1,000,000 Visitors to Cardio Trek

June 1st 2015

Sometime in the next 3 days Cardio Trek will have its 1 millionth visitor to CardioTrek.ca. On Sunday May 31st the website surpassed 995,000 visitors and judging by the May average of 1765 visitors per day CardioTrek.ca should break the 1,000,000 mark sometime on June 3rd.

Not bad for a company that has only been around since December 2011.

Now you might ask why do we have so many visitors?

Well there is multiple answers to that question, so here goes:

#1. Cardio Trek has over 550 pages of unique content providing advice on topics ranging from weight loss, muscle growth / weight lifting, cardio exercises, as well as sports advice on topics ranging from swimming to boxing to archery, and lastly dietary / nutritional advice. And all of the advice located on CardioTrek.ca is FREE to access.

#2. Cardio Trek is home to Toronto's "best archery instructor" according to the testimonials of archery students - and archery's popularity is growing so fast we are in constant demand for archery lessons in Toronto.

#3. Cardio Trek also offers a number of unique / bizarre exercises and tips that only a handful of other websites talk about - including nose exercises for people who have suffered nose injuries or simply want to change the appearance of their nose, and also advice on how to reduce saggy skin after extreme weight loss / pregnancy. Those two topics are two of the most popular topics on CardioTrek.ca.

#4. If you Google 'cardio personal trainer toronto' then CardioTrek.ca is the #1 personal training website that comes up in the results. CardioTrek.ca is also #2 too. CardioTrek.ca is #1 or in the top 10 for a variety of different topics. So kudos to the quality of our website and our marketing efforts. (Although truth be told we don't really advertise much any more. We get most of our advertising from word of mouth.) Some topics we are not so hot at (eg. CardioTrek.ca is #27 if you Google 'weight lifting personal trainer toronto'), but that just means we need to work harder on those topics.

#5. We make a special effort to make Cardio Trek fun to read - whether it be via personal insights, the occasional joke, or the hundreds of inspirational quotes we have posted in the hopes of inspiring people who are looking for a little extra motivation to eat healthy, exercise harder, and have fun while doing so.

So in other words we have great FREE information, an amazing personal trainer / sports trainer, unique articles that are both interesting and fun to read, and a healthy dose of quality writing. Huzzah!

Here is a virtual toast* to the next million visitors!

* With a strawberry smoothie in a wine glass.

Archery Testimonials, May 2015

Testimonials

"Charles made learning archery an enjoyable experience.  He is very knowledgeable and has the ability to pinpoint areas where a student needs help in his patient and witty style.  I bought my first bow and accessories after a couple of lessons with Charles, and has learned much more in subsequent lessons.  There are a lot of tips and pointers online, but only a knowledgeable instructor like Charles is able to observe and correct your mistakes individually.  Getting the basics right in archery is extremely important as bad habits are difficult to get rid of.

Charles made the learning process fun and enjoyable - the hallmark of a great instructor!  I would highly recommend Charles to anyone who wishes to learn archery in Toronto."

- Tim C.

"I took three archery lessons with Charles from Cardio Trek and can honestly say I enjoyed every lesson and learned a lot each time. I strongly recommend anyone looking for an archery instructor consider getting lessons from Charles.

The first lesson included a safety lecture, eye dominance test and a lecture on proper form - which Charles explained in a very thorough and easy to understand manner. By the end of the first lecture I was getting clusters of arrows near the bullseye.

Subsequent lessons focused on fine-tuning my form and aim so my clusters of arrows were tighter and more on target. I had no idea when I started archery it would be so difficult, but I am very happy that I got an instructor like Charles who really knows how to break down issues like form and explain the physics of why people make mistakes when shooting. I went away with a new appreciation for physics and human physiology.

Thank you again for all of your help."

- Sandy R.

"Thanks for the archery lessons and all the equipment advice. You are the best! My girlfriend and I will be recommending you to our friends. :)"

- Jeremiah D.

Five Archery Games for Kids

Getting kids involved with archery at a young age is a great way to get them interested in the Great Outdoors - and off the sofa.

However keeping kids interested and motivated can sometimes be tricky, even with a sport as engaging as archery. Thus one way to get them more motivated is to introduce games so they are more motivated to try harder.

#1. Bowling for Cups

Cans work equally well for this activity but the concept is simple enough. The more cups or cans you knock over the more points you get.

#2. Shooting Balloons

Makes a nice satisfying sound when they get hit. If they are getting hit too easily move them further back, or if they are too difficult to hit then move them closer. The balloons are not reusable like cups or cans are, so you will want to make them just hard enough to hit so that your kids have to pay attention to what they are doing to actually hit them with an arrow.

#3. Hit the Foam Ball

Below is a foam/rubber target ball usually used by hunters for practicing shooting at different distances. For kids however you can substitute a cheap foam ball or for extra challenge, a tennis ball. The goal is to hit the ball at different distances and learn how to adjust your aim regardless of the distance you are shooting.

#4. Bow-Making Contest + Flight Archery

For added fun you can also have a wooden bow making contest - for this activity your kids should be 10 years or older and have some experience with carving knives. As parents you will want to supervise this activity and help them using any of the more dangerous woodworking tools. eg. Don't let your kids use a skilsaw or band saw by themselves. But a draw knife, hand saw, rasp or sandpaper would be okay tools for them to learn how to use.

Their goal during this contest is to make a bow out of wood or bamboo or PVC that can shoot really far - flight archery is a good measurement of whether their bow is any good. Making a stickbow, bamboo bow or PVC bow is ridiculously easy, but to get it to shoot really far is the true challenge because that requires the bow to be "fast on the cast".

Tip #1 - Thick limbed bows are sluggish and slow. Bow-making is an artform wherein you have to learn how much thinness will make the bow shoot faster, but still provide good power / prevent breaking.

Tip #2. Top and bottom limbs need to be tillered evenly so they both bend the same amount, in the same places, and bounce back at the same speed. One limb slower than the other will make your arrows fly slower.

Even for adults with some woodworking skills making a quality bow is a challenge. If you are interested in bow-making try reading The Traditional Bowyer's Bible - Volume I. There are 4 volumes, but the first volume covers all of the basics.

Note - For the purpose of the above activity try using store-bought arrows on your homemade bows. Arrow-making is a challenge by itself.

#5. Tic Tac Toe Archery

Tic Tac Toe is a very easy game and all you really need is a target and two sets of arrows that are different colours.

Other games that are more for adults are: Poker Archery, Dart Board Archery, Battleship Archery (you can see their ships on the board, but can you hit them?), Clue Archery, Chess Archery and more.

If you are looking for archery lessons in Toronto contact me to schedule some lessons.

Away on Vacation - Gone bowfishing!

Bowfishing at Denny's Dam near Owen Sound, 2014

Dear readers, client and students:

Please be advised that there may be delays responding to emails as I am currently on vacation visiting family, plus I have made plans to go bowfishing while visiting the countryside.

If you are looking archery lessons in Toronto or my other services as a sports trainer / personal trainer send me an email and I shall respond as soon as I am able.

If you want to learn more about bowfishing I recommend reading the following websites:

Bowfishing in Ontario

Primitive Bowfishing

Bowfishing Basics

Bowfishing Under Water (Video)

DIY Simple Bowfishing Reel

How to Make your own Bowfishing Reel

Try Bowfishing, Getting Started

If an one legged cyclist can do it, why not you?

The man in the photos below is Christian Haettich, a professional cyclist. Ignore his chosen career, just look at what he is doing...

Cycling through the mountains of Europe with only one arm and only one leg.

That is pretty awe inspiring in my opinion. I tip my hat to him. He is an inspiration to us all. So just imagine, if he can do it - why not you too? What is stopping you? The world is yours to conquer and the bravery to do so is within you.