This is the start! Lol! I started this blog as a school assignment last year in May, and then as in so many cases with all of us afflicted with the human condition, Life intervened. Nothing passive, mind you, I was fortunate enough to have a big part in it. A decision to pull up roots in the city that was my home for the past 46 years and pursue the ideal of true home ownership! An opportunity to climb above the statistics that condemn the average citizen to a life less prosperous and more impoverished than our parents. A career advancement, a brief glimpse at what retirement could look like and at the end of it all, an opportunity to travel and broaden our horizons and appreciation for this world that we live in!

So, May 19th, 2019 I started this blog as part of the last ditch attempt at doing a distance learning course that was paid for with our current benefits, but as many things that come quickly and easily and are hastily considered, it amounted to little beyond this page. Leaving a life behind is never easy, and I vastly underestimated the time and energy needed to go through all the stages of this endeavour properly. We were “staging” our well lived in home of 10 years, and during that time emotions were running deep and fast, the relationships I had forged over the prior 20 years in my career were going to change profoundly and the “Personal” aspect of Personal Training was becoming a far larger burden than I had anticipated.

My blog began and ended with my initial exposition regarding online ethics. But, I had plans… BIG plans! I am at the point in my professional life where I am looking to be compensated for what I know versus what I do. In other words, being valued for what I can teach and communicate as much as getting direct results with each and every client. As with many careers, technology and research has caused huge changes in even some of the most basic planks that the business is built on. Beyond the trends and fads, there are newer understandings of human behaviour and newer definitions of fitness and health. Redefining some of my previous “failures” of which the biggest one is myself!

I am perhaps my most difficult client! Still slaving away at losing the same 20 (now 30 pounds) for the last 20 years plus! But with a new perspective there are previously hidden successes that I can celebrate and even more, I can build on them! The main one being – “Never stop moving” in whatever capacity I can! I’m personally blessed and grateful to have a healthy, fully functional body that allows me to swim, cycle and play sports. With little to no physical impediments except those brought on by inactivity and perhaps my one, major underlying health condition – Depression. The costs of neglect and apathy are high and grow increasingly so as we age. But the benefits of never giving up entirely and to keep plugging away are also a blessing that is I feel to be seldom recognized in the fitness industry. I hear talk of “muscle memory” and “kinesthetics”, but my personal experience with the hundreds of clients I have had the benefit of working with over the past 2 decades points to a few things the “lucky” ones have in common!

That is what this blog will be about! An analysis of what my anecdotal evidence seems to be suggesting and also researching studies that may support them! The first being the importance of movement! The hypothesis I’m proposing is this: That any regular physical activity, both dynamic and passive that involves any degree of mindfulness strengthens the bond between brain, nervous system, organs and muscles, and that strengthened bond delays the “aging” process both a cognitive level and a cellular one! Anything from Tennis, Hockey, Yoga, Dancing or Pilates results in these benefits! That’s the movement part! I’m also looking at the impact of nutrition and hydration as well as sleep and relaxation as well. The impact of Gluten, Meat, Dairy, Additives and Sugar are actively debated and draws passions as deep as any political or religious debate in many cases.

I’m eagerly looking forward to debates and counter-points as I detail some of the patterns that I have seen emerging over the past 20 years or so! All with the sole purpose of gleaning the “Truth” as it were!

Peace!

Best Practices on-line

Patience and reflection, are just two of the qualities that I have come to value in posting anything on-line. Whether it regards passionate topics like Politics, Sports, or Religion. In my own field of Health and Wellness, the need to verify and sift “facts” from educated guesses and opinion, is an added discipline in itself. As in most knowledge based topics, the pace of discovery and the speed of dissemination involves the real risk of “discovering” something you hope is relevant and useful becoming already redundant or “debunked” by the time you have read up and researched to become intelligently conversant about it.

In the “Personal” aspect of my career in Personal Training, I find great value in being open about keeping a healthy skepticism to any newly promoted aspect of nutrition, exercise or even sleeping habits! Essentially creating my own experiment and findings, to verify whatever it is I’m evaluating. Very much like trying out new “tools” and giving a clear and personal opinion as to their effectiveness.

Going beyond the “Infomercial” articles and the simple fact that the human experience has no end to exceptions and variances from the “rule”. Article Authors, Course Instructors and Seminar Leaders are all clearly credited and referenced, essentially inviting my audience (Colleagues and Clients), to test and verify for themselves at every given opportunity.

It has resulted in some great conversations and of course, the inevitability of someone posting a “Counter-Article” or “Debunking” of a particular publication within hours of me excitedly broadcasting my amazing discovery! It has always allowed me to be engaged in the constant testing of what I will bring to help me in my occupation.

It has given me the conviction that approaching any posting as an open-ended quest for the “truth” and using logic and full disclosure to enable that is indeed a great basis to use for on-line communication.