Troy Hasler

The burning questions..

Why do you have a website?

My wife, Ashley, and I are both Personal Trainers, but its not a job for us.. Its a passion. I’ve been in this industry for a long time now and it never ceases to amaze me what some people ‘believe’ will make them healthy so I’ve set up this resource of Exercise and Nutrition tips that will help educate people. Obviously this is also our business and livelihood so its also a marketing tool, but our clients pay us for one on one coaching whereas we are more than happy to give this information away for free.

What makes you different from all of the other ‘Personal Trainers’?

I have a Certificate IV in Personal Training, so I guess I am a Personal Trainer. However, I also refer to myself as a Wellness Coach. I don’t just train people, I like to think that I coach all of my clients towards wellness, which is a balanced state of body, mind and spirit. To this end I often give my clients nutrition advice, breathing exercises, yoga stretches, and any other tips that I think will help them maintain a more balanced state in this often chaotic world that we live in. I would like to think that I am more of a Wellness Coach than  Personal Trainer.

How do you stay in shape?

I’m obviously working in the gym all day, so for me its about fitting in a workout whenever and wherever I can. I try and do a yoga class once or twice per week, and also do my own workouts two or three times. My workouts are short and intense, sometimes lasting only 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes at the most. At the moment I’m only doing bodyweight exercises (mostly) and I can do them anywhere so its fun for me to do a workout at the gym, or walk down to the park and do it there.

Nutrition, obviously, plays a huge part for anyone that wants to stay in shape and I am lucky enough to have a wife that loves to cook so she prepares all of my meals for me. I have been a quasi-vegetarian now for almost 7 months so am still learning the intricacies of that particular lifestyle, I probably eat meat once a month and feel great for it.

Troy, tell me about your family.

My beautiful wife Ashley and I have been married since October 2009, and we have a beautiful baby boy called Campbell who is the apple of both of our eyes.

What do you do on a daily basis?

I never wear one particular hat for a whole day. My set ‘Personal Training’ days are Tuesday to Friday, so I only allocate those 4 days per week to my clients. However, I also have a lot of downtime on those days so often I am researching articles, exercises or nutrition information.

I have a voracious appetite for reading so I try and read a little bit everyday on all kinds of topics from Western Health and Fitness through to Deepak Chopra, Qi Gong, Inspirational books, Business & Marketing books and anything else that interests me at the time.

Weekends are family time so I try not to do any ‘work’ if I can help it.

What is your health philosophy?

Really, my health philosophy is surprisingly simple. I try to eat foods that are unprocessed and predominantly plant based. After reading books like ‘The China Study’ I find it hard to imagine that I will ever eat meat again (though I’ll never say never – the smell of a steak still makes me salivate) and I also try and exercise every day, even if it is just a walk around the block.

I also try to:

• Get plenty of rest (meditation and sleep)
• Maintain a good work / life balance
• Drink plenty of water everyday
• Relax – There isn’t REALLY anything to stress about
• Take ownership for my own health
• Enjoy life

Why should I listen to you?

You don’t have to listen to me if you don’t want to. Thats the beauty of the internet and being able to make this information available to anyone that DOES want to listen. I don’t claim to be an expert in anything, but I’ve spent my life so far making mistakes and learning from them – I just want to be able to pass some of that knowledge on to others.

What kind of music do you like?

It depends on the situation. I don’t mind some thumping hard house when I exercise, but I also love training to Metallica or Pantera. When I relax or meditate I listen to Tibetan Flute music, and in the car I love music that I can sing along to Eddie Vedder, Newton Faulkner, Ben Harper, Damien Rice and Dave Matthews are all currently on my iPhone.

What are your top 5 values?

• Loyalty
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Curiosity
• Love – All you need is love.

What’s your favorite way to exercise?

As I said earlier I am doing predominantly bodyweight exercises and Yoga at the moment and getting fantastic results – although I have lost a lot of muscle mass, but I am a lot more functional than I used to be when I was bigger.

What are your favorite health and fitness products?

• Kettlebells
• Clubbells (Indian Clubs)
• The TRX system
• Yoga – is this a product or a way of life?
• CoQ10 – a fantastic supplement.

How much do you sleep?

I generally get 6 – 7 hours every night. Sometimes I supplement with a small afternoon nap if I need it.

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