Ikigai (生き甲斐, “a reason for being”) is a Japanese concept referring to having a direction or purpose in life, providing a sense of fulfilment, and towards which the person may take actions, giving them satisfaction and a sense of meaning.

Understanding your Ikigai is the key to waking up like a kid on Christmas morning, inspired to go to work, feel safe and motivated while you are there, and go home fulfilled at the end of the day. Over the years I have worked hard to find my Ikigai and share the concept with those around me.

It is a healthy and happy way to live. I often get asked for examples of people that are truly following their Ikigai. One guy that is always high on my list is Andrew McCrory. Andrew is a local legend and all round good sort.

When I first started coaching him five years ago he told me that his ultimate goal was to one day run the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon through Death Valley. Having crewed at this event in 2008 for another Kiwi Lisa Tamati, I had a good understanding of what was going to be required to complete this mission.

One of the key factors is a strong purpose or Ikigai. Andrew definitely has this.

So what exactly is the Badwater 135?

It’s globally recognised as the toughest footrace on Earth. Runners start at Badwater Basin in California (which is 85m below sea level) and finish at the Whitney Portal (500m above sea level.) There is a total of 4500m elevation across the 135 mile/217km course which must be completed in 48 hours. It’s all run on road in extreme temperatures up to 54 degrees.

This is no walk in the park. The Badwater 135 is and always has been an invitational race.  Applicants are considered purely upon their race application and its specific written merits.  They are then selected to run in July of that year via a live Facebook announcement. There is a strict entry criteria which involves running at least four ultra-running races of 100 continuous miles or longer with one of them being between January 1, 2023 and the day of submitting the application.

There is only one preferred qualifying race in New Zealand and that is the Northburn 100 in Cromwell. Andrew McCrory has been working towards running the Badwater 135 since he began ultra-running 5 years ago. He has completed many ultras including five runs over 100 miles and the Northburn 100 in March 2023. He has also run the length of New Zealand, completing 2,060km over Christmas and New Years 2021/22.

While Andrew is undertaking these amazing feats he also raises money for charity. His main charity is helping children with Cerebral Palsy to get Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery in America and helping with the intensive rehabilitation once they return home. He has also raised money for other organisations such as I AM HOPE which supports mental health, and the NZ RSA Poppy Fund which supports all Service veterans. All up so far he has raised close to $90,000.

In July, Andrew will be realizing his goal as he stands at the start line of the 2024 Badwater 135. One of the few Kiwi’s to ever be selected to compete in this race he considers himself privileged to be there. He’s taking his fundraising efforts to a global stage and wants to continue to help many more New Zealand children to achieve their dream of being able to walk. He’s on the lookout for sponsors – so please reach out if that sounds like you. Once you have clarity on your Ikigai you can achieve some very cool things.

For inspiration you can follow Andrew and his build up to Badwater by checking out: @Running Aotearoa for SDR on Facebook or Andrew McCrory Ultra Runner on Instagram Or schedule a session with Neil to check if your Ikigai is on point. 

Neil Wagstaff is the owner of Peak Fitness in Havelock North. He has over 25 years experience in the health and fitness industry. www.peakfitnessandhealth.co.nz

What will the trends be for 2023 and can we use them to help us?

Wearable technology We have noted a big increase in the local and world-wide community using wearable technology. People are now more interested than ever in focusing on their health and wellbeing goals while being able to track their success along the way.

Wearables individuals measure the impact of their exercise sessions and ensure they were challenging themselves as it relates to heart rate zone, caloric burn, steps taken, recovery time, and exercise intensity. This trend has grown massively over the past 2 years and will only continue to grow in 2023.

With many options on the market from smart watches to fitness and GPS trackers it is worth well worth putting one of these on your Christmas list and definitely worth considering how you could utilise them in the health and wellbeing of your workplace in 2023.

Movement Snacks

An exercise snack or mini workout is a short bout of exercise that lasts for ten minutes or less and can be done multiple times throughout the day. There are a variety of benefits to snacking on exercise and movement.

Firstly, engaging in mini exercise sessions can help busy individuals stay fit and healthy while trying to manage a busy work and family life. From a motivational perspective it is far less intimidating to exercise for shorter durations throughout the day versus committing to an hour or longer exercise session. Many people around the world experienced the benefit of this new approach during the pandemic and lockdowns.

Many still love the approach and have confirmed that the trend is here to stay. People want to get the job done with less time commitment. Could you snack on exercise and movement during your working day?

HIIT Workouts

HIIT workouts have been high on the trend list for years now and will stay high for the years ahead. They require bursts of high-intensity strength and cardio exercises followed by periods of recovery. 30-45 mins of fun and functional exercises that get you BIG results fast! No two classes are the same.

Every class will challenge you, and have you coming back for more! People want to make sure that they are getting the maximum benefit possible during the time they spend exercising. Similar to the idea of maximizing effort with shorter mini workouts, they do this with the added bonus of a fun a social environment. One word of warning – these workouts should be balanced with easier low intensity sessions throughout the week.

Virtual coaches and classes

Virtual coaches and classes grew massively over the pandemic and kept the health and fitness industry in business.

Having access to on demand services that you can use in the gym, at work, while you travel and at home via an app is a trend that will continue to grow in 2023. By providing these services our community has now grown to include Australia, the UK, USA and Japan. Having the option to train at the gym three times per week and two times while you are travelling for work helps increase results.

Community and social groups

Being part of a community and social group is the key to your success with your health and fitness goals. The inability to be social and connect during the pandemic has made this trend even more popular as an exercise preference. Community engagement in outdoor and social group fitness settings has big benefits. Run clubs, group walks, group ocean swims, group rides are all seeing great numbers. Have you got one of these on your list to try in 2023?

Recently I was asked to speak at a Wealth Conference. An unusual platform for a health & fitness professional to find themselves on. Or is it?

Building wealth is important yes – but so is the having the health to enjoy it.

There are many reports and studies on multiple different health topics that would indicate that we are not ready to enjoy our health.

One example is a Deloitte report recently published that confirms that the cost of lack of movement to the NZ tax payer is: $2.3billion.

“We have this illusion that we are a sporting nation, so an active nation, the truth is we are not, we’re a sport-watching nation,” said Exercise New Zealand CEO Richard Beddie.

This comment surprised me. However, following some more research, I agree with it. The World Health Organisation activity guidelines are an hour a day for kids and 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week or around 20 minutes a day for everyone else. The thing is, 93% of our kids and over 40% of adults don’t hit these targets, costing our health system $530 million a year.

The Deloitte report calculates if the Government made a once-in-a-lifetime investment of $2500 per inactive person to get them active, it would be made back in less than 12 months. And it’s projected that over 30 years, that $2500 investment would actually benefit the Government by $12,500 per person in healthcare savings.

How does a typical week look to you? Are you meeting the WHO guidelines? Does your organisation encourage you to stay active and look after your health as well as your safety?

Clearly personal responsibility is a factor but employers must ‘manage’ stress in the work place and Southern Cross surveys indicate it is sadly climbing rapidly.

Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth

As companies and individuals we are quick to manage our net worth and slow to manage our health.

We have clear metrics in place to manage our wealth, and we put in a great amount of time and effort to grow our wealth. What if we managed our health like we managed our wealth.

Would we be ready to enjoy our health? Here are some simple metrics you can put in place. Check in with yourself and rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 against the seven Peak Fitness Pillars of Health and Fitness below.

1 = Feeling poor and off your game

10 = Feeling great and ready to play

If your numbers are on the low side you need to put some more time in to building your health so that you can enjoy your wealth.

Sleep – Did you get enough?

Nutrition – Have you eaten well?

Hydration – Have you drunk enough water?

Movement – How much have you done?

Energy – How much have you got?

Body – How does it feel? Aches, pains, niggles?

Stress – How high or low is it?

As Paul Chek says “sooner or later health will become your number one priority”. I’d strongly recommend that you have a clear strategy and plan in place for your personal and company health so that you are not playing catch up with your health investment in the future.

The balance between health and wealth is a challenging one. Having the wealth to enjoy your health is important. However, without good health you will never get to enjoy your wealth.

Invest wisely.

Since COVID has hit – ‘workplace health and wellness’ are the new buzz words, There has been a big increase in health and wellness programs both online and in gyms and lots of discussion about stress reduction.

We are all different and our bodies respond differently to stress, diet exercise and our environments. What might work for your best friend may not work for you.  That may be because you both have different body types and need to do things differently from each other.

There are three main body types, Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph. While most of us are not 100% a specific body type, we tend to be a combination of two body types. This can be broken down into 3 further groups. Ecto-Meso, Meso-Endo and Endo-Ecto.

Your body shape and bone structure is determined by your genetics and whether during embryological development your body put more energy into developing the layers of the ectoderm, endoderm or mesoderm.

Our ectomorphs will have the following characteristics:

• More active brain and nervous system and be more sensitive in your skin
• Naturally be a leaner/thinner physique and often no matter what you eat you won’t put on much weight
• Putting on muscle mass can be really hard.
• Great at analysing, planning and using your most powerful asset – your brain! (in fact, you may feel you “over-think” everything!).
• Find it hard to relax your brain and learning strategies to help yourself get enough mental rest and down-time (especially in the evenings), will help you to be at your best health-wise and also help you with sleeping better.
• Naturally have a shorter digestive tract – do better with warm, slow-cooked, “pre-digested” foods.
• Feel the cold more than others and keeping warm is important for your health.
• Prone to tension and stiffness through the back and neck, so it will be extra important for you to do some regular mobility and strength work to protect these areas.

Our mesomorphs will have the following characteristics:

• Shorter, have more defined muscle and a naturally athletic build
• Suit high intensity exercise for short periods of time (cross-fit, HITT training and most sports that are very anaerobic in nature, are all great for them).
• Physiology is geared towards movement…movement is key! (think of those kids who can’t still and need to be moving or fiddling to learn).
• Need a bit more protein than others (and do better with animal proteins), are naturally more of an early bird, and because of their dominant hormones and neurotransmitters they thrive on change, variety, challenge, competition, adventure and excitement (they even enjoy an element of risk).
• Have a more fiery temperament, they have a need to express their thoughts and to feel heard and they tend to speak their mind, so don’t get on the wrong side of them!
• Natural innovators, think laterally and outside of the box and they’re great at getting stuck in and achieving and getting stuff done.

Our endomorphs will have the following characteristics:

• Bigger bone structure, the potential to be stronger and more easily put on mass (muscle and fat tissue)
• May have more of a struggle to “lose weight”
• Will  be the most resilient to stress
• Have a longer digestive tract and will be more suited to fasting and vegetarian foods
• More of a night owl and need a slower start to your morning and have dominant hormones and neurotransmitters that make them more nurturing, caring and family-oriented.

The fitness and health industry is saturated with information.  Wading through this is often overwhelming and confusing.  Sometimes we lean towards interventions (paleo eating or high protein diets, HITT training, early morning bootcamps, etc) that really don’t suit all types of people – in fact, these things will stress some bodies and make these people struggle more with weight-issues, lethargy and health.

One size doesn’t fit all.  Learning what’s right for you and your genetics is key to cutting away the confusion out there and finding out the key things you can do to improve your health!

We personalise our savings and investment plans – now it’s  time to do the same with our health and fitness plans.  We need to work with our genes to reduce stress and maximise our health and productivity.

www.peakfitnessandhealth.co.nz