Workout group gives men 'feel of belonging'

Members of a free men-only workout group in Berkshire have shared how it has improved their physical and mental health.

Participants in the Reading F3 Nation group, who meet at Thames Valley Business Park, said it had given them a sense of community and a place to turn to when they need help.

The organisation aims to create small fitness groups worldwide that can take place outside.

The workout ends with a circle of trust, which gives men a chance to open up and talk about their struggles.

The group helps men aged 18 and above "achieve the 3 F’s" - fitness, fellowship and faith.

They get together, work out together and talk about mental health.

The first Berkshire F3 group is entitled The Office and they carry out the "boot camp"-style fitness from 06:00 every Tuesday and Thursday.

Group leader Dan Winfield, 39, said when he came into it in 2022 in Cranleigh, Surrey, he had been "missing someone to work out with".

He said that physical fitness was "the thing that brings most of us to it".

"But what I didn't expect the thing that I found was the fellowship side, the community." he said.

"I know these men, they going to be here for me and I try and be there for them not just on the good days... but on the bad days as well. "

Member Craig, from South Africa, said he had been "really unfit" when he had first joined.

"Within six months, I'd lost over 20kg (44lbs)," he said.

"Everybody just mucks in and helps each other.

"I didn't feel like I had a belonging but once I came into this group, I get a feel of belonging now."

Another member, James, said he had initially joined to get fitter.

"But I found that the more I came, the more I was doing it for the man next to me," he said.

"I am lying in bed at 5:15, thinking 'I don't really wanna go. Oh, but they're going to be there by themselves. I know I need to go.'"

He said that a few members of the group had helped with a fundraising event for his mother for Cancer Research.

"We ended up with five or six men who had never met her... and we raised nearly just under £10,000," he said.

"So you can rely on people within F3 to get behind you and get behind other causes outside of just F3 as well."

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