Why Science is Not a “Belief System”
I believe in science. Unfortunately, the catch-phrase “I believe in science” is often used to leverage the reputation of “science” in general to give authority to one 'specific' scientific claim in particular, shielding it from questioning or skepticism. In my recent experience, many people who say "I believe in the science", don't actually follow or look at the "science". In which case that statement carries the risk of becoming an [...]
Guided Meditation – Lose Your Mind & Come to Your Senses
Many people (especially in our Western Culture) choose to live mostly in their 'heads', thinking primarily of the future and "what's next" or remembering the past. Somehow our mind seems to convince us that the "next moment" must be better than the one we're in now. While there's nothing inherently wrong with thinking, it's important to be able to be aware of our thoughts and be intentional about what we [...]
How to Increase Mind-Muscle Connection
There’s a lot that competes for your attention in today’s society. For example, work never seems to give us a break, thanks to technology. Many of us are glued to our mobile phones, constantly checking emails or getting texts. This is also the case when it comes to our health and fitness: there are many distractions that may take our focus away from the exercises we are performing and can [...]
How to Get Motivated to Workout – 5 Tips
After returning from my meditation retreat and then shortly after that from a week long family camping trip, I found it tough to get back into training and pushing myself with challenging workouts. From experience I know that often my clients also go through phases where they need motivation to stay on top of their fitness routine. So here are 5 tips that will help you get motivated to workout: [...]
Occlusion Training with BFR Straps – Blood Flow Restriction for Size & Recovery
A couple of weeks ago I was cleared by my surgeon to begin training “normally” again, ie: I can reintroduce my regular training program and exercises but using lighter loads. In addition to my regular full body training program I will be performing additional isolation work for my arms, shoulders, and abs on my “off” days. In this article I’ll describe the training strategy I’m using for my arm isolation [...]
Basic Home Workout for Beginners
Many of the clients I see are starting out with minimal training experience and are working out in their own home. As people progress with their strength and fitness they often prefer to get a gym membership or to purchase exercise equipment for their home gym. I already have videos demonstrating gym workouts as well as how to set up a kick ass home gym, but beginners typically don’t need [...]
How to Meditate – The Many Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation
There’s a common misunderstanding among most people that the main “goal” of life is to avoid pain and pursue pleasure (or at least to try to get comfortable). A lot of effort and attention is put on getting somewhere ‘better’, achieving something ‘different’, changing or improving ourselves, and getting more stuff so that we can feel better or be happy later. A much more rewarding, kind, and adventurous approach to [...]
DrawBacks of a Low Carb Diet
In this post I’d like to share a guest contribution from a good friend and one of my mentors, Joseph Hughes (Fit N Sync). Joe has extensive experience competing in physique competitions as well as coaching many other women and men for physique, figure and bikini contests. He also helps the average individual lose unwanted body fat while following a balanced, sustainable nutrition plan. Joe helped me prepare my nutrition [...]
How Posture Affects Hormones – Flexion vs Extension | Boost Testosterone
I recently interviewed a long-time friend and colleague of mine, Scott Grisewood of Shockwave Therapy Centre in Barrie, Ontario, about the relationship of posture and movement patterns to our hormones, mood and physical performance. Check out the full video interview (including exercise demonstrations and research references) here: […]
How to Warm Up Properly to Improve Performance & Avoid Injury
An effective warm up can improve your performance in your workout or sporting activity as well as prevent injuries. However, some common methods of warming up may actually increase risk of injury and reduce your strength and performance. For example, many people still perform passive stretches before working out, which can temporarily dampen the nervous system activation of the muscles you stretch and leave them weaker for a couple of [...]