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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - It's benefits and uses.

In January 2016 my mother suffered a severe Aneurysm and a stroke and was in a critical condition for three months. After she emerged from her coma she was in a vegetative state and her prognosis was very bad and she was released from rehabilitation for lack of improvement. When she came home she was still hospital level care and needed two people 24/7 to care for her.Our family was of course devastated and desperate and so I started researching everything I could on brain injury and came a...

The makings of a champion

We have all heard the saying "Work smarter, not harder", and that is true to an extent, but I would suggest working smarter and harder are the real keys to success.No one ever becomes a master overnight, on just talent alone or on wanting to be a champ. The hard graft, the daily grind, the small rituals that daily take you, often in micro increments, towards success require a 100 per cent commitment.Dedicating yourself to long hours of work and sacrificing those easy pleasures in exchange for ar...

To Choke or Not to Choke that is the question?

How not to choke under pressure.It’s so easy to do when you are under pressure and most of us can recall a time when it has happened to us but choking or freezing under pressure can be very detrimental to your safety, your career or sporting ambitions not to mention your self confidence so it is worth considering ways to mitigate it or stopping it all together.  Here I wanted to to take an in-depth look at whats going on and how we can help ourselves get back under control. In this world of ...

Why running isn't the most effective weight loss training system

We have been told for decades that weight loss is a matter of calories in vs calories out. We were told that cardio workouts were where it was at and that we should slog away running or cycling or to do some sort of cardio exercise that  raises the heart beat for long periods of time.We were told to stick within the aerobic zone where you could still talk and train at the same time. That this was the magical “fat burning” zone and not to go “anaerobic” as you were only going to burn gl...

Taking the High Road -by Chris Ord

In the space of ten hours, ultra runner Lisa Tamati has gone from being a crumpled unconscious heap on the floor of a remote valley in the Ladakhi Ranges, India, suffering heat stroke, exhaustion and sleep deprivation, to being a broken teary mess suffocated by a blanket of snow, sub zero temperatures and pitch darkness, 5300 metres up the side of a very angry mountain.Smothering Lisa further into the muddy morass at her feet is a sense of absolute hopelessness. For the past two hours she has ba...

The Makings of a Great Leader

Growing up, I remember my father always talking about how he looked up to one of his officers in the New Zealand Fire Service. This was a man my dad said he would follow into any situation. Given the danger firefighters face almost daily, this said a lot about the level of trust my dad placed in him. This officer my Dad said would never send his men in where he wouldn’t go and was a man who led from the front.I was really lucky to grow up in a family that had so many role models I could learn ...

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 learnt over my long ultra marathon career doing the most extreme events and expeditions on the planet and through pushing the limits in my businesses and in my personal life.These will give you a taste of the lessons you can learn in my online academy, in“The Path of an Athlete” eCourse and insight in to your true potential if you control your mind. Why do you need mental toughness? Life is hard and you ...

The importance of working "In" and not just working "out"

Working out is great, but overworking your bodies by pushing it beyond reasonable limits is never a good idea. Even for well-trained and highly competitive athletes, striking the balance between working out and what I call working in, is critical to staying race fit, while maintaining optimal health. Now you might wonder if good health and being ready to compete aren’t two sides of the same coin. So did I, for a long time. The reality, however, is that in our pursuit of that fleeting fitness ...

Why are our Hormones out of balance and what are the implications

Hormones aren't just the sexy things in our body to do with sexual function and we have more than just estrogen and testosterone.They are chemical messengers that travel through the blood stream to the organs and tissues and tell them what to do and how to do it. You only need small amounts of these chemical messengers to cause major changes in your body. When our hormones are in balance (which differs for men and women and our stage of life) our organs functional optimally but when they get ou...

Mindset school - The importance of positive self-talk

Our brains chatter away at us constantly. There is never a let up. We have over 60,000 thoughts a day and not all of them are productive or even sensible. So how do we make sure to only let positive stuff spew forth and how do we cut the negative crap off at the knees. It’s easy to give into the whining, negative mentality, the poor me victim mentality, the “it’s unfair mentality” or the “I will never make it through this “ mentality. It takes a constant vigilance to recogn...

The makings of a champion - part one

What are the makings of a true champion?With modern athletes seeming to break every conceivable track, field and other sporting record as of late, it seems that the bar is constantly being raised with regard to what we as humans can achieve. As a professional athlete and coach, it makes me incredibly proud to see so many of my clients wanting to get in there and give it their very best to push past perceived limitations. With this in mind, this blog will discuss how you can overcome certain comm...

Dean Karnazes - An interview with my friend and ultramarathon legend

Dean Karnazes is one of the most celebrated ultra marathon runners in history. With 4 books behind his name, his fourth having just come out in New Zealand, Dean is both an accomplished athlete, author, businessman and philanthropist. With a list of accomplishments that are too extensive to mention here, it’s fair to say that Dean has reached legend status in the ultramarathon and running community. He is a real ambassador for goodwill, a safer and more united planet and a true hero of the sp...

Biohacking tips - part two

Last month I listed a few of my favourite bio hacks in part one of this series and here we continue the conversationBelow is a list of a few more biohacking tips and tricks for you to explore. I can only give brief descriptions here but list the resources I have found for you to further explore. Remember some of these items are still experimental and do not have full clinical proof and this article is meant only to initiate your interest and give you resources for searching further. Bio hackin...

Rhabdomyolosis and running - the dangers and causes

I felt compelled to write this article on the causes, effects and dangers of Rhabdomyolosis as this is becoming an increasingly common problem among marathon runners and even more so among ultra marathoners especially those competing in hot climates.  I have experienced this condition more times than I care to remember over the course of my long and extreme career and now it seems I am paying the price for it with kidney damage. Rhabdomyolosis in the case of runners (exertional Rhabdom...

What are Polyphenols and why you need them?

Polyphenols are a type of anti-oxidant found in plants especially the red, purple and blue parts of plants.They help protect us against cellular damage from oxidation and have protective properties for our mitochondria. Mitochondria  are known as the powerhouses of the cell. They are organelles that act like a digestive system which takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy rich molecules for the cell. The biochemical processes of the cell are known as cellular respiration. Many...

My Top Biohacking Tips

Bio hacking is the science of changing the environment around you and inside you so that your body and biology will do what you want it to. Biohackers  want to improve how their mind and body functions through techniques, technologies, supplements and exercises. I have always been interested in anything that legally helps me get the most out of my mind and body. High performance, achieving extraordinary feats and operating at an optimal level on a daily basis means you will get further in your...

Why every athlete should wear compression gear

If I told you that you could use one thing to reduce your muscle soreness, prevent injury and enhance your athletic performance you would think I was talking about some magical thing or something illegal? But I am not, I am talking about compression gear which is basically a tight-fitting garment that athletes can wear to stabilise joints and improve muscle performance. That’s not to say that by wearing compression garments you will automatically be a faster runner or can lift more weight but ...

Resilience - The most important trait ever

Life is tough, it's stressful and can be brutal. Lisa Tamati shares tips to build resilience. Resilience, in regards to psychology, is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress - such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors.It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences and this is a skill we all need to develop if we are to flourish in this life.Twenty years ago ...

My favourite Podcasts.

I am a podcast addict. I love this way to keep up with the latest research or to learn from inspiring and interesting people and experts in all manner of fields, so I wanted to share some of my favourite shows and to let you know what you can expect to learn on there.You can literally listen to podcasts on every conceivable topic and the calibre of many of the top shows is exceptional and this isn’t just great entertainment, this is fabulous way to find out the latest research, listen to the w...

Mindset skills for athletes, business people and for your personal life

1. Is it in your control?One of the best ways to approach a difficult endeavour whether its a sporting event, a business project or an academic goal is to focus on whats in your control. If it’s something you cant control, like the result of the game or the state of the market or the weather, stop worrying about it. Of course you should prepare for scenarios but once that preparation and planning is done, forget the uncontrollable and focus solely on what you can control. Anything else is wast...

Quick tips to PR your next half or full marathon

Here is some added tips to get you on the right track. It's not meant as a full training guide but as a rule of thumb plan to get you moving a little faster no matter what your start point is.Firstly make sure you are doing two strength based sessions a week either at the gym or body weight exercises, tabata or crossfit are good too and focus on your core (all the core muscles not just your six pack), your hips, your glutes, hamstrings and do some balance exercises for good measure.Secondly...

Higher education in the new age

Most people go to university with the aspiration to better their career prospects and to be able to earn more money over the course of their lifetime. Is this genuinely valid or just our ingrained perception? Are students stacking up debt chasing those perceptions instead of being encouraged to grow genuine skills and to work in a career that can bring them personal fulfillment as well as a solid paycheck? New Zealand universities offer good value for money when compared internationally. Studen...

Actually you can

I started running when I was 36 years old.  Not because I wanted to run, but because something I wanted to do meant I had to start running.  I wanted to join the Army Reserves (back then known as the Territorials) and I was expected to pass a Required Fitness Level (RFL) test.  2.4 kilometres in under 12 minutes 20 seconds to be considered for enlistment.  So I started training for short and fast running.  It was hard and it hurt and before each run I told myself it’s ...

What causes sore feet during long runs.

What causes very sore feet during a long run? How to alieve or prevent some of the pain.A certain amount of pain is normal during a long run, the pounding the musculoskeletal system is taking and especially the feet and the amount of hours and the increased blood flow to the area make it unavoidable to a degree however, there are some things to consider that can help avoid the worst of it or it lessen the pain afterwards.1. Make sure your shoes are the right size. Sounds obvious right but beware...

Ultra-marathon effort in business.

In between running ultra marathons, New Zealander Lisa Tamati has successfully built six companies from the ground up.IN BRIEFLisa Tamati is a successful New Zealand businesswoman who also competes in ultra marathons.Much of Tamati’s success in business comes from having a firm belief in her own self-worth.Tamati is speaking at CA ANZ’s Women in Business conference in May and June.Ultra marathon running has set Lisa Tamati, from Taranaki, New Zealand, on a path filled with both failures and ...