The Valor Podcast

Jay is a 3 x CrossFit Games athlete and all round top bloke.

In our chat we focus less on what we all see in the typical CrossFit Games space, and more on what goes on behind the scenes, particularly in Jay's head.

We chat about struggles and roadblocks, self doubt, the pressure to stay on top, the common issue of identity crisis in elite sportspeople, and how to get the most out of your career as an elite athlete.

The lessons you can draw from Jay's approach to his training and his career are applicable to everyone, from the casual fitness-er, to the aspiring athlete.

In today's episode Katie shares with me her experiences with Bipolar 1 disorder. Bipolar is an incredibly challenging mental health disorder, that like many mental health disorders, carries that heavy baggage of stigma.

Bipolar is complex and it is heavily misunderstood by many people, which can lead to an array further added social and psychological challenges. The goal of our chat is to provide greater understanding, discuss stigma and its effect, and how to best support a person suffering a debilitating mental health disorder.

Gemma and Bronte are 2 of the 3 sisters who started the Evolve Allstars Cheerleading Club.

Cheer is a unique sport, combining a range of gymnastic and acrobatic skills with dance and a tonne of sass. It is a rapidly growing sport in Australia that is built around a culture of discipline, hard work as well as celebrating the success of others, lifting up one another (figuratively and literally), expressing oneself, and just having fun.

But like many performance based sports, competition results are subjective. Whether you place or not is up to the opinion of someone else. For children and adolescents in this ever intensifying world of social media comparison and internalised pressure to be subjectively perfect, this can be tricky to navigate.

Gemma, Bronte, Ascha and their coaching team are fantastic at helping teach their kids the values of sport, and what is and is not important when engaging in competitive sport. Gemma and Bronte share their insights into how to support kids through these challenges, how to nurture them in sport, how to ensure they both challenge themselves and enjoy it at the same time.

They also give some sound advice for how us parents can be the best "sports-kid-parents" we can possibly be, as opposed to a crazy soccer mum, an overbearing footy dad, or a nutty cheer grandma that is just that little bit too involved, often to the detriment of their child.

Will is a wonderful human. A bloke who shows care and interest in absolutely everyone. But nothing makes any of us immune to tough times.

After experiencing beat downs on top of beat downs, Will found himself in the darkest place he had ever been, and was struggling to find a way out.

On the other side of those days now Will shared his story with me. Detailing how he managed to pick himself back up and all the tools and supports he used to put him on the strong and fruitful path he is on now.

Above all, Will shares hope. That no matter how dark your days can get, you can pull yourself out of it, and that there are many people around you that will launch themselves into the hole with you to help.

You are not alone.

*Trigger warning, minutes 24:20 - 26:20 we discuss suicide. Some parts have been edited out in the interest of listener safety, but the theme remains. Also 38:45-39:00 briefly discusses suicide, but has been edited. If this topic is too much for you at this time, either skip ahead these sections, or give this episode a miss until you feel ready.

For support, please reach out to:

Lifeline - 13 11 14

Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636

Black Dog Institute - https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/

Matt is a guy, a really great guy.

Like many guys (and not guys), life gets busy, responsibilities increase, things become a little more hectic, and we find ourselves not doing many of the active things we used to do.

All of a sudden, we are a bit bigger, a bit unhealthier, and so very tired, So much so that the thought of getting ourselves back in shape seems like an impossibility.

Sound familiar?

Like so many people, this was Matty's story.

In this episode, Matt shares how he has managed to wrangle his health back, run his first ever 10km event, detail how he dealt with the ups and downs of motivation and energy, overcoming the daunting thoughts about the long long road ahead, picking himself up after failures and setbacks, and shares the factors that he most attributes to his success.

This is the episode for the everyday person that relates to Matt's struggles, and hasn't quite made their return to good health click yet.

Ryan is one of the incredible coaches we have here at Valor. He is a lovely kind soul, a great weightlifter, and an amazing father and husband to a beautiful family.

What is now such a great and successful life wasn't the expected outcome for Ryan. Brought up by his grandparents from a very young age, experiencing childhood abuse, and navigating obstacles no young person should have to encounter, the odds we stacked against Ryan ands his siblings right from the beginning.

Ryan shares his story of overcoming so much adversity, how he has become the great bloke he is today, and we discuss the importance of support networks that have essentially worked as lifelines for Ryan.

Note - The topic of suicide is briefly discussed in this episode. If you don't feel you are in the right space to listen to these themes just yet, give this episode a miss for now and come back to it later.

For support, please reach out to:

Lifeline - 13 11 14

Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636

A good yarn = the antidote to chaos

After a week of vaccine mandates, extended lockdowns, rioting and a big bloody earthquake, I needed to unpack my brain.

I enlisted the help of Josh Reid Jones, founder of the Just Be Nice Project (@jbnproject @joshreidjones) and Lachy Wallace, founder of Virtus Performance (@virtusperformance @theexcellencecoach), to help share a quality chat about all the craziness going on in Melbourne and all over Australia.

We discuss lockdowns and their purpose and why we have been locked down for so damn long, we discuss vaccines and their purpose, why people resist, why conspiracies are so persuasive, whether vax mandates are a human rights and segregation issue or not, how to debate with friends without losing our friends, who we should be trusting to guide our health related decisions, and much much more.

We truly hope this episode can help any person that is on the fence, a little unsure, scared, or just so fucking confused about all of it, we hope that this episode can give you a little more clarity and the confidence to think critically about our current situation and your responsibilities within it.

How did Valor come to be what it is today?

It is hard to portray how special ValorFNM is. We don't consider ourselves to be just another gym, a place to sweat and get fit. It goes so far beyond that.

The impact Valor has on all those that are connected to it is something special. The community that exists is a beautiful, safe, warm and encouraging place to be a part of.

People can be themselves, people can share how they feel, people can grow and develop themselves in every aspect of their lives while also feeling a part of something greater than themselves. Every person involved in Valor feels as though they are contributing to this good good thing, and everyone benefits as a result.

In this final episode of season 2 we flip the roles. This time, Carmen and Darren, two legends of the Valor community, interview Stu about everything Valor and how it came to be. We dive into Stu's history in sport and fitness, how his idea's and philosophies have shaped him and his gym, and much more.

A really great finish to what as been a wonderful second season of The Valor Podcast.

Enjoy!!

Nicole is a Cranny OG member. She is a sweet soul who is always looking to make others happy. So kind and so very generous with her time, you would find it so hard to believe that behind her selfless exterior, she was struggling on the inside.

Nic takes us on her journey through alcoholism, from a typical binge drinking 20 year old Aussie, to a high functioning working mum living off a bottle of wine a night, to her rock bottom, and then out the other side.

Nic's story is gripping, compelling, and will hit pretty close to home for many. We discuss many forms of addiction and what we can do to overcome them and live a better, more functional, more fulfilling and happier life.

A massive thank you to Nic for opening up and sharing, as she mentions, if her story can help just 1 person, then sharing her story will be absolutely worth it.

Darren Michelle did what many of us want to do, but are still that bit too fearful to bite the bullet, shut the eyes, and go for it.

Darren turned away from his high paying, cushy, cosey, secure bank job to pursue a career he actually enjoys. One that sees him spending less time in traffic, less time stuck in an office, and more time with his family doing the things they enjoy.

But how easy is it? How hard is it to turn away, to lose that security, to take that risk of losing it all in order for the happiness we truly are after? Many of us ask this same question, losing more time with our kids, missing out on events, and for what? A big retirement?

Darren shares his views an insights into choosing flexibility and more family time over big money. A fantastic story of biting the bullet, showing massive courage, and reaping the rewards as a result.