Perennial Health has been serving the Redcliffe/Brisbane public and private sectors since 1998.
Ahmad Faisal Sahim, who is the Trainer/Director of Perennial Health, has been a servant of the Australian health and fitness industry since 1996. Perennial Health’s mission is to cater for the growing demands of the deepening crisis of obesity, depression and all avoidable health issues, whilst simultaneously improving the quality and longevity of people’s lives within the Australian community.
A former health and fitness guest presenter on Optus cable television, Ahmad has acquired a wealth of experience within his field from personal training Medical Practitioners and white collar workforce, to sport specific elite athletes and people of diverse age ranges and health conditions.
Ahmad’s Education and Qualification:
· Certified and Accredited Master Rehab Trainer
· Degree in Leisure Management Majoring in Sports Coaching (Griffith University)
· Certificate 3 & 4 in Personal Training – Fitlink (Fitness Australia)
· Advanced Strength and Conditioning (PT Train) (Fitness Australia)
· Children’s Trainer Certification qualified (QLD College of Fitness) (Fitness Australia)
· Elderly Population Trainer Certification Qualified (QLD College of Fitness) (Fitness Australia)
· Strength and Conditioning Coach level 1 (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association)
· Associate Diploma in Business Management (South Bank Institute of Technology)
My story
Ever since I can think back I was always the shortest and one of the skinniest kids in my class. It was a very humbling feeling whenever school class photos were being taken and you already knew where you would be sitting or standing in them without having to be told!!! Always at the end of either row with a big smile on your face thinking maybe, just maybe, next year may be the start of my growth spurt…….. It never happened!! J
I graduated high school weighing in at around a hairy 50kg’s thinking this is not good for my confidence or primal manly ego J. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school. All I did know was that I love sports and I love telling people what to do J. I just knew that I had to feel better about my physical self and the only way I felt I could achieve that is if I looked more like a man, than a malnourished “Survivor” reality show winner.
My master plan was activated! From age 19 all I did was live, breath and think weight training in the hope of putting on any noticeable muscle growth. I trained 6 to 7 days a week with weights for the next 5 years. I put on roughly 23 to 25 kg’s of muscle to weigh in at 76 kg’s fully lean but still hairy J!! …This was a time I was very happy with my progressive physical improvements, enjoying my university, my social life and the direction I felt I was heading………..Then it happened.
One sunny day in October 1996, whilst in the lunch break during a University lecture, I developed an unusual headache. The only way I can explain is it felt like I had a ball full of air pressing outwardly inside my cranium. I skipped weight training that day and went straight home & slept. I woke up the next day after a 12 hour sleep with a migraine, then went back to sleep. After sleeping for a few more hours the migraine was still there. This heaviness in the head lasted for up to six weeks!!
The next 12 months was a life-changing journey for me. I went to every GP known to man, and they all did their blood tests and brain scans to identify what was going on. No success was found. We just couldn’t pinpoint the problem. One very highly reputable GP said to me that I’m imagining it and it’s all a state of mind. I would loved to have him experience one day in my body to see how he would handle the head heaviness, 24 hour exhaustion, stomach aches and continual loss in weight!! After 12 months my weight dropped down to 55 kg’s and I seriously looked gaunt with jaundice and felt very unwell, and there was no explanation for it.
It was during this time that one of my University lecturers put me onto a holistic GP who made me endure every medical and nutritional human test ever conceived. He also charged for his services like Armageddon was around the corner. It cost me several thousand dollars over several months to find out what was wrong with me. He finally won the jackpot and solved the million dollar question!!……
I had gluten, lactose, yeast and wheat intolerance!!! All my life I was told to drink my milk and eat my sandwich. Little did I know, it was poisoning me. From here on I had to completely overhaul my entire nutritional and physical lifestyle and rehabilitate my health. Slowly but surely and with the assistance of acupuncture and Chinese herbs this was made possible.
It was in 1998 that I decided to create Perennial Health, my own personal training business to accommodate the unique diversity of everyone’s special health and fitness needs. Having endured this personal growth journey, I now understand the extent of how much my nutritional intolerances and lifestyle affected my childhood personality, attention span, peripheral viewpoint, growth and energy. Understanding my vulnerable health during those years has shaped my outlook of how I train my clients and run my business. I learnt that every person has their own special way of coping with different stresses and have different needs and limits that are unique unto their own. Health and fitness is so much more than just eating well and keeping fit. There are many components and variables with each different individual that can hinder or aid in their holistic health and happiness. My own hardships taught me how to train and function, and how not to train and function. The personal experiences and knowledge that I acquired from my travels of adverse health, exercise and education are what I impart onto my own clients J.