AFTER witnessing her father work so physically hard his whole life out in the elements, a Barossa Valley fitness instructor has tailor-made her pilates classes around farmers.
Pilates for Farmers is led by Kate Shelby-James and her team from Pilates by Kate in Nuriootpa.
Kate had spent 20 years of her working life in the wine industry in various finance and administration roles, including 12 years in management, but decided on a career change in 2015 and opened her own pilates studio.
It was a relatively new concept in the region back then, but she has found more farmers turning to pilates for a simple, low stress, low impact movement of the muscles for both preventive and injury rehabilitation.
Kate was also very keen to give back to her regional community, by helping people like her 83-year-old father.
"My dad is a multi-generational farmer," she said.
"I've seen him work hard all his life and I have seen the elements that he is constantly working against.
"My idea behind Pilates for Farmers was to work with people like him.
"People with joints that are worn out, bodies that have seen all of the elements of the weather, doing heavy lifting with their bodies and have done for years."
In the beginning, getting farmers on-board was a challenge and was where working in with the Barossa Improved Grazing Group helped.
BIGG facilitated Kate and her instructors to speak at an Angaston Agriculture Bureau meeting.
"We also gave a short pilates lesson at one of their meetings," Kate said.
"It was great because it allowed us to get in front of farmers and explain that pilates is for everyone, which has always been a focus.
"Our classes are designed to suit everyone and can vary week to week.
"It can be about functional mobility, maintaining strength, improving strength, all those kinds of concepts.
"We tailor classes to individual needs."
Keyneton farmer Richard Evans said he started participating in Kate's pilates classes to ensure he was limber enough to help his son around the farm with everyday tasks.
"Seeing I am an old dude, I should get a bit more exercise than I do riding the motorbike around the property," he said.
RELATED:
"Other people are in the same boat as I am, so I feel comfortable going."
He encouraged farmers considering it "to have a crack".
Mount Crawford cattle farmer Julian Maul said even though he was "farm fit", he was hopeful pilates could improve his on-farm reaction time.
"It is one thing to be farm fit, as farming tends to exercise specific muscles," he said.
"But it doesn't always mean that you're in a position to react, particularly when you get older."
Julian said it was also nice to have so many people of the same age in the class.
"It sure means we don't take the whole thing too seriously, but we are all getting something out of it," he said.
"The improved fitness benefits alone makes attending worth it.
"There is a sense of community from us doing things like that together and reaping benefits from it."
Fellow pilates instructor Diane Stewart said attendees participated in gentle or intermediate classes with commitment and enthusiasm.
"All attendees are assessed individually to see what their capable of doing," she said.
"It's about that everyday functionality.
"We're not going to be putting ourselves forward for the Olympics any time soon.
"But age is no barrier for pilates."
Diane said some sessions involved exercises utilising a chair and in the standing position, while there were other sessions that were more advanced.
"An intermediate mat session can be on the floor with a mixture of basic and challenging movements involving the resistance band, chi ball and roller," she said.
"It's mostly guys who know each other who come every week.
"They understand each others background and their working life which is really good for them.
"They feel supported, and it's not a strange environment."
Diane said they keep the class sizes small, with no more than 10 people.
"Typically there's five to seven in the farmer class," she said.
"As the instructor, I have got the ability to work with individuals if they're struggling.
"If they have got a particular niggle that time - they're not left at the back of the room sort of fend for themselves."
Pilates for Farmers has paused during the winter season while the days are shorter, but is set to return when daylight savings starts in October.
Kate and her team welcome farmers to join in on Wednesday evenings at the Nuriootpa studio when it resumes later this year.