The start of a new year is a time when many of us are working to establish new habits to improve our health and fitness.
You might have started a new training regime, be overhauling your diet or committing to a daily meditation practice.
But according to Brett Robinson, a performance coach at Elevation, it’s the small daily choices that you make across the board that have the biggest impact — not just on your health and fitness, but on every aspect of your life.
“I say to people that your life is your performance,” says Brett.
“Performance is made up of a lot of different elements. I love to look at those basics and ask, how can you do that better?
“How can you eat better? Sleep better? Breathe better? Move better?”
“You’re already making the choices, but what marginal gains can be made on those? It’s the one percent improvements that add up to shift the bigger picture.”
The backstory on Brett
Since joining Elevation Fitness in May last year, Brett — or Robbo as he’s known! — has cemented himself as a major asset to the training team, with his depth of experience and unlimited enthusiasm.
Brett is a former elite sprinter at the Australian Institute of Sport and has gone on to work with top athletes and sporting teams all over the world as both a soft tissue therapist and high performance coach.
He’s unlikely to tell you himself (shhhhh!) but Brett was named Australian Para Coach of the Year for Track and Field in 2017. He also has his own podcast – Your Life of Impact – offers well-being programs and is expecting his first child with financee Mari later this year.
Having competed at an elite level and coached others to do the same, Brett understands first-hand the impact that simple daily choices have on performance.
“Coming from high performance sport and as coach for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, every little element of their life needs to be dialled in because one split second can mean the difference between a gold and silver medal,” says Brett.
“The best athletes in the world are the ones who consistently do the simple things really well.”
Who does a performance coach help?
Brett applies that same principle to training his one-on-one Elevation clients, who range from those wanting to lose weight, get strong, excel at their chosen sport, prepare for an endurance event or recover from an injury.
“As soon as people experience performance coaching, they love it,” he says.
“It’s not a linear approach. It’s so widespread and focused on getting you better as a person. That goes well beyond getting stronger or losing weight.”
A typical session with a performance coach can cover areas such as movement, mobility, mindset, breathing, sleep, nutrition and even exposure to sunlight.
Part of Brett’s philosophy is to empower you to coach yourself by teaching you tools and strategies to create helpful habits that stick outside of the gym.
“Humans are creatures of habit and environment,” says Brett.
“That’s what I love about Elevation — it’s a place where people can be in an environment that’s helping them to achieve their goals. You might only be here for an hour a day, but it can kickstart your day really well or finish it off in an amazing way.
“If you just remember what it means to be human, you don’t have to try and hack the system. There aren’t massive changes you need to make. Once you understand that there are small things you can do every day to fuel what it means to be human, your life performance will change for the better pretty quickly.”
Brett’s top 6 tips for living your best life
- Connect with your WHY Set goals based on your core values and take time to understand WHY these are important.
- Practice mindful breathing Breathing lowers stress and keeps your mind from focusing on negative or unhelpful thoughts.
- Be grateful and kind Consciously expressing gratitude releases feel-good hormones and keeps you in a positive state of mind.
- Movement as medicine Move your body in different ways, inside and out in nature, to enjoy the biggest benefits.
- Prepare for solid sleep Morning sun, breathing, mindset, healthy food, and limited light/fluids at night all aid super sleep.
- Think better Thoughts, feelings and behaviour are all linked. Thinking in a positive space way will lead to helpful choices.
To book a session with Brett or any of our trainers, email info@elevationfitness.com.au or call us on 0422 205 752.