One of only a handful of three-time guests on the show, Professor Nic Gill returns for another insightful conversation. After more than two decades with the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team, guiding one of the most successful teams in world sport through over 240 Test matches and more than 200 victories, Nic is embarking on his next chapter in elite performance:moving to the United States as Vice President of Health and Performance for the Baltimore Ravens NFL Team.

From his first appearance in 2021, "Rugby Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the NZ All Blacks," through the follow-up episode, "A Week in the Life of an All Blacks Rugby Player," Nic is back to discuss his latest and perhaps greatest challenge yet. Having spent a career at the pinnacle of rugby performance, he now steps into the world of American football, embracing the uncertainty, excitement, and opportunity that come with leading performance in one of the NFL's premier organizations.

At his core, Nic operates on a simple but powerful philosophy: performance is built on trust, relationships, and doing the basics exceptionally well. He rejects over-complication, emphasising that motivation isn’t created by coaches—it already exists within athletes, driven by identity, purpose, and environment.

Whether pushing himself through extreme challenges like 24-hour Wattbike records for charity, Ironman races or guiding elite players, he consistently chooses discomfort, using challenge as fuel for growth and purpose.

That mindset underpins both his coaching and his life decisions. Leaving the All Blacks after two decades wasn’t driven by necessity, but by a deliberate move toward uncertainty and challenge. For Nic, growth lives on the edge of discomfort—where fear and excitement coexist.

His move to the NFL represents more than a career shift; it’s a continuation of a philosophy he has lived for years: walk toward the pressure, simplify the process, and help people perform when it matters most.

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Gilly is one of the most humble, authentic, and driven men I’ve ever had on the show, and I’m proud to call him a friend. Every time we sit down, I walk away having learned something. From the All Blacks to the Baltimore Ravens, this is a conversation about challenge, leadership, family, and having the courage to step into the unknown. AND hopefully a Super Bowl Win!!

Another super-powerful episode—sit back and enjoy.

🔗 Connect with Gilly at:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rugbyready/

Website links:https://linktr.ee/rugbyready

I am Damian Porter , Former NZ Special Forces Operator, Subject Matter Expert from www.hownottodieguy.com and www.saferthanyouarenow.com

And you are listening to my STRAIGHT TALK MIND AND MUSCLE PODCAST sponsored by www.mystait.com

- the ultimate daily formula for optimum hormone health, stress management, energy and performance.

100% natural and clinically proven ingredients, it provides everything you need to raise your game, in a convenient gut-friendly capsule. And the Mason Survival Protocol - https://www.carnivoreretreat.com/post/masonsurvival-protocol-carnivore-retreat

Links for my former shows are here- WATCH on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpt-Zy1jciVn7cWB0B-y5WATyzrzfwucZ

LISTEN on: spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rlAGRXCwLIJfQCQ5B3PYB?si=UmgsMBFkRfelCAm1E4Pd3Q

Itunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/straight-talk-mind-and-muscle-podcast/id1315986446?mt=2

Amazon https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5bce2d31-a171-4e83-bada-d1384c877e76

Subscribe for more amazing tips, interviews and wisdom from phenomenal guests ------- And get your ** FREE Video Workshop here- https://www.hownottodieguy.com/

Tayla Cannon is an Australian physiotherapist, rehabilitation coach, athlete, and tech entrepreneur who has built her career around challenging conventional thinking in health and performance. After moving to the United States at just 24 years old, she pursued opportunities that combined healthcare, innovation, and entrepreneurship, eventually creating a new model of rehabilitation that integrates injury recovery directly into athletic training.

With a background in competitive sport, CrossFit, strength and conditioning, and physiotherapy, Tayla has spent years working at the intersection of performance and recovery. Alongside her clinical work, she now leads a technology company while continuing to help athletes and everyday people overcome chronic pain and return to the activities they love.

What shaped Tayla's philosophy was not simply education, but her own experience with chronic back pain. Despite being highly trained and physically capable, she found herself trapped in the same cycle that affects countless people: pain, fear, inactivity, and frustration. Rather than accepting traditional approaches, she began experimenting with movement variability, progressive exposure, and alternative rehabilitation strategies on herself.

This journey led her to challenge many long-held beliefs around injury, spinal health, and rehabilitation. Throughout the conversation, she explains how fear often becomes as disabling as the injury itself, why pain is not always a sign of structural damage, and how the brain plays a critical role in both creating and resolving chronic pain. Her message is simple but powerful: movement is medicine, confidence can be rebuilt, and recovery often begins by teaching the brain that movement is safe again.

A major focus of Tayla's work today is bridging the gap between rehabilitation and performance. Rather than separating injury recovery from training, she integrates them into a single process that allows people to continue exercising while rebuilding strength, capacity, and confidence.

We discuss the evolution of physiotherapy, the importance of load and movement over passive treatments, fascial slings, bracing, movement variability, and why many traditional rehabilitation models fail active people.

She also shares insights on resilience, stepping outside comfort zones, the cultural differences between Australia and America, and why maintaining cardiovascular fitness, movement diversity, and lifelong athleticism is essential for long-term health. At its core, Tayla's work is about empowering people to move better, recover smarter, and build bodies capable of thriving well beyond injury.

🔗 Connect with Tayla on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylacannonphysio/

Website links: https://pop.store/taylacannonphysio?utm_id=97760_v0_s00_e0_tv3

Thanks for tuning in. Hope you love it as much as I did. Thank you all.

I am Damian Porter , Former NZ Special Forces Operator, Subject Matter Expert from www.hownottodieguy.com and www.saferthanyouarenow.com

And you are listening to my STRAIGHT TALK MIND AND MUSCLE PODCAST sponsored by www.mystait.com

- the ultimate daily formula for optimum hormone health, stress management, energy and performance.

100% natural and clinically proven ingredients, it provides everything you need to raise your game, in a convenient gut-friendly capsule. And the Mason Survival Protocol - https://www.carnivoreretreat.com/post/masonsurvival-protocol-carnivore-retreat

Links for my former shows are here- WATCH on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpt-Zy1jciVn7cWB0B-y5WATyzrzfwucZ

LISTEN on: spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rlAGRXCwLIJfQCQ5B3PYB?si=UmgsMBFkRfelCAm1E4Pd3Q

Itunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/straight-talk-mind-and-muscle-podcast/id1315986446?mt=2

Amazon https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5bce2d31-a171-4e83-bada-d1384c877e76

Subscribe for more amazing tips, interviews and wisdom from phenomenal guests ------- And get your ** FREE Video Workshop here- https://www.hownottodieguy.com/

So this was one of the most powerful shows that I've ever had the honor of producing in the last nine years. I did make formal show notes, but I just don't think it does it justice. First off, I want to say thank you to Don Mann, Seal Team 6 legend, star of Surviving Mann and the toughest man I have ever known.

Randy Couture -Google the name TV&Movie Star alongside Sylvester Stallone in the Expendables movie series UFC hall of famer, Six time UFC champion, 14 years in the UFC but there was so much that I didn't know about Randy.

Randy is former US Military and his mission now is really out there to help others. He founded the Extreme Couture GI Foundation. He's collabed with merging vets and players. We talked about what it's like to be a UFC champion, what it takes. We talked about transition from that world into movie stardom. We talked about what real self defense and real fighting is like not just the sport if cage fighting.

We talked about mental health, we talked about men's health. We talked about the pros and cons of social media and we focused on male role models, we talked about veteran mental health. We talked about so much.- this was truly one of the most powerful shows I have been part of- any summary here can not do it justice. So I encourage you to listen to it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Randy, thank you so much for coming on. Don, thank you for connecting us. We mentioned so many former guests on the show, it was brilliant. This was one of the most surprising and humbling shows I have ever recorded in the 9 years the podcast has been going- Randy is a true gentleman and his wisdom, humility and knowledge will astound you - hopefully as much as it did me.

You can connect with Randy on the show notes below. Click on those but most importantly I would suggest Randy would want you to do is click on The Xtreme Couture GI Foundation xcgif.org and the Veteran Transition support vetsandplayers.org

🔗 Connect with Randy

Official Website: https://www.randycouture.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xcnatch/

X/Twitter: https://x.com/Randy_Couture The Xtreme Couture GI Foundation: https://xcgif.org/

Merging Vets and Players: https://vetsandplayers.org/

Thanks for tuning in. Hope you love it as much as I did. Thank you all.

I am Damian Porter , Former NZ Special Forces Operator, Subject Matter Expert from www.hownottodieguy.com and www.saferthanyouarenow.com

And you are listening to my STRAIGHT TALK MIND AND MUSCLE PODCAST sponsored by www.mystait.com

- the ultimate daily formula for optimum hormone health, stress management, energy and performance.

100% natural and clinically proven ingredients, it provides everything you need to raise your game, in a convenient gut-friendly capsule. And the Mason Survival Protocol - https://www.carnivoreretreat.com/post/masonsurvival-protocol-carnivore-retreat

Links for my former shows are here- WATCH on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpt-Zy1jciVn7cWB0B-y5WATyzrzfwucZ

LISTEN on: spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rlAGRXCwLIJfQCQ5B3PYB?si=UmgsMBFkRfelCAm1E4Pd3Q

Itunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/straight-talk-mind-and-muscle-podcast/id1315986446?mt=2

Amazon https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5bce2d31-a171-4e83-bada-d1384c877e76

Subscribe for more amazing tips, interviews and wisdom from phenomenal guests ------- And get your ** FREE Video Workshop here- https://www.hownottodieguy.com/