I have personally had the pleasure of meeting Guy Bagshaw through my membership with CrossFit Port Lincoln. With his charismatic charm and dedication to his work and lifestyle, I believe Guy has the right outlook, attitude and tools to help you improve your quality of health and life! And I must say, he certainly has kicked my butt a few times!!! So lets get to know a little about Guy…
What does “healthy” mean to you?
Healthy has been so misrepresented within society in the last 15-20 years that we now have trouble defining it!! My thoughts are that health is being able to live life as we should; wake up early with plenty of energy, get stuck into your day and achieve at work then come home and have the energy to enjoy your free time with family and friends. Be able to do this day in day out without injury or illness for the rest of your life. I hate watching people miss out on life due to being unfit, overweight or immobile. That is not healthy!!
Have you always been healthy? Please tell us a bit about your background…
I have always been ‘fit’ but my health has waivered. I grew up on a farm and did everything a young boy should. I then played high level Aussie Rules until I came over to Port Lincoln for work at age 21. Since then I have been living my life with health as a major aspect, but found out I had rheumatoid arthritis at age 29. Since then I have battled with my health but stayed fit due to realising that if I stop, the inflammation is only going to get worse. In the last 5 years since becoming involved solely in the health industry I have made changes to diet and exercise regimes which have not always worked, but increased my knowledge on how the body works. I now realise quality movement and ‘health’ is more important than being super fit. My health is forever on a learning curve, which is steadily getting better, but at times slides backwards. You can’t let these minor disruptions upset the long term goals!!
How did you get here (to CrossFit)?
In 2010 my wife and I went to Canada on a teacher exchange. I didn’t have work and decided to try something outside the teaching realm, which ended up being PT. After 9 months I had ended up being the most successful PT at a gym with 6000+ members with 24 trainers. During the year I arranged to work at a gym in Port Lincoln which I did for 18 months, and I then decided there was a better way to serve the residents of Port Lincoln through both quality of movement and results. I was introduced to CrossFit in Canada and the idea grew from there. It was the best fit with my style of training and allowed me the freedom to run a business my way – so 16 months later here we are with one of the largest membership base CrossFit gyms in SA!!
What direction and plans do you now have for CrossFit?
Over the next 5 years we are looking to grew our membership base, but we really want to deliver the best possible product with the best possible service. Our goal is to have members working towards the best possible ‘health’ for them! Move better, eat better, live better! This starts with our CrossFit Kids and Teens programs and ascends into our general membership clientele.
What does a general day in your life look like, from start to end?
Wake up at 5:10am, eat, shower, get to work at 5:45am and set up for the day. Run 6:00am class or PTs and either work straight through with clients until 3:30pm or have time off during the day to plan sessions, organise the gym, clean, shop, look after the dog and then go back to work at 3:00pm until 7:00pm. I try to spend as much time with my wife and dog as possible plus go for a surf, sailboard or fish during the week. Live your life!!
How are you helping other people in their journey to improve their quality of life?
My job is to help people achieve goals they want, but have a realistic approach, which many trainers don’t do, often promising great things without background knowledge or research to achieve this. If you want to change then it’s not going to be easy and hard work is the only real option, but I show you ways this can be achieved and stuck to, to create a lifelong approach to health. We deal with exercise (the easy part), nutrition (a bit more difficult), and lifestyle (the really hard part) with an all-round approach, so we achieve better results more consistently which is why people pay good money to see us!
What advice do you have for people wanting to make a change?
Do it and don’t kid yourself that the easy option might work. People often know what they need to do but are not mentally prepared or willing enough to want it. Get in and do it and deal with the consequences as they arise, which often end up being very few!!
What is your view on natural and complementary options available for assisting people to make change?
Alternative therapy options work for some people and if it helps, do it. Everyone needs to work with what will help them. It’s the same with fitness, if you get results with it, go for it!
Who are your inspirations?
I don’t look at others as inspirations as I grew up in a household with a fairly famous father who others looked at as there inspiration. I realised that this ‘inspirational’ person is just someone’s dad, husband, son and has their own shortcomings. Create your own inspirations and work hard towards them. Alternatively, marry the person who always inspires you which has been my best decision yet!!
THANK YOU for sharing your personal journey GUY BAGSHAW of CROSSFIT PORT LINCOLN.
WISHING YOU CONTINUED SUCCESS AND GROWTH,
CHANTELLE