"I’m 59 years of age; I never wore a tracksuit in my life until this thing!”

So says suckler and beef farmer, Sean Whelan; just one of 25 men being put through their paces as part of the “Fit Farmers” programme in Moore Community Hall in south Roscommon every Thursday night since mid-January by experts Dr Diane Cooper and John Bolton.

Overseeing proceedings is Laura Tully, who grew up on a drystock farm in Moore and works as a nurse, but over the last three years has voluntarily driven health and wellbeing initiatives in her community: most significantly with the “Moore Movers” group, where locals up to the age of 88 have tried everything from couch to 5k programmes and hill-walking to rounders, kayaking and cycling.

John Bolton leading the exercise class as part of the Fit Farmers programme. \ Claire Nash

“You will not get too far in Moore now without meeting a few high-vis vests!” she says with a laugh.

One group that Laura struggled to reach, however, were farmers, which concerned her, given research from the Irish Heart Foundation that 81% of farmers reported a history of heart disease, 46% had high blood pressure and 46.1% raised total cholesterol levels.

No more than anywhere in the country, a lot of us would spend too many evenings in the queue for a funeral of a farmer or a young man and what would always be crossing my mind is: ‘What if this didn’t need to happen?’

Add in very real pressures like falling incomes, higher costs, increased regulations, unpredictable weather, isolation and long working hours, and Laura feared that many of the farmers in her community were “high risk” in terms of both their physical and mental health.

“No more than anywhere in the country, a lot of us would spend too many evenings in the queue for a funeral of a farmer or a young man and what would always be crossing my mind is: ‘What if this didn’t need to happen?’” she says.

“I see so many health issues that can be turned around or prevented and one of my passions is to educate people about that; and I suppose what better place to start than with your own?”

Getting support

Determined to make a change by running a fitness programme especially for farmers, Laura approached her local IFA branch in November and asked if she could address a meeting for five minutes.

Initially, the reaction was not overly encouraging.

“It was completely silent. My first instinct was ‘major fail here’,” she says, but with “a little bit of coercion and a promise of a better life”, one farmer stepped forward, then another.

“And I think I had 20 names on the list before I left the room.”

Farmers taking part in strength and conditioning exercises as part of the Fit Farmers programme. \ Claire Nash

As it turned out, Laura ended up with 25 farmers for the programme, ranging from their mid-30s to mid-70s and with varying abilities; for instance, two of the participants have been recently discharged from the National Rehabilitation Hospital one following treatment for an acquired brain injury and the other for limb loss as a result of diabetes.

One of the main reasons Laura feels that the programme did appeal was that she removed as many barriers as possible to participation by securing funding from Roscommon Sports Partnership in conjunction with Pobal, Healthy Ireland, Sport Ireland and the Department of Health.

Furthermore, holding the sessions in their local hall meant they would be accessible to all.

“That was the biggest selling point for me,” says Laura, “that this will be on in our hall and straight away they’re thinking, ‘Well I can be back on the farm in five to 10 minutes’.”

True transformation

With participants and funding secured, Laura was able to engage the expertise of Dr Diane Cooper, a clinical exercise physiologist with a PhD in health and weight loss, who runs “True Fitness” in Co Laois with her business partner, John Bolton.

For the last 10 years, they have been running their “True Transformation” programmes with local communities, but the prospect of working with farmers really appealed to Diane, who lives on her husband’s family farm in Cushina, Co Offaly.

“Farmers are so important to us and to our economy, to everybody, to everything that we do; let’s try and look after them,” says Diane, who maintains that “you’ll be surprised what you can do in terms of your health in only six weeks”.

They just accept that back pain is something that inevitably goes with age, but it doesn’t and it can be significantly reduced

At the start of the programme, all of the farmers had their bloods done at the local GP to check issues such as their cholesterol and sugar levels. Diane also took their resting blood pressure and held private weigh-ins and measurements, in order to chart their progress throughout.

The next step was to establish the farmers’ fitness and strength levels using two simple tests: the six-minute walk test to assess their aerobic fitness, and the sit-stand test to measure their lower-body strength.

Dr Diane Cooper delivering a workshop on healthy eating. \ Claire Nash

While Diane found that many of the farmers would have decent cardiovascular fitness due to their daily work, core and lower body strength – which is crucial for farm activities – is often lacking, and can lead to issues such as back pain.

“They just accept that back pain is something that inevitably goes with age, but it doesn’t and it can be significantly reduced with a proper strength, conditioning and flexibility routine,” says Diane of the programme that starts with a 15-minute warm up, followed by a circuit of 10 different cardio and strength exercises (ie jumping jacks to squats and lunges), and ending with core exercises and a cool down.

We tend to start initially with very small changes, so for example, by adding a handful of berries to the porridge, that will give you a portion of fruit

Crucially, the exercises can be adapted depending on each farmer’s fitness level and are practical in nature; for example, teaching them how to do a correct lift using their leg and glute muscles. Diane also looked at the farmers’ diets and while there were many positives (eg most reported eating porridge for breakfast), water and fresh fruit and vegetable intake tended to be low.

“We tend to start initially with very small changes, so for example, by adding a handful of berries to the porridge, that will give you a portion of fruit,” explains Diane, adding that other changes encouraged include drinking a glass of water with each meal and switching to brown bread instead of white for sandwiches.

Fitter future

During the programme, Diane has also dedicated time in the workshop to specific health issues eg diabetes, as well as sharing tools for promoting positive mental health, such as the Coping with the pressures of farming guide produced by Mental Health Ireland in association with Teagasc.

And while she is confident that by the end of the six weeks, the farmers’ blood pressure, sugars and BMIs will be down, and their fitness and strength levels up, the impact on participants’ mental wellbeing has the potential to be just as powerful.

“The craic among the farmers on the night is absolutely brilliant and no matter what frame of mind you came in initially, I guarantee that you go home in a much more positive mood because you need that social interaction,” says Diane.

This is a transformation that Laura Tully has seen firsthand too.

She shares how one participant shed 3kg alone in the first week, while another farmer confided that although he found farming “very solitary” and felt “out of practice at making conversation”, he reported that both his fitness and confidence were boosted by the programme.

And touchingly, one man described it as a “new lease of life” having lost his mother, and gone from being “her full-time carer to not having a plan”.

“I mean, you’d never care if somebody lost a pound if they found that in it,” says Laura.

What I would say is it’s normalising health and wellbeing and normalising it for farmers

And having secured further funding for phase two of the programme, Laura is confident that many of her “Fit Farmers” will continue with their healthy habits, having already started to attend the “Moore Movers” twice-weekly walks and some even trying pilates.

“What I would say is it’s normalising health and wellbeing and normalising it for farmers, whereas every other year I struggled to get this group to embrace anything I’m doing in the community,” she says.

“They’d be driving by in their jeep, giving us an auld beep saying, ‘There ye are in your high-vis jackets out walking’. This year is completely different because these guys are to the forefront.”

And she believes that the “Fit Farmers” programme should be rolled out all over rural Ireland.

The "Fit Farmers" participants taking part in a workshop on healthy eating. \ Claire Nash

“You only have to look at Brexit hanging over their heads,” she argues. “This is a peak time for wellbeing for them and for the sake of a couple of hours a week to put into themselves and into their family’s time, it’s a big win-win in the long -term.”

In the meantime, however, Laura can rest assured that she has changed lives in her own community for the better. “If it saves me having to stand in one funeral and say, ‘This shouldn’t have happened this man’ and turn around and prevent something happening, it will be all worth it,” she surmises.

Meet the farmers

Sean Whelan, Moore

Suckler and beef farmer Sean Whelan says that his family can’t believe the change in him since he started the “Fit Farmers” programme.

“They can’t believe that at 59 years, that this programme can change me so much,” says Sean, who decided to sign up to tackle his blood pressure and cholesterol levels, as well as to strengthen his back, having had two operations in 2006 and 2016.

“I would be doing a lot of manual handling with cows calving and different things at home and you need to be fit for that job,” he says. “That’s probably the reason why I had the two back operations in the past; maybe working wrong, not going the right way around it.”

Diet-wise, Sean has learned about the importance of controlling salt and sugar intake and has made some changes at home as a result, having previously enjoyed treats like tea and biscuits three or four times a day.

“The biscuits are gone now,” he states, “plus I cut out a lot of processed foods.”

As well as attending the programme every Thursday, Sean is also joining in community walks at the track at their local GAA club.

“I never wore a tracksuit in my life until this thing... I’m walking now about three times a week,” he says, adding that he believes that every farmer would benefit from such a programme in their locality.

“You’ll be much fitter after and have more interaction among your friends and have good fun,” he says.

Kevin Flynn, Baylin

Managing a part-time job with Bord na Móna as well as rearing sucklers to weanlings used to leave Kevin Flynn (50) fit for little more than the couch every evening.

Since starting the programme, however, he is astonished by how much more energy he has.

“The tiredness seems to have gone,” he says. “If someone told me that six weeks ago, I wouldn’t believe them.”

Kevin explains that he decided to sign up to improve his fitness levels, and also to tackle his back pain.

As well as learning safer lifting techniques and core and back strengthening exercises, he has banished fizzy drinks, biscuits and processed foods in favour of healthier choices at home. “We’re eating more fruit, raw vegetables and make our own soups now,” says Kevin, who lost 4kg in the first three weeks of the programme.

But perhaps the best thing is the support he is getting from his wife Anne Marie and daughters Maria and Michelle, who now join him on the community walks, with the whole family now spending much more quality time together.

“You’d sit down in front of the television before and have a coffee and chill out, read the paper and go to bed,” he says.

“Now, we still watch a bit of television, but we go for a walk. It keeps us all together.”

Shane Hardiman, Ballydangan

For drystock farmer Shane Hardiman, the “Fit Farmers” programme has opened up a whole new range of opportunities; including trying pilates for the first time.

“Totally new, very interesting,” says the 53-year old, who also works part-time with Bord na Móna.

“But sure, look it, if you don’t try it, you won’t have the experiences.”

Shane explains that he signed up for the programme after listening to Laura’s presentation at their local IFA meeting.

“She probably talked about how busy farmers can be and not giving time to ourselves and to our own health; that we’re doing lots of physical work, but not enough emphasis on time to look after ourselves,” he says.

Exercise wise, Shane has enjoyed the challenge of the core and strength work, while he is putting simple dietary changes in place, like swapping his white bread sandwiches for brown.

He is also joining in the community walks and finding the social benefits just as positive as the physical ones.

“People are walking at different paces, so you’ll be catching up with a group or a group will be catching up to you, so during the hour you’re going to have plenty of conversation and people are egging one another on,” he says.

“There’s good old banter.”

To try some of the “Fit Farmers” exercise routines at home, using the following videos for guidance.

Circuits

Lifting weights

Building back strength

Read more

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