Take it back to the Old School

I remember a time when life was easy. I got up in the morning, had a grapefruit, whole wheat toast, oatmeal and a poached egg for breakfast (thanks mom!). Then put my running shoes on and out the door to plot global domination...starting with that tree in the yard with the fun climbable branches. The perfect place to be on a sunny day at 10 years old. I'd climb that tree all day, and fall out of it a few times as well, but hours would go by playing around like a monkey (some would argue literally).

Then I made a few friends around the neighbourhood that played ball hockey. I'd then get together with them and play from sunrise to sunset...mimicking Wendel Clark's laser-accurate wrist shot, or Wayne Gretzky's signiture slap shot . We would run each other into the ground, and play with strict adherence to the rules of the game. It was magical, and I will never forget the joy of feeling so free to run, play, and compete with these mini road warriors.

A few years go by...


I'm fresh out of University, got myself a job, i'm ready to save the world from inactivity, stagnation, and blubber. The world is my low-glycemic, multi-grain oyster.


A few more years go by...


I develop a loyal and goal-oriented client base, with whom I train, mentor, guide, and even argue with over their health. But something is missing. Something very important. Critically important. Can you guess what that might be? Here's a hint: what were you doing at 10 years old? I'm just now realizing what's been missing for myself and in some of my clients. We don't play as much as we used to! When we get immersed in responsibility, demanding schedules and demanding people, what's left for ourselves? For some it's a glass of wine at the end of the day, for others it's take-out pizza and a few episodes of 24 (ADDICTIVE!). And eventually time flies by and we complain about having to go outside to shovel the 6 foot snowbank off our sidewalk (thanks City of Toronto!). The 10 year-old in us would have been up first thing in the morning and almost bursting with excitment to go play in that snowbank.

Back to the gym. Even fitness can get boring, stagnant, and tiresome. Just the tought of a grueling journey off the couch and into the gym can be irritating. So how do we beat the gym blues? Play! Find something fun that you enjoy doing, and do it with a passion. Play like you were 10 years old and like you wont stop until Mom says "Sebastien! Come inside for Dinner...NOW!!".




Here are some neat ideas to try:

• Fitness Kickboxing


• Bootcamp (I do a killer bootcamp in Toronto)


• Yoga


• Belly Dancing


• NIA


• Running Groups


• Partner Training


• Snowshoeing

Hope you all have some fun with your fitness this year...go and PLAY!

Sebastien