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!

My new Favourite Workout

For the past few weeks, I have started to get serious about Rollerblading of all things. I LOVE running, but, due to arthritis (and two meniscus) surgeries, I have been limiting my running to about once or twice per month.

What I am able to do pain-free is skate! I play hockey competitively and never feel any pain and never have any swelling after games. So...... I figured that 'blading would be the same.

My new routine is to strap 'em on saturday and/ or sunday mornings while the kids are watching cartoons and I go out for about 10- 15kms. Quite a workout considering part of the road I am 'blading on is uphill! The thing that really keeps me moving is my IPod which is quickly getting filled up (I will have over 25000 songs very soon).

The point is that, having limitations (in my case my knee) does not mean you have to STOP, just figure out a way "around" your limitation and don't stop.

Stay in shape........................because, you never know!

Amazing Women!

This morning was the wrap-up of the second All Canadian Fitness- Adventure Boot Camp for Women. We did our testing of physical abilities as well as body measurements.

What an amazing group! Everyone got stronger, fitter and more toned. Some women were able to do things that they hadn't done in over 20 years, since they were High School students. Walkers were able to run and then SPRINT! Pushups from the knees are now being done from the toes! We had one camper do an abdominal "plank" for 7 minutes and 45 seconds. !!!!!!!!

Most people do the plank for about 60 seconds. Yikes.

The thing that made me the most excited and proud, however, was for the woman that had previously been in the Cancer Rehab program operated out of our private Studio. Today she ran like crazy, did pushups with confidence and planked like crazy all the while, she laughed and smiled through the whole thing. This at 5:30am.

Beautiful.

Check out http://www.adventurebootcamphamilton.com/ to see what it's all about.

Kill Your Scale.

As a trainer, it drives us CRAZY how much people put value on how much they weigh. The numbers on the scale tell only a small part of the story when it comes to someone's fitness level. We always consider body composition to be the most important number when it comes to body change and fitness increases. This number is presented as a "percentage" of total body weight. Simply losing pounds does not always convey success if the pounds lost are lean tissue. Nobody wants to be lighter and fatter at the same time. Having said this, it seems like EVERYONE wants to be lighter!

At the moment at All Canadian Fitness, we have a couple of clients that are achieving great results. One of them is my Spect Fit Cadet, Diane Ledonne. Since we have started her training 5 weeks ago, she has lost just under 3" from her waist! She has also lost about 7% of her bodyfat. Her blood pressure has also come down from 140/90 to 126/86. Very impressive results all around. BUT, since her last assessment two weeks ago, her weight has stayed exactly the same!!! During this time, all of her body composition measurements have gone down, her strength has gone up, blood pressure has gone down...AND her energy is waaaaaay up. If we had been evaluating her progress solely by the scale (like they do on that awful Biggest Loser show), then she would have felt like a failure.

The other client is experiencing frustration at the numbers on the scale that appear to be stuck. Every single day, however, she is getting compliments from people about "how great she looks". She has also lost 4 dress sizes in the last few months. Again, impressive results that simply would not have been recognized if the scale were the only measure of progress.

Bottom line- We are human beings with LOTS and LOTS of things to consider about ourselves other than simply a number on a scale. Do yourself a favour and throw yours away (or give it to someone you really dislike!).