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Dr Sam Shay to interview - The Ten Pillars Of Health

In this interview with Dr Sam Shay, Functional medicine practitioner, chiropracter, functional neurologist Lisa discusses:The controversy over the health consequences of long-distance running,How people over do HIIT and what to do insteadHow those who do long distance running can minimize the damage.Genetics and exerciseWhy certain people can get fatter the more they exercise (and what to do about it)The adrenal system and exerciseNeurocognitive degenerationWestern Medicine vs. Natural Medicine ...

How to tell when you need a new pair of running shoes

How often do you change your running shoes?They are expensive right so you don't want to ditch them too early but waiting too long can lead to injury. So how do you tell? Well, If you keep track of kilometres, you put on your shoes, swap them out around 500 to 800 kilometres or about six months to a year whichever comes first. This is a wide range. So here are some telltale signs that it's time for a new pair of shoes. Your shoes will tell you your shoes begin to feel a little bit deed under you...

The Warrior Woman Whose Grit And Determination Saved Her Mum

OPINION: If you were coming up with a list of people who embody toughness and mental strength, you'd do well to jot down the name Lisa Tamati pretty quickly. Tamati is known as an ultramarathon runner who has slayed many of the most gruelling races on the planet. She's beaten Badwater, the infamous ultramarathon through Death Valley in the United States, she's run across deserts – and climbed Himalayan alps in expeditions and races that could easily have ended in death. She...

A quick rule of thumb guide to monitor your training intensity

This quick guide is not meant as an exhaustive resource but gives you a quick way to monitor your training intensity. There are many ways to monitor your training intensity. Many people use a watch these days. My go to is my Garmin Forerunner 235. But below is the formula that we like to use with our clients.  The HeartRate Reserve (HRR) method. Target heart rate (THR) = (max heart rate - resting rate ) x desired intensity + resting hea...

Interview JJ Virgin - Warrior Mum, 4 x NY Times Best Selling Author

JJ Virgin is a 4 x New York Times Best Selling Author, TV show Host, Triple Board certified Celebrity Nutritionist and a warrior mum.In 2012 JJ's 16 year old son Grant was the victim of a hit and run accident and was left barely hanging onto life, after weeks in a critical condition and defying all the odds he slowly emerged from his coma with major brain trauma and 13 fractures and a near torn aorta. JJ was told from the outset he wouldn't survive the first night, that he wouldn't survive the a...

Running 250km across the Sahara

Running 250km across the Sahara in blistering heat isn’t just about the challenge, its also about solidarity too.My Plane has just touched down in Cairo and I am nervous and full of trepidation. My friend Megan Steward, who is doing her first big ultra-endurance race alongside me, picks me up. We are here to run in the Sahara Race, rated by Time magazine as one of the top 10 endurance events in the world. It’ll be brutal - 250km in the harshest conditions lie ahead.Day oneWe wake at 4:4...

The Power of Meditation to Change The World With Producer of "The Portal" Tom Cronin

Tom Cronin in a previous life was a Finance Broker of 26 years experience, he lead a life like that portrayed in the "Wolf of Wall St" movie. Life was full of stress, adrenaline, risk and partying. Burning the candle at both end he began to suffer the consequences as his nervous system broke down and anxiety and depression haunted him. Doctors advised the pharmaceutical fixes for these common ails but he decided to go down the route of meditation and studying eastern philosophies and taking a jo...

Why Epigenetics Is The Future Of Personalised Health

Wouldn't it be great if your body came with a user manual?Which foods should you eat, and which ones should you avoid? When, and how often should you be eating? What type of exercise does your body respond best to, and when is it best to exercise? Discover the social interactions that will energise you and uncover your natural gifts and talents. These are just some of the questions you’ll uncover the answers to in the Epigenetics Testing Program along with many others. There’s a good reas...

Standing in your own power - Enough of not feeling good enough

In this episode Lisa Tamati and Neil Wagstaff discuss the phenomenon of the imposter syndrome, of having a lack of self confidence and self acceptance, about understanding the power of your words and thoughts to change your attitude to yourself and to your potential as a person. How our perceptions of others always being better than us, diminishes our power and how that is a misconception of reality. Our everyones experiences colours the way they see themselves and the world and why you need to ...

What to do if you fall off the bandwagon with your nutrition and training

We have all done it.. set out all excited on a new training regime or nutrition plan then become derailed by something, lost our way, fell off the proverbial bandwagon.  In this episode Ultra Endurance Athlete Lisa and Exercise Scientist Neil Wagstaff give their greatest tips for staying motivated, changing the stories running in your head, getting past limiting beliefs and changing your moods and emotions so you can stay focussed and reach those long held dreams  We would like to than...

How to tell if you are under or over training

Many athletes have the attitude you just have to go hard all the time, they are tough and unbending when it comes to training, they know it sometimes hurts and is hard and you just have to deal with that. Take a teaspoon of concrete and harden up and this attitude has some great benefits with your sporting and fitness ambitions but can also . have great benefits for other areas of your life. You learn mental toughness and how to push through, however this approach can also lead to burnout and ad...

The Power of Absolute Belief, Love And Determination To Beat The Odds

Lisa was featured on the Guy Lawrence podcast and talked about her mums unbelievable comeback journey after an aneurysm left with her with massive brain damage. Lisa is due to release her book "Relentless" in a few months chronicling their incredible, against the odds, journey and their fight against the system, against limiting beliefs and the cruel nature of brain damage.If you would like to get on pre launch VIP list for Lisa's book so you can hear about when it is released and launch events ...

How to have more health & Happiness with Rachel Grunwell

Rachel Grunwell is one of New Zealands' best know health and wellness experts and enthusiastic marathon runner. She is an award-winning journalist and has just released the book Balance: Food, health + Happiness which which features 30 global experts sharing science-backed advice on living healthier and happier.  But Rachel wasn't always a fitness queen. Up until 7 years ago she was a hard hitting investigative journalist and had three small children and was by her own admission e...

My Rules For Achieving Big Dreams, Goals & Visions

If I were to distill into one short blog post some of the major lessons I have learned over the past 25 years competing in the world's toughest endurance events, running multiple business and overcoming many personal tragedies and challenges then these would be it.1. You must have a vision and a concrete goal to aim for. If you have no set goal you will wander aimlessly around and never hit anything. You need to know when you are successful 2. Work your ass off and advertise. You need to a stron...

The Importance Of Celebrating Your Wins To Power Your Future Challenges

I want to ask you a question. When you achieve a big goal, when you overcome a big hurdle, when you are disciplined and hardworking and do well Do you celebrate your wins.Do you keep a track and really integrate the successes into your psyche. There are many reasons why you should and it’s not about pumping up your ego or arrogance but rather to rebuild your confidence, give you strength for future or current battles and to remind yourself of your badass moments so you can repeat them.&nb...

The 5 Elements Of An Holistic Run Training Program

In this episode Run Coaches Lisa Tamati and Neil Wagstaff look at the structure of a good run training system.  The many elements of a holistic program - run sessions, skills and drills, mobility and flexibility work, strength work, sleep and recovery, nutrition and supplementation and mindset. They look at the benefits of video analysis and when to build in technique and drill work and when and how to build in strength training that is specific to running. How mobility work plays a part an...

The keys to your mind - Control your mind, control you destiny

Do you wish you had the mental toughness of an extreme athlete?  Do you seek the confidence to deal with any threat, to steer any situation or challenge to a positive outcome? If so, you can now learn the secrets to Mental Toughness and to developing a never quit mindset from an Athlete/Business woman who has been there and done that. The keys to the mind - Control your mind, control your destiny The following are just a couple of the  powerful key traits and exercises that I have lear...

Endurance Rice Cake Recipe

These are a great snack for your long training sessions or for racing. Full of easy to digest carbs a little fat and sugar and easy to make and pack to take with you.Ingredients500 grams of rice (risotto or sushi rice) 250grams cream cheese3 Tbsp Agave nectar or honeyTwo big pinches of cinnamon3 Tbsp of sugar (optional)Vanilla extract Wash the rice thoroughly then put it in a large saucepan with 800 ml of water (be exact) the vanilla extract and the cinnamon.Bring to the boil then redu...

Why Olders Runners Need To Train Differently

If you are a past 40 runner you need to listen to this.Older runners need to incorporate strength training into their training program because:As you age you lose muscle mass unless you are specifically counteracting it - usual is around 200g per year. So by 70 you can have lost 30-40% of your muscle. This can lead to a higher body fat percentage and less stability in your body's key running muscle groups Running is also a catabolic form of exercise meaning it tends to eat muscle mass, which le...

The power of the state of gratitude

The more I research and learn about the mind and the older I get the more I understand the power of the state of gratitude. It's one of the highest states that we can be in and releases hormones into our system that actually change how we feel and lower the stress hormones we release. Becoming more concious of being grateful is something we can work on constantly. Every time we get annoyed, frustrated, angry at some we need to try and stop and catch that negative thought, own it and underst...

Running, Health and Fitness Podcasts we love

We are passionate about running, fitness, health and mindset  and want to share with you some of the great resources we have found (besides our wonderful resource of course) that will help inspire, educate and motivate you with your running. We are also passionate podcasters both as consumers of great podcasts and producers of our own show so we want to the get the word about how great a resource podcasts are for whatever you want to learn.  So without further adieu here are our top pi...

How much protein do you really need?

Athletes whether they be endurance athletes or strength athletes need more protein than the sedentary person.Protein expedites healing, recovery and your immune system function and provides building blocks for new cells it also helps the body produce hormones and enzymes.  However protein isn’t a good fuel source for an athlete, it takes too many metabolic processes to break down efficiently for fast energy production.  The amount of protein an athlete will need depends on their gend...

Running Injuries

This week’s blog will help you with prevention and management of most lower limb tendinopathies including plantar fasciitis, achilles, hamstring, patella and hip tendinopathies. The information provided will cover 95% of cases out there, I am aware rare presentations may all outside of this advice. Here we go. 1. A tendon reaction will always be due to a sudden overload: As I have discussed before, every tendon in the body has a certain load capacity. If you train just below this capacity in t...

Runners - What is your VO2max and how important is it

Can you improve your God given vo2 max? and is it an accurate predictor of your athletic capacity. VO2max stands for maximal oxygen uptake and refers to the amount of oxygen your body is capable of utilizing in one minute. It is a measure of your capacity for aerobic work and can be a predictor of your potential as an endurance athlete. However its more important to note your velocity at vo2 max as well. Put simply, your VO2 max is a numerical measurement of your body’s ability to co...

THE RUNNERS HOME GYM - WHAT YOU NEED

Gyms can be daunting not to mention expensive places to workout at and if you aren't into massive weightlifting then you don’t necessarily need 90% of the equipment there. Here I take people through some basic and some quirky pieces of equipment that are relatively inexpensive to buy but that will keep you challenged, fit and strong for your chosen sport and for general health. These items are especially suited to runners who shouldn’t neglect their strength work in order to be able to ...