Get Fit at the Farm

Meet Leah Maclean, the lady behind Fitness at the Farm. She’s 31 and lives on a tree farm with her husband who runs a Tree Surgery business. Upon moving to Oxfordshire, Leah worked in marketing for about eight years but, in 2015, she decided to change career course and get a MSc in Nutrition, Physical Activity & Public Health at Bristol, then qualified as a personal trainer.

Outdoor workouts

Leah began hosting Saturday morning fitness classes on the farm in 2017. “I had used the farm to train on for years, running around the fields and playing with tyres for my strength training. So I thought I’d see if others would like to give it a go. That Saturday class became the best part of my week. I soon realised this is what I wanted to do full time, so started taking on personal training clients at the farm and grew my class schedule. Things have continued to grow from there!”

Being outside makes it easy to get your daily dose of Vitamin D, boosts your mood and can help reduce stress. What’s more, the differing terrain and environmental elements mean that your body works harder when exercising outdoors.

Schedule your first outdoor workout session with Leah at the Farm

Anyone who wants to give it a go can join the classes. You’ll work out alongside super-fit marathon runners and complete beginners. The thing everyone has in common is that they aren’t keen on a gym environment; they enjoy being out in the fresh air with no mirrors and no judgement.

Leah will be speaking about Intuitive Eating at FitFest in June

Intuitive Eating is a way of learning to listen to your body; you eat as and when you want according to your body’s hunger and satiety cues. This isn’t an easy thing to achieve because it is difficult to dismiss external influences over what you can and can’t eat, as well as your ingrained internal voice which is often full of false notions about body image and weight in relation to health.

“Once you achieve this, you are able to live life without determining your value based on what you’ve eaten, how much you’ve moved, or a number on the scale. You can start to ignore the constant messages you’ve received about your body not being good enough that lead to body dissatisfaction and help you slowly and gently develop gratitude and body satisfaction.”

What’s coming up in 2019 for Fitness at the Farm?

Keep an eye out for more events. Leah will be hosting a number of Fitness and Nutrition Retreats throughout the year. From April onwards, Leah will start doing monthly Nutrition Evenings in the farm’s new Tipi Kitchen. Don’t miss your chance to meet Leah at FitFest Oxford.