How to tell whether you are doing a good job as a personal trainer

#1. When your clients start bringing you "thank you gifts" and drinks for instructing them. Recently when a student gave me a gift of a large bottle of Belgian beer as a thank you gift for archery lessons. I have also received tips, gifts, thank you cards, and drinks (people have apparently discovered my love of chocolate milk).

#2. When your clients give glowing testimonials of your skill as a trainer. (Admittedly, most of my testimonials are about my skills as an archery instructor. A few are about personal training, boxing, swimming, ice skating, but the vast majority are archery testimonials.)

#3. When clients keep coming back for more and more sessions. This shows they really like what they are learning / doing and are seeing results. If they were not seeing results, they would not keep coming back for more.

#4. When a client recommends you to their friends. Word of mouth is great advertising and it shows when clients have so much fun that they are posting photos on Facebook and friends ask "Hey, how do I do that?" and they point their friends towards their trainer.

#5. When clients eventually reach the point they no longer need you, but sometimes still come to you anyway for advice. I would argue that this is ideal. Eventually clients should feel so satisfied with their results that they feel they no longer need the trainer, but will sometimes come back once in awhile with questions because they trust the trainer's ability to impart new ideas, knowledge and skills.

If I think of more examples in the future I will post them on here.

Also, more amusingly, if your clients keep quitting because they find your personality annoying, then it is probably a sign that you are not very good at your job.

20% Seniors Discount for Archery Lessons, May 1st to June 20th

For a limited time I am offered a Double Seniors Discount for Archery Lessons, starting May 1st and lasting until June 20th. My normal Seniors Discount is 10%, but I am doubling it to 20% off during this time period.

This offer is valid for weekday lessons only (mornings and afternoons) and only for lessons booked between May 1st and June 20th. For lessons further into the future the normal seniors discount of 10% applies.

Discounted Senior Rates (at 20% off) are as follows:

1 Student
$48 for 90 minutes; 3 Lessons - $136; 5 Lessons - $216; 10 Lessons - $416.

Discounted Senior Rates (at 10% off) are as follows:

1 Student
$54 for 90 minutes; 3 Lessons - $153; 5 Lessons - $243; 10 Lessons - $468.

Now you might wonder, why do I give discounts to seniors? Honestly, because I love teaching seniors. They are simply a joy to teach and a joy to talk to. Teaching someone I enjoy teaching is pure bliss, and I don't mind giving a discount to attract more seniors to the sport of archery. The more seniors, the better in my opinion.

It is never too late to do archery.

 

Girl Pushups and More

The "Girl Pushup"

What is so bad about a "Girl Pushup" ?

It is exercise after all. And lets face it, some people cannot do normal pushups because they haven't reached that stage of athletic fitness - including some men.

It is not a "feminine thing" to be doing so-called "Girl Pushups". It is an "I am out of shape and cannot do a normal pushup yet style of pushup."

You will notice I underlined the word yet. That is the operative word. Do "Girl Pushups" often enough and you will eventually be able to do regular pushups.

Do regular pushups often enough and you will likely also try Incline Pushups or Decline Pushups. Or even One Hand Pushups.

Do various different styles of pushups often enough and you will eventually be able to do Handstand Pushups. Like the woman below is doing.

Clearly this means that Girl Pushups is just part of a gradual process of becoming better at pushups.


My point here is that you should never let embarrassment prevent you from doing exercises. Sometimes things are just names, and there is nothing wrong with doing a Girl Pushup - especially since people (men and women) do them all the time when they are rolling out of bed to get up in the morning.

When you do eventually get good enough to do regular pushups you will want to focus on the quality of your form. Keep your back straight and lower yourself so your chest is nearly touching the floor.

While it is more difficult to do proper form with a pushup, you get more benefits from doing the exercise properly.

Post #700 + Exercise Quotes

It has been awhile since I have made a post containing exercise quotes, and seeing as this is also the 700th post I felt it was time to do another Motivational Exercise Quotes post at the same time.

"Think working out is painful? Try liposuction and find out how painful that is."

"Anything worth having is worth working hard to get it."

"No one ever regrets being healthier."

"Every one breaks records when they strive to do their best - and beat their own records."

"The only way to have pride in yourself is to do something you didn't think you could do."

"Don't wait to make yourself a better person. Start today and become better by tomorrow."

"Sweating is easy. If exercising is hard, then it means you are making progress."

"Go outside. Do stuff you enjoy doing."

"Persistence doesn't come easily. You have to do it again and again and again."

"Even a baby can exercise. It is called baby steps."

"Facing challenges changes you - one step at a time."

"Exercise like you mean it."


A few statistics...

Since its first post CardioTrek.ca has been visited by over 1.6 million visitors, mostly from Canada and the USA.

Most of my clients live in Toronto, but the website gets visitors from around the world. Outside of North America, visitors are most likely to come from: United Kingdom, France, India, Germany, Australia, Russia, Taiwan + Mexico.

Not sure why CardioTrek is so popular in France, but sure. Whatever. I am okay with that. Might have something to do with the words "cardio trek", which means exactly the same thing in French. Apparently I picked a name that was perfectly bilingual. Maybe in the future I should make CardioTrek bilingual so it is also available in French? Hmm. Although truth be told my Korean is better than my French.

Archery Trivia

France has over 72,000 registered archers. More than any other European nation. France even has more archers than the USA.

There is a rumour (unsubstantiated) that French forces sometimes cut off two of the fingers of captured enemy archers so that they wouldn't be able to fight against the French later in the future. This supposedly led to the phrase the "Two Finger Salute", however there are many historians who question the accuracy of this rumour.

The phrase "keep it under your hat" speaks of an ancient tradition of archers keeping a spare bowstring under their hat so it doesn't get wet.

The phrase "playing fast and loose" refers to archery jargon for "fast" which was traditionally used to mean "stop shooting fast" and the word "loose", which means to loose your arrows at the enemy. "Playing fast and loose" thus originally meant a person who would stop and start things quickly.

The phrase "a bolt from the blue" refers to a person struck by a crossbow bolt launched from a long distance, coming out of the proverbial blue sky from an unknown crossbowman.

It could also be used to shoot broken or damaged arrows whenever the archer started running low on arrows.

Is Canada's Wonderland cheaper than a Toronto Gym?

Okay, stay with me on this one...

How much does it cost you to get a 1 month membership at a Toronto gym?

Well lets look at a few big box store style gyms around Toronto...

Extreme Fitness... Cost? ~ $70 to $100 per month.

Recently got bought out by GoodLife Fitness, is referred to as an Extreme Ripoff by a BlogTo.com review. They try to sucker people in with 1 month free deals or "$8 per month" deals that later turn out to have hidden fees, even though they claim there is no hidden fees. They also claim there is no annual contract, which is bogus because everyone who signs up at their gym is automatically put on the annual contract (it is in the fine print). Learn more about this by reading Extreme Fitness, Extreme Ripoff. For fun try contacting Extreme Fitness and try to get them to tell you their normal monthly rate over the phone and discover how evasive they are about answering that question. Extreme Fitness also has a notorious reputation for overcharging people, double charging people, and refusing to stop charging you even after you cancel your gym membership. They routinely overcharge customers on purpose.

GoodLife Fitness... Cost? $63.92 + HST per month.

Spoke to the nice lady on the phone and she quoted me the above price. However having read reviews and some of the info on the GoodLife website, that price is the bare minimum. GoodLife likes to add extra fees for everything you can think of. Towel service. Access to the pool. Access to tennis courts. Day Care services for your kids if you bring them to the gym with you. GoodLife is all about gouging you with the extra fees. With tax included the total is $72.23 per month.

Next lets look at an organization that should be cheaper because in theory they're supposed to be a non-profit.

YMCA... Cost? $48 to $58 + HST per month.

The YMCA of Greater Toronto operates 8 locations with a range of different facilities, some with both gyms and pools. The prices vary on what is available at the location. The price is above is the normal Adult rate for people 22 years old or older. Unlike other gyms however the YMCA also offers family rates with prices varying between $81 to $97. Thus if you are a couple and have kids, you can truly save a bundle. We should note that the YMCA also charges a signup fee when you become a member.

And finally lets look at something that isn't even a gym...

Canada's Wonderland... Cost? $89.99 for a season pass + $45 for all season parking.

And yes, you read it correctly. Canada's Wonderland is arguably cheaper to use as your own personal gym if you don't mind driving there and paying for parking. The $89.99 is the normal rate for an adult season pass. (It is fairly easy to get a discount however as they do promo codes on a regular basis.) The season pass gets you roughly 4 months of access to the park, the splashworks pool, all the rides, etc. Certain things which are optional are clearly going to cost extra, oh and you should really bring food with you because the food prices inside Canada's Wonderland are ridiculously expensive.

Thus a person could theoretically go there, exercise, go on rides, stand in long line ups regularly, go swimming, completely avoid the fattening / overpriced food, and ultimately only pay $89.99 +$45 + HST = $152.54 for the 4 month stay.

Compared to 4 months at the Toronto gyms mentioned above you would be spending:

Extreme Fitness... $280 to $400 for 4 months.
GoodLife Fitness... $288.92 for 4 months.
YMCA... $216.96 to $262.16 for 4 months.

So Canada's Wonderland is cheaper than all the above examples, you will clearly have more fun there, and it is ultimately the more frugal choice (even with the all season parking pass).

Want to know what is even cheaper?

Toronto Parks and Beaches... Cost? Zero $s per year.

Parking is free. Swimming is free. Ice cream is extra. All the sand and beautiful skies you could want. Many of Toronto's parks have many unusual amenities.

Unusual Amenities

The Toronto Archery Range at E. T. Seton Park.
Sunnybrook Stables at Sunnybrook Park (where you can take horse riding lessons for a reasonable fee).
Riverdale Farm Petting Zoo and Dog Park.
High Park Petting Zoo and Fishing Pond (and Swimming Pools, Tennis Courts, and more).
Mountain-bike Trails / Hiking Trails at Don Valley Brick Works Park.
Allan Gardens Conservatory and Dog Park.
Centennial Park Conservatory.
Centennial Park Ski and Snowboarding.
Earl Bales Park Ski and Snowboarding.

Toronto Parks also are home to beaches, pools, skateboard parks, mountain-bike / hiking trails, ice skating/hockey rinks, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball diamonds, football/soccer/rugby fields, wading pools, water parks and more.

And the vast majority of Toronto Parks services are free.

Oh and lastly Toronto Parks and Recreation operates 81 community centres which have gyms and a wide variety of fitness options. If you live in Toronto then you probably live near one of them. Just register as a member and then just go.

Lastly universities often operate gyms which also open to the community, for a comparatively small fee. So if you live near Ryerson, U of T or York University those are also great options.