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At Virtus, we believe that looking after your mind is just as important as looking after your body. Whether you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, anxious, or simply want someone to talk to, getting support shouldn’t feel complicated. Watch this video of Nina walking you through the process! That’s where a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) comes in. What is a Mental Health Care Plan? A Mental Health Care Plan is something you and your GP create together to help identify any mental health concerns and outline a path forward. This often includes access to a psychologist, where you can receive Medicare rebates for up to 10 individual sessions per year, making professional support more affordable. Depending on your psychologist’s fees, there might be a small gap to pay, but the rebate significantly reduces the cost. How to Get a Mental Health Care Plan (Step by Step) 1. Book an appointment with your GP When you book, let the receptionist know you’d like to discuss your mental health. Some clinics will ask you to book a longer consultation so your GP has enough time to listen and complete the plan with you. 2. Work with your GP to create the plan During the appointment, your GP will talk with you about what’s been happening, how you’ve been feeling, and whether you’re eligible. If so, they’ll complete your Mental Health Care Plan, which gives you 6 initial sessions with a psychologist. 3. Choose your psychologist You can choose a psychologist that suits you, someone you feel comfortable talking to. Your GP can recommend options, or you can ask them to send your plan directly to the psychologist you’ve chosen. To receive the Medicare rebate, your plan must be dated on or before your first appointment. 4. Continue your care after your first 6 sessions Once you’ve completed your initial sessions, your psychologist will send a short progress report to your GP. You can then review your plan together and, if ongoing support is helpful, get a referral for up to 4 more sessions that year. Meet Nina: Here for Everyone Our psychologist Nina, brings warmth, understanding, and over a decade of experience helping people navigate life’s challenges. While Virtus is known for performance and training, Nina isn’t just for athletes . She helps people from all walks of life, including parents, students, professionals, couples, and anyone looking to improve their mental wellbeing. Her approach is compassionate and evidence-based, using tools like mindfulness, CBT, and EMDR to help you find clarity, calm, and confidence in yourself again. Take the First Step If you’ve been thinking about getting support but haven’t known where to start, booking that first GP appointment might be the most important step you take this year. Once you have your Mental Health Care Plan, you can book your first session with Nina here: 👉 Book with Nina Because you don’t have to do it alone, and you don’t have to wait until things get bad to start feeling better. Lachie

TL;DR: Training and stress create the stimulus for growth, but rest, recovery, and reflection—the negative space—are where adaptation happens. The goal is not endless effort, but finding the rhythm between work and rest that builds strength, resilience, and joy. Progress often feels like something that happens through action: the grind, the sets, the sweat. But the real growth occurs between those moments. In art, negative space gives depth and meaning to the image. In training and life, it’s recovery and regeneration. It isn’t the lifting or working that makes us stronger, but what follows after . The science of stress is captured in Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome. First comes the Alarm Stage, when the body recognises stress and reacts with a surge of cortisol, adrenaline, and inflammation. Next is the Resistance Stage , when adaptation happens. The body rebuilds stronger to handle future stress. Without recovery, we hit the Exhaustion Stage , where fatigue, injury, and burnout take hold. This is why negative space matters. The stimulus, the training and the effort, it is only half the process. Without time to recover and integrate, there is no adaptation. Sleep, sunlight, good food, stillness, and connection are not luxuries; they are essential. The body grows stronger after training, not during it. Your nervous system builds resilience when it feels safe, not when it’s overloaded. Recovery is not a break from work; it is where the work becomes valuable. At Virtus, we live by a belief system of growth. We are here to evolve, not to smash ourselves endlessly. Growth moves in cycles of stress, rest, and adaptation. We learn through challenge, but we change through restoration . The dance between effort and ease is where joy lives. The goal is rhythm, not constant acceleration. For me, this is the good stuff. Think of your life as the creation of art. The effort and training are your brushstrokes, but the negative space, the quiet, the stillness, the pause, gives it meaning. Without contrast, everything blurs. Without rest, progress fades. The more you value the quiet, the more your effort counts. At Virtus, we believe in playing the long game. We train hard, recover harder, and aim to be better every day, in and out of the gym. True strength is not how much you can do, but how well you can recover and return ready for more. Repeatability is about the best capacity you can have. Being able to show up, put in the work, then rest and return again the next day. Growth lives in the balance between push and pause, between sound and silence, between action and reflection. Between go and stop. If you’re ready to explore this rhythm for yourself, join us at Virtus. Our training is about progression, presence, and the simple joy of becoming better every day. Learning when to push, when to pause, and how to make the space between the reps work for you. Real growth happens in those quiet moments of recovery and regeneration. More isn't better. Better is better. Better every day. I'm here for it. Lachie

I was seeing Greg for treatment the other day, and like most sessions with him, I left with some brain food. This time though, the brain food was quite literal. We got talking about something called BDNF, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. Never heard of her? Me neither. But here we are. The Phys has this way of casually dropping knowledge bombs that make you rethink everything you thought you knew about performance and recovery. He’s part physio, part philosopher, part nerd who clearly spends too much time reading PubMed. He was explaining how BDNF works, and I found myself fascinated. The way he described it was simple: BDNF is like fertiliser for your brain. It helps your neurons grow, repair, and connect better, the same way a good strength program helps your muscles adapt. It’s the reason why exercise sharpens your mind, why learning new skills sticks faster, and why sleep and sunlight feel like magic for your body and soul. So yes, Greg is a nerd. A very smart, loveable nerd. What does BDNF actually do? Here’s the straightforward version that my little brain can understand... BDNF is a protein that lives in your brain and central nervous system. Its job is to help your brain grow and adapt. Every time you train, learn, move, rest, or eat well, you give your brain a dose of this stuff. It improves: Memory and learning Mood and motivation Recovery and resilience Long-term brain health It’s the reason people who train regularly tend to think clearer, feel better, and stay sharper as they age. It’s not just the exercise, it’s what the exercise does to the brain. Here’s the good news: you don’t need a lab coat or a neuroscience degree to boost your BDNF. You just need to live like a human was meant to live. Do these 6 things often... Move – Strength, conditioning, play, walk. The more you move, the more your brain adapts. Sleep – Seven to nine hours is your brain’s growth window. Don’t skip it. Eat real food – Omega-3s, colourful veggies, berries, and good fats all feed your brain. Get sunlight – 15–30 minutes outside each day does wonders for mood and BDNF. Learn new things – A new skill, language, sport, or even a random hobby keeps your neurons firing. Connect – Deep conversations, laughter, and gratitude all improve brain health (and make life better). At Virtus, we talk a lot about being Better Every Day. That’s not just a feel-good motto, it’s a biological reality. Every rep, every breath, every night of decent sleep literally changes your brain. BDNF is proof that the habits you build don’t just make you stronger, they make you smarter, calmer, and more adaptable. So next time Greg is elbow-deep in your hamstring talking about brain fertiliser, remember: the real lesson might not be about your muscles. It might be about growing your mind. And maybe thank the Phys for being a beautiful nerd who keeps us all feeling better, and fixed , body and brain. Keep being wonderful Lachie

The quiet voice that talks you through a session, a meeting, or a moment of doubt. Sometimes it pushes. Sometimes it criticises. Either way, it shapes how you perform. How you progress. How you stagnate And science says it also shapes how your brain works. A 2021 study by Kim and colleagues (PMID: 34290300) found that self-talk, whether positive or negative, changes how brain networks communicate . Positive self-talk strengthens the connections between areas that drive motivation, focus, and self-control. Negative self-talk weakens them. In short, the words you say to yourself can rewire your brain. So stop being a di** to yourself. Positive self-talk isn’t about empty optimism. It’s about respect. It's about building a belief system. It’s a reminder that belief, focus, and self-awareness grow first from the way we speak to ourselves. Then from what we do. The study showed that people who used self-respect phrases didn’t just feel better, they performed better too. Criticism might still drive you for a while, but it’s like running on fumes. It creates tension instead of flow, stress instead of focus. Over time, that pattern wears you down and becomes an impediment to growth. Treat your inner voice like your best friend. Like your grandma. Like the 8 year old version of you. Be kind. Challenge it, don’t let it tear you apart. Next time you’re struggling in a session, or at work, or doubting yourself, step back (metaphorically) and listen to your own commentary. Is it helping you or holding you back? Serving you, or sabotaging? Your brain doesn’t know the difference between real and rehearsed, it believes what you repeat. So speak to yourself like someone you love and care for. Because your brain is listening & it's taking notes. Food for thought. #clever Lachie

We’re excited to announce a big step forward for Virtus. From October 20th , we’ll be offering Psychology services as part of our holistic approach to health, performance, and wellbeing. Joining the team is Nina Keller , an AHPRA-registered psychologist and founder of Mind Haus Psychology Nina has worked across both public and private sectors and brings a wealth of experience supporting individuals, couples, and groups through life’s challenges. Her approach is compassionate, collaborative, and client-centred. She creates a confidential and supportive space where people feel comfortable to explore what’s really going on beneath the surface. Through a mix of psychoeducation, awareness, and strategy development, Nina helps clients build the tools to manage their mental health beyond the counselling room. Nina draws on a range of evidence-based methods including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, solution-focused interventions, EMDR, exposure therapy, and relationship counselling. Her goal is simple: to help people understand themselves better and navigate life with greater clarity, calm, and confidence. This is an important moment for Virtus. For years, we’ve focused on building stronger, more capable humans through movement, education, and community. Now, by integrating psychology, we can support our members even more deeply: mind, body, and everything in between. Before Nina’s first day, we’d love your input . Please take a moment to share your thoughts and help us shape how psychology and mental health education can best serve our community. 👉 Exploring Psychology & Mental Health Support at Virtus You can learn more about Nina and her work at mindhauspsychology.com.au Nina will be available on Mondays at Virtus from the 20th of October. If you want to see her on other day/times, send her an email at nina@mindhauspsychology.com.au You can book in via this booking link! What a time to be alive! ps. Nina is a star. You'll love her. Better Every Day! Lachie & t he Virtus Team

Don’t Chase Goals. Build a Way of Life. At Virtus, we often talk about goals. Lose weight. Get stronger. Build muscle. Run faster. Compete harder. These are all worthwhile, but Hunter S. Thompson once wrote something that cuts deeper: goals are only temporary markers. They change, they blur, they fade. What matters more is the way of life you choose to live. In 1958, Thompson wrote a letter to a friend wrestling with life’s big question: What am I here for? His answer was not about outcomes or titles. It was about being yourself. Fully. Deliberately. At Virtus, this is central to how we operate. We do not measure only by kilos lifted, kilometres run, or percentages improved. We measure by the life we are building. Training is a vessel, not the destination. Community reflects who we are, not a scoreboard. Education is a tool, not a certificate. To choose a way of life is to step into something bigger than goals. It is to ask: • What kind of person do I want to be? • What kind of environment do I want to exist in? • What kind of example do I want to set for my kids, my teammates, my community? From that foundation, performance takes care of itself. When you train to embody strength, resilience and vitality, you create a way of life that sustains you through setbacks and seasons. First, Choose Who You Want to Be Epictetus said: “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” This is the essence of Thompson’s letter, and it is the essence of what we do at Virtus. Decide on your way of life, then align your training, habits and environment to make it real. Turning Philosophy into Practice At Virtus, we give this philosophy structure through our Goal Review Framework. Every member sits down with a coach to create clarity, direction and action. It is about aligning training and lifestyle with the life you want to live. Here is the framework we use: 1. What are the 2–3 things you want to leave this session with? 2. What does winning look like? 3. What do we need to be good or better at? 4. What do we need to do? 5. How will we know? The aim is simple: you leave with clarity and practical steps that move the needle in training and in life. The Virtus Reflection Guide After reading Thompson’s words, ask yourself: 1. What do I want my way of life to look like? 2. What abilities and desires can I lean into? 3. What small step can I take today to bring my training and choices closer to that life? Your Next Step If you are ready to go deeper, talk to one of our coaches. We will take this philosophy, apply our framework and give you clarity and action to build a life worth living. Enjoy LW

Hi, I’m Maddy 👋 On October 6th, I’ll be kicking off our Women’s Strength Program at Virtus, and I wanted to share with you why this matters so much, not just to me as a coach, but to you as women who deserve to feel strong, capable, and confident at every stage of life. Why Strength Training Matters in Menopause Menopause can be tough. Hot flushes, sleep disruptions, bone loss, mood swings, changes in energy and body composition can feel overwhelming. But here’s the exciting part. A recent systematic review of 12 clinical trials, involving over 800 women, found that strength training can significantly reduce many of these symptoms It’s not a quick fix, but it’s one of the most powerful, natural ways to support your body through this chapter. What the Research Tells Us Strength training has been shown to: ✅ Improve muscle strength and function so you feel more capable in daily life ✅ Protect your bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis ✅ Balance hormones and metabolism, lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and body fat ✅ Reduce hot flushes and support cardiovascular health ✅ Boost energy and confidence so you feel more like yourself again The bottom line? Strong women thrive through menopause. What Works Best From the studies, the sweet spot looks like this: 📅 2–3 sessions per week 🏋️ Moderate to heavy weights, progressed over time 💪 Big compound movements (squats, deadlifts, presses, pulls) 🕒 Consistency over months, not just weeks And it doesn’t matter if you’re brand new or experienced. The benefits come from starting where you are and sticking with it. Why I’m Running This Program I’ve spoken with so many women who want to train but feel unsure about where to start, worried about injury, or intimidated by gym culture. That’s why I created the Women’s Strength Program at Virtus. It’s not just about sets and reps. It’s about creating a safe, supportive, and empowering space for you to: ✨ Learn the fundamentals of strength training with expert guidance ✨ Train alongside other women who get it ✨ Build confidence that carries into every part of your life We kick off October 6th with an 8-week program designed to help you get stronger, support your health, and thrive through menopause and beyond. If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it. Come train with us. Let’s get strong together. Spots are limited, so lock yours in today.

I love a good paradox. There’s something playful and mind-bending about holding two seemingly opposite truths in your head at once and realising… both are right. A paradox isn’t a problem to be solved, it’s a perspective to sit with. It asks you to zoom out, tilt your head, and see that the world is rarely neat, rarely simple, it ain't black and white (unless you're a pies supporter). And that’s what makes it fun. One of my favourites? Adaptation is task-specific. AND adaptation is transferable. Specificity rules In training, your body adapts precisely to the demands you place upon it. Sprint to get faster at sprinting. Squat heavy to get stronger at squatting. Swim to improve swimming. The central nervous system, muscles, tendons, even your psychology, all of it sharpens for the task at hand. This is why athletes rehearse their sport again and again. If you want to be good at X, you must train X. Repetition, repetition, repetition. But transfer is real Here’s the kicker: those same adaptations don’t stay locked in their box. They spill over. Build leg strength in the gym and suddenly you’re jumping higher on the court. Ride the bike for endurance and you find yourself running further without gassing out. Learn discipline with your training and it shows up in your work, your parenting, your relationships. The body (and mind) are marvellous contraptions. General qualities: strength, endurance, resilience, don’t just stick to one lane. They travel. Micro and macro So which is it specific or transferable? The answer is both, just at different levels. Micro level: ruthlessly specific. The exact pattern, speed, angle, movement or skill you train is the one you get better at. Macro level: beautifully transferable. The qualities you build: capacity, grit, adaptability, spread across sports, careers, and life. Building your capacities is for me, what life is all about. More than training Zoom out again, and it’s not just about sets and reps. It’s life itself. Patience learned rehabbing an injury makes you a calmer parent. Courage built in a hard conversation makes you braver under pressure. Philosophy or maths sharpen your ability to think clearly in… pretty much everything. The Stoics had this figured out: practice in one area to grow in all areas. Shoutout to my boy Marcus Aurelius and his book of meditations. The art of holding both Ignore specificity, and you drift without progress. Ignore transfer, and you become narrow and brittle. The art is holding both truths: training for the task in front of you while recognising that every rep, every challenge, every small win is shaping you far beyond the gym. Adaptation is task-specific. Adaptation is transferable. That’s the paradox. That’s the point. Get your head around the duality of our existence, this is the good stuff, this is where growth happens. The Virtus lens This is why we train the way we do at Virtus. Our programs are built to give you the specific stimulus you need for your goals, while also building the broad physical and mental qualities that make you better at life. Stronger in the gym. More capable on the field. More resilient at work. More present at home. More capable of (insert any worthy pursuit here) We don’t just want you to win at one thing. We want you to become the kind of person who carries those wins into everything. Every rep is shaping more than your body. It’s shaping your life. Let’s get started . Onwards. Lachie