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Trainer’s health mission is personal

The obstacles Brendan Andrews faced as a child and teenager inspired him to forge a career in personal training, and he’s relishing helping others take a step in the right direction.

“I went from being a little overweight through primary school and getting a hard time because of it, then went the other way during high school, becoming disordered with my eating,” personal trainer Brendan Andrews said.

His own health struggles set him on a path to Forever Forward Fitness (FFF).

“The idea of Forever Forward Fitness comes from that. You continue moving forward and you learn through those obstacles that you face, and these obstacles become your story,” he said.

“I want to help people at different ends of the health scale. I take pride in a holistic health approach from physical training, nutrition, and mindset for wellness.”

FFF has been in operation now for nearly seven years and the Cardiff business is continuing to grow and expand within the Newcastle community.

Andrews’ goal for the business is to be a driving force for each member of FFF.

“I am here to help people achieve their goals and to remain solid with a holistic health approach. I want people to achieve their health goals long term, not just as a quick fix,” he said.

The current lockdown across NSW has meant Andrews has needed to pivot the business to online and digital only.

“It is really hard to be forced closed immediately,” Andrews said.

“Fortunately, we are still at a size that we can adapt and be manoeuvrable, however for the meantime, we are sticking with our strengths and holding on tight!”

Andrews has been offering two 45-minute Zoom classes per day to his clients with the goal of keeping the group bodyweight classes fun and upbeat.

At the end of each class, Andrews keeps the online platform open for his clients to engage and speak with one another.

“The gym is the core of the business, however by allowing my clients to chat with each other after the session, it supports their mental health and provides strength to tighten our community,” Andrews said.

Due to the expansion of the business, Andrews has employed two additional personal trainers, who have been a part of FFF since the beginning of the year.

“Josh and Maddi are going really well, developing their own skills, building their client base and becoming an integral part of the community,” he said.

Andrews’ growth plans for FFF include branching into a second space in the local area along with moving into the corporate sector to support large companies with a holistic wellness program and provide tips for keeping the workspace healthy.

“I want to push our holistic message onto a bigger audience in workplaces because a lot of workplaces aren’t supporting that way of looking at things,” he said.

“If we know you are physically fit, you are mentally well, you are going to be showing up at work being more productive and being a better part of the culture within the workplace.”

Andrews also wants to push FFF’s message of a holistic health approach into schools across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

“School was where my fitness journey started, and I know kids can be so vulnerable at that stage of life. If I can provide an authentic, caring message of all-around health in a passionate way, it can be a solid foundation for long-term health. I think it is important to teach kids that.”

Andrews is opening his daily bodyweight classes offered via Zoom to the general public to engage with at home. These classes are complementary and open to anyone who may be looking at making a positive change to their lifestyle.

The FFF team, from left, Maddison, Brendan, Joshua and Willow the Golden Retriever Photo supplied. (Taken before COVID restrictions)

Jayden Fennell

A cause close to marathon runner’s heart

Belmont personal trainer and marathon runner Michelle Barnes aims to notch up her sixth marathon in October, and she will be raising money for the Heart Foundation in the process.

Barnes, who has a congenital heart condition and was diagnosed an asthmatic at age five, has not let either of these conditions impinge on her fitness regime and marathon efforts.

“I have an excellent cardiologist who I see once every five years, who fully supports everything I do and shares an interest in my lifestyle,” she said.

“My heart condition should never have improved throughout my life, however as a result of my long distance running, it has improved significantly.”

The mother of three has been competing in marathons for the past eight years.

‘’If I am running 42 kilometres, I will only be running in the most beautiful and exciting places in the world,” she said.

Barnes ran her first marathon in Melbourne in 2013, followed by the Queenstown Marathon in New Zealand, the famed New York City Marathon and Melbourne a second time.

‘’Queenstown was so beautiful. It rained the entire day and I finished the race with hypothermia, however running past snow-capped mountains in one of the most picturesque places in the world was something very special,” a buoyant Barnes said.

She understood the task ahead when registering for the New York City Marathon in 2016.

I thought to myself if I was going to run in the best marathon in the world, I would need to work my butt off.”

Her hard work and determination paid off with a pleasing time.

“My fifth marathon was in Disneyworld Florida, taking part in the Disneyworld Dopey Challenge,” she said.

“It was four days of racing – five kilometres on Thursday, 10 kilometres on Friday, half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday.’’

Barnes, who ran in all four events, underestimated the intensity of the gruelling challenge.

‘’It was so hard and I did not give Florida the credit it deserved, but it was so much fun,” she said.

Barnes and fellow runners dressed up as their favourite Disney characters to compete over the four-day event.

‘’We all dressed up as Disney princesses, stopping along the way to take photos with other characters. To this day, it still remains the most fun I have ever had in 42 kilometres.”

Barnes and her three children, aged between 12 and 17, plan on returning to Florida in 2028 to compete in the Disneyworld Dopey Challenge. It is expected to mark Barnes’s retirement from marathon racing.

“I will be 50 by then, and even if the kids are dragging Mum across the finish line, it will all be worth it to accomplish something like this as a family,” she said

Barnes is now preparing to run in her sixth marathon, in Auckland, New Zealand, which is scheduled for October 31 this year. COVID travel restrictions, however, mean the chances of Barnes being able to compete are slim.

‘’The Auckland Marathon has been on my bucket list for years, however I know I am probably not going to get there this year, so I have committed to running the marathon virtually around home, all 42.195km.’’

The route closer to home is yet to be determined, but Barnes plans to incorporate the Fernleigh Track.

“I am a bit of a creature of habit when it comes to running. Each Sunday I leave home at Belmont North, head north along the Fernleigh Track, run a few laps around Charlestown and Kahibah, before heading towards home,’’ she said.

Whether she runs her next marathon in Auckland or in Newcastle, Barnes will be raising money for the Heart Foundation.

“The Heart Foundation is a very special cause and is a charity my family and I are passionate about. I want to raise as much money and awareness for this cause as I can,” she said.

Meanwhile, Barnes will keep clocking up the kilometres in training.

“I think it is really important as we age to remain extra fit. Although I can’t keep up with my kids these days,’’ Barnes laughs.

Michelle Barnes crossing the finish line at the Disneyworld Florida Dopey Challenge, January 2020

Photo supplied

Cibilic has work cut out for him in Final Five

Morgan Cibilic at Rip Curl Rottnest 2021

Photo supplied: World Surf League/ Matt Dunbar

Merewether’s Morgan Cibilic has finished fifth in the World Surf League’s seven-stop Championship Tour, earning a spot in the inaugural Final Five showdown.

By now, the surprise around Cibilic’s emergence at the pointy end of the world rankings has surely faded away. After launching himself into the top 100 over the course of the 2019 Qualifying Series (QS), the board rider who grew up between Merewether and Angourie has put in another stellar season.

The competition on both the men’s and women’s tours across seven different events was as tight as it gets in world sport. To give some perspective, recent Olympic bronze medallist Owen Wright ranked 25th and will have to qualify for next year through QS events.

Ahead of Cibilic in fourth place is America’s Conner Coffin, who pinched this spot from Cibilic after his fifth place finish at the most recent event in Barra de la Cruz, Mexico.

Despite this, Cibilic’s consistency in high end results from December last year to August has ensured his entrance into the final contest.

Starting off with a 17th place finish at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii, he then placed third on home waters at the Newcastle Cup in April, followed by fifth place in Narrabeen, 17th again at the Margaret River, second at Rottnest Island, then two ninths at the Lemoore Surf Ranch, California, and at Barra de la Cruz.

In the top three spots sits the Brazilian trio who have each been clinical in their appearances this season.

Of the top five, they are the only three to have won events this tour.

In first place, two-time World Champion Gabriel Medina will enter the final clash as the favourite after an outstanding season involving two Australian wins in Narrabeen and Rottnest Island, three seconds in Hawaii, Newcastle and California, a fifth place in Mexico and ninth at the Margaret River.

In fact, if it was not for this year’s inclusion of the Final Five showdown, Medina would have won the CT based upon accumulated points after winning event number five at Rottnest.

Cibilic, not unlike the others, will likely see the long-time CT competing goofyfooter as his biggest obstacle, after three knock-out defeats by him in the first three events, including a heartbreaking loss in the semifinal of the Newcastle Cup.

Yet in the cup’s final, it was the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist and defending world champion Italo Ferreira who came out on top and continued to finish second on the tour after two further thirds, a fifth and ninth place.

In third place is Filipe Toledo, fresh from two wins in the latter half of the season but eager to do better than his most recent 17th place finish.

From September 9 to 17, the final 10 surfers – five male, five female – will congregate at Lower Trestles in California to sort out the end leader board.

The WSL has chosen a time frame where they expect to get most out of the world-renowned cobblestone point, considered one of the most highperformance waves in the world.

As a natural-footed, compact power surfer capable of high-profile carves and forehand rail turns, Cibilic will seek to bring the right-hand point surf experience of his origins at Angourie and Merewether into play on the Trestles signature long, right-handed walls.

These waves will allow all competitors the opportunity to bring their best form with a focus on manoeuvrability along the critical sections of its steep face. There will be ample opportunity for aerial spins and grabs.

Victory will certainly be difficult for Cibilic, who will need to beat all other competitors if he is to win. The event is a sudden-death, knock-out, winnergoes-on comp. Fifth place will compete against fourth, and the winner then moves on to compete against third, continuing until one challenger remains to face Medina at long last.

In the Women’s, Tokyo gold medallist Carissa Moore, like Medina, will wait until the final session before she hits the waves.

Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons and Stephanie Gilmore are also in competition for the Championship after finishing in third and fourth, both having already tasted CT victory in the latter half of the season.

Haakon Barry