Heartfelt Health with Activate Body
At the heart of this Sunshine Beach wellness studio is a couple that are truly happiest when you are healthy. Carlie Wacker meets the Molloys!
There is an undeniable air of authenticity and a warmth that greets you at Activate Body Health and Fitness in Sunshine Beach. It is obvious to me that the founding couple of this wellness business get so much joy from the work they do, so I nestled into the bright and airy studio of Dr Viktoria Molloy and Tom Molloy to get to know this inspiring and happy duo.
It’s very clear Vik and Tom love their life and it’s a world full of family and activity and one that they both designed and fell into.
The Molloys relocated from inner Melbourne to a dreamy Queenslander property in Cooroibah where they now live with their children aged 12, 10 and five. Their life by design was to move to a slower paced environment to heal.
Tom has severe knee osteoarthritis from injuries sustained as an athlete in his teens (track and field, AFL and triathlon) and Vik had three complex caesareans for her children.
“We wanted to get fit again and to embrace the active lifestyle that Noosa offers,” Dr Vik (Phd) shares. “Tom had just finished up working in the banking and solar industry, and I was still working as a physiotherapist commuting to and from Melbourne.
“Following the complicated birth of our third child, and Tom’s decision to embark on a health and fitness journey following work burnout, we realised that there was no place in Noosa for the injured and over 30s to heal and get strong – so Activate Body was born.”
Activate Body embodies every part of this couple’s health journey. It is the culmination of their skills, talent, research, passion and extensive personal work – physiotherapy, strength training, yoga, breath work and weight loss. Activate Body is where big hearts meet wanting clients and the result is a community that helps, heals and reveals stronger bodies and minds.
Their aim has always been to provide a safe space for people to explore what their bodies are capable of without judgement.
“Our motto is Activate Body – Activate Life!” says Dr Vik. “We feel that everyone who is wanting to get the most out of their bodies can benefit from seeing us.
“We have developed the Activate Body Way which describes our injury management protocol. We start with a thorough health and injury assessment– where any injuries are treated and health concerns addressed.
“The aim of these sessions is to reduce pain and inflammation and restore function. Following this, clients progress to develop strength and mobility with our SMART (strength, mobility, all-body resistance training) method.
“Clients may fluctuate between physiotherapy and SMART sessions with Tom and I working together to maximise performance.”
If weight is an issue clients may choose to try the Activate Body Detox. This one-week program was designed after years of research and experience.
Tom once weighed in at 114 kilograms and can attest to the success of this program.
“The final part of our program is teaching our clients methods to help manage their physical, mental and emotional stress,” says Viktoria.
“Tom is a qualified breath coach and is also trained in mindfulness meditation. He has combined these skills into our Breath, Fire and Ice Workshop – a 2.5 hour workshop teaching mindful movement, meditation and breathwork for stress management – which culminates in testing these methods in extreme thermal stress of the ice bath and traditional cedar sauna.
“This is a workshop that our clients rave about.”
Tom and Viktoria were the trailblazers for the hugely popular Breath, Fire and Ice workshops and say the benefits are outstanding. Tom began exploring methods to help him manage his chronic pain years before moving to Queensland.
“We came across American surfing legend, particularly Laird Hamilton’s training protocol,” says Viktoria. “After exploring his training and recovery methodology we both agreed that his XPT Program needed to come to Australia, so in 2017 Tom flew over to LA and became the first accredited XPT Performance Coach – and with that, we introduced Breath, Fire and Ice Workshops to Australia and after organising for the XPT Team to come to Noosa and run a coaching accreditation – the workshops have gained popularity.
“This combined with the Wim Hof Method has seen ice immersion become very popular.”
“They offer a natural way to manage stress in our chaotic lives,” explains Viktoria. “They make people feel amazing without the use of medications or alcohol and they offer countless health benefits including release of endorphins which help with managing depression and anxiety and pain, weight loss, reduction in inflammation – the list is truly amazing.
“This is all supported by research and finally we are understanding why our friends in Scandinavia have been jumping in frozen lakes, followed by saunas, for hundreds of years.”
Dr Vik and Tom Molloy might just be the happiest humans I’ve met; living their dream life which exists to help others. I cannot think of a better state of being or better hands to put your health and wellbeing in.
Activate Body offer bespoke retreats for local or visiting clients – you can package up their offerings for in-home and in-hotel “retreats” including physio assessment; detox; daily one-on-one exercise sessions; private Breath, Fire and Ice workshops.
It’s the ultimate Noosa experience – healthy, balanced and helpful.
ACTIVATE BODY IS:
- Physiotherapy
- Strength Training
- Yoga
- Breath Work
- Weight Loss
