Zealous State of Mind Podcast with the Guru of Gainz

Update show of where I am at, what I've been up to, my thoughts on the founder of CrossFits racist comments and a couple of big announcements.

Tune in and enjoy!:)

Today's guest was another one of the Samoan Scientists (Amy Maslen-Miller) recommendations and friends. 

Amy told me about a female only retreat that she had attended and spoke highly of the host Anatola, also saying she would be a great guest to have on my podcast sometime.

When I did some research and found out she was a feminist, I was hesitant in approaching her at first, but after talking with my wife and her encouraging me to step out in faith, approach my fear and go for it, I nervously sent her a message to see if she would be interested in talking with me. Anatola was most friendly and kindly accepted my offer.

Although we didn't have much in common, what we did have in common, respect and an openness to hear out each others beliefs and thoughts made for a really great conversation and forum for sharing about some big topics that affect us all.

I have seen some feminists speak online and talked with a few in person but it was only surface talk. In this episode, we dig deep on subjects I was scared to talk about publicly, making it the most uncomfortable and challenging podcast I have done so far. 

I am grateful for my wife encouraging me to pursue Anatola as it was cool to connect with her and it definitely helped me grow and gain a different perspective on things. I hope she felt the same way and all who listen to this episode too.

Wherever you stand on the things we talk about, one thing stands out. You don't always have to agree on everything or have the same beliefs to be friends, hang out and get along.

Thanks again Anatola for coming on the show!:)

Really had a lot of fun connecting and getting to know Giovanni in my longest podcast that I have done so far.   

We didn't click that we were already connected outside of the world of podcasts until we set up the day & time to do the podcast. 

Giovanni like my previous guest Sophia was connected through my wife. Giovanni is a nurse and works out of the same building as my wife.  

We both started off a bit slow being a bit nervous but once the nerves settled we were in our tangent zone covering many topics except the ones we were suppose to cover. 

Giovanni has a vast array of interests and an insight into many different different topics which I really enjoyed hearing and talking about.   

Giovanni and his Thought Plantation Podcast are up to some really good things especially in the Pacific community, but what makes him stand out is his unique insight into what's happening in the Tongan community here and abroad.  Be sure to follow along and see what he is up to in his journey!

Thought Plantation Podcast - "Harvesting Perspective through Conversation"

When I had the Samoan Scientist aka Amy Maslen-Miller on as a guest just over 10 episode ago, we talked after the episode and I asked her if she had any friends from the science world who would also be good to interview. Sophia was the first person she recommended.   

It was great to connect with Sophia and quickly find out that we were already connected in a way as my wife used to be a PA (Personal Assistant) for her mum who is a Clinical Psychologist.

Really enjoyed talking with Sophia and learning about her story and field of practice. She helped me understand and clarify a few questions that I had in mind and gave me and my listeners some great tips that anyone and everyone can instantly put into practice so that we can too help the environment and world that we all live in.

Sophia wears many hats from day to day. She is very driven, hard working, goal orientated and making a positive impact on the world in many ways.

Listen in as we could all learn a few things from Sophia!

Affiliate Owner of CrossFit Waitakere, Wife, Mother, and Artist are some of the hats that Genice now wears. 

Level 2 is here which means back to work tomorrow, so thought I would do bit of an update of my 7-8 weeks during lock down. 

The highs, the lows, lessons learned, things I missed, my highlights and  a rant about "IS IT ALL WORTH IT" as a trainer/coach. An incomplete thought at this stage but something I had been pondering for a while now. Probably a good discussion topic with a few other health and fitness enthusiasts.

Nothing too crazy in there which makes for some easy listening on your way back to  work. Enjoy:) and as always, happy to receive some constructive feedback if you have any.

Kanah Andrews-Nahu is a NZ Weightlifter who has achieved a lot in the sport already and is only 19 years of age. The young weightlifter has been all over the world competing and has had many successes including a third place at the youth olympics, over 100 New Zealand records and gold in the youth, junior and senior U75kg weight divisions at the 2018 Oceania Weightlifting Championships in Noumea. She’s the first NZ Youth athlete to win a senior title at this competition.

I first met Kanah through her mum and family who joined our family CrossFit box Zealous CrossFit many years ago when she was only 11 or 12 years old. Her mum Shahn and aunty Anya were both strong athletes, so I wasn’t surprised when Kanah put up some impressive numbers when she started lifting.

There was definitely a specific moment that stood out for me when I thought to myself, “this kid was something special”, not just another strong maori/polynesian kid that came through our doors, she was on another level and it came to me after she front squatted 85kg with near perfect form that I was amazed and thought the skies the limit for this kid if she wants it.

After Kanah competed in her first competition at the age of 13 and broke 9 New Zealand records, she took weightlifting more seriously and joined the club Functional Strength where she would be coached by three time olympian Richie Patterson who have since then formed a great relationship on and off the platform.

Since Kanah moved on to fully pursue weightlifting we have bumped into each other at various places and I have supported her and her career from afar.

With this episode, I really enjoyed catching up with Kanah after randomly bumping into her and her mum at Kmart while I was shopping for some toys for my daughter. Over the years we have had some brief interactions but were usually cut short as we were both on the move, so this was a treat having no time frame of rush to be anywhere.

This seemingly random moment was not just a good opportunity to briefly catch up with her then and there but I also saw it as a good opportunity to invite her onto my podcast as she had never been on one before and because I knew she had accomplished a lot since I had properly chatted with her a few years ago.

I was impressed with Kanahs poise and how much she had grown over the years. She was so much more sure of herself and confident in her speech.

The whole conversation was really smooth, relaxed and a lot of fun joking with her as a young adult because our conversations were a bit different to when we first met.

Not only was it cool to hear about her weightlifting journey but it was also fun getting to know her better and hear about her life in general, how she’s juggling training, studying at University and everything else that comes with being a young student athlete.

In my opinion, Kanah is one of the best Weightlifters to ever come out of New Zealand and she's still only very young.

I believe in 10-15 years time we will all look back and see Kanah as someone who helped pioneer Weightlifting here in NZ and especially with our female lifters.

I will obviously continue to support her and her career from a far and wish her all the best in all her pursuits! Until next time, take care and Godbless!:)

Good chat and catch up with Pita while he's in France during lock down. 

Really enjoyed learning about Pita's background growing up and how he really focuses on the process in whatever he does and not the outcome.

Pita talks about mental toughness, his faith, family and much more!

At only 78kgs and one of the smaller guys in Rugby League, Pita punches well above his weight and always has. Tune in to find out how he has navigated his way through a tough upbringing to playing professional Rugby League in the NRL for the Warriors, West Tigers, Manly and Internationally for Samoa. Definitely an episode you won't want to miss out on! 

Women & Basketball in New Zealand is not as big as some of our other sports that we usually boast about - translating only to a handful of ladies taking the trek overseas to pursue careers worldwide.  Penina came through the ranks in NZ as a rep player guided by her father who was also a coach - tune in as we talk about her journey and how the world of basketball here and overseas differs - a sure listen for parents and youngsters alike who aspire for the higher levels of sport.

Listen Now on Zealous State of Mind Podcast with the @guru_of_gainz 🎙 🇦🇺 ANZAC Special 🇳🇿 with Assessment Sergeant Danny Tavita - Australian Army.

What better way to remember ANZAC day then to talk to someone who is currently serving in the Army.  Danny is one of my older brother and has been in the Australian Army for 17 years and counting.  We catch up about what he's seen over the years into today.

It was an absolute privilege to release this episode in honour of those that have fought for the freedoms we have today. #LestWeForget #AnzacSpecial

#ZealousStateofMind 

#GuruofGainz