"It's always better to lift with a strict movement, rather than lift really heavy with a cheating movement. If you're doing the exercise right, you minimise the risk of injury." - Jason Lavrick

"The big change in my life was when I moved up to Karratha from Perth as a teenager. When you're a new kid in school, it's really hard to fit in and you have to choose your sides. Who do you want to go with? The bad guys or the good guys? I went with the bad guys and it turned out the worse for me. I got into the wrong things in life. I started doing drugs and I entered a state of depression.

2009 Men's Health Man - Jason Lavrick @ Yahoo!7 Video

It's hard for people to understand depression. There was a time when I walked up to my mum and said, 'I don't want to live anymore.' That's when I was really at rock bottom. You say to yourself, 'I never want to get that low again.' The state I was in actually caused my mum to get unwell.

"My dad had to move us back to Perth to help me get better. That was at a huge cost. My dad had to sell his motorbike, but he's a strong-minded person. He always encouraged me to exercise and would get me up at six o'clock and make me run with him to keep my mental state right. Besides the physical side of it, it's really good for your brain. I believe to this day that besides seeing psychologists and stuff, exercise was what really helped me, and I thank my dad for that because it was like going to hell and back, trust me.

"Since then, exercise has been part of my life. I'm mentally stable now, but I've kept it up because you feel good. After you've gone for a run and had a shower and put on a pair of jeans, it's like a natural high.

"These days I box once a week. I've got a bag in my backyard and a skipping rope. I do five minutes skipping and five minutes boxing for an hour. By the end of the hour, I'm getting a bit sloppy because it really tires you out.

CHECK OUT JASON'S CORE WORKOUT AS FEATURED IN THE 2009 SEPTEMBER ISSUE

"I also run once a week with my girlfriend. We'll run up 15 flights of stairs in a block of flats, which gets the heart rate up to nearly 200! And I work out four times a week in the gym for about 35 minutes, one body part a day. I don't lift too heavy. I keep it quick and strict, without much rest. That way I don't get too big and I stay lean.

"If you're starting out, it's better to begin lifting bodyweight, like push-ups and chin-ups. You also need to mix it up. If you do chest Mondays, do it Friday the next week. And don't do the same exercises; that way your body's always getting sore.
"My life involves a mix of things. I do have a pizza and a few beers with the boys on the weekends, but during the week I keep it strict. It's a good way to go."