the world has changed

The 14 contributors in this inspiring book have worked with an amazingly diverse range of people. From world champion athletes and sporting teams, to homeless and underprivileged groups, through to CEO’s and some of Asia Pacific’s largest companies.

Learn strategies around resilience and sustained performance from Australia’s most inspiring health and wellbeing experts. Discover what’s made them successful, mistakes they’ve made along the way and the people they draw on for their own inspiration. It’s like having your very own performance coach, readily available at the flick of a page ...

the contributors

Click on a contributor's name to read a sample section from the book ...

david virgo lifestyle improvers

What does health mean to you and how do you achieve it (have more of it)?

Health to me is living without restrictions as a direct result of our own actions. To give an example, emphysema places restrictions on the way you live your life – you may be connected to an oxygen bottle for most of the day. This is entirely due to your decision to smoke. The same applies to high blood pressure due to inactivity and refusing to watch what you eat – restrictions on the way you live your life now result from the earlier decision not to look after yourself.

The alternative is to make positive decisions; decisions which will free you from restrictions. To me someone who is healthy has a life free from restrictions. They are free to go and do whatever they want, whenever they want, and in this I consider much more than just the physical side of life. Being truly free is to also possess positive spiritual, emotional and mental energy, all in equal measure. To achieve this balance and live this way is to have what I call ‘Lifesperity’.

anthony gillespie best practice living

What is the biggest mistake people make in relation to their health and well being?

The biggest mistake most people make is not valuing their health enough. It‘s similar to a government assessing the economic health of their country by looking only at its GDP. There is no allowance in this calculation for the contributions of the people within that country toward protecting their environment, looking after the disadvantaged or building a sense of community, all of which are vital parts of the economy.

Give me my health above any sum you care to name; I believe it is a huge mistake not to value it beyond price. A million dollars a year is not enough to compensate for diabetes, heart disease, cancer or the breakdown of the most important relationships in life: those with family and friends. I see this sacrifice time and time again in really busy executives. They try to scale the corporate ladder but at too great a cost. If anyone has seen the movie Click starring Adam Sandler, they will know what I mean about the price that is often paid for career success.

Your health has to be the absolute number one priority in life. After all, what do you have if you don’t have your health? Cliché or not, that statement is such a truism that it should be burnt into our collective psyche. Yet it is not. The fact that people like myself have to encourage others on a daily basis (and these are the ones enlightened enough to actually be investing in their health) means that the message needs to be presented and reinforced many times before it sticks.

rachael cox health avenues

Why are people so stressed out and busy these days? And is there anything we can do to gain control of time?

Acknowledging stress levels has become more commonplace in consultations with new clients. I believe this stems from a regression in the stigma attached to not being able to ‘handle the heat’.

Through these consultations, I have identified these common sources for stress:

• Over committing - Whether in the workplace or at home, some clients place unnecessary stress upon themselves by taking on more than they can handle.
• Inadequate time management - Without good time management skills, tasks can remain incomplete at work and mount up. Similarly, personal or family needs may not be addressed due to a perceived lack of time.
• Constant exposure to technology - Our technology is meant to help us but the reality is that it often just wastes our time and interrupts our concentration. These disturbances result in unfinished tasks.
• Inadequate sleep and poor stress management - The last two points are interconnected. Feeling tired reduces productivity which in turn exacerbates stress levels.

I give my clients this analogy to help put it into perspective: they are on a road trip through life. This trip can be stressful if they don’t have a map and are driving a bomb of a car which could break down at any moment. Alternatively, they could enjoy the ride in a well maintained and reliable vehicle, guided by a map or GPS navigation system. Whilst this may come at a cost, it can reduce the risk of getting lost and or breaking down, ensuring you get to your destination on time and stress free.

ben lucas vision personal training

Were there any times when that you wanted to give up running your business? What got you through?

There is one particularly bad week which springs to mind. During that week I received an eviction notice for my premises, a summons to the high court directed at my business and my personal training studio was robbed! I felt like everything was against me.

The thing that got my through was my self-belief, instilled in me from a young age by my mother. I knew that no matter what, somehow I would be able to get through it. Were everything to fall through, I knew that I had the knowledge and skills to regroup and start over. Knowing that, I didn’t let these things phase me – I took each challenge head on and got through them one by one.

blake worrall-thompson raw solutions & ministry of health

I’ve heard you speak a lot about the importance of recovery and down time in order to avoid becoming overloaded. Why is this so important?

In today’s world, more so then ever before, downtime and recovery have become key components of any health program. Your body will never reach its potential unless your stress levels are balanced. Adequate recovery and downtime allow us to achieve this balance.

If you’re looking to make a good investment in your health it’s worth getting a stress test to see how your body is functioning before starting your fitness training. The amount of time that you need to recover, and the intensity of your workouts, will vary depending on your level of stress. For example, before coming to me, one of my clients was training twice a day and wondering why she wasn’t getting results. I organised a stress test through which she found she was on the edge of chronic fatigue. As a result we completely restructured her workouts, moving her program to weights twice a week and pilates, yoga or meditation three times a week. Initially she wasn’t all that impressed, thinking that the more she worked out the better, but I persuaded her to follow through. After six weeks my client found her stress levels had reduced and she was functioning well enough again to increase her workout load - taking it up to two weights sessions, two cardio sessions and a pilates session each week. After 10 weeks she had dropped six kilos; an achievement she never would have realised had she not allowed her body to return to a balanced state.

robbie bugo pure results personal training

How important is mental health and how does it relate to physical health?

Mental wellbeing is essential for physical health. The brain is your circuit box – it sends out electrical currents to your entire body, fuelling your internal systems and maintaining optimal physical health and wellbeing.

The brain also controls the release of hormones which have physical effects on the body. The hormone dopamine, for example, improves brain firepower, but a lack of it can cause obesity, addiction and fatigue. Another example is serotonin, the happiness and rest hormone. A lack of serotonin can lead to fear, depression and sleep disorders.

Good mental health and consequently, improved physical health, is our responsibility. As the diagram below shows, if we take responsibility for the way we think, those we associate with and our habits, positive mental health will result. As the bible says, “So a man thinketh, so is he”.

angela saville savvy

How much time does it take each week for the average person to improve their health and fitness?

There has been much research into the minimum amount of exercise required to make health and fitness improvements. It has been said that as little as 10 minutes a day can make a difference. I believe it depends on the individual.

It is difficult to describe the average person, as from experience the average person does not exist. For example the effort required for a sedentary person will be different to that required from a relatively fit person. I believe for every individual the right amount is the amount that makes them feel their very best; as little or as much as is needed to make a positive improvement.

These days we hear a lot about incidental exercise. It’s a great way stay active throughout your day, however I don’t think it should replace a genuine exercise program. Instead, consider it a bonus.

Any opportunity taken to move and be active will result in an improvement in overall wellbeing, but when we schedule time to work on health and fitness we are more likely to achieve specific goals, and the improvements will be bigger and better.

jason weber weber performance

Goal setting is the first step in figuring out how you are going to achieve an objective. If this step in the process is founded on bullshit, how can you reasonably expect anything which follows to be any better?

Goals are nothing unless the motivation for them is understood, so my first question when setting a goal is “Do you really give a shit?” (This ties back into the Life Equation concept described earlier). This is what goal setting comes down to. If you really do give a shit then you will make it happen no matter what, making the whole question of whether or not you can stick with your goals a moot point.

One of my favourite tests to determine whether or not someone really “gives a shit” is to ask them to “face their demons”. Facing your demons always takes place alone, as by doing so you know that the drive to conquer them comes from within. There is nothing stronger than a person who is driven from within.

joseph coyne coyne conditioning

What is the biggest mistake people make in relation to their health and wellbeing?

The biggest mistake is that people are not willing to invest in themselves, especially in the area I call ‘health education’. New cars or the latest MacBook Pro will often take preference to our health. If there is one thing you should get out of this book it is that our body is the greatest instrument we have and we need to look after it. So correct education regarding health is incredibly important, and yes, you will have to invest in it just as you would anything else you value.

An example of poor health education concerns the prevalence of aerobic exercise. The best strength coaches and personal trainers in the world all advocate strength and interval training as the most effective methods for losing body fat. We also know that aerobic activity leads to heightened cortisol levels (the stress hormone) which leads to higher levels of body fat. So why do people go jogging or spend hours on a cross trainer when trying to lose weight? The answer of course is poor health education.

lauren chandler shine wellbeing solutions

What person or event has had the biggest impact on your life and why?

By the time I was 18 I had been binge eating for a couple of years. One morning I went out cycling in an attempt to work off the previous night’s session at Sizzlers. I got a fair way from home before impressively stacking my bike (everyone was impressed with the way my bike looked afterwards), landing on my shoulder and breaking my collarbone. I was in an isolated area with little phone reception and couldn’t get a very clear message through to my dad about my location. So for 20 minutes I lay there crying my eyes out. I thought this was it! I was going to get super fat being unable to exercise, and being unable to work I would lose my new car on top of being unable to pay off my hospital bills!

I was soon in hospital having my collarbone pinned (which was even more painful than breaking it!). With extra time on my hands I realised that I didn’t like my life or the way it was heading. I was going to change, starting by losing my excess weight. My time in hospital sparked my passion for health, fitness and wellbeing. Overtime I have found what works not just for me, but for everyone.

daniel carlin elevate performance & health

Why are people so stressed out and busy these days? And is there anything we can do to gain control of our lives?

After years of working with all different types of people, I’ve seen that being busy, time poor and stressed out are the number one reasons or excuses for not getting things done.

Most people consider themselves to be busy already, but as technology gets faster we are expected to get more and more done each day. We also take on more commitments than we can truly handle and say yes to everyone and everything. This scenario leads us to feel as though we have no time at all.

To gain control of our lives we must first be open to change. As adults we are reluctant to change. Instead we do the same thing over and again, expecting or hoping for a different outcome. Once open to the idea of change we can begin to develop new and better habits, and through building these, begin to feel less stressed and more in-control.

shaun baxter xclusive lifestyle changes & xclusive

I recently heard you mention that cancer was one of the best things that ever happened to you. This seemed like quite an odd statement - can you explain what you mean?

Everything that happens in life can be looked at in one of two ways – negatively or positively. You can reflect on the “might have beens” and “what ifs”, or you can focus on what happened and how well you successfully overcame it.

When I look back on my cancer episode it is with a positive mindset. If I hadn’t developed cancer I would never have met my wife, Ingrid. She’s one of the strongest people I have ever met and one of the most caring. Going further, I also wouldn’t have my two beautiful boys, Tyler and Billy. My family means the world to me and watching my boys grow up brings me endless joyous moments. Cancer by comparison seems a small price to pay.

Everything in life happens for a reason, you just need to find the positive in it to turn the experience to your advantage and create an awesome future. There is no use in crying over spilt milk as they say, but there are plenty of good reasons for giving something a go and finding out if you could do it.

I never want to be one of those people who in later life can always be heard saying “if only”, “I wish” or “I could have done that”. Everyone in life has choices – choose not to be a victim of your circumstances.

karlene urlich booost potential

Were there any times you wanted to give up? What got you through?

I have never wanted to give up as such, however there have times when I’ve thought “Can I do this?” or “Is all this effort worth my time? Am I better off just continuing with my personal training business rather than dealing with staff commitments?”

I have the odd bouts of self-doubt, but that is probably due to my workload and a lack of recovery time. My husband Ivan will remind me of the positive outcomes of my business and this always gets me back on track. The support I get from him is amazing; he’s always had complete faith in me. He’s also always available to fix anything from a glitch in my computer through to the printer not working! He will never allow me to give up because he knows how passionate I am about what I do.

ricky langford health business

What does health mean to you and how do you achieve it (have more of it)?

For me being healthy means feeling that I’m the master of my own destiny and can do anything I set my mind to; it means the ability to function without pain and being able to reason and make considered decisions; and it means understanding and being in control of my emotions so that I have the ability to support and be supported by those whom I value.

What you eat and drink, how you sleep, and the way you move are significant for the achievement of good health, but to me the most important piece of the health puzzle is how well you understand yourself. To know yourself enables you to gain control over your feelings and reactions so that you aren’t constantly feeling under siege. Achieving this kind of control leads to a calmer, more considered approach to life and greater resilience in the face of difficulties. In order to reach this point it is essential to understand what causes us to react to situations in a given way, and why. It is essential to become more aware of ourselves.