F45 Fitness Dubbo hosts men's mental health group Talk and Move

Exercising leads to talking and opening up, and 37-year-old Mr Dearmer always leaves feeling better in his mind and body.

Mr Dearmer participates in a free group exercise and men's mental health meet-up hosted by the team at F45 Fitness Dubbo.

READ ALSO: Lifeline says conversations about mental health can save lives

The safety specialist said Talk and Move is a group support network as well as a different way to exercise - and it costs men nothing to participate.

"The main reason why I started going to Talk and Move was to improve my mental health, but also just to have a bit of a support group for stuff outside of work and outside of family, and outside of your normal fitness routine," Mr Dearmer told the Daily Liberal.

He had never participated in anything like this before and he has found it has made him feel "connected".

He first experienced depression as a teenager and it pops up from time to time, so it's important for him to get on top of it - and exercise is something he has in his toolkit.

"[Mental health is] something that I really want to make sure I have a strong focus on, as well as my physical health as well, because both of them really go hand in hand," Mr Dearmer said.

Some weeks, he will participate in the class and he's had a bad week - he has been feeling stressed or had negative thoughts - and sometimes he feels like sharing with the class.

"It's given me an outlet to share with the rest of the group what I'm comfortable sharing, and it being a group mental health activity it's [also] a support group," he said.

READ ALSO: Fitness and mental health: F45 fundraiser helping youth move

The class starts with a check-in where they rate their week from one to ten. Later in the class, they'll rate how they feel after being active. Some men share, and others don't - and that's OK.

"Being involved in a group fitness session will normally allow for a lot more clarity of thinking, it gets the blood pumping, and thoughts flowing a lot more when you're working out," Mr Dearmer said.

"So it gives you an avenue to develop your thoughts a lot more and a lot of clarity around problems you may be having."

One in seven men will experience depression, and one in five men will experience anxiety, at some stage in their lives, according to Beyond Blue. The same source tells us approximately seven men die by suicide every day in Australia.

Mr Dearmer said these are "pretty shocking statistics" and he thinks it's important to "take a bit of action and responsibility" in improving his situation around mental health - even though it's sometimes hard to do that.

Paul Linehan, who also attends Talk and Move, said one of the most important things was that is was "non judgemental".

The 48-year-old safety manager said everyone feels better after they've finished a workout.

"It's not like boot camp or anything, you just do what you can. No one's watching who did 10 press-ups and who did only five or anything like that," he said.

Mr Linehan invited a few friends along to Talk and Move, and these friends then invited their own friends, and now Mr Linehan can walk down the main street of Dubbo and say hello to people he wouldn't have known otherwise.

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"A lot of guys, they've made friendships ... We've had a few group lunches here and there ... It's become quite a social thing ... " he said.

Often, they find someone is experiencing a similar issue to them.

"You'd be surprised when you get a group of blokes together, how many have probably similar issues and problems ... work life balance, not getting enough time with the kids, whatever it may be, they suddenly realise that they're not alone," Mr Linehan said.

F45 gym owner Jed Hardiman, who runs Talk and Move, is passionate about exercise and men's mental health. He also volunteers weekly at the Dubbo youth charity Leader Life.

"Talk and Move has really gained traction in the community and I have had over 50 blokes attend and all take a lot from it," Mr Hardiman said.

Talk and Move runs fortnightly on Saturdays. Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/f45dubbo/

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