Mr Trihard meets Joe Wicks - The Body Coach

So I'm going to hold my hands up. This post isn't exclusively about Joe Wicks the Body Coach. It's about an event I attended last week where I got to meet a host of amazing people. But, what can I say, Joe Wicks was probably the most recognisable, so by mentioning him first I'm hoping to draw more people in to reading this post.

A bit of a blurry photo, taken in a rush, but obviously there was a quite a queue of people waiting to have their photo taken with me.

Are you still with me? Great.

So where was I when I met Joe Wicks? Well, my friends at OYNB have got a book coming out in December, published by Pan Macmillan Bluebird and I was lucky enough to be invited along to an event showcasing the publisher's upcoming titles.

In all good book shops from December and probably some terrible ones as well.

I'm sure Bluebird has a succinct tag line that sums up what they do, but I'm going to put it in my own words. Basically Bluebird publishes books which enable you to look after yourself and become a better person.

These range from healthy cookbooks and exercise regimes, like those created by my friend Joe, to self improvement books like that of my OYNB chums, to tackling mental health issues. And as I'm starting to learn all these aspects intertwine.

And along with Mr Wicks I was also delighted to discover in attendance was Annabel Karmel.

Some of you  may not know who Annabel Karmel is, but if you have had a child in the last couple of decades then you'll know that Annabel is responsible for getting a generation of children to eat healthily - without resorting to liquidising vegetables, clamping your beloved offspring's mouth open and forcing broccoli juice down their gullet.

However, once I got over the excitement of being in the company with two authors who have sold millions of books between them, I settled down to hear some remarkable stories and find out about some inspirational books that will also be published in the coming months.

The Stranger on the Bridge

Now, despite being an MBE, Jonny Benjamin might not be a name that is as immediately familiar as Joe Wicks or Annabel Karmel. However there is a high chance you've Jonny's touching story.

Back in 2008, at the age of 21, Jonny had been hospitalised and diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Feeling at his wits end he left hospital and made his way to Waterloo bridge, with the intention of ending his life. 

Thankfully Jonny wasn't successful. A chap by the name of Neil Laybourn happened to be passing by and talked Jonny down. Well, that's not quite correct. When recanting the tale, Jonny said the big difference was that Neil took the time to listen to him. So that's an important lesson to takeaway - no matter how busy you are, always try and take time to listen to people who need to talk - you might just save a life.


Two bona fide heroes

Neil then went on his way and carried on with his life. In 2014 Jonny launched a social media campaign to find his saviour which he achieved within two weeks (despite Neil being completely unaware of the campaign!)

Since then Jonny and Neil have firm friends and have tirelessly campaigned to raise awareness around mental health issues, including ThinkWell, an initiative to bring mental health education into schools. This summary doesn't really do their story justice, so I thoroughly recommend checking out Jonny's website to find out a bit more about their amazing achievements, and of course buying the book when it's available.

A Beginners Guide to Being Mental 

Someone I'm ashamed to say I wasn't aware of, prior to last week, is Natasha Levon (also an MBE for her services to children). However, within minutes of hearing her speak, Natasha quickly became a hero of mine.

This is partly because she has spent the past decade talking to school pupils and teachers, in a bid to combat the growing mental health crisis among children (according to mental health charity Young Minds, rates of childhood depression, anxiety, self-harm and eating disorders are up by 600% in certain areas of the UK).

Sticking it to the man!
However another reason is because she wasn't afraid to stick to her principles and well and truly stick two fingers up to the government, when she was appointed as a mental health tsar.

You can read a great article in the Guardian about the circumstances surrounding Natasha's short tenure here, but it appears that the government is more concerned about being seen to be tackling mental health issues in schools, rather than actually tackling mental health issues in schools.

Natasha's input, and emails, were widely ignored by ministers who had employed her (but happily trumpeted the fact that they were tackling the problem, because you know, they'd got Natasha Devon onboard) so she let the government know very publicly how she felt about it. Bravo!

This is definitely a book I shall be checking out when it's published and I truly wish there had been someone like Natasha ringing the mental health bell when I was at school.

Interestingly, Jonny Benjamin spoke about how he suffered from mental health issues as a child, but was more or less swept under the carpet. Come on Tories (and any future governments) you need to pull your finger out on this!


Joe Wicks Fat Loss Plan

Which brings me back to Mr Wicks. The title of Joe's new book is quite self-explanatory so doesn't need any further thoughts from me.

That's a lovely sandwich Joe, but what's for the main course?

However Joe did talk about a new initiative that I found very exciting.

Between 11-15th September, Joe hosted a School's fitness week on his YouTube channel, encouraging children to get a good workout in before the start of the school day. As Joe pointed out, not only does exercise help improve the capacity for learning, but this would go a long way to tackle the obesity crisis.

Trihard Jr 2 has recently started school. Last Wednesday he came home stating "We finally had PE." I've just picked him up from school and after asking what he'd done today, his response was "We didn't have PE today."

Not the most scientific study but it appears that children like running around and engaging in physical activity.

So more of this certainly wouldn't do my children any harm and it might stop Trihard Jr 1 doing multiple handstand in the lounge while I'm trying to watch repeats of Bargain Hunt on the telly.

Anyway, it was quite touching to see how enthused Joe was about this (particularly as he is a former PE teacher, who I have since discovered used to teach the daughter of one of my friends) and I really got the impression that while he has been incredibly successful, it's changing people's lives that gets him out of bed in the morning.

What also was encouraging was how Joe said this wasn't something he was attempting to tackle at government level - which as we have seen from Natasha's experiences, can quite easily be shot down. Instead he was targeting teachers and headteachers to get involved with the initiative.

I'll be keeping my eye out for the next one and will certainly be mentioning it to our headmaster to get our local school involved.

Anyway, I think I've rambled on for enough.

I am hoping to arrange interviews with some of these author's (and some which I haven't mentioned in this post, sorry my fingers have got tired) for the blog at a later date (fingers crossed) but I certainly got a lot of inspiration from the evening.

This is likely to have an influence on the blog as I discuss not only how to be a highly ineffective triathlete, but how to cope with the mental pressures of being a highly ineffective triathlete.

Anyway, catch you all soon and look out for these books when they hit the shops!


Comments

The greatest hits...