Get a life, get fit: the Guy Leech guide

3 mins to read

From Iron Man to national health advocate, Guy Leech offers inspiration for turning your fitness around for the better.

Energy & exercise

Q. What motivated you to give up your business interests and focus on health promotion?

A. Guy Leech: Over the past year or so, I have heard frightening statistics regarding obesity and its impact on health among both the adult population, and more recently, Aussie kids. At the same time, I have been witnessing my dad suffer horrific heart-related complications brought on by inactivity and poor diet in the autumn years of his life, while conversely, my wife Helen has just given birth to our second beautiful girl, Phoenix.

A passing comment was made by one of the people I train that it's a pity "you can't train the whole of Australia, Leechy". It got me thinking: I may not be able to, but I'm certainly going to give it a shot.

Fitness and health are my passions, and in bringing my business acumen to a cause which is critically important to Australia, I know I can make a difference.

Q. What are your concerns regarding the state of the nation's health?

A. Guy Leech: There is no point in hiding it, I am very worried. Australia has always been the lucky country: the fit and healthy over-achieving nation with the great climate, beautiful beaches and best sports people in the world. Now, all of a sudden we have one of the worst incidences of overweight people in the western world, and if the trend continues, our kids' generation will have a shorter lifespan than ours. It's frightening.

The good news is that every person has an individual choice to eat well, exercise, live a balanced life and get moving again.

Q. What do you believe are reasons behind Australians' lack of fitness?

A. Guy Leech: We have become a time-poor society and somewhere along the line, as a nation, we have got our priorities messed up. People are working much longer hours and everything in our lives is being geared towards greater convenience and less movement. We are eating more takeaways, processed and fried foods, so our diets are higher in fat and less balanced. We are exercising less because of this perceived lack of time, but most of all, as a society we are just not moving.

People are driving to the shops rather than walking, driving kids to school rather than walking them, emailing around the office rather than walking a few steps, playing on computer games and watching the box rather than playing outside with the kids. They're also using escalators and lifts rather than stairs. Humans were meant to walk (the car has only been in existence for the past hundred odd years) and move. Technology and convenience are taking this away from us with dire consequences.

Q. How do you believe this situation can be turned around?

A. Guy Leech: There is no quick fix. It is a massive long-term education process. We must educate parents to educate their kids, and get into schools and hit our population from all angles in the media. If you think about how long it took to educate the population on smoking, or even regarding issues such as water conservation and global warming, it is a long-term sell. Bit by bit we'll get the message to seep through and ignite behavioural change.

Q. What are the key lessons you learned about staying fit and healthy?

A. Guy Leech: I learnt to be as fit as possible. In recent years I've learned how to ‘train smart'. Whereas I used to train five or six hours a day in my athletic prime, I now exercise for about an hour a day, usually with my training groups. But by mixing it up between swimming in the ocean, soft sand running, kayaking, doing core-strength exercises and topping it up with a couple of 20 minute workouts on my fitness equipment, I'm the same weight as I was when I was 20.

I combine this with a balanced diet, allowing myself indulgences along the way, and I feel as good as I did 20 years ago, but am less susceptible to illness. To complement this, I make sure I keep moving throughout the day. I walk my eight year-old, Paloma, to school, and I'll walk the dog in the evening. I'll take the stairs instead of escalators and I won't look for the closest parking spot to my destination.

Q. What are your objectives in switching from business man to health promoter?

A. Guy Leech: I want to make a real difference to the health of Australians. I see the change my training sessions have made to the lives of a tiny microcosm of Australia and I want to spread the message of exercise and good health far and wide.

My new company, The Guy Leech World Of Fitness, is selectively targeting those companies in health and fitness whom we believe are firstly the leaders in their field, and secondly are very community conscious and give back to our population. Together we pool our resources and as a united front, provide fitness and health solutions to the masses through communication, education, health and fitness products and events to get Australians of all ages moving and exercising.

I commend Blackmores, and Marcus Blackmore personally, on this. I believe the annual Sydney Running Festival to be as well-organised and superb running event as any. I have also recently learned of the amazing philanthropic work Marcus does as Chairman of the Heart Research Institute, having been appointed as the ambassador of this marvellous organisation.

Q. What are the best ways for an average overweight Australian to improve his or her health?

A. Guy Leech: The first thing is to accept that you are not happy being average and overweight. Then prioritise getting fit. If health, family and work are up the top, assess how much time you invest in each. Remember there are 168 hours in a week. If you cannot book two hours of time (at a minimum) each week with yourself to exercise, I'd challenge that you are not really serious about your health. Don't be caught saying, ‘I don't have time to exercise.' Exercise sharpens the mind, improves your concentration, reduces stress levels, enhances quality of sleep, as well as your levels of happiness, and gives you greater energy for work and time with family and friends.

Beyond exercise I advocate a good, balanced diet. Allow yourself the odd treat and always be aware of walking and moving around. I'm a big believer in the saying: ‘We don't slow down because we get old, we get old because we slow down'.

For more information on Guy, check out http://www.guyleech.com.au/