SOC TEAM

Our Mission: To empower, support and coach people undergoing cancer treatment through targeted strength training prescription, implementation and supervision using qualified, skilled and experienced volunteers.

Craig Harper (B.Ex.Sci.) Craig Harper is one of Australia’s leading presenters, writers and educators in the areas of health, high-performance, resilience, self-management, leadership, corporate change, communication, stress management, addiction and personal transformation. more... Craig has been an integral part of the Australian health and fitness industry since 1982 and in that time has worked as an exercise scientist, corporate speaker, consultant, University lecturer, AFL conditioning coach, radio host, TV presenter, writer and successful business owner. In 1990 Craig established Harper’s Personal Training, which evolved into one of the most successful businesses of its kind and inhabited the Australian fitness landscape for almost a quarter of a century. Craig can be heard weekly on various radio stations around Australia and hosts his own weekly show on Melbourne radio called ‘the Science of Sport’. For two years he was the host of Foxtel's Living Life Now and for three years Craig filled an on-air role on Network Ten's '9AM' morning show as their resident Fitness Expert and Performance Coach. Craig currently fills an on-air role as the host of a lifestyle show called ‘Get a Life’, airing on Foxtel. As well as having written for the Herald Sun newspaper, numerous magazines and authoring five books, Craig is also the director of Health and Wellness for Dayhab; one of Australia’s leading addictiontreatmentfacilities. As an Exercise Scientist, Craig has worked with many professional athletes and teams including St. Kilda F.C., Melbourne Phoenix, Port Melbourne F.C., Nissan Motorsport and a long list of Olympians and world-class athletes competing in a broad range of sports. Craig is currently working with the Melbourne Vixens in the areas of leadership and personal development. While still working with teams and individuals on a regular basis, these days Craig delivers more than one hundred corporate presentations annually.

Lachlan Terry AEP Lachlan is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Accredited Exercise Scientist who specialises in the field of Oncology. Lachlan works within a multidisciplinary team at Oncology Clinics Victoria seeing hundreds of patients annually for rehabilitation and recovery from the associated side effects, dysfunction, decline and comorbidities that can accompany cancer related surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone treatments and immunotherapy. He has undertaken specialist training in Oncology completing the Life Now Program, Prostate Cancer PD and has conducted talks for cancer support groups and organisations such as SMICS across Victoria. Lachlan sees patients from all cancer stream including breast, prostate, lung, bowel, gynaecological and haematological cancers and advocates for greater involvement of exercise specialists within the field of oncology. When beginning to exercise during treatment for cancer, it is important to see an exercise specialist who understand cancer therapies to optimise your exercise and target it around your treatment, treatment-related side effects, cancer and expected physiological changes. Having a specialist such as this to guide your program will ensure your time spent exercising is both safe, productive and will not negatively impact on your health or treatment. Lachlan is highly regarded in his field, innovative with exceptional patient care. We welcome Lachlan to our Strength Over Cancer team.

Debbie Summers BSc (Physiotherapy) Debbie has over twenty years experience as a physiotherapist, she qualified in South Africa and has worked in both the United Kingdom and Australia. Debbie is a qualified Clinical Pilates Instructor (Polestar) and a PINC Cancer Rehabilitation Physiotherapist and a provider of the NEXT STEPS program. We welcome Debbie as one of our most valued physiotherapists. Her level of expertise and care is exceptional and most appreciated. "I am excited to be part of Strength Over Cancer, we are seeing more and more evidence that exercise improves the outcomes of cancer survivors and reduces the risk of cancer recurrence."

Maria Barba Maria is an exercise specialist with Diploma of Fitness and Diploma in Health Counseling. With over 20 years in the health and fitness industry, Maria’s desire to help others is strong. Maria is most valued in our team as a coach, educator and specialist who will educate, coach and support the Strength Over Cancer personal trainers and participants. “My motivation comes from the fact that the body has an amazing ability to heal itself therefore my purpose is to facilitate and support anyone battling cancer”

Robyn Vincent Robyn is a master personal trainer and founder of Strength Over Cancer. With over 20 years in the health and fitness industry, her expertise in the industry enables her to coach personal trainers and her client base with optimal and life changing results. The foundation of Strength Over Cancer was built through the desire to help others and to assist her friend Maggie who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Inspired by the latest scientific results showing specific and targeted exercise treatment can boost chemotherapy and increase chances of survival, Robyn followed the targeted exercise and weight training prescription outlined by Maggie’s Exercise Physiologist, Lachlan Terry AEP. Maggie’s results and progress were outstanding. Maggie is Robyn’s true inspiration and driving force in founding Strength Over Cancer.

Maggie Wells Maggie was our first participant in the Strength Over Cancer program and is passionate about promoting exercise as part of a cancer treatment. The moment I was told the lump in my right breast was cancer I simply thought “right, I’m going to sort this out, I’m going to have to fix this.” Even though my body was, in one way, letting me down I still had a lot of faith that it could play a part in healing itself if I did all the right things including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy. Post-surgery and into my first cycle of chemo it was clear that this treatment could get the better of me if I didn’t do something to preserve my health, maintain muscle mass and bone density. I approached Robyn to see if she could suggest an exercise plan and sent her the link to the TV program Catalyst "Exercise and Cancer" I had seen recently. It was profound in that it proved how weight bearing exercise and aerobics not only helped cancer patients with the side effects of their treatment but gave them better outcomes. We met with my exercise physiologist Lachlan Terry who specialised in oncology and he prescribed targeted exercise that Robyn followed through with me in her gym. I had never been in a gym before and had never been attracted to the idea of “pumping iron” but the exercise science I was becoming aware of was a great motivator. I was not fit and I think most of my muscle groups were underdeveloped. In order to get the full health benefits of the exercise Robyn first targeted key muscles with weight resistant training and built on that through a thorough exercise program that she customized with each session. I literally went from strength to strength and in doing so I was able to do more of a workout and receive more of the health benefits. Instead of having muscle wastage, my muscle mass increased and I have maintained my bone density. I was not really aware of the fatigue they talk about with chemo and radiation but I was becoming trimmer that made exercising easier and apart from the digestive challenges (that’s another story), I looked and felt OK most of the time. My blood tests showed normal white blood cell count and platelets levels throughout chemo and my immune system resisted all the winter viruses even when the rest of the family were falling sick. I am motivated by the latest science where it is proven that when you exercise to a level where adrenalin kicks in then the body is stimulated to seek out and fight cancer cells and tumours. The only side effect of this is a healthy, strong and resilient body! If you are serious about participating in a targeted exercise program like what I am doing you need to adhere to it like a prescription of medicine. If you have the attitude “I can do this”, work really hard and adhere to what your personal trainer is asking of you, then you will find success, satisfaction and the best possible outcome. It’s all about attitude, effort and determination. I truly hope that you will take the opportunity to participate in this program and just keep thinking if Maggie can do it so can I!

CONTACT US

Exercise Therapy, Support and Empowerment

STRENGTH OVER CANCER

PO Box 666 Elsternwick, Victoria, 3185 info@strengthovercancer.com.au

Our Mission: To empower, support and coach people undergoing cancer treatment through targeted strength training prescription, implementation and supervision using qualified, skilled and experienced volunteers.

Craig Harper (B.Ex.Sci.) Craig Harper is one of Australia’s leading presenters, writers and educators in the areas of health, high-performance, resilience, self-management, leadership, corporate change, communication, stress management, addiction and personal transformation. more... Craig has been an integral part of the Australian health and fitness industry since 1982 and in that time has worked as an exercise scientist, corporate speaker, consultant, University lecturer, AFL conditioning coach, radio host, TV presenter, writer and successful business owner. In 1990 Craig established Harper’s Personal Training, which evolved into one of the most successful businesses of its kind and inhabited the Australian fitness landscape for almost a quarter of a century. Craig can be heard weekly on various radio stations around Australia and hosts his own weekly show on Melbourne radio called ‘the Science of Sport’. For two years he was the host of Foxtel's Living Life Now and for three years Craig filled an on-air role on Network Ten's '9AM' morning show as their resident Fitness Expert and Performance Coach. Craig currently fills an on-air role as the host of a lifestyle show called ‘Get a Life’, airing on Foxtel. As well as having written for the Herald Sun newspaper, numerous magazines and authoring five books, Craig is also the director of Health and Wellness for Dayhab; one of Australia’s leading addictiontreatmentfacilities. As an Exercise Scientist, Craig has worked with many professional athletes and teams including St. Kilda F.C., Melbourne Phoenix, Port Melbourne F.C., Nissan Motorsport and a long list of Olympians and world-class athletes competing in a broad range of sports. Craig is currently working with the Melbourne Vixens in the areas of leadership and personal development. While still working with teams and individuals on a regular basis, these days Craig delivers more than one hundred corporate presentations annually.

Lachlan Terry AEP Lachlan is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Accredited Exercise Scientist who specialises in the field of Oncology. Lachlan works within a multidisciplinary team at Oncology Clinics Victoria seeing hundreds of patients annually for rehabilitation and recovery from the associated side effects, dysfunction, decline and comorbidities that can accompany cancer related surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone treatments and immunotherapy. He has undertaken specialist training in Oncology completing the Life Now Program, Prostate Cancer PD and has conducted talks for cancer support groups and organisations such as SMICS across Victoria. Lachlan sees patients from all cancer stream including breast, prostate, lung, bowel, gynaecological and haematological cancers and advocates for greater involvement of exercise specialists within the field of oncology. When beginning to exercise during treatment for cancer, it is important to see an exercise specialist who understand cancer therapies to optimise your exercise and target it around your treatment, treatment-related side effects, cancer and expected physiological changes. Having a specialist such as this to guide your program will ensure your time spent exercising is both safe, productive and will not negatively impact on your health or treatment. Lachlan is highly regarded in his field, innovative with exceptional patient care. We welcome Lachlan to our Strength Over Cancer team.

Debbie Summers BSc (Physiotherapy) Debbie has over twenty years experience as a physiotherapist, she qualified in South Africa and has worked in both the United Kingdom and Australia. Debbie is a qualified Clinical Pilates Instructor (Polestar) and a PINC Cancer Rehabilitation Physiotherapist and a provider of the NEXT STEPS program. We welcome Debbie as one of our most valued physiotherapists. Her level of expertise and care is exceptional and most appreciated. "I am excited to be part of Strength Over Cancer, we are seeing more and more evidence that exercise improves the outcomes of cancer survivors and reduces the risk of cancer recurrence."

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Maria Barba Maria is an exercise specialist with Diploma of Fitness and Diploma in Health Counseling. With over 20 years in the health and fitness industry, Maria’s desire to help others is strong. Maria is most valued in our team as a coach, educator and specialist who will educate, coach and support the Strength Over Cancer personal trainers and participants. “My motivation comes from the fact that the body has an amazing ability to heal itself therefore my purpose is to facilitate and support anyone battling cancer”

Robyn Vincent Robyn is a master personal trainer and founder of Strength Over Cancer. With over 20 years in the health and fitness industry, her expertise in the industry enables her to coach personal trainers and her client base with optimal and life changing results. The foundation of Strength Over Cancer was built through the desire to help others and to assist her friend Maggie who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Inspired by the latest scientific results showing specific and targeted exercise treatment can boost chemotherapy and increase chances of survival, Robyn followed the targeted exercise and weight training prescription outlined by Maggie’s Exercise Physiologist, Lachlan Terry AEP. Maggie’s results and progress were outstanding. Maggie is Robyn’s true inspiration and driving force in founding Strength Over Cancer.

Maggie Wells Maggie was our first participant in the Strength Over Cancer program and is passionate about promoting exercise as part of a cancer treatment. The moment I was told the lump in my right breast was cancer I simply thought “right, I’m going to sort this out, I’m going to have to fix this.” Even though my body was, in one way, letting me down I still had a lot of faith that it could play a part in healing itself if I did all the right things including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy. Post-surgery and into my first cycle of chemo it was clear that this treatment could get the better of me if I didn’t do something to preserve my health, maintain muscle mass and bone density. I approached Robyn to see if she could suggest an exercise plan and sent her the link to the TV program Catalyst "Exercise and Cancer" I had seen recently. It was profound in that it proved how weight bearing exercise and aerobics not only helped cancer patients with the side effects of their treatment but gave them better outcomes. We met with my exercise physiologist Lachlan Terry who specialised in oncology and he prescribed targeted exercise that Robyn followed through with me in her gym. I had never been in a gym before and had never been attracted to the idea of “pumping iron” but the exercise science I was becoming aware of was a great motivator. I was not fit and I think most of my muscle groups were underdeveloped. In order to get the full health benefits of the exercise Robyn first targeted key muscles with weight resistant training and built on that through a thorough exercise program that she customized with each session. I literally went from strength to strength and in doing so I was able to do more of a workout and receive more of the health benefits. Instead of having muscle wastage, my muscle mass increased and I have maintained my bone density. I was not really aware of the fatigue they talk about with chemo and radiation but I was becoming trimmer that made exercising easier and apart from the digestive challenges (that’s another story), I looked and felt OK most of the time. My blood tests showed normal white blood cell count and platelets levels throughout chemo and my immune system resisted all the winter viruses even when the rest of the family were falling sick. I am motivated by the latest science where it is proven that when you exercise to a level where adrenalin kicks in then the body is stimulated to seek out and fight cancer cells and tumours. The only side effect of this is a healthy, strong and resilient body! If you are serious about participating in a targeted exercise program like what I am doing you need to adhere to it like a prescription of medicine. If you have the attitude “I can do this”, work really hard and adhere to what your personal trainer is asking of you, then you will find success, satisfaction and the best possible outcome. It’s all about attitude, effort and determination. I truly hope that you will take the opportunity to participate in this program and just keep thinking if Maggie can do it so can I!

PO Box 666 Elsternwick,

Victoria, 3185

info@strengthovercancer.com.au