benefits. In January 2010, Dave and Michael tragically lost their sister Sarah in a car accident.
Dave says: “As you can imagine, that turns your world upside down. I was 16, going on 17, and Mike was 12 at the time. Looking back now, we emotionally ate; we turned to food. I went from a 16 stone, prop forward, playing rugby at the time, to 22 stone in a very quick period of time, and Mike was very similar.”
Both brothers were very social as they were raised in the pub. “I could talk the socks off anyone. I was always a confident fat guy, you could say. But it really started to stare at me – when the weight was at my all-time high. I was going to nightclubs, but my anxiety used to hit me hard,” explains Dave.
One Halloween, when Dave was on a night out, he came home early in a taxi with a takeaway by himself.
“I was very close to Sarah, and I was sitting there at the end of my bed, and I just thought, if she were here, and I told her exactly what I’ve been doing, how would she feel? And I knew she’d be extremely upset with me.
“That was really a changing point for me. I decided, I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Everything we’re going to do is for her – it’s for Sarah. I lost eight stone in 15 months,” explains Dave.
Michael faced similar challenges while studying ag science in University College Dublin.
“When you’re in a good place and things are going well, but you know deep down you’re not happy, it’s about being able to say to yourself –’this isn’t the way it has to always be’,” says Michael.
“It’s being able to break that first step of not accepting these circumstances, and that’s the hardest part. For us, the first step was starting to lose that weight. It wasn’t straightforward, it wasn’t easy, but it was saying I need to be better for myself, and for those around me.”
Michael and Dave Kennedy on the farm. \ Odhran Ducie
For the brothers their purpose shifted. “For a lot of us, it’s easy to give up on yourself. Everyone has a tendency to put everyone else first, and we put ourselves last. It’s easy to let yourself down. But I changed the purpose, I couldn’t let my sister down,” says Dave.
Life challenges
While the brothers have been supporting clients through challenging times for four years, they have had to navigate another tough period themselves recently.
At the end of 2024, they lost their mother suddenly. The brothers are trying to work through the loss, utilising the tools they have been using with their clients for years to help them through.
“The foundation of the house is gone. The person who bonded the house is gone, and we are navigating through that now. Some days are not good, birthday parties, Mother’s Day, it’s all new. That’s not easy; it’s every memory and everything we go through, we think of her.
“Even for myself, grief is starting to hit me even harder. It hits people in so many different ways but we have the awareness,” says Dave.
The journey the brothers have travelled is part of the reasons why they are so focused on mental wellbeing and a person’s mindset. The hardest thing to do is ask for help, which is why they both have a lot of respect for people who are able to admit they need support.
“Going from that place of viewing yourself in a low light and being hard on yourself, being overly-critical, not happy with your physique or carrying this weight – and then, when you start taking that action, it can make a world of difference. You start seeing yourself in a more positive light,” says Dave.
“The real work does start with the mindset – I know that from my own situation. Every single day, you’re going to be tested, especially on a farm.
“You might have challenges in your personal life, relationships breaking down, and that’s where being able to do that internal work is going to best prepare you to navigate and persevere through those challenges.
“A lot of farmers, they’re very resilient people, but at the same time, they do keep to themselves a lot. That stress, those farm-related challenges, even their own personal life – that can be hard to talk about. We hope by talking about ourselves, by telling our story, that it encourages more people to get help if they need it.”
Ploughing 2025
Over the three days of this year’s Ploughing Championships, the Kennedy brothers will demonstrate simple exercises that farmers can do at home or on their farms at the Irish Farmers Journal stand.
“About 40% of our clients don’t use a gym. We show people what you can do with what you have,” says Michael.
“We’re bringing a couple of items that you’ll find on your farm that you can exercise with – you’ll look at a hitch and a barrel, and some buckets of meal in a whole new light,” he says, laughing.
Along with this, the duo will be focusing on the importance of eating nutritious food, even when you are on the go or tight for time.
“The reason we exercise and eat right is not to look a certain way. It’s because if I’m eating poorly and I’m not exercising, I’ll have a lower frequency.
“When I do a bit of exercise and eat healthy, I’m in a better mindset to face the challenges,” says Michael.
“The biggest thing is getting the head right, and the movement will follow.”
See @davekennedytlb; and
@michaelkennedytlb
Dave and Michael Kennedy are joining forces with the Irish Farmers Journal as part of our ‘Strong Body, Strong Mind’ campaign at the National Ploughing Championships.
The brothers, who grew up on a dairy farm in Skeheenarinky, Co Tipperary, now have over 180,000 followers between them across their Instagram platforms. And they have built an online fitness business called The Lifestyle Blueprint, helping farmers and people in rural areas improve their health and fitness.
The family also run a pub so between collecting glasses and milking 85 cows, the brothers had a strong work ethic from a young age.
“We were always busy. We worked hard, but we ate hard as well. Our mother Mary passed away last year, she was a fantastic cook and we were fed well,” says Dave.
“From a younger age, right up, I would have been a little bit heavier than normal, but strong. The exercise was done in the milking parlour,” he recalls.
In 2021, Dave came back from the Middle East after spending time lecturing in agri business at United Arab Emirates University. The plan was to work as an area sales manager but when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, he was back milking cows with his brother, which they both loved.
“It opened my eyes and I said: 'what am I doing with myself?'” he says.
Having lost a lot of the weight that he put on during his younger years, and after studying nutrition, Dave began helping people in the evening time and at weekends. He started getting messages from clients saying that his work was really helping them change their life and habits.
“That was the best feeling ever; you can’t put a price on it. I said I’m going to go all in,” he says. Dave had The Lifestyle Blueprint up and running as an official business by the end of 2021.
The following year Michael joined him while completing his PhD in Teagasc. Dave and Michael have been working full-time in the company ever since, building up their clientele across rural Ireland while sharing interactive videos to help people to develop positive habits and mindsets.
Focus on mental health
As well as the physical benefits of fitness, the brothers are very conscious of the mental health benefits. In January 2010, Dave and Michael tragically lost their sister Sarah in a car accident.
Dave says: “As you can imagine, that turns your world upside down. I was 16, going on 17, and Mike was 12 at the time. Looking back now, we emotionally ate; we turned to food. I went from a 16 stone, prop forward, playing rugby at the time, to 22 stone in a very quick period of time, and Mike was very similar.”
Both brothers were very social as they were raised in the pub. “I could talk the socks off anyone. I was always a confident fat guy, you could say. But it really started to stare at me – when the weight was at my all-time high. I was going to nightclubs, but my anxiety used to hit me hard,” explains Dave.
One Halloween, when Dave was on a night out, he came home early in a taxi with a takeaway by himself.
“I was very close to Sarah, and I was sitting there at the end of my bed, and I just thought, if she were here, and I told her exactly what I’ve been doing, how would she feel? And I knew she’d be extremely upset with me.
“That was really a changing point for me. I decided, I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Everything we’re going to do is for her – it’s for Sarah. I lost eight stone in 15 months,” explains Dave.
Michael faced similar challenges while studying ag science in University College Dublin.
“When you’re in a good place and things are going well, but you know deep down you’re not happy, it’s about being able to say to yourself –’this isn’t the way it has to always be’,” says Michael.
“It’s being able to break that first step of not accepting these circumstances, and that’s the hardest part. For us, the first step was starting to lose that weight. It wasn’t straightforward, it wasn’t easy, but it was saying I need to be better for myself, and for those around me.”
Michael and Dave Kennedy on the farm. \ Odhran Ducie
For the brothers their purpose shifted. “For a lot of us, it’s easy to give up on yourself. Everyone has a tendency to put everyone else first, and we put ourselves last. It’s easy to let yourself down. But I changed the purpose, I couldn’t let my sister down,” says Dave.
Life challenges
While the brothers have been supporting clients through challenging times for four years, they have had to navigate another tough period themselves recently.
At the end of 2024, they lost their mother suddenly. The brothers are trying to work through the loss, utilising the tools they have been using with their clients for years to help them through.
“The foundation of the house is gone. The person who bonded the house is gone, and we are navigating through that now. Some days are not good, birthday parties, Mother’s Day, it’s all new. That’s not easy; it’s every memory and everything we go through, we think of her.
“Even for myself, grief is starting to hit me even harder. It hits people in so many different ways but we have the awareness,” says Dave.
The journey the brothers have travelled is part of the reasons why they are so focused on mental wellbeing and a person’s mindset. The hardest thing to do is ask for help, which is why they both have a lot of respect for people who are able to admit they need support.
“Going from that place of viewing yourself in a low light and being hard on yourself, being overly-critical, not happy with your physique or carrying this weight – and then, when you start taking that action, it can make a world of difference. You start seeing yourself in a more positive light,” says Dave.
“The real work does start with the mindset – I know that from my own situation. Every single day, you’re going to be tested, especially on a farm.
“You might have challenges in your personal life, relationships breaking down, and that’s where being able to do that internal work is going to best prepare you to navigate and persevere through those challenges.
“A lot of farmers, they’re very resilient people, but at the same time, they do keep to themselves a lot. That stress, those farm-related challenges, even their own personal life – that can be hard to talk about. We hope by talking about ourselves, by telling our story, that it encourages more people to get help if they need it.”
Ploughing 2025
Over the three days of this year’s Ploughing Championships, the Kennedy brothers will demonstrate simple exercises that farmers can do at home or on their farms at the Irish Farmers Journal stand.
“About 40% of our clients don’t use a gym. We show people what you can do with what you have,” says Michael.
“We’re bringing a couple of items that you’ll find on your farm that you can exercise with – you’ll look at a hitch and a barrel, and some buckets of meal in a whole new light,” he says, laughing.
Along with this, the duo will be focusing on the importance of eating nutritious food, even when you are on the go or tight for time.
“The reason we exercise and eat right is not to look a certain way. It’s because if I’m eating poorly and I’m not exercising, I’ll have a lower frequency.
“When I do a bit of exercise and eat healthy, I’m in a better mindset to face the challenges,” says Michael.
“The biggest thing is getting the head right, and the movement will follow.”
See @davekennedytlb; and
@michaelkennedytlb
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