Ugh, it's Monday! For most people Monday means the start of a new work week. For myself personally Monday just means it's another work day. Truth be told I rarely take days off therefore I don't really have weekends or take vacations. In fact, the last time I had an entire day off from working with clients in the gym was last month when I competed at my most recent fitness competition. However as my training partner recently reminded me that dehydrating oneself for over 24 hours while standing and flexing on stage under hot heat lamps should not be consider as taking a "day off". Nevertheless I technically wasn't working so therefore we've agreed to disagree on that subject.

I've always prided myself in being a hard worker, both inside and outside the gym. I believe I developed my strong work ethic from an early age as I watched both my parents work very demanding jobs and take very little rest, if at all. However neither of my parents really ever exercised. Sure they went for the occasional walk but neither one of them has ever stepped foot in a gym. My dad couldn't tell you the difference between a rep and a set if his life depended on it and my mom has no clue as to what a macronutrient is or why a fried breaded chicken breast is considered to be fattening and unhealthy, after all aren't chicken breasts considered to be a "clean food".

When I first began my career as a Personal Trainer I went on a health and fitness crusade to educate and inform my clients on how to eat properly and train efficiently so that they could achieve the absolute best results in the gym. I preached about the importance of consistent training, I lectured about the significance of a clean and healthy diet and I stressed how crucial it was to practice and implement a proper supplementation plan into their new fitness lifestyle. I assumed if my clients had all this information on hand then there would be no excuse or reason for them not to achieve the results that they desired with both their physique and their health. Boy, was I ever wrong......

Due to the rise of the internet, the way that people seek out, gather, learn and retain information has changed dramatically over the past twenty years. Instead of calling someone, enrolling in a course or going to the library the first place we go to learn something or find a product or service is the internet. In many ways the evolution of the internet and especially social media has benefited us as a society immensely as both have made it much more convenient and easier for us to communicate with one another, become more knowledgeable about our surrounding environment and the world that we live in and allow us to save time on completing the simplest of tasks such as banking and shopping which can now both be done online with the click of a few buttons.

Unfortunately as always with the good also comes the bad. Unless you've lived under a rock or in a cave over the past ten years then you already know of most of the adverse and conflicting byproducts that can result with the overuse of both social media and the internet. Therefore I won't bother to go into much detail about this. However with so much information given to us for practically nothing on a daily basis through online networks, tutorials and websites I'm beginning to wonder - With all this unlimited information (both good and bad) being delivered to us, are we beginning to lose our own common senses?

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to compete at a local bodybuilding show called the Vancouver Pro/Am Expo held here in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Even though I did not achieve my ultimate goal of winning the overall title in the Men's Open Bodybuilding Division I wouldn't say the weekend was a complete failure. In fact, as I discussed in an earlier blog I learned more about my body while training for this particular show then in any of the other shows I've ever competed in.

There are many different reasons why people compete in physique competitions that go far beyond vanity. Some people enter these shows for the challenge and discipline it takes to dramatically transform their physiques in a manner of just a few short months. While others may compete for the sheer reason to win and for their love for competition. And then there are the people who just have an overall passion for fitness and health and a life long dream to see just how far they can take their bodies physically through intense training and rigorous dieting.

Whatever a person's reason for competing on stage or for doing anything that requires hard work and full devotion to accomplishing what they set out to achieve first requires a goal. If you don't have a goal then you don't have a purpose. If you don't have a purpose then you don't have a reason. And if you don't have a reason then why would you even bother setting a goal? Yet, we all still have goals. Some might be health related while others might be financially related. But if there's no real reason, desire or time line set to accomplish these goals then they will most likely never be achieved. And this is in my opinion why most of us fail when it comes to reaching our goals.

It's no secret. Personal Training can be a costly purchase for many people. In fact, the general public view private training as a luxury expense that only the rich and wealthy can afford. As someone who has worked in the health and fitness industry for over a decade I can understand this belief however from my own personal experience I strongly disagree with the statement that hiring a good trainer that has a wealth of knowledge and expertise is unaffordable altogether. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that working with a trainer might be one of the smartest investments that a person can make not just for their health and appearance but also to help improve their overall quality of life.

Now I'm sure you're thinking that ofcourse I'm going to be preaching the services of a fitness expert, after all it is what I do for living. However I can honestly say that I'm not using my blog as some type of marketing ploy to attract new clients (however I would be lying if I were to say I wouldn't be happy if it does ;^)). When I first started out in this profession I never thought that it would become a life long career for me. I consider myself to be very fortunate that our company has become so successful over the years and that we have the opportunity to work with so many incredible people that continue to motivate us each and everyday to get up and do what we love to do for a living, and that's help people. But I never realized until a few years ago just how much of a difference a good personal trainer can really make in a person's life, both physically, mentally and emotionally.