Cardio Trek - Toronto Personal Trainer

Worthwhile Fitness Goals

Sometimes it is difficult to set goals for your fitness.

For example setting a goal of losing a specific amount of weight is trickier than it sounds because your weight fluctuates up and down up several pounds every day. It is much more likely you will under or overshoot your target weight.

In addition you can also gain bone density weight - possible as the result of weightlifting, but you can also gain bone density in your legs as the result of jogging or running.

Thus measuring your weight and aiming to lose weight can sometimes be difficult to determine success. You might lose 20 lbs of fat but gain 4 lbs od muscle and 3 lbs of bone density - making you both stronger and tougher and more healthy, but because you only lost 13 lbs overall you may think you failed in your goal and feel discouraged.

If your goal is to shed fat a more realistic measurement is to use a regular tape measure - and aim to track your calorie loss instead of weight loss. Using a tape measure can still be knocked off a bit if you are gaining extra muscle in that area, but you are more likely to see the results with a tape measure. Just remember to record and track your measurements!

Or alternatively, if you track calories then you will see the mathematical difference between what you are eating and what number of calories you are burning. Counting your calories in and out is trickier and will require more effort on your part (although there are apps for that), you are far more likely to succeed if you track your calories in and out.

Setting a goal of losing 500 calories per day for example is doable. Cut out the fatty/sugary foods, eat 1700 to 1900 calories of healthy food per day... and increase your daily exercise levels so you are burning at least 2200 to 2400 calories per day. At that rate you should be losing approx. 1 lb of fat per week.

Other goals I recommend people set are:

#1. More flexibility by engaging in stretching exercises and yoga.

#2. More youthful appearance - with proper exercise and diet you can lose years off your appearance. (Most people think I am 24.)

#3. Live longer. Longevity goes hand in hand with a more youthful appearance. You could end up being 90+ and having the body of a 60 year old. (Did you know Arnold Schwarzenegger is 65 years old? He will be 66 on July 30th 2013.)

#4. Build muscle... Okay? But how much? And what do you actually use it for? If you had a favourite sport (eg. Shot Put) that calls for muscles then yes, that will help motivate you and you can use those newfound muscles in your chosen sport. (I myself did a weightlifting regime over the winter so I could pull a heavier bow for archery and hold it steady.)

#5. Build confidence / feel better about yourself.

#6. Become more fit / feel better physically.

#7. Reduce your chances of injury or illness. Again with the bone density - elderly people who do weightlifting are less likely to fall and break their hip.

#8. Reduce the symptoms of a health problem you already have. Being overweight causes many health problems, everything from heart problems to joint pain to erectile dysfunction. Losing the weight and embracing a healthier lifestyle to shed oneself of those symptoms is a worthwhile goal.

#9. Get six pack abs. True, it is a purely aesthetic goal, but it is still a goal worth having if you want to feel better and more confident about your appearance. To do this you first need to lose the weight by doing lots of cardio, and then do a combination of abs and obliques exercises.

#10. Firmer breasts that look younger and perkier. Yes, even that can be accomplished with exercise. They're called "Bust Firming Exercises" and even Marilyn Monroe did them.

MYTH BUSTING TIPS!

You can't do "spot treatment" for weight loss. If you want to lose fat in specific areas of your body then you need to exercise the WHOLE body through cardio exercises to shed the extra fat everywhere. Spot treatment works for weightlifting and building muscles in specific areas, but it doesn't do anything for shedding fat in specific areas.

Weightlifting doesn't actually cause you to lose weight that easily. There are some weightlifting trainers who like to claim that you can accomplish all your fitness goals with weightlifting alone. This is a myth that they are perpetuating. The more effective route to lose weight is old fashioned cardio exercises like jogging, swimming, etc (which won't cost you a penny). Even simple exercises like jogging up the stairs burns more calories than weightlifting - because you are lifting your body weight up the stairs while doing cardio.

Exercising doesn't have to be expensive. I have numerous Frugal Exercises posts on this website which are completely free. You don't need fancy equipment or clothes or a gym membership or a personal trainer (although if you live in Toronto I fully endorse hiring me if your have difficulty with motivating yourself).

Stabilizers for Archery - How do they work?

If you are new to archery you may have noticed that many Olympic archers and hunters have a big long or heavy thing attached to the front of their bow - an object known as a Stabilizer.

It isn't a brand name or anything like that. Many different companies make stabilizers for different kinds of bows. You can even make your own stabilizer if you have the right materials (see section below on making your own).

Olympic bows often use long thin stabilizers made of rubber and carbon fibre, and hunters typically use short, fat and heavy stabilizers made of heavier materials.

The purpose of a stabilizer is to reduce the vibrations in the bow so that during the release your bow-hand doesn't jerk upwards, downwards, left or right so much. You can try to reduce these vibrations a bit by softening your grip on the bow and relaxing your bow arm (your arm will jerk more if its stiff), but you still need a good strong arm to hold the bow steady.

Thus stabilizers are essentially a gadget for people who want to improve the quality of their shots - without doing all the exercising required to have stronger / steadier arms.

If you pay attention you will also note that there is no one "perfect stabilizer" that is "one size fits all". Many of the stabilizers that Olympic archers use are very different from the ones used by hunters, and even very different from one another's stabilizers too. Typically an Olympic stabilizer will be quite long (two to three feet) and usually consist of carbon and rubber.

In contrast hunting stabilizers are often less than a foot in length, but thicker, heavier and have a lot more rubber to dampen vibrations.

Many of the hottest selling stabilizers are nothing more than a heavy piece of rubber cut into an interesting pattern to make it look intimidating. These small rubber stabilizers are more for looks than actual functionality.

That doesn't mean they don't help to stabilize the bow - they do help to do that, but if they were designed better they would function and do that task better.

Some people (mostly bowhunters) have been led to believe that the primary function of a stabilizer is to reduce hand shock, eliminate noise and bow vibration - which it does do, totally ignoring that the real primary function is to keep the bow steady and stable while a person is shooting.

“There is no question that a stabilizer helps reduce hand shock, bow noise and vibration, but one of the main reasons bowhunters should hunt with a stabilizer is because it helps keep a bow steady and stable when shooting. That’s why it’s called a stabilizer,” says Bill Leven, owner of Doinker Stabilizers.

At first glance, you will realize that stabilizers come in all shapes and sizes. The most important parts are those that incorporate a series of components that are scientifically proven to do their job. All stabilizers screw into the bow, some versions employ a more sophisticated anatomy, whereas others can be downright simple.

If they are made of all one material - typically rubber, metal or plastic - then the stabilizer in question might be designed for weight or it might be designed for dampening. A rubber stabilizer for example will be made for dampening vibrations and a metal stabilizer is made for weight.

The more complex stabilizers will use a balance of rubber, metal and/or plastic, attempting to combine weight and dampening in the same gadget. How well this performs will depend on the quality of the design and the individual archer.

THE STABILIZER BODY

The main body of most stabilizers typically consists of a solid tube. Historically, many stabilizer bodies were made out of metal because the weight makes it more stable - however you don't want to add too much weight to the bow because then your bow-arm can shake anyway if its too weak, thus you want to find a nice medium weight that your arm can handle.

If any weight is to be added, it should be done in the right place - the end of the stabilizer, after the dampening material. Many companies now use carbon fibre, ABS plastic and similar materials to make stabilizer bodies as light and rigid as possible. Some of these materials are chosen because they will sell, but they don't make a good stabilizing material, eg. titanium sounds cool, but it doesn't actually make a good stabilizer because it doesn't absorb vibrations that well.

Carbon fibre is the most popular choice these days.

VIBRATION DAMPENING COMPONENT

This is arguably the most important part of the modern stabilizer. Many companies use a type of rubber, gel or even sand to serve as the dampening component. All of these materials have dampening capability, but the most common choice is rubber.

It is important for dampening to occur where it’s most beneficial and effective. Vibration must be transferred properly away from the bow and out of the stabilizer end. By strategically placing the dampening materials away from the bow end of the stabilizer it will maximize the dampener’s effectiveness.

THE WEIGHT

In order to maximize effectiveness, the weight should come after the rubber material at the end of the stabilizer where it is furthest from the bow. The weight is meant to ground and draw away the vibrations from the rest of the bow. It serves as a counterbalance, and is what keeps the bow stable when being shot.

The heavy front-end weight combined with a rubber dampener directly behind it is designed so to assist in canceling out vibration. Stabilizers of the past were a solid piece of metal or rubber, and the moment the stabilizer was attached to a bow, they became “one unit", which means the bow still vibrates as part of the stabilizer. When a bow is shot with a quality weighted and dampened stabilizer, the vibration simply moves from the bow through the stabilizer and going to the weight at the far end, being dampened along the way. The vibration is cancelled out when it meets the rubber because the weighted front-end is allowed to oscillate at a different frequency than the rest of the stabilizer and bow. This turns the vibration into motion, which does not affect the rest of the bow.

Conclusions - Aim to select a stabilizer with a weighted front-end that has some type of dampening device directly behind it.

THE RIGHT LENGTH / CUSTOMIZATION

This comes down to personal choice. Honestly, you won't know what is right for you until you try many different stabilizers on the archery range and determine which one you like best - and get the most accuracy with.

I also highly recommend getting a stabilizer that you can customize and modify. Some stabilizers have added parts you can remove, add on, change. This allows you to select the right length, weight and materials that is right for you.

I suggest a systematic and scientific approach whereby you track your score on a target and try to determine which combination works best for you.

MAKING YOUR OWN

Start by getting a 5 / 16th by 24 bolt. (The 24 stands for thread count per inch. The most common bolt thread count is 18 per inch, so you will need to find a hardware store that sells other types of thread counts.)

If in doubt about bolt sizes, go to your local hardware store and take the riser from your bow with you and look for bolts that are labelled " 5/16 - 24 ". Then try the bolt on your riser to see how it fits. If you try using a 5/16 - 18 bolt you will discover it only goes in a little bit and then stops. The reason is because its the wrong thread count.

Once you have the bolt you need to decide what kind of stabilizer you want to make. How big is the body? What kind of dampening material? How much weight?

For example for the stabilizer I am making I am going to try using a wooden body, rubber and I haven't decided what the weight will be yet, but I am thinking maybe ivory or bone if I can find it. I want my stabilizer to be epitome of natural materials. How well it will work, I shall find out, but for now its just an experiment.

I recommend trying to make your stabilizer customizable so you can change components and try different things. How you design it is up to you.

However if you really need and want someone else to make the designs for you just Google the topic: how to make your own archery stabilizer and you will find approx. 300 pages on the topic for you to pick and choose from.

Things to do in Toronto for the Bicycle Savvy

Looking for summer activities you can do on your bicycle in Toronto?

The Bicycle Mechanic (Online)
Its online, but it offers lots of free advice on how to fix your bicycle. Having a broken bicycle is no excuse to not be outside exercising.

Get Your Bicycle Fixed / Tuned Up (Various Locations)
Visit one of the locations nearest you and get a professional tune up. Cycle Solutions (Cabbagetown), Sweet Pete's (Brockton Village), Mike The Bike (Chinatown), Ride Away Bikes (Little Portugal) and many more. See a list of Bicycle Mechanics Shops in the GTA.

BIXI (Multiple Locations Downtown)
Bixi is Toronto's bicycle rental program that you have probably noticed all over town. Its a tad over priced, but the bicycles are well-maintained and kept in peak condition so even if you don't own a bicycle you can still easily rent one. (Just remember to return it ASAP because the fees are charged by the hour.)

Toronto Island Bicycle Rental (Toronto Island)
You haven't really cycled in Toronto until you've biked around on Toronto Island. You can either rent a bike or bring your own! For couples they also have tandem bicycles.

Sugar Beach (Jarvis & Queens Quay)
Located near the Redpath Sugar Mill, Sugar Beach is a bicycle friendly location to go and relax and stare out across the lake. The location is more chic and sophisticated and has less kids running around too if you are into that sort of thing.

High Park (High Park)
The park is huge and there is everything from a petting zoo, tennis courts, baseball fields, places to feed the ducks, swimming pools, beautiful gardens - and lots of places to ride your bicycle!

Rosedale Ravine / Don Valley (Don Valley)
There is a tonne of bicycle trails / hiking paths around Rosedale and located in the Don Valley. You can get lost out there easily, riding in circles and getting lots of exercise.

Critical Mass (Spadina and Bloor)
The last Friday of every month, at 6 PM - not just in the Summer - over a hundred cyclists gather on the SE corner of Spadina and Bloor and then as a group ride through the city. The route varies each time and there is usually a police escort these days (they arrest cyclists who ride through the red lights). Its a good way to meet other people who are into cycling and you will see a huge variety of weird bicycles too.

Consistency and Arrow Clusters

Once you've developed good form while shooting your next step is to try and adjust your shot by developing arrow clusters.

Lets pretend for example that when aiming straight at the target with the bow (off the tip of the arrow), and you are doing everything correctly in terms of pulling back to your anchor point, your bow arm is relaxed, your grip is relaxed, your mental focus is clear and undistracted, your arms aren't shaking, and so forth... and yet your shots are still veering to the bottom right of the target.

Well if you are doing everything consistent all your shots should be in roughly the same spot.

Some of your arrows might even be so close together they're touching. Not to worry, consistency is good but you need to adjust your aim.

In the photo above the person would need to adjust their aim further to the left and up a little bit. However when people do this many people overcompensate and the next thing you know you are hitting the white or black on the left side.

Thus it is always best to adjust your aim gradually. Aim 3 inches further to one side and move your cluster across the target slowly. With each round of adjusting your aim your clusters will move until you're getting better scores.

In the photo below the cluster has moved upwards, but its too high and still to the right. Yes, it is slower progress but with time a person will pinpoint EXACTLY where to aim and if their form and release remains constant they should be able to score nothing but 9s and 10s. (Hence why that rip in the yellow of the target keeps growing.)