With so many first world resources for movement, recreation, leisure and exercise it makes us wonder why these activities are becoming less important every year for the overall population… The more we research and look into this the more we realise that exercise itself is not enough to motivate someone… And we don’t blame people, as we also have struggled many years ourselves with this too…
At H2O, we believe one of the biggest motivations for exercise is the feeling and experiences that are associated with it; the laughter and smiles, feeling welcome, recognised and appreciated… We strongly believe that 80% of the time people would rather be listened to than do the listening, and as sports and surf coaches we are realising this more every day… When we ran a small survey about ‘What makes a good coach?’ majority of people chose ‘personality’ over ‘qualifications & experience’…
At H2O, when we think about the concept of ‘exercise’ we always try to first associate it with, or see how it would relate to the average human 5,000 – 20,000+ years ago… who were we as a species back then, what were we doing? Did the concept of ‘exercise’ even exist? We can imagine that there would’ve been a lot of swimming, dancing, kids playing, a lot of natural food foraging, hunting, fires and star gazing, plus occasionally running and exposing ourselves to danger for the adrenal rush… To us that is quality, meaningful living, and as a species it keeps us healthy and strong…
We think of every other animal on earth and it is always their number one priority to feel nourished and then procreate for survival…
In Australia today (2023) it’s estimated that approx 70% are classed overweight, 1 in 5 Victorians are in need of disability support, also worldwide inflammation and mental health rates are skyrocketing… (this information can be found on most official Australian Government websites).
We continue to ask ourselves everyday what can we do as highly motivated, energetic coaches and trainers to help motivate others to live a more fulfilling, purposeful and active lifestyle..