Christmas Crosstraining!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I love this time of year. It is fun to really chill out and take it easy while reflecting on the closing year. Just this morning, I watched ALL of Pirates of the Caribbean- Dead Man's Chest with my kids. It was really good!

My absolute favourite activity for recharging is to lie on the couch (or in my hammock) and read books interspersed with naps. I received 2 music bios (Slash and Ronnie Wood) and two historical books (WWII and the real story of Santa Claus) as well as a religious book examining Christ and organized religion. Heaven! Having said that, I am too restless to just lie around all day, so I HAVE to do some exercise throughout the week to make the loafing really fun. Here is my crosstraining routine for this week:

Friday night- Hockey Game
Saturday- Skating with kids
Sunday- Skating with kids
Monday- Sledding with kids
Tuesday- Nothing!
Wednesday- Skating
Thursday- Skating
Friday- Body weight exercises (Century!)
Skating with kids
Hockey Game

You think my family likes skating? :)

Quotes of the Week!

Here are a few quotes heard around The Studio this week. Some are funny, some are motivating.

"I think my eyeballs are sweating"!
"Thank you for giving me my life back".
"My friends tell me that I am shrinking!"
"You have cost me a fortune in new clothes" (sorry) :)
"Can I have HER body?"
"What the hell are you eating?"
"This is why I pay you. Just ignore me and keep me going."
"You bastard!"
"My favourite move is the "eyeball pluck!" (don't ask)
"Do you REALLY want to see me with "uncomfortable amounts of energy"?

Time Flies!................time to catch up.

Wow. I can't believe that I haven't posted anything in over a month. So much has been going on that it seems that I just .................forgot! Anyway, it is time to get caught up on the happenings at All Canadian Fitness.


As you know from the last post, we totally kicked butt in the local Reader's Polls. Yay for us.


About a week ago, we had our Client Appreciation 2007 Party to celebrate the real stars of the show....our clients! We held an evening of food, drink, music, awards and just plain fun that was attended by well over 100 people. It was so cool seeing everyone in regular clothes for a change! :) Our clients clean up very well indeed!







Some of the notable awards went to Peter Turkstra for "Fitness Feat of the Year" for skiing to the North Pole and helping to raise $500 000 for local Children's Charities! Rhona Waxman was named client "Most Likely to Start a Revolution". She actually tried to start a "Client's Rights" group while I was on holiday! The ladies from Adam's tuesday/ thursday group were named "Most Likely to Cause a Traffic Accident when leaving The Studio". There were a bunch more (some serious, some fun).



For me, the surprise of the night came when I was interrupted during one award announcement and was promptly awarded a brand new red ESP Electric Guitar (with ESP double humbucker pickups no less!!!) from my trainers! I was literally speechless and very touched. We are lucky to have such a family atmosphere at work unlike anywhere else I have been. Thanks again guys (and Sheila). You are truly...........the best.



Our band (me and Sheila) "Swimming to Vegas" played throughout the night and featured two clients that were amazing. Steve Malbouef (finalist for the fitness feat award after completing the Ironman UK) played lead guitar and Kevin Matthews (finalist for the "Back to Life" award after overcoming rsi injuries and resuming his music career) played awesome saxophone for us on several numbers.



All in all an unforgettable night. Can't wait until next year!

Simply the Best!

Wow!

There were two local Reader's Polls that came out in the past week in Hamilton. The Hamilton Spectator and Hamilton View. We are excited and blown away that we fared incredibly well in both of them!

I was the Gold Winner as "Best Personal Trainer" in the Spectator's reader's poll. In the View, our own Adam Higson was named "Hamilton's Best Personal Trainer" along with myself as co-winner. All Canadian Fitness- The Studio won as "Best Gym" (although I would argue that we are not a gym!) and Adam's own Phoenix Fight Club won as "Best Martial Arts" facility. Hope Jervis, our on-site RMT, won "Best Massage Therapist" as well.

Like I said.......wow. Do we kick ass or what? :)

Home Again

Just got back from Montreal tonight. I am tired, so I will be brief!

We always tell our clients to do the "best they can in the place where they are".

Well.

On friday I was in the Eastern Townships in Quebec (Mont Bromont) staring up a mountain with a chair lift that was eerily still. We drove out to do some downhill biking (and uphill chairlifting!), BUT, were told that the lift was not open that day. Did I mention that it was also really cold and raining really hard?

Anyway..... doing the best that we could in the (cold, windy) place that we were, my buddy Steve Malbouef, who recently completed the Ironman UK, and myself decided to start pedalling. 50 kms later, we had had enough and decided to act normal and headed for the nearest "La Belle Province" restaurant for Hot Dogs, Smoked Meat and French Fries (everything in moderation, right?). I figure that after 2 1/2 hours of slogging through wind and rain we deserved a little fat with our post-ride meal.

All in all it was a great weekend visiting old friends, biking, eating and drinking, playing guitars, watching the Habs at the local Brasserie and basically just hanging out.

Tomorrow.....back to the salt mines.

The World is Safe and I am Practicing What I Preach!

Just back back from my ride (see post below), Superman and the Justice League have saved the world from the martian invaders and now my son wants to play in his sandbox in the back yard! I really wanted to do a workout today, so I went back to the principles that I teach all of my clients. Do the best you can in the place that you are! Keeping that in mind, I did a KILLER workout in my back yard using a basketball, picnic table and a couple of bricks. Here is what I did:

20 pushups with one hand on a basketball
20 full situps
20 explosive pushups alternating hand positions
20 full twisting situps
20 close grip pushups
20 full situps holding a baseball bat
20 explosive pushups
20 full situps with hands reaching overhead
20 pushups with fingers pointing inwards
20 full twisting situps

20 dips from a picnic table
20 front shoulder raises holding two bricks in one hand
-repeat above 3 times
20 rear lateral flyes holding two bricks
20 hip bridges with feet on a picnic table
-repeat above 4 times

Done! Total time was about 20 minutes.

Never say never. Just think about the solution and it will come to you.

Heading for the Hills!

Good morning! It is a phenomenal early fall day in Southern Ontario.

Sunday mornings are one of my favourite times of the week. I am just finishing a cup of my extra strength Starbuck's home brew and watching Superman kick some butt on Justice League with my 4 year old son! In a few minutes, I will morph into Superdad and head out onto the Bruce Trail with my Brodi mountain bike. I once saw an ad for mountain biking which showed a cyclist in the most gorgeous forest you could imagine (on a sunday morning no less!). The caption read:

"I would rather be on my bike in the woods thinking about God than sitting in church thinking about my bike".

'Nuff said. There is just something spiritual about being out in nature pushing your body to it's limits.

In two weeks, I will be downhill riding in Quebec so it is time to practice and hit the trails.

Gotta go.....

Supportive Supper!

Here is an example of a great "Supportive Dinner". Supportive eating encourages taking in lean protein, complex carbohydrates and fibrous carbohydrates (vegetables) every 3 to 3 1/2 hours in an effort to stabilize blood sugar levels. Ideally, all three components will be of equal size. Doing this provides your body with energy and the material needed to build new, lean muscle tissue. It also puts the body in a hormonal state where it becomes much better at "releasing" body fat for fuel.

If you want to get lean, you HAVE to eat! The above meal is home-made lean turkey meatloaf, baked potato and mixed beans and carrotts. Pair this with a low sugar, low fat dessert and sugar-free beverage and you have one powerful meal. Bon Appetit!

Back in the Trenches

Hey people, friday night again and time to take a breather....

This past week has been pretty intense. 5 days packed into 4, 2 trainers on holidays (Sheila- Calgary, Matteo- Italy), 10 new clients= one heckuva an intense week. The client load at The Studio was heavy as always this week, but divided up between the three Amigos; Adam, Andrew and yours truly. There were 15 hour training days and little time to catch your breath. The strange thing is that it was really, really fun! We said goodbye to Courtney Bruce who is heading back to school stronger and more powerful. Check out her testimonial at the Success Stories/ Sports page. Courtney is a Power Cheerleader who can now pack a punch.

Tomorrow, All Canadian Fitness will be hanging out at the Locke St. Festival where we will be doing free Waist/ Hip Ratio (WHR) measurements, talking fitness and taking in the scene. Drop by if you can.

Remember to vote for me (Ernie Schramayr) in the Hamilton Spectator Reader's Choice survey in the category of "Best Personal Trainer". It is really an honour to be mentioned and is a testament to the awesome team and clients at our place. You can go to the link to vote here: https://secure.hamiltonspectator.com/readers_choice/spe_favourite_people_vote.html

Later.

The Kings (and Queen) of all Media!

Well it has been quite a week! All Canadian Fitness was featured for a full hour on CHML- AM 900 radio with host Jamie West on thursday morning. Ernie, Adam and Sheila spoke on a wide range of topics including the importance of building muscle to achieve superior fitness results, Adam's recent Shoot Boxing tournament win in Japan and Sheila's opinion of training men vs. women. The show was also broadcast on Cable 14 TV. It was exciting and lots of fun and the beginning of great things to come. The full broadcast will be added to our site asap.

We are also being featured on the personal BLOG of Hamilton Spectator/ Toronto Star columnist Lorraine Sommerfeld who is once again working with us for a special assignment. Last year, we turned her into a boxer in two weeks and this year, we are getting her ready to drive, hike and basically survive the mountainous terrain in Argentina where she will be testing a new SUV as a special assignment. Check out the blog here: http://www.lorraineonline.ca/blog/ Very cool.

Lastly, the Hamilton Spectator Reader's Choice Awards nominees were released this past week. Ernie (me!) has been nominated as Hamilton's favourite Personal Trainer. Wow!

Supportive Breakfast!

Here is an awesome breakfast idea for you to try. Take a Flax Waffle (available at Fortinos in the Health Food Section). Top with cottage cheese and fruit yogourt. Sprinkle ground flax seed on top for added crunch and an amazing source of essential fatty acids (EFA's) which help your body to burn fat and hold onto muscle. Enjoy with a cup of coffee and get on with your day. Supportive eating is not hard, it just takes some thought.

.........She's baaaaaack!

I am so proud that my favourite girl is back! My wife Liesa has just started training with us again after a bit of a summer break. She has been kicking butt at The Studio with Adam and Sheila and is making killer progress already. Check out the core stability work that Sheila put her through in the pic above. Also, if you read my earlier post about the "home" workout I came up with for weekends when the kids make it impossible to get your whole session in, check out the pic above of Liesa training at home in the yard, while the kids do their thing in the background. It just takes a little imagination....

Rockin' with Vegas!

Hey all, check out these pics from last week's "Swimming to Vegas" gig at Baranga's on the Beach in Burlington. We played for Lakeport Breweries end of year bash. What a blast! Can't wait to do it again.

Part 3 of my CD (10 More Earth SHAKERS to get you moving)

Here is another list of my top workout songs. My mixed CD is turning into a Box Set!


Hungry for Heaven- Dio
One Step Closer- Linkin Park
No Easy Way Out- Robert Tepper
Paralyzed- Finger Eleven
Bulls on Parade- Rage Against the Machine
Soul Sacrifice- Santana
Freewheel Burning- Judas Priest
Stronger than All- Pantera
Pull Me Under- Dream Theater
Wildest Dreams- Iron Maiden

Supportive Eating...the 3 "P"s

I came across a great tip for anyone who is having trouble getting organized in terms of eating healthfully and supportively in their everyday life. Keoni Subiono, a colleague of mine who trains in Hawaii, sent me this bit of advice that he teaches to his clients. Rather than being overwhelmed by how to begin eating supportively, he asks his clients to look at their lives, determine how they should be eating to support their health and fitness goals and then to implement the 3 "P"s.

Plan- Figure out where you will be throughout the day and what is your best food option based on where you will be.

Prepare- Prepare any food, snacks, meals, shakes or whatever before you leave the house. This could be as simple as throwing a loaf of whole grain bread, some carrot sticks and some canned tuna into a lunch bag to bring to work. If you are at the mercy of the drive thru or the vending machine, you'll be in trouble!

Pack- You can't bring it with you if you don't pack it! Take stock of what you have in terms of tupperware, shaker bottles, baggies etc... and fill in the gaps. Buy a thermos or cooler bag if you need one. Planning and preparing food is pointless if you don't pack it and bring it with you.

I would also stress the importance of thinking ahead and figuring out when exactly you will be eating to insure that your body gets the nutrients that it needs and you do not experience blood sugar crashes which will affect your energy and your body's fat burning ability.

The Week That Was

Well, well. Another week at All Canadian Fitness. Having more fun than anybody should have on a regular basis, we continue to change lives and figure out ways to push the limits of everyone we work (and play) with.

Eric Spearin, our football project, leaves for Montreal this weekend to play for Concordia University. This kid worked his a** off and will have a great training camp. Go for it.

Rob Braley, an old friend of All Canadian Fitness, returned from British Columbia as a National Champion! Rob led a local Burlington team to the Canadian Softball National Championship! 8 games in 4 days set a grueling pace, but the boys were up to it.

Rhona Waxman has returned from a trip to Scotland and has picked up where she left off before her holiday cracking everyone up every time she comes in for a workout. I really don't know how anyone can work so hard and laugh so much at the same time!

Speaking of hard work, Sheila (the Superhuman) and I finally completed the entire Navy Seal Challenge described below. Wow. Wow. Wow. Now THAT is a tough workout. In the process, however, Sheila ran her Personal Best Mile time of 6:49! Two weeks ago, she did it in 7:00 so a very nice improvement in a short period of time. Oh yeah, her shoe starting coming off 3/4 of the way into the mile. A little gentle "prodding" got her to continue and actually speed up with a blown tire. Not bad for a human.......

It has been so awesome getting back into running after having knee surgery last November that I have set a personal goal of running a mile in under 6 minutes. Back in my college football days, I had a personal best of 5:22, so anything in the 5:50- 5:59 range would be cool. I have no idea if it possible, but, I'll figure it out.

Besides Rob Braley, we have two other clients competing in National Championships this week. Kim Cullen and Kayl McCann are both going for the National title in "Dog Agility" Racing. Much tougher than it sounds, agility competitions include the task of controlling your dog at the same time that you tear around the obstacle course that your dog is running through. They have been training like crazy at The Studio and our fingers are crossed for both of them.

Think you're TOUGH?

Hey everybody, today is my first day back from holidays. You know you've got a great job when you cannot wait to get back to it! Entertaining a 3 and a 6 year old for 10 straight days might have something to do with it...... but nevertheless, it's good to be back. While I was away, Adam Higson (Trainer Number One) was in Tokyo, Japan fighting in a Shoot Boxing tournament. He totally CRUSHED his favoured opponent and spent the rest of the week riding in limousines like a Rock Star! Nobody deserves success more than Adam. He is a workhorse, a rock and an absolute professional. Adam worked, trained, dieted and never once complained. He was Greyhound lean and Steel Town mean. Good job buddy!



I was really excited to get back to Shelley Thorsen today, another workhorse. Shelley is almost half-way to her goal of losing 120lbs. and worked hard as always today.



I also had the pleasure of working with Cathy Baldwin for the first time today since Matteo Tino, her regular trainer, is in Europe travelling and training for 5 weeks. Wow! What a blast. This lady works hard and Matteo has obviously prepped her in a big way. She handled her first "fat liberation workout" today with some blood, sweat and tears, but, with a lot of laughs as well. The point of FATLib training is to work with high intensity for a brief time to deplete the body of stored sugar and then to engage in cardio work to then burn stored fat. Here is an example of that type of workout:



Leg Extensions supersetted with Squats 2 x 10-15 reps of each. After the second superset, you would go IMMEDIATELY back to the Leg Extensions where you would perform reps to failure. At that point, you would remove some weight and continue to failure again. Repeat 3 times in all. Ouch. It doesn't take long but is extremely effective at depleting stored glycogen (sugar) levels so that your body will burn fat more effectively during the endurance portion of the training.



Finally, I had a chance to work out with Sheila Wynne Fung (one of our Superhuman trainers). When any two trainers work out together with limited time, things tend to get...."interesting". Yesterday, I got an email from a fellow trainer in Chicago describing a Navy Seal Challenge workout that they do at his studio for "fun". Sheila is a little nuts, so she says to me, "Hey let's try the Challenge workout!" Anyways, the workout involves no equipment and is as follows:



Run a mile
Perform 300 Bodyweight Squats
Perform 200 Pushups
Perform 100 Pullups
Run a mile

??? Yikes.



Time the whole thing and see if you can get in under 30 minutes. Luckily, we did not have time for the running part and did "just" the exercises :). We broke things down into sets of 5 to 100! Ow. We did it, but, man it was tough. Sheila (the Superhuman) started with 100 Full Pushups from her toes!! At The Studio, "girl" pushups do not exist.



Next week, we will do it with the running. Think you're tough? Give it a shot.

EVERYTHING in moderation....including moderation!

Well here is my first post in a while. I have been in Montreal on holidays since last week visting friends in the area where I grew up. It is just great being "back home" and immersing myself in the culture, food and lifestyle of the "La Belle Province" once again. The purpose of the trip is primarily to just get away from the day to day tasks and responsibilities of being a small business owner and part of the greatest fitness team I have ever been around! While I am an incredibly proud Hamiltonian and choose to live here and raise my family here, there is something about going back to your roots. I also feel it is important for my kids to be exposed to those roots as well.

Whenever I take a break like this, I like to let things go (just a little bit) and enjoy myself. It feels like I have been living on crepes, bagels, beer and Montreal, "all dressed" pizza (That stuff in Ontario really isn't pizza!) since I have been here. I have managed to work in a little activity and spent the day on Ste. Helens Island at La Ronde, the local amusement park on the Expo 67 site with 4 kids. That is a workout I tell you! Today, we are packing up to head back to Ontario to Pigeon Lake, North of Peterborough. Before we will leave, however, my wife and I will be doing a workout in the pool and then doing the "Century" workout that we developed at The Studio for limited time and limited equipment. We are on vacation, but, don't want to lose all of our fitness in 10 days. Doing just a bit every other day can be very powerful in terms of maintaning your strength and fitness for when you are ready to get back to the real world and really hit it.

Basically, I live by the credo of "EVERYTHING in moderation, including MODERATION!" I eat healthfully, exercise and basically do all things in moderation MOST of the time, but, on New Year's Eve I will drink too much Champagne, on my birthday I will eat too much cake, when I visit my friends I will sleep too little and when I am in Montreal I will eat too many bagels, brochettes, pizzas, smoked meat sandwiches and whatever.......

Remember why we train and eat well in the first place. To enjoy LIFE! Just do it in moderation (most of the time).

Eating doesn't have to be rocket science!

The very first post I ever did for this site dealt with breakfast options and just what I might eat in a given week. People sometimes become overwhelmed when they hear about us eating 6 meals per day comprised of lean protein and two kinds of complex carbohydrates. Add in the fact that no one has time to cook and the kids don't wanna eat health food etc.... Just excuses! Getting 6 supportive meals with minimal effort is really not that hard. Here is what I ate today (including breakfast and supper with my 3 year old and 6 year old).

7:30 amBreakfast- 8 Whole Grain Bread (2 slices) with Natural Peanut Butter and low sugar jam.
1/2 Green Apple (my son ate the other half with some Natural Peanut Butter for dipping!), Coffee

10:30 am Post Workout Recovery Drink- 1/2 c. Apple Juice, 1/2 c. Water, 1 scoop Vanilla Whey Protein

1:00 pm Lunch- Sliced Turkey, Swiss Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and mustard on Whole Wheat Kaiser. 1c. Four Bean Salad. Diet Coke.

4:00 pm Snack- No sugar, low fat yogourt, 1/2 Whole Grain Flax Bagel, Coffee

6:30 pm Supper (with family)- Brown Basmati Rice (steamed), Vegetable Pasta Sauce (Healthy Request), Lean Ground Beef Meatballs, Steamed Green, Yellow Beans and Carrotts. Low Fat Frozen Yogourt with fresh Blue Berries.

10:30 pm Snack- 1c. 1 % cottage cheese mixed with 1 low sugar, low fat yogourt.

Nothing too strange. Eat every 3 to 3 1/2 hours, stabilize blood sugar, build some muscle and move! Not too difficult really. Once you set some good habits, kids really do take to better food choices and will eat brown rice, whole wheat pasta and all the good stuff. Give it a try!

The trick is thinking ahead and keeping fridges, cupboards, store rooms or whatever stocked with the good stuff.

Fore!

Dr. Tracy McMurter of Village Eye Care in Ancaster has been training with us recently to improve her golf game! She has adapted a program developed for Annika Sorenstam. Might as well copy the best, eh? Tracy has gone through many types of training with us and recently set a personal best in the 10K at the Ancaster Old Mill Race. The challenge now is to transfer all the strength and power she has gained into her golf shot. Here is a sample of her training program:

-Stability Ball Crunches

-Single Arm Cable Rotation Movements

-"Wood Chopper" Cable Exercises (up and down)

-Barbell Squats

-Wide Grip Pullups

-Rotational/ Twisting Pushups

-Medicine Ball Swings, Rotations and Squats

-Twisting Dumbell Curls for Biceps and Forearms

-Walk/ Jog/ Run Treadmill Work

What to do, what to do.....

Sunday evening is a great time to survey your schedule for the week and figure out what is in store for the days to come. Looking at my schedule, I am excited about working with Peter from Locke St. Bakery tomorrow afternoon. Peter comes in, gets warmed up, gets it done and gets out! A great guy, but when he is with us, it's all business. Pete is in the second week of what we call a "Conditioning Phase" of training. To be able to really build muscle and become leaner, we like to start people with a style of training that they are probably unaccustomed to. For Peter, this means doing circuit style work with very little rest and emphasizing athletic moves that require balance and coordination. Following that, he will experience "Strength and Growth", "Muscle Building", "Endurance Training" and then "BURN" training to lose fat.

I am also REALLY excited about seeing Shelley Thorsen again tomorrow. Shelley has lost 50lbs. since training with us and after a little bit of a plateau is again moving in the right direction. Recently, she has experienced a couple of really neat things. She was able to walk to the top of the escarpment stairs on Dundurn St. for the first time ever (see picture above) and she performed a set of deadlifts with 175 pounds for 6 repetitions! Wow. Tomorrow will be "fun" :).

I am also excited to watch Adam continue to change before our eyes as he gets ready to leave for Japan. Matteo is also fun to watch right now as he prepares to leave for a month in Europe travelling and training. He will be posting videos at his blogspot which should be cool to see. I am also looking forward to hitting the track again this week to continue running which is something I have really missed while recovering from knee surgery.

Hope you all have as much fun this week as we will be at All Canadian Fitness!

Best Workout CD...ever, Part 2!

Here is "side two" of my favourite workout songs!


You Could Be Mine- Guns 'n Roses
Not Fragile- Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Rock and Roll- Led Zeppelin
Stay Hungry- Twisted Sister
Firestarter- Prodigy
Zero- Smashing Pumpkins
Evenflow- Pearl Jam
Lose Yourself- Eminem
I Don't Wanna Stop- Ozzy Osbourne
For Whom the Bell Tolls- Metallica
Burn- Deep Purple
Whole Lotta Rosie- AC/DC

Another Week in the Can!

Well here it is....friday night! I like looking back at the week that was to take stock of what we did this past week. One of our clients (Patricia Wright) will be taking her final Black Belt grading on sunday. She stopped in on tuesday for one of her over the top, partially insane training sessions! If it comes down to conditioning, she's got it in the bag. Both Adam Higson and Sheila Fung have done masterful work in preparing her. Patricia is limited by hand and wrist injuries and Adam and Sheila figured out how she could continue to blast away without injuring herself. That is what makes them both world-class trainers!

Adam has also been a sight to behold as he gets ready to leave for Japan next week. I really pity the Japanese fighter that he will meet in Osaka. I have been around many all-world athletes in my life, but, few with the focus of Adam "The Road Warrior" Higson. He is ripped to the bone and ready to rock. Greyhound lean and Pitbull mean.

I had the pleasure of working with our small group of runners this week for the first time in a while. These ladies work hard and have fun. I gave them a mixture of athletic functional training, hurdle drills and aero-boxing work. Very cool!

Andrew has been pushing our football player, Eric Spearin to new heights as well as he gets ready to take it to the next level at Concordia University in the fall. Eric is going through monstrous workouts and is seeing a gain in his bench press literally every single workout.

As for myself, I have been running sprints for the first time in several months since having knee surgery last November. It feels awesome. Like flying. It always makes me feel free like a child when I run. I also had the opportunity to play live at a bar in an acoustic duo setting for the first time in my life! Sheila and I presented an evening of Classic Rock, New Rock and a few twists at Hooters on thursday night. We played for about two hours (see pics above) and fine tuned our set list that we will be playing in Montreal at a street festival in a couple of weeks.

Liesa (my wife and amistrative adminsistrator) has also been working very hard getting our latest employee ready to start on monday. Jen Scorniaenchi, who is a former all star client of ours, will be working at The Studio for the next month to help us develop a full time administration position before she heads back for her final year of school at Indiana University- Purdue University at Indianapolis in August.

Another week and several more lives changed for the better!................

You gotta have a hobby!

To be able to REALLY enjoy life, you have to take some time to enjoy something other than what you do for a living. In my case, I have been surrounded by sports and now health and fitness since I was 6 years old playing hockey on the outdoor rinks in Montreal. It is a part of me and what I am and what I do. Having played competitively in football, hockey, rugby, track, field, basketball, baseball, soccer, waterpolo and swimming, I have almost done it all. Nowadays, my main sports are mountain biking, running and men's league hockey in the winter. I really prefer the more non-competitive things like banging around in the woods on my mountain bike.

When I really want to get away from it (meaning health, fitness and "that" lifestyle), I immerse myself in music. Growing up a collector (my first album at age 10 was the Best of BTO!) and now an actual player, there has never been a day in my life that I can remember not involving music. For the last 2 years, I have been part of a hobby band called "Swimming to Vegas" which plays parties and occasional pub gigs. (We had a blast playing the Super Bowl party for Hooters on Hamilton mountain in January).

Today I am really excited because we just received confirmation that Swimming to Vegas will be the featured band at Baranga's on the Beach in Burlington for Lakeport Breweries "End of Summer" bash on August 24th!! This will be huge for us and a ton of fun. It's good to have a hobby.......

Try this at home!

If, like me, you find yourself incredibly rushed and short of time on the weekend in terms of getting your fitness training in, you need an "Emergency Plan"! Something you can do with little or no equipment that will get you through to your next "real" workout. Something that will challenge your body without eating up all of your time and requiring too much thought or planning. I have a backup workout for such times and it continues to serve me well when I need it. In between taking my kids to "It's Your Festival", cutting the grass, taking the kids swimming, going shopping, planning a party, having a party and then cleaning up AFTER a party, visiting family for Canada Day and then just recovering from everything, I did this workout on saturday afternoon for about 20 minutes;

You can make the intensity incredibly hard or ,easy to moderate, depending on how you feel. With limited time, I tend to move non-stop for the entire 20 minutes with almost no rest in between sets or exercises. I choose "compound" movements which focus on many muscles at once and use mostly large muscle groups. Here is the workout:

Bodyweight Squats x 20
Pushups x 20
Yoga/ Abdominal Plank 30- 60 seconds
Crunches x 20
Hip Lifts (Bridges) x 20
Triceps Dips from a bench or chair x 20

Repeat as many times as possible for 10- 20 minutes depending on time available and your particular fitness level. You can make the exercises harder by moving more quickly in terms of the squats and more slowly in the case of the other exercises. Don't be deceived, this workout will leave you drenched and breathless if you push it. You will get it done and get on with your day in no time, and still be on track to reach your goals.

What a week!

It's late friday night and I am just looking back at the week that was. Literally every single week our trainers say to each other, "I can't believe we get paid for this!" or "You shouldn't be allowed to have this much fun at work!". The energy that we get from our clients is literally awesome. I don't think I could think of anything else I would rather do than what we are currently doing. We did about 130 individual workouts this week including;

-aerobic boxing with a bride-to-be (1 week) who is feeling like the female version of Rocky right now.
-incredibly high intensity plyometric (explosive bouncing and jumping) movements done against rubber resistance tubing while focusing on catching a soccer ball with a soccer goalie!
-stair climbing at the Dundurn Stairs. 2 clients made to the top for the first time ever!
-outdoor sports drills at Bayfront Park

and finally.....Adam Higson took a pupil of his to Lethbridge, Alberta to compete in a kickboxing tournament, which she won! Jamey English will be going to Thailand in November to compete in a tournament for the King's birthday. Wow.

I myself had the pleasure of working with Jamie West of CHML radio's Health and Wellness show. Jamie has been having major back pain, BUT, today reported that he was actually pain free. About two weeks ago, we did a major overhaul on his training program to focus more on core stability and flexibility and it seems to be working.

The long Canada Day weekend is upon us and I am looking forward to a break, but, can't wait to get back at it next week. Happy Canada Day!

The best workout CD.... EVER!

Besides being a health and fitness guy, I am also an admitted music nut. I have been collecting albums since I was 10 years old and now have over 3000 in vinyl, cassette and CD. I also play guitar and sing (sort of) in a classic rock band called "Swimming to Vegas". In my opinion, life without music would be unliveable. Here is what I would be listening to if I had to put together my all time "Top 10" workout songs:

Enter Sandman- Metallica
I Stand Alone- Godsmack
Eye of the Tiger- Survivor
The Zoo- Scorpions
2 Minutes to Midnight- Iron Maiden
Lakini's Juice- Live
Jessica- Allman Brothers Band
Neon Nights- Black Sabbath
YYZ- Rush
Holy Wars- Megadeth

That's it. Every one of these songs will get my blood pumping and keep me moving when I want to stop.

First things first!

Hello and welcome to the first ever posting of the Renaissance Trainer blog. One of the questions most asked of myself and the other trainers at All Canadian Fitness is; "What do YOU guys eat?". Putting first things first, here are a couple of breakfasts that I had this week before starting a 10 hour day of training and doing business.

Breakfast No. 1

2 poached eggs
2 oz. cheddar cheese
1 multi- grain bagel (from Locke St. Bakery!)
1 cup of coffee (sugar twin and cream)
small bunch of grapes
1 multi-vitamin, 3 fish oil capsules, 1 glucosamine caplet


Breakfast No. 2

3 "muscle crepes" (thin crepes made with whole wheat flour, oatmeal, eggs and water)
1 c. low fat, no sugar yogourt
1 green apple
1cup of coffee (sugar twin and cream)
1 multi-vitamin, 3 fish oil capsules, 1 glucosamine caplet


Breakfast No. 3

scrambled egg whites (about 5)
sauteed peppers, mushrooms
small amount of shredded cheddar cheese
bowl of Red River cereal (sweetened with 2 tbsps. of maple syrup homemade by my father and daughter!)
1 cup of coffee (sugar twin and cream)
1 multi-vitamin, 3 fish oil capsules, 1 glucosamine caplet


Pretty normal stuff really. The point is, you've got to put some complex carbohydrates and some good lean protein into your body if you want to be able to function all day long. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day in terms of speeding metabolism, providing energy and helping your body to stay lean.