Sig Fisher speaks with Holly Sinclair from The Women's Series about why she stopped working the early mornings and what coaches can do to really help their clients. 

Holly says it is important to not just look at what and how much exercise someone is doing, but also looking for signs of fatigue and asking them the important questions about their sleep and diet. 

"Just training someone has a massive limitation on your clients, you need to observe them and manage life outside of the gym," Holly said.

"If someone is stressed, isn’t sleeping well or eating a nutritious diet, their training and results are going to suffer."

 Holly said that stress hormones affected health more than people realised and gut health was also a huge factor that can affect training and results. 

"Digestion ultimately starts in the brain and ends at the feet, if someone has poor mind to foot connection, you know they are going to have issues with their digestion," she said. 

"If someone has lag time with their feet, say when someone is doing Olympic lifting – cleans – or if they can’t pick their feet up properly, their brain isn’t firing quickly enough, and it could be the gut. 

Holly added that getting up at 4am and running a gym class or PT, and over working herself nearly had her at breaking point.  

 "As soon as I stopped getting up at 4am to train people, my health changed."

 Host: https://www.instagram.com/sigfisher/
Guest: https://www.instagram.com/thewomenseries/

www.nwfacademy.com.au  

Alex McNeil talks with Australian number one 3x3 and Women’s National Basketball League Southside Flyers player Rebecca Cole about all things sport, health, fitness and family. 

Coming from a sporting family, with her father being an ex Soccer Roo, her and her sisters always played sport, particularly netball.

But when she was just 7-years-old a friend asked her to fill in for a basketball game, from that day she was hooked and never stopped dreaming big. 

Ever wondered how professional basketball players train in the gym? 

Rebecca speaks about the benefits of weightlifting for team sport and how being strong off the court was so important for game day. 

Rebecca saw her injuries as a challenge to get through and come back stronger and better and she shares some great advice for coaches and personal trainers who have clients with injuries. 

Alex chats to Rebecca about what she eats in a day when she is training and when she is not, as well as her future plans for the Commonwealth Games and Paris Olympics, and also why she loves the fitness industry. 

Rebecca also has her Cert III & IV in Fitness and used to work at F45 Training in Hawthorn.

“Work hard when people are watching but also when no one is watching” is her motto

Rebecca is also an ambassador for the Lymphoma.org.au. In 2019 her father was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, luckily her father is in remission, and they are able to raise awareness and funds for https://www.lymphoma.org.au/ together. September is Lymphoma awareness month. 

Host: https://www.instagram.com/alex_girlswholift/
Guest: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccajcole/

www.nwfacademy.com.au

Siggy Fisher speaks with women’s physio Kayla Mulvogue about all things female fitness and functionality

Kayla explains some of the anatomical differences in female body’s and how to change a strength program to suit.

Siggy and Kayla chat about how you can work with your hormones and physiology, why female trainers are so important in the industry and the potential dangers of hormonal birth control for young girls and women.

Host: https://www.instagram.com/sigfisher
Guest: https://www.instagram.com/kaylaleephysio

www.nwfacademy.com.au

Making waves the industry and bridging the gap between rehab and fitness, Alex McNeil speaks with Dr Dani Antonellos about education and allied health. 

Personal trainer, pro bikini athlete, osteopath and co-host of the popular "Level Up: With Sharelle & Dan" - we chat with Dani about how she got to where she is, her advise for others in the industry and what she plans to do next!

Host: Alex https://www.instagram.com/alex_girlswholift
Guest: Dani https://www.instagram.com/daniantonellos

www.nwfacademy.com.au

Over 14,000 operations for weight loss are performed in Australia each year. About 70% of those are gastric sleeve, 20% gastric band and 10% gastric bypass. 

We speak with ex pro hockey player and personal trainer Rhonda about her long battle with eating disorders, and why she chose to go under the knife. 

Is there still stigma around it?

What is recovery like?

Do you get enough support post-op?

How do you recover properly after training?

What happens when old habits creep back in?

We also unpack the mental load and mindset techniques that have helped Rhonda get through it all. 

Host: https://www.instagram.com/laurencalvin_lc/

Guest: https://www.instagram.com/rhondie_roo_/

www.nwfacademy.com.au

Paige (Biker Biddie) Mills is a powerlifting, Harley riding, triathlon champion who inspires thousands of women to breakthrough barriers and kick-ass in life, sport and business. 
 
NWFA Podcast host Alex McNeil from Girls Who Lift, spoke with the Instagram star turned athlete about how to build a following and grow your business to support the lifestyle you deserve. 

Her page @bikerbiddie has more than 311K followers, and she runs a successful coaching business from a shipping container that she crafted into a boutique strength studio in Geelong (@40ftstrong).

The self proclaimed 'Jack of all trades, master of none' is pretty darn good at anything she turns her hand to. 

Starting out like many do in the fitness industry, Paige was simply lifting weights to look better naked. But after she high bar squatted 100kg at 65kg body weight, a friend told her she should try powerlifting. 

"I was training with a lot of men, I just thought everyone could do that, wasn’t a big deal, then a friend of mine said I should try power lifting. I said 'Show me the women doing this sport'"

After winning her first novice comp Paige realised she was not just average, but naturally elite. 

She said changing that focus from how the body looks to what the body can do, was empowering. 

Listen to Paige's tips on innovative ways for coaches to make money, and how to be authentic and grow a following on Instagram, as well as her plans for the future. 

"There is so much demand for good personal trainers, to make a living you don’t need a big following or even be different to others," Paige said. 

"Everyone wants to improve their body and their lifestyle, there is room for everyone in the industry. 

"If you are 55 and have only been training yourself for 5 years and you don’t have abs you can still fill a (PT) book by being personable and being nice to people, talking to people at the gym, and repetition.

"5-10 years ago, being perfect and having abs all year round, was the way to go viral and have success. Now it is so hard to go viral on Instagram, being lean and beautiful doesn’t cut it. 

"Its not enough for people to juts be hot, you need to show personality and be authentic.

Don't disregard having a few thousand followers, they are so valuable, but if you want to grow collaboration is key" Paige added. 


Host - Alex McNeil: https://www.instagram.com/alex_girlswholift/
Guest - Paige Mills: https://www.instagram.com/bikerbiddie/

www.nwfacademy.com.au

Being hospitalised several times for exhaustion and being on the brink of heart failure is not the ideal life of a 20 year old girl. But after years of being told she was too big to be a successful dancer, Jessie O'Meara's 'clean eating' spiralled into anorexia nervosa, and it almost killed her. 

On today's episode, Jessie shares her experience with anorexia and how she learned to love her body and take back her life. 

Today, an inspiring Yoga, Barre and Dance Teacher, Jessie radiates positivity and happiness and wants to help improve the experience people have with their health and fitness by becoming a Personal Trainer. 

Jessie wants you to know that you are good enough to be a successful PT, just as you are!

For more information or help regarding eating disorders: https://butterfly.org.au/

To contact Jessie: www.instagram.com/flourisingjessie

Often cause by chronic undereating and over exercising, hypothalamic amenorrhea or HA is when the menstrual cycle and periods stop due to stress placed on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). 

We talk with Lucy McConnell, who has recovered twice from HA, both in different ways. She now is part of the team behind the Recovery Club and helps women regain their period and curb disordered eating. 

HA not only affects fertility, it also has a huge impact on bone and heart health. 

Women can lose up to 2% of their bone mass per year when not menstruating and 30-50% of HA cases have osteoporosis or low bone density. 

If you are struggling with disordered eating or HA, please reach out for support at www.recoveryclub.mn.co 

Sarah Hourani is not your stereotypical personal trainer. She is a powerful and proud hijab (headscarf) wearing Muslim sportswoman.

Exercising and eating healthy for Muslim women is not about how they look, it’s a form of worship, as a sign of respect for their bodies.

Sarah is passionate about empowering her members at the female only gym, Fiit Zone, with strength, health and mental wellbeing, and encourages them to come to her classes for just a chat, even if they're not up for exercise. 

“In Islam, taking care of our bodies is very important. We pray five times a day which imitates yoga and meditation – this is our time out,” she said.

“From a young age we are taught that our bodies have rights and we must take care of them in the best possible manner.”

With Ramadan coming up in just 3 weeks (April 12 - March 12) we talk about the daily fasting and how to change up your fitness routine to make sure you are looking after yourself in the best way during this time. 

There is so much more to endometriosis than just hormones! 

We talk to Women's Health and Natural Fertility Expert Jacqui Lamplugh about the complex condition that affects 1 in 10 women in Australia. 

So, is it a hormonal disorder? 

Is it an auto-immune disease?

One thing's for sure, it is not just a 'bad period'

Follow us on Instagram

National Women's Fitness Academy: www.instagram.com/womensfitnessacademy_aus

Host Lauren Calvin: www.instagram.com/laurencalvin_lc

Guest Jacqui Lamplugh: www.instagram.com/jacquilamplugh

www.nwfacademy.com.au