Science that Sculpts the Body

As we continue moving forward, each year brings new technology, new equipment, and new methods of accomplishing ‘things’ in life. For instance, we have the internet on our cell phones, GPS’s in our vehicles, computerized fish finders, and laser levels for home improvement. It seems we forever strive to do things easier, eliminating the hard work, and to simplify our daily routine.

Well… The Bentall Centre Athletic Club is no exception. We are pleased to announce that on December 23rd 2010 we will be installing 14 new pieces of Cybex VR3 resistance training equipment. Thanks to the efforts of our general manager Robin Russell, all of our old machines will be replaced with some of the finest quality strength training equipment available on the market today. Additionally we will be adding some new pieces like the Keiser Stretch Corners for those who occasionally have to fight for space on the mat, or do not want to get on the floor but need the flexibility training.

What makes the Cybex VR3 special is that it has converging/diverging movement patterns which mimic the way the human body moves and allows for a more complete range of motion. The consistent isokinetic torque around the joint reduces the stress and provides an exceptional training effect in a safe and controlled way. Not to mention it looks great, feels good, and has that new car smell.

So, what is to become of our old equipment? I’m proud to say that it has been contributed to the Kitsilano High School, where it will be utilized by the developing young athletes, and numerous members of the surrounding community. Talk about a win/win situation!

Unfortunately, one of the few things that isn’t going to get easier next year is the weight training itself. Even with the new technology available, the intensity of lifting and the consistency effort will always be required to stimulate muscles and to burn energy. No such luck in simplifying that one…

Oral Contraception: The Little Pills that can’t... Possibly be good for you.

A Guest blog by Kristin Davis - Florida, USA.

Despite the modern preoccupation with fitness, many individuals still ignore their inner health, which includes more than downing a protein shake or counting calories. Late night infomercials hock ridiculous exercise products that look more like party gags and researchers continually propose diets that involve food your dog wouldn’t look twice at. While today’s emphasis on appearance encourages weight management, this shallow aesthetic focus can also lead some to take misguided risk elsewhere.

One of those products that enable individuals to manage appearance while maintaining a specific lifestyle is oral contraception. While proponents of birth control pills quickly point out the independence and social empowerment women experienced after the drug’s introduction, opponents point out disturbing side effects that accompany them, like cardiovascular disease. One Yaz lawsuit involved a victim who developed blood clots in her lungs, a steep price. Nevertheless, over 100 million women use these pills worldwide.

With the profitability of these pills, manufacturers might be increasingly less willing to provide factual information. The U.S. Federal Drug Administration recently requested Bayer HealthCare remove misleading advertisements where they marketed their products as a treatment for several other health conditions like regulating hormone imbalances, acne, depression, and weight loss. It is the pharmaceutical equivalent of selling magic beans.

Unfortunately, misconceptions about the ability of oral contraceptives can lead to some dangerous physical consequences. Sexually transmitted infections are still fully communicable, and the clinical tests have shown that oral contraceptives are not effective in stopping unwanted pregnancy100% of the time… especially when they are not taken as regularly as every single day. As a result of these false perceptions, users of oral contraceptives might engage in unprotected sex, believing the use of condoms is still unnecessary.

The hormonal ingredients in these pills can also disrupt the psychological and physiological health of women. Users of these pills have seen side effects like migraines, mood swings and vomiting, as well as more serious consequences including heart attack and stroke. In addition, women seeking pregnancy-free sex might experience a decrease in libido from these pills, an ironic consequence.

Sure, they’re convenient and effective at preventing pregnancy, but many fail to recognize the compromise oral contraception involves. Instead, individuals truly serious about leading the healthiest life, both outwardly and within, choose natural forms of contraception. While natural family planning, including fertility awareness, are no doubt more time consuming and require sacrifice, the long-term benefits more than justify their use. Plus you can use the money that would have gone for birth control pills to get yourself the new Shake Weight that’s taking the fitness world by storm.

How to Stay Motivated!

Do you exercise from time to time but find it difficult to stay motivated? A common reason people avoid or discontinue exercise is they succumb to “internal barriers” These are thoughts, feelings and perceptions that impede lifestyle change. Here are some tips to help break through your own internal barriers to exercise.

1) Find Something You Love To Do and Do It. It's as simple as: Walk the Dog, Ride a Bike, Chase Children, Climb Stairs, Golf, Garden, Swim, Hit a Ball, Hike, Play a Game, Slap a Puck, Run, Row, Skip, Stretch, Skate or Ski… Get it?

2) Understand What You’re Up Against. Don’t underestimate the barriers that keep you stuck on the couch or in front of your computer screen! It could include intimidation, embarrassment, anxiety about your physical appearance, low self-esteem, and lack of confidence about your physical ability… If any of these seem like your major struggles then perhaps your obstacle could be outcome fixation, boredom, or perceived lack of time. Knowledge is power when exploring your motivation, and understanding your internal drives and will help you overcome any barriers to success. Try to fixate in intrinsic forces such as personal bests, feelings of accomplishment and fun, while avoiding external motivators such as societal pressure, or prestige. Focus on the enjoying the action not just the rewards.

3) Get Individual Attention. A lifestyle consultant, personal fitness trainer, or mentor can help you identify your barriers to physical activity and help develop strategies to penetrate them. By participating in some fitness testing it can help you create a bench mark and quantify your personal improvements. This biofeedback can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as establish exactly how much progress you have made along the way. Lastly, by hiring a health professional it will help you commit to regular attendance and your workouts will become more interesting and engaging.

4) Consider the Lifestyle Approach. The lifestyle approach requires that you accumulate a total of 45mins of physical activity each day. Rather than doing your whole workout in one structured session, you may find it easier for you to maintain a few short (15 minute) sessions a day. When it comes to health and feeling energized… it all amounts to the same thing.

5) Set Realistic Short-Term Goals. Create a goal for each session where you can build towards some short term accomplishments like feeling more energized or concentrating on intensity during the session. If your only goal is to lose 50lbs, or maintain a life long exercise program, it will be quite some time before you can feel successful about achieving your goal.

6) Progress Your Training to Avoid Stagnation. Once you’re on your way, you might find yourself on a plateau, where your fitness doesn’t seem to improve at all. When this occurs, discouragement can set in easily. One solution is to keep progressing your exercise by challenging yourself to reach new levels. Another might be to incorporate cross-training techniques to push that heart rate higher through activities your not as accustomed to.

7) Try Toys and Variety to Combat Boredom. Adults are just kids at heart! Let yourself play. Get a new bike or golf clubs. Research a new activity such as rock climbing or hiking trail networks. Try the elliptical instead of the stair stepper. Alternate fitness classes or check out new information on the internet to spark interest when your sessions start to feel stale.

8) Create a personal Exercise Mission Statement. This should describe how you want to incorporate exercise into your life. Read it again to stay focused and overcome barriers. Visualize exactly what you are trying to accomplish and see yourself in your mind reaching those goals. But don’t just focus on the finish line, also think about each step you will take to get yourself there. The more vivid the better.

9) Notice How Much Time You Spend Being Inactive. Most people underestimate the time they spend being sedentary such as working on the computer or watching TV. Start a log and then plan specific ways to start substituting movement for these times.

10) Integrate Movement into Your Life. It’s hard to make time for physical activity if you keep it isolated from the rest of you life. Instead, find ways to combine exercise with the family, social times with your friends, or to create dialogue with colleagues.

Hope these ten steps will help keep you motivated. Happy Trails.

The Economical Burden of Physical Inactivity

Given the convincing scientific evidence that physical inactivity leads to a host of chronic degenerative conditions and premature death, it is clear that the promotion of physically active lifestyles is both an important health and economic objective.

In financial terms, the health care cost in 2009 was 183.1 billion dollars or 11.9 % of the total GDP in Canada. Of its total, the direct health care costs that were attributable to physical inactivity were 4.6 billion or 2.5% of healthcare spending. Furthermore, a slight increase in the prevalence of physical activity (such as 10%) could cut the health care costs by over $450 million dollars per annum.

My interpretation is that physical inactivity represents a significant public health burden in Canada. Even modest reductions in inactivity levels could result in substantial cost savings to each and every Canadian.

By preventing, delaying, or at the very least, reducing the severity of chronic conditions and physical inactivity related illness, we would not only enhance individuals’ quality of life as they age, but also will ease demand on health care resources.

There are certain factors in which individuals have control over that are associated with good health. Not smoking, weight control, regular exercise, fruit/vegetable consumption, sleeping well, oral health, stress reduction, and participation in activities with family, friends, and co-workers have a cumulative association with good health.

Unfortunately, not all these factors of good health are at the forefront of employee culture and businesses today. Even with over 2/3 of Canadians in the work force, issues like accessibility, time, regular habit, knowledge, and commitment to reinforcing positive behaviors from management are somewhat absent. Researchers have also proven beyond a doubt that it is the personal behaviors concerning diet and physical activity are likely to play the largest role other than genetic factors in determining obesity and chronic health conditions.

So, what can you business do to help change the climate of physical inactivity and reduce the health burden in Canada?

To directly address this issue the Bentall Centre Athletic Club has developed the HFA. This tool utilizes a mobile Health and Fitness Appraisal team, which comes to your place of business, to provide the employees of your company with feedback about their current state of health and wellness. The HFA also identifies those workers at risk of declining health, as well as providing information on the types and amount of physical activity required to maintain wellness, and a good quality of life. In addition, we seek to develop and execute, specific health wellness programming to suit your company’s needs and objectives for now, and for the future.

So how is the value of this expense added back into the company? The International Healthclub and Racquet Sports Association, has shown that there is a $3 return for every dollar spent on employee health and wellness. By allocating funds towards programs like the Bentall HFA, a company will increase the day to day productivity of its workers, build sharper happier minds, and directly reduce absenteeism, chronic injury, stress, and employee turnover. These issues affect any company’s bottom line. By initiating a health and wellness program for your company, you will not only be doing your part in endorsing wellness in your workplace, but also contributing to reducing the financial burden of health care in Canada.

The High Performance Pyramid

The High-Performance Pyramid

Some people thrive under pressure. Others wilt. Is the reason all in their heads? Sustained high achievement demands physical and emotional strength in addition to a sharp intellect. To bring the mind, body, and spirit to peak condition, executives today need to learn what world class athletes already know: that recovering energy is as important as expending it.

Many don’t see the importance that exercise has on not just the physical but also emotional and mental components of life. Without a doubt your physical health is important in order to maintain your body’s mobility and ensure the strength of your heart and cardiovascular system. But, are you aware of the aspect of mental health that is inherent in allowing your mind to recover through physical activity?

For instance, have you ever suddenly found the solution to a vexing problem while doing something ‘mindless’ such as cycling, gardening, or singing in the shower? That’s the left brain-right brain shift at work there – it’s the fruit of mental oscillation. By shifting your attention away from your business, and away from focusing on the demands of work you allow your mind to recover. By participating in regular vigorous activity one can produce a sense of emotional wellbeing, which in turn clears the way for peak mental performance.

If there is one quality that executives seek for themselves and their employees, its sustained high performance in the ever-increasing pressure and rapid change. However, the source of such performance seems to be elusive as the fountain of youth. What makes people flourish under pressure and others fold?

Well, many of today’s approaches only seem to deal with people from the neck up, connecting high performance to cognitive capacity. However, by building on ones physical capacity (from the neck down), you build the bodies endurance that also promotes the mental and emotional recovery and which creates the internal climate that drives the Ideal Performance State.

At the Bentall Centre Athletic Club we have developed corporate health and fitness programs that we bring directly to your place of business. These "in house" programs are designed to teach you and your staff about your own physical, emotional and mental health in order to help you perform to your full potential, and get tapped into the Ideal Performance State.

For more information regarding this opportunity to be involved in the Corporate Health and Wellness Programs at Bentall or the Vancouver downtown core please contact me at the info listed on this page... or contact Robin Russell at rrussell@bentall.com

Interval Training

So, wipe that cappuccino off your chin, get outta your chair, and get some exercise. The best way to improve your cardiovascular ability and circulatory health is through sessions of interval training. So, what I mean by interval training is being active in phases of high intensity followed by phases of in low intensity for about 20-25 minutes or so.

In general, interval training follows a ratio of “Work : Active Rest”. Work being the demanding exercise portion and Active Rest being the recovery or easy portion. This premise follows a strict ratio of 1: 3 for the beginner, 1: 2 for the intermediate, and 1:1 for the elite. The reason a ratio is used for guidance is because it allows more flexibility across different activities. For instance you could use time as a cadence which would look something like 1min work : 3min active rest. Or distance 150m : 450m, or something arbitrary like flights of stairs, city blocks, or laps in the pool. Use your imagination.

You decide the length or distance of the interval, but remember to keep to your cadence, and to give it your all in the work phase of training.

Why Intervals you say?

In a nut shell … the key limiting factor (among a few things) in your cardiovascular ability is the amount of blood your heart pumps with each beat. This is called the stroke volume or ‘Q’. The only way you can improve your stoke volume is by pushing yourself hard at the high end of your ability... and then reward yourself with the rest phase. At times it can seem tough, but if you push through, over time you will cause a positive physiological adaptation to your heart. This adaptation to your heart is 1) a larger heart volume 2) an increase in heart musculature that will pump a greater volume of blood to your working muscles. These two things sum up to an enhanced level of aerobic fitness and a healthy cardiac muscle…. Kapish?

Ok, now that you’ve got the info… Do you have the drive to follow through on this once a week??? If you think maybe not, that’s a great reason to hire a personal trainer. They will inspire you, they will make it interesting for you, and they will commit to regularly wiping those cappuccinos off your chin.

Cardiovascular Watch Dog

When you visit my clinic, I like to measure your cardiovascular ability. It is an excellent way of quantifying your current fitness regarding your heart, lungs and circulatory system. However, instead of using HR monitors and technological gizmos like some kinesiologists, I like to listen to your heart with a good ol’fashioned stethoscope. Some may say it antiquated, but I think it’s the best way to hear the sounds of the tricuspid and bicuspid valves as well as listen to the regular rhythms of your heart.

So, recently while completing my usual cardiovascular test with a new client, I noticed some sounds I couldn’t explain. I told the client it wasn’t a medical emergency, but to see their physician for more testing, and perhaps an ECG, because there were some irregularities beyond my scope of practice.

Well as it turns out, heart disease is prevalent in their family, and the client has now been diagnosed with congenital heart disease. This some pretty serious stuff here – this issue might have gone long undetected unless I had used my trusty stethoscope when counting the beats per minute. In the meantime, we’re waiting to see what the cardiologist recommends before moving forward with a new fitness routine, but I have confidence in the future for helping them maintain their wellness and quality of life.

I am pleased to have had a part, albeit a small one, in identifying these types of issues before anything bad happens to ones health.

So, book a day. And I’ll be your cardiovascular watch dog too.

The Bocce Work Out: Part 2

OK, so playing bocce won’t make you an Olympic Athlete, but it might bring out your competitive spirit, and it could be fun.

What I’m getting at here is: being active at any intensity is beneficial to your health. This includes lifestyle activities like bocce, frisbee, or croquet, or doing the small things like parking at the back of the parking lot to carry your shopping bags a little further, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or getting off the bus before your stop and walking to your destination. Others include gardening, landscaping , cycling to work, stretching, or taking the long way home. The bottom line is that both low and high level activities are vital to your body’s wellness and should be made a part of your daily fitness routine no matter what your athletic pursuits are.

For some, your work out routine is in the building phase, so by adding some regular participation in lower intensity games and activities like bocce you will awaken the muscles and enhance your functional ability through bending and throwing the ball. Getting outside into the fresh air and sunshine is energizing and walking through uneven terrain is good for your balance and helps your coordination.

For those high-octane sport enthusiasts it’s also important to build some lower intensity activity into your program. It will help build patience, find your focus, while still keeping that competitive atmosphere.

Lastly it is social. Interpersonal relationships are important, and chances are you’ll be able to solve many of the worlds problems though playing games.

As a final thought just remember that all activity is cumulative. Whether you get 15 minutes of exercise 3 times a day or 45 minutes all at once - it’s all the same. Just remember to keep it varied, make it fun, and that every little bit counts.

And don’t forget to drink lots of er… water!

The Bocce Work Out - 15 mins of Strength Training

6 STEPS TO BACK YARD SUCCESS

Complete 2-3 sets of each

1) Bocce Ball Lunges – 30

Hold bocce ball with 2 palms up and arms straight out in front of you. Keep your elbows supple and make large lunges in each direction and then step back to match feet. Do each lunge 5 times in each direction at a speed that is slow and controlled.

2) Push-Ups – 10 or more

Good ol’fashion push ups! Keep your back straight in a neutral position and your core tight. Remember to breathe. Do them with or with out the Bocce balls.

3) 20 Bocce Ball Biceps curls – 10 each arm

- This is an important part of your throw, so build strength here.

4) Dead bugs - 15 or more

Yup, that's what I call ‘em. Lie on your back with the bocce balls in your hand by your side. Raise your right arm above your head, and bring your opposing (left) knee up into a crunch position. Then alternate arms by lowering your right arm and raising your left arm above your head while at the same time switching the left knee for the right. Sounds complicated but you should look like a dieing bug.

5) Supermans – 10 or more

Begin in the horse stance in your hands and knees. Do the opposite of the ‘dead bugs’ and kick your right leg out behind you, and your left arm out in front of you. Then a smooth arching motion alternate opposing arms and legs.

6) Bocce Squats – 10 or more

Hold the bocce balls with two palms up and arms if front of you. Slowly Squat down keeping your heels in contact on the ground and knees bent to about 90 degrees. Stand up in a smooth controlled manor and pushing through your whole foot. Repeat.

Complete this routine at least once a week for best results.

Calories Out!

Just for fun... lets continue with last weeks blurb titled “The Tortoise or the Hare?” - a post about exercise intensity and sport conditioning. Here is some interesting information I’ve looked up about the average calorie burn for 30mins of activity you might be familiar with.

Lying Down.......... 36 cal

Sex (light)…………. 39 cal

Toilet………….……. 44 cal

Reading……………. 48 cal

Sex (Vigorous) ….. 59 cal

Milking a Cow……. 88 cal

Camping……………. 92 cal

Decorating…………. 103 cal

Walking …………….. 110 cal

Gardening………..... 166 cal

Golf……………..….... 168 cal

Dancing……………... 175 cal

Cycling…………….... 208 cal

Punching Bag…..... 222 cal

Skiing……………….. 258 cal

Running………….... 295 cal

Push-ups & Sit ups... 295 cal

Circuit Training.... 295 cal

Climbing ………….. 298 cal

Martial Arts…….... 369 cal

Rugby……………..... 443 cal

Squash……………... 443 cal

Boxing……………... 443 cal

The Tortoise or the Hare?

An active body is a happy body. People often ask me: “what speed do I train to get the most benefit - FAST or SLOW?” or “At what intensity will I burn the most fat?” Well the answer is both… but in different ways. Here is a typical example of an energy profile of a person while exercising at two different intensities to help demonstrate. Click on the table to see it more clearly.

Although this is a simplified version, every thing you consume gets broken down and utilized into three main subgroups: Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The first thing I’d like you to notice in the table above is the Fat to Carbohydrate percentage used at ½ intensity (lines 1+2 in blue). The energy consumption equates equally to about 50%-50% in energy usage between fat and carbohydrate while engaged in slower exercise.

The next thing I’d like to compare is the percentage of Fat consumed at ¾ intensity (fast) to the percentage of Fat used at ½ intensity (slow). You can see that the percentage of fat burned at ½ intensity (slow) is 10% greater than the 40 % of fat burned at ¾ intensity (fast). A conclusion that could be made from this is that one burns more fat at lower exercise intensities. Now let’s look a little closer.

Next, if you look at the total calories used for each intensity you’ll notice that more calories are used in all components of the ¾ intensity (fast). Your body requires more energy and more calories to perform more difficult work. Even though you burn a higher percentage of fat to carbohydrate calories at low intensity, the absolute value of fat calories burned at the high intensity is greater. What does all this mean?

If your goal is to loose fat, then the high intensity training is what will lean out the body and give you that toned look. If you at first have trouble maintaining hard intensities, try doing some interval training where you perform periods of alternating fast and slow intensities. Last, if you don’t feel comfortable pushing yourself hard, just remember every intensity burns the fat.. but you may have to put in more time at slow intensities to get the same results.

Kapish?

Mountain Madness!

There are numerous benefits to running off pavement – here’s a few off the top of my head.

1) Running on organic matter like dirt, leaves, wood, gravel and pine needles reduces the impact on the knees and lowers the strain on the body’s connective tissue. You are less likely to experience knee pain, shin splints and body aches. 2) Limitless fresh air and less pollution is invigorating. 3) Varied terrain keeps the ankles and knees strong while making the runs more engaging and interesting 4) Aerobic threshold and red line training via hills and stairs is vital to improving the aerobic capacity of the heart as well as improving the ability of your body to transport and utilize oxygen. 5) No Traffic – $#@*!! … Need I say more? 6) Besides improvements to your body’s overall aerobic power, balance, and connective tissue... mountain running also provides the mental toughness and confidence associated with fartlek training.

What is fartlek? (Oh - excuse me!) Ha Ha - No really, it’s Swedish for “speed play”. By adjusting the speed and intensity of training and you can stress the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems which can progressively overload your body and cause the training adaption you’re looking for. It also feels good. Why? When you exercise in this capacity you body produces more of the good hormones like endorphins and serotonin. These do natural wonders to your body like lift your mood, lower your blood pressure, and increase your desire for healthy eating. It will help you feel energized and even make you sleep better at night. Farlek training is a perfect base to commence high intensity training in preparing for other sports. Generally speaking – it can benefit every part of your life.

Commencing March 3rd and until May 26th (12 weeks) I will be organizing a trail running clinic and periodized running program to help you actualize your athletic best for the summer of 2010. The cost is $250.00 for 10 sessions over a 12 week period (allowing two extra weeks for missed sessions). I have space for 10 runners in the program, and 8 seats for transport per week.

Sound Appealing? I can help you accomplish all this and more. Just drop me a line at the email above.

Are you Ready?

For the second Wellness-Vancouver post I was devising strategies to get you all fired up on push-ups and motivational Hoo-Raah. But no, with the Vancouver Olympics only two days away, I thought I’d give you my two cents on how this international event might be relevant for your training, and how you can use it as a basis to actualize your own athletic goals. Right now as a Vancouverite, whether you love it, or loathe it, there is something fundamental in these games that I’d like you to pay attention to.


So, the Greeks along with ouzo and baklava had some notable additions in the form of art, architecture, philosophy, and medicine. It’s also no secret that they held the first Olympics back in 776BC. But more inherently, have you ever noticed that there is four-year gap from the summer-to-summer and winter-to-winter Olympics? It’s not an oversight. Greeks long ago recognized the importance specific phases in an athletes training and continual improvement and thus initiated the concept of periodized training cycles.

Even though it was the first Olympians who laid the foundation for athletic peroidization, the roots of today’s techniques come from a Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye. He created a theory known as the General Adaptation Syndrome or GAS. His work describes the biological responses to stress and has been used by the athletic community since the 1950s - and for which he received the Order of Canada in 1968. (We’ll just chalk that one up with Hockey, Lacrosse, and Basketball)

Eustress a term coined by Selye is defined as stress that is healthy, or gives one a feeling of fulfillment or other positive feelings. Eustress is a process of exploring potential gains and avoiding the detrimental stresses called "distress". In athletics, when physical stress is at a healthy level (eustress), an athlete experiences muscular strength and growth, while excessive physical stress (distress) can lead to tissue damage, disease, and death. Periodization is most widely used in program design to avoid over-training and to which systematically alternates between high loads of training with decreased loading phases to improve components of muscular fitness (e.g. strength, strength-speed, and strength-endurance).

Periodic training systems typically divide time up into three types of cycles: microcycle, mesocycle, and macrocycle. The microcycle is generally up to 7 days. The mesocycle may be anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months, but is typically a month. A macrocycle refers to the overall training period, usually representing a year or two. There are longer cycles as well, being 4 or 8 years and is the career plan which is usually only considered for Olympians and professional athletes.

Next, the difficulty I’m beginning to recognize from many of you, is that you keep the same old routine. You report to me that your not making consistent or continual progress and feel like there is a plateau in your health, power, strength, or endurance status. I’ll make reference to the old adage – “ if you keep doin’ what you’re doin’ - your gunna keep gettin’ what you’re gunna get.”

So – here’s my point. For all of you who want to be at the top of your game for this summer, you need to commence on a periodized program now. Whether your goal is a triathlon, looking good at the beach, climbing the Squamish Chief, or increasing the length your golf drive - now is the time to start the athletic cycle.

Starting on March 3rd 2010 (two weeks short of the spring equinox) you can join me at the Bentall Centre Athletic Club to initiate your cross training periodization. I’m offering you 10 sessions over the following 12 weeks of heart pounding fun. No matter what your athletic pursuit, by attending my trail running clinic through Vancouver’s best off-pavement terrain you will you receive the highest quality systematic adaptation to stimulus, and the preparation you need to realize your best this year. Not to mention fresh air, commitment to your goals, quality coaching, and transportation. There are 10 spaces available. Please contact me at cameron.a.hunt@gmail.com

My first Ramblings

To Play, to be amused, to enjoy the moment without judgements is to have access to the child within. What I’m suggesting is that tapping into your inner youth is essential for creativity, the functioning of imagination, the appreciation of beauty, the perception of art and music and poetry, and the expression of sheer joy. I insist that allowing the child inside oneself to play is fundamental to personal sanity and a livable society. Play is not only recreation, but, in a finer sense of the word, is a matter of creation and re-creation. And in the creation of fun, of play, of joy, there is a gift – this gift is an active mind, an active body, and a healthy soul.

So, what does all this philosophy mean? In simpler terms… When I think of all the sorrows and regrets of my life, not one of them is associated with the times I’ve stopped working and took time off to play.

Yaaaaa hoooooooo!!!