the contributors

david virgo lifestyle improvers

www.lifestyleimprovers.com

David was born in the Upper Great Southern region of Western Australia in a country town called Narrogin. Being brought up in the country gave David the opportunity to play a wide variety of sports including cricket and football, both of which he showed great promise with. He poured his efforts into these two sports before moving to Perth at the end of high school to focus solely on cricket.

He soon made the Western Australia state cricket squad and held his place there for four years whilst representing the Mount Lawley Cricket Club where he became team captain and set the record for the highest personal score on the club’s home ground – a record that still stands today. When David retired from cricket he went on to coach the Mount Lawley District cricket club. David is still involved with the Country IX cricket organisation assisting country cricketers reach their full potential.

In May 2000 a diagnosis of leukaemia turned David’s world upside down. This pivotal point in his life forced him to take stock and look at his own values and lifestyle. David realised his passion lay in assisting others to grow and develop and so he made the decision to get into the health and wellbeing industry.

He now runs his own health creation and performance enhancement company, Lifestyle Improvers, where he specialises in assisting others to remove their restrictions and free themselves from what he calls ‘Lifestytis’ naturally within 30 days or less. The process he now applies to others is the one he used personally to reshape his life and move him up to where he is today.

David now lives in Morley in Perth with his wife Adriana and their three children, Sabina, Tyrone and Daniella. There he can be found spending time with his kids, reading and surfing.

anthony gillespie best practice living

www.bestpracticept.com.au

Born in Sydney in 1966, Anthony Gillespie is the youngest of four. He learnt from a young age that worthwhile things can be achieved in this world with hard work, original thinking and determination. He learnt this valuable lesson from parents who had built a successful small business from the ground up. It was from this example and plenty of reading that he formed his own personal plan for life, knowing that whatever he did, he had to be behind the steering wheel and driving his own destiny.

Anthony has always viewed sport as a microcosm of life and feels very privileged to have been given the opportunity to experience this from a young age, but also always knew there was much to be learnt outside the sporting environment.

After turning down a full tennis scholarship to Oklahoma City University and then travelling to Europe to play and coach tennis, Anthony pursued the best education of all – life! The inspiration to make health, fitness and performance psychology his career came from a deep understanding that nothing else matters if these three key areas aren’t right. He also saw a huge need for this message as society seemed to be producing people who had lost the ability to understand the wisdom of investing in the most important of assets.... themselves!

At the age 27 he decided it was time to formally educate his mind. After seven years of study Anthony had acquired three degrees as well as a wealth of life experience from numerous jobs, world travel and time spent sailing and living on boats. It was at this point that the business world began to call.

Anthony now owns and operates Best Practice Living, a successful health, fitness and performance coaching business in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. Plans are also underway for a second studio in Sydney. He spends his time between his apartment in the Valley and a holiday house in Cabarita on the far north coast of NSW, indulging his love of the ocean. He is a firm believer in practicing what you preach and, in a nod to achieving the ideal work/life balance, one of his favourite books is the Four Hour Work Week.

rachael cox health avenues

www.healthavenues.com.au

Rachael Cox was born in 1982 in Armidale, NSW. The eldest daughter of Kelvin and Sandra Cox, Rachael grew up with her sister Karina and brother Andrew on a fourth generation cattle and sheep property south of Ashford in northwest New South Wales. On the family farm she learned the laws of the land – branding, shearing, mustering, drenching and fencing, but it was at school that she was able to pursue her love of sport and physical development. At Ashford Central School then later, Macintyre High School in Inverell, Rachael spent as much time as possible on the soccer field, and enjoyed the subject of personal development, health and physical education.

In 2003, Rachael completed a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) at the University of Newcastle. This lead to her first job in the dietetics industry – a position in Moree with the Barwon Division of General Practice where, for two and a half years, she providing outreach dietetic clinics to five rural towns.

In 2006, Rachael completed a Certificate IV in Personal Training and began teaching step classes in addition to her dietetic work. That year she also moved to Mackay and began providing dietetic outreach services to the area’s mining communities.

This work inspired Rachael to create her own health and wellbeing business, Health Avenues; a business that would allow her to develop services for the community and the mining industry.

Rachael now lives in Moranbah where, through Health Avenues, she continues to works closely with local mines, assisting with the implementation and running of both onsite and local health promotion initiatives. She spends her spare time relaxing with her partner Luke, walking their beloved dog Shelby, working out at the gym or at the pool, teaching pilates and spending time with friends and family.

ben lucas vision personal training

www.visionpt.com.au

Growing up in Sydney’s south, the focus of Bens younger years was playing sport.

As a teen, been represented the state in Rugby Union, Rugby League, Athletics and Basketball.

As an adult, Ben decided to focus on Rugby League Playing professionally for the Cronulla Sharks for 5 years. After leaving the Shire he continued to play football in New Zealand and Queensland as well.

Post football Ben dedicated himself to the fitness industry, starting on the gym floor in 1999.

In 2000 Ben progressed to the personal trainer arena, where he found much success.

Starting with Vision Personal Training in 2001, Ben crafted his trade over the next 4 years, learning all he could from this award winning company, getting phenomenal results with clients of ages, shapes and sizes.

In 2005 it was time to leave the nest, and Ben headed up Vision Personal Training Mosman. Vision Mosman is now one of Sydney’s leading PT studios, completing over 700 of quality personal training a week. On the back of this overwhelming success, he has since opened the equally as successful Vision Neutral Bay and Vision North Sydney. Not only providing a life changing service to clients on the North Shore, but quality career opportunities for potential stars of the fitness industry.

Ben has also been a featured fitness contributor in The Sun Herald, Women’s Health and the Sydney morning Herald.

Outside of work, Ben spends his time running marathons, playing Oztag and travelling the world.

blake worrall-thompson raw solutions & ministry of wellbeing

www.rawsolutions.com.au

Blake Worrall-Thompson was born in London, England in 1984 but has spent most of his early years in Victoria. Together with his brother Sam, they grew up living and breathing sport. This obsession for sport saw Blake spend his junior days playing cricket, tennis, basketball, athletics but his number one love was his 16 years playing AFL.

Blake’s attention turned to the health and fitness industry as soon as he finished school. He wasted no time getting his personal training qualification. Within a year of finishing school he was in the gym working as a personal trainer. Blake’s eagerness to learn quickly saw him become an assistant manager of Fitness First at the age of 22.

Blake Worrall-Thompson is now one of the most sought after health professionals in the country. His experience and knowledge is outstanding having worked in an elite personal training studio in London along with owning and running his own bootcamp and holding management roles within Fitness First. Blake’s skills are diverse with experience in mentoring personal trainers, presenting corporate health and fitness workshops and gaining knowledge from various years of education and up skilling.

On the cutting edge with the latest in health and fitness Blake has a well rounded approach due to the fact he has worked with Olympic coaches, osteopaths, physiotherapists, nutritionists and many others.

His holistic approach to training ensures that he leaves no stone unturned in helping you achieve your full potential; no matter what capacity that might be.

He is the director and owner of Raw Solutions which is an international mentoring and coaching program for those in the health and fitness industry looking to get the edge over others in the industry. Along with being the director and owner of Ministry of Wellbeing the corporate health and fitness program aimed at improving each company’s productivity and health. Blake has the health and fitness solutions for each individual.

Blake spends his spare time enjoying the beach, catching up with mates, reading, relaxing and watching his beloved Melbourne Demons!

robbie bugo pure results personal training

www.pureresults.com.au

Born in Hong Kong, Robbie Bugo came to Sydney when he was two years old and grew up in Bankstown in city’s southwest. His life has been one spent overcoming adversity and developing the power of the human spirit.

Growing up he lived across the road from a roller skating rink and it wasn’t long before his passion for speed skating became apparent, but on May 19, 1990 he found himself fighting for his life after being stabbed in the chest outside another skating rink he was visiting. Robbie underwent 13 hours of emergency surgery – the knife had missed his heart by a mere 4mm.

With a punctured lung he spent the next three weeks planning his comeback while recovering in hospital. He then spent the next nine months training like a madman to return to form and achieve his lifelong skating ambitions.

Robbie made a full recovery and went on to represent his country at the 1990 World Speed Skating Championships in Colombia. His 5th placing in the 5,000m event and overall 9th placing was the highlight of his sporting career.

Post skating, Robbie’s career turned to the health and fitness industry. He started at the local gym where he put away the weights and served people at reception. A few years later he obtained his Diploma of Exercise Science and started lecturing on how to exercise and eat sensibly.

Robbie’s career now spans a number of business interests. X Fitness Solutions is his core health and wellness company which incorporates a successful personal training studio called Pure Results. He mentors personal trainers and has applied his love of martial arts and combat sports to Boxmania, an extreme group outdoor boxing business he has recently established.

Robbie is a featured women’s health expert at www.allexperts.com and regularly speaks at schools and fundraising events to help raise awareness of health and wellbeing.

When he isn’t working on his business his love for fishing has seen him travel all over Australia to catch the elusive “big one”. He also enjoys playing music and listening to 80’s retro tracks.

angela saville savvy

www.savvyfitness.com.au

Angela Saville was born in Sydney, NSW in 1979. The youngest of six children she was well looked after by her parents Michael and Lidiana and older siblings. Her infant years were spent growing up in the UK due to her Father’s work commitments. At the age of 7 her family returned to Australia for what was supposed to be a 2-week visit but luckily for Angela, they never went back.

The Australian culture allowed the energetic Angela to explore so many different sports and activities, something, she completely embraced. From a young age she knew her profession would involve health & fitness. After finishing her higher school certificate, Angela was accepted into the bachelor of Education (PE) at Wollongong University.

On completion of her bachelor degree, Angela worked as a physical education teacher for a period of 6 years but continued to teach group exercise classes before and after school each day. Although Angela enjoyed school teaching it was her work within the fitness industry that she discovered her true talent and flair for positively impacting the health & wellbeing of her clients.

Angela’s passion is to lead, motivate and teach people maximise their fitness potential and lead healthier lifestyles. In 2006, Angela took the leap and established her own business Savvy. Today Savvy is the leading outdoor health & wellbeing enterprise in Wollongong.

The underlying principle of the Savvy concept ‘practical know how’, a practical approach to teaching healthy lifestyle behaviours.

jason weber weber performance

www.jasonweber.com.au

For the last decade Jason has been at the forefront of strength and conditioning in professional sport in Australia. As the longest serving Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Wallabies (2002-2007), Jason was directly responsibility for driving the physical preparation of the team across 75 test matches including two Rugby World Cups.

Prior to his Wallabies appointment, Jason held positions as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the AIS Rugby Program, the Queensland Reds and the NSW Waratahs.

Jason is currently the Sport Science Manager at the Fremantle Football Club (AFL), an enormously challenging role within this rebuilding franchise in which he oversees all elements of performance from strength and conditioning to psychological preparation, recovery, and injury treatment and rehabilitation.

In 2005 he released his first book, Train Tough, which has subsequently gone on to be translated and published in the motherland of strength training – Russia.

Over ten years of emersion in the development of elite performers on the world stage has given Jason a unique perspective on how people function under extreme pressure, how they develop and the pitfalls associated with the pursuit of high performance.

Jason has combined his vast experience in elite performance with his personal belief system, incorporating elements of Stoic philosophy and Vedic traditions to develop an exceptionally confronting and powerful system of personal and professional development, aimed at allowing the individual to explore the infinite limits of human performance.

As a speaker and motivator Jason presents his message, LIVE TOUGH…TRAIN TOUGH…PLAY TOUGH, in an honest and uncompromising manner that leaves his audiences feeling educated, motivated and totally engaged in this existence we call life!

joseph coyne coyne conditioning

www.josephcoyne.com

Joseph Coyne was born in the small rural Maori community of Tolaga Bay, NZ.  At the age of 14, he was shipped off to Gisborne Boys’ High School’s boarding hostel, which he credits with really preparing him for life’s ‘rough breaks’. Leaving high school with a mind that simply thought about sport, sport and more sport, he enrolled in the School of Physical Education at Otago University.  During his time studying, Joseph excelled in the football codes and represented Otago in rugby union, rugby league and touch football. This was also where his real introduction to high performance training began.  Living with several Super 14 & international rugby union players and working with a number of NZ Academy of Sport athletes through university, he soaked up as much information possible regarding physical & mental performance.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Physical Education & a Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) in 2004, Joseph made the big jump across the Tasman to play semi-professional rugby league. Living with more professional athletes (only this time surfers) helped Joseph identify what produces high performance across different sports and he quickly found a job personal training. Fast forward five years and Joseph has helped to produce four world champions and has developed an unparalleled reputation for delivering performance gains to his clients. Based on these results, he has specialized relationships with major professional sport agencies including SFX Sports and a number of corporate businesses looking to improve their productivity & output. To complement his work with athletes and corporate clients, he is also one of the Australia’s only Active Release Techniques (ART) practitioners.  Joseph has had his work published in a number of magazines and has been given his own expert column in the multinational Mens’ Fitness magazine.

Joseph’s currently runs his performance centre on the Gold Coast where leading athletes from all over the country are sent to ‘up their game’.  From the centre, he also conducts a limited number of semi-private internships for aspiring personal trainers & sport coaches looking to learn from the best.  Away from work, Joseph still enjoys surfing, gymnastics and the weekend bash of golf.

lauren chandler shine wellbeing solutions

www.shinewellbeing.com.au

Described as the poster girl for positive affirmations by one of her clients and the proud owner of the nickname ‘Smiley’ from a young age, health coach Lauren Chandler is a shining and leading light in the health, fitness and wellbeing industry, showing others how to live the life they’ve always imagined.

The only girl in the Chandler household, and the eldest of three, Lauren was a passionate and very active child. Her love of sports began with soccer, dirt bike riding, karate and wrestling, spurred on by her male siblings. Growing up in a house bordering the bush, Lauren also developed a natural affinity for the great outdoors.

At 18 years of age, Lauren’s life took a turn when she broke her collarbone in a cycling accident. This marked the start of what she refers to as her ‘emancipation’. From this point Lauren discovered a passion for understanding health, fitness and wellbeing, wanting to overcome her own health, weight and self-esteem issues and go on to help others overcome the same for themselves. It was also at this time that she discovered her passion for rock climbing.

Lauren now owns and operates Shine Wellbeing Solutions, a personal training company based in The Sutherland Shire, NSW. She loves working one-on-one with Shine’s clients to discover their body’s unique blueprint and guide them along the path to their goals. Her greatest success is realised when her clients achieve their desired results having previously tried and failed with everything else.

Lauren is also very passionate about working with athletes, stroke victims, rehabilitation clients and the physically and mentally challenged. She currently trains members of Sailability Rushcutters Bay and devises programmes for the diverse needs of her varied clients.

In her desire to spread Shine’s message of health, fitness and wellbeing to greater communities, Lauren writes for magazines and has been a regular presenter online and on-air.

daniel carlin elevate performance & health

www.elevateperformance.com.au

Daniel was born in Sydney in the late 70’s, some say with a microphone in his hand.

Daniel’s love of travel and adventure was instilled in him from the outset by his loving parents, Peter and Carol, who packed the campervan and took their newborn on an 18 month adventure around Australia to experience the great outdoors. Adventure, the Boy Scout movement, skateboarding and entertaining the neighbours with talent shows kept Daniel busy throughout his early years.

During his teen years Daniel played in a band and established a guitar tutoring business from a makeshift studio at his parent’s house, and it was here that he discovered his passion for teaching. During this time he also took up weight training at the local gym and began his lifelong love of performance.

After school finished, Daniel spent several years working as a sound technician all over the globe. The nature of his work allowed him to explore the world and feed his adventurous spirit, but it was not his calling. During this period Daniel also completed his Master Trainer qualification and soon turned his ‘on the side’ personal training work into a fulltime career.

As a trainer, Daniel rediscovered his love for teaching and has now helped hundreds reach their health and fitness goals. Today, Daniel heads up Elevate Performance and Health, a corporate health business designed to provide people with solutions to sustain their performance.

Daniel’s passion and drive makes him a valuable asset to his clients, while his down to earth personality and dynamic approach has been proven time and again to deliver great results.

shaun baxter xclusive lifestyle changes & xclusive

www.xclusivelife.com.au

Shaun’s passion for health, sport and fitness is his life.

On the sport’s field, Shaun has always excelled. At 16 he was ranked number two in Australia in the decathlon before going on to play professional AFL with the Western Bulldogs and Geelong Cats during the mid to late ‘90s.

During his 2nd season of AFL, Shaun’s character was tested when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given just ten months to live. In addition to his battle with cancer, Shaun has fractured 14 ribs, his wrist, his back, his forearm and his collarbone. He has also torn his AC joint, punctured both lungs, torn his hamstrings and endured eight knee operations.

Through these myriad challenges and injuries, Shaun has developed a superior understanding of people who are also facing tough situations. He now teaches these people to challenge themselves to rise above their situations.

Shaun is regularly booked to deliver motivational talks on the topic of overcoming adversity and on ways to maximise life’s opportunities. Drawing on his own experiences, he teaches that we are challenged many times throughout our lives but that we should never feel as though we are unable to achieve optimal health and fitness as a result.

Shaun continues to challenge himself too. He appeared in the 2008 series of Gladiators on Channel 7 and is currently training to compete in adventure races. His dream is to complete the Hawaiian Ironman by the age of 40.

karlene urlich booost potential

www.booost.co.nz

Karlene was born in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands where she grew up living and breathing the sun and surf. Life on her grandparents’ property was very relaxed and one in which the whole family played a part in every activity.

The family moved to Auckland when Karlene was young and while this was an emotional time for her, she was able to adapt to the new city thanks largely to the supportive culture her family provides. Karlene credits her family’s values for sculpting her into the motivated, determined and passionate person she is today.

From an early age Karlene played netball and volleyball, progressing to play at representative level until a serious knee injury ended her days on the court at the age of 23.

In 1992 she completed a Certificate of Fitness Centre Training through the Auckland University of Technology and began her fitness industry career. In those early days Karlene’s roles in the gym saw her teaching everything from fitness instruction to aerobics, circuit training and even aquarobics. In such an environment, she learnt much on the job and that experience has been crucial to her current success.

Karlene’s wealth of knowledge and experience has now been transferred into her own company, Booost Potential Ltd, one of New Zealand’s leading corporate health and wellness businesses. Booost Potential offers a wide range of services from group and one-on-one training to corporate health packages, health seminars, nutritional advice, and mentoring and coaching.

Still in the industry after 17 years, Karlene is as passionate today as she was when she started. She now lives in Milford on Auckland’s North Shore with her husband Ivan. There you will find them walking and talking as they both love being outside and spending quality time with each other. For Karlene, it’s all about a positive and balanced life.

ricky langford healthy business

www.healthybusiness.com.au

Ricky Langford’s path to his current position in life seems somewhat unusual to some of his colleagues.

Born in Hobart, Tasmania, and brought up in a working class suburb by great parents who supported all of his many interests, Ricky’s sporting career kicked off with school grade AFL. After sustaining a knee injury (and deciding he probably wasn’t that good a player anyway), he was encourage to try golf by his father at the local Richmond Club. Ricky took up the sport and went on to win a men’s A Grade title at the age of 14. At age 18, Ricky was selected to join the NSWIS talent identification programme, part of the AIS Golf Programme.

Also at age 18, Ricky was invited to take part in an innovative Coles Myer fast track management programme. This led to a co-manager position with Venture Stores then into a successful real estate career.

It was at this point however, that Ricky’s path took him into the world of performance training. Inspired by a meeting with Andrew May, he began training and educating himself, taking all the fitness leadership courses he could find and completing both a Diploma of Exercise Science and a post graduate Diploma in Exercise Rehabilitation at university.

With Andrew, he established Fully Integrated Training which became a successful training organisation working primarily in the field of rehabilitation. This morphed into Healthy Business, a company that is now one of Australia’s leading workplace health and fitness providers.

In addition to his business activities, Ricky has worked concurrently as a strength and conditioning coach. He served as head conditioning specialist for AFL Tasmania for four years and worked as the physical performance manager for Tasmanian Cricket during its most successful period to date. Ricky then worked with the Australian Cricket team as their performance manager through two series and numerous one day tournaments during the 2004/5 season.

Ricky’s work has seen him consult to many sporting organisations and he is now a sought after public speaker on the topics of health and resilience.

andrew may switched on

www.andrewmay.com

Andrew May is one of Australia’s leading experts in the field of human performance and productivity. He is the former Physical Performance Manager for the Australian Cricket team and has worked with a range of leading sporting teams and Olympic athletes. He is currently completing his Masters in Coaching Psychology.

Andrew May is also a forward-thinking businessman. Having co-founded Good Health Solutions, Australia’s largest corporate health promotion company,he has also launched Recharge, an exclusive Recovery and Performance Clinic in Sydney, Australia.

Andrew is a leading motivational speaker and is the author of three best selling books ‘Flip the Switch’, ‘Switched On Health & Wellbeing Professionals, Volume 1 and ‘Between Jobs, a survival guide to redundancy’. He writes for a number of magazines, is a regular voice on radio and regularly appears on TV.