Last day in Texas

Wow, what a whirlwind...

It is monday morning in Dallas/ Fort Worth and my last day before flying home this afternoon to Hamilton. Since arriving on friday night, it has been pretty much non-stop studying, training, socializing and touring.

On saturday, I spent the day with 85 of the top Boot Camp instructors and Personal Trainers from around the States and Canada. While it was inspiring and enlightening, it was also TIRING! After attending lectures and workshops on things like heart rate monitoring, marketing, website development and program design, we spent 3 hours working out at Velocity, a high-performance training centre in Fort Worth. Let me tell you, when it is 105 degrees outside and you take 85 trainers through a workout, even with air conditioning, it gets to steaming pretty quick. Thank god for water.

On saturday, we visited the famous stockyards in Fort Worth where the modern cattle industry was started last century. It is like stepping back in time as most of the buildings from the cowboy era have been preserved and there are plenty of horses and long horned cattle wandering around as well as people dressed up in period clothes. Again it was about 105 degrees, so I just had to pick me up an ice cold "walking beer" (you can walk around drinking beer in Texas!). We visited the world-famous "Billy Bob's" which is a show bar big enough that they have a live bull riding ring inside of it! After a lunch of BBQ, we headed back to the hotel for a nap and then went for a stroll through our "neighbourhood".

I just finished a brief workout in the hotel's facility (pretty nice actually) and I am heading out for a swim. I am also debating whether to eat super healthy at breakfast today or to go for my favourite southern "cheat meal" of biscuits and sausage gravy. Pure fat, but, pure yum! (decisions, decisions).

Can't wait to get back to Hamilton

Big D is HOT!

Hey Y'all! I just arrived in Dallas for a weekend training camp for Adventure Boot Camp. There are 85 of the top trainers, instructors and fitness business people from around the continent here for the weekend. It should prove to be very exciting and interesting. It is also going to be HOT. The high for today is 105 degrees. Wow.

This morning we have a breakast sponsored by Polar Heart Rate monitors and we will be doing workouts based on specific intensities measuring heart rates. While we have done this many times in the past with our personal training clients, it is something that we should be doing more of and I am excited to bring some new ideas back to our trainers.

Getting 85 trainers together for a weekend at a hotel is like witnessing an explosion of ideas where every one is trying to soak up as much info as possible to be able to take back to wherever they came from. I promise to bring back as many freaky, awesome ideas as possible.

It is the beginning of a long, exciting day....................stay tuned.

I'm so Tired!

Well it's friday night and another loooong week of fitness n' fun is behind me. I have been getting up at 4:30 all week again to start Adventure B00t Camp at 5:30. It's AWESOME, I love it. BUT, man I'm tired tonight.

This morning, my number one, Adam Higson came to Bayfront Park to take my ladies through a rockin' Kickboxing workout. It never ceases to amaze me how Adam can pull a workout out of thin air and blow everyone away. The quintessential professional, you can ALWAYS depend on him. When he says he'll do something.....BAM, it's done. Thanks Adam.

Heading into the weekend, I like to kick back and plan out what we'll be doing for the next couple of days. I have two young children that play baseball, do karate, swim, dance and bike. The weekends are all about them. To be able to keep up with them, however, requires stamina and strength, so although it's all about them, I still like to be active and get some fitness in for myself on the weekend. Part for the body and also a BIG part for the mind. Blading, biking, some lifting. For me, it's like meditating. I always feel better afterwards.

Father's Day is on sunday which means I'll do a few minutes extra and a few more reps on in whatever workout I do. (I hear we're having deep fried turkey for dinner on sunday).

Deja Vu

I had a really neat experience today. Roger Dunbrack, our newest All Canadian Fitness Certified Personal Trainer has been hired as the Strength Coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Today was the first day of weight training for the rookies in training camp at McMaster University. There are about 100 guys in camp, so Roger asked me to come help check form and help him make sure that the workout goes smoothly.

It has been 16 years since my last professional football training camp! Being back in that environment was so cool. It was also like having deja vu. One of the players trying out for the Cats is Dexter Manley II. Well, I played with Dexter Manley, the first. His DAD! Boy does that make you feel like the years are going by. One of my former teammates from Ottawa is now a coach with the Cats, so the whole thing felt very familiar and comfortable.

The other thing that I found really fascinating was how these young, fine tuned machines had some of the same motor pattern problems as the "regular" civilians that train at All Canadian Fitness! Some of the big guys were powerful and fit as anything, but, had NO core strength. Like I said, it was just........interesting.

I am hoping to be back at camp with Roger again later this week. I really enjoyed it!