Resources for going it on your own

A personal trainer in Toronto outsources

If you’ve been following along the last bit I’ve laid out my take on why a personal trainer might be a good idea. I have also written some solid mentionables if you are going it alone. Here I will point to a handful of specific resources that could go a long way in assisting you on your solo fitness journey. Let’s get to it.

A personal trainer in Toronto takes a second to set the scene

I may be incredibly biased but I do believe that working with a personal trainer (even if it is just a few sessions at the beginning or intermittently) can be a crucial difference-maker. You get years of experience boiled down and poured into you and that can save you a lot of toil and (perhaps more importantly) save you from nagging to serious injury.

In a previous blog post I went over several key bits that from my perspective as a personal trainer are crucial and often overlooked. To briefly review, those key bits were:

Good technique is crucial. Most of us have a nagging injury or sensitive spot. Something that we have to be a little mindful of. This goes especially for us, but even if we are free and clear of any movement impediments, good technique means less chance of injury and better gains (whatever that means to us). As a personal trainer roving gyms in Toronto I cannot overstate it: do not overlook good technique and never stop trying to improve it.

Adherence and winnable goals: one of the biggest things that holds people back is setting unrealistic goals for themselves and then becoming discouraged because they do not reach them. Set winnable goals. As a personal trainer I see this question as utterly crucial: What can I realistically do? The bit that people forget is that you can always scale up. Once you hit the first target you can always go for more. But aim for the target you can actually hit, first. It will build your confidence and confidence is key to hitting bigger and bigger goals. Fitness-related and in the gym or in anything else you want to do.

Nutrition: it doesn’t matter what you are doing in the gym or with your fitness; if your diet isn’t on point you are not going to see the kind of results you want. Now this definitely goes for body recomposition but it also goes for any other goal that requires your body to get adapt. Without the proper information (food) your body cannot reach it’s fullest potential. As a personal trainer, with some of the goals that people come to me with I really wish I could change their diet more than anything else. What goes into a proper diet is a whole other thing altogether but I will simply say this: forget fads. Get adequate protein, eat whole foods, dramatically limit your trans fats and sugars and eat as much raw vegetables as you can.

Mobility matters: the more mobile you are, the more effective and safe you will be in the gym, the better your gains (and recovery) will be. Simple as that. In my personal training practice here in Toronto, every client that I have does homework. Spend just 10 minutes a day outside the gym working on it and you’ll be in dramatically better shape in a few months.

Warm-ups are critical: don’t skimp here. Take your time and really give your body a chance to get pliable and ready for whatever activity you are about to do. It will dramatically increase your effectiveness and overall safety as well as your capacity to recover adequately.

A personal trainer in Toronto has some great recommendations

Here are five fantastic recommendations to help make your solo venture all the more viable. My personal trainer journey would not be where it’s at without these incredible resources. Used together you can take this info into the gym (and kitchen) and watch your fitness soar.

The Ready State:

Dr Kelly Starrett is my biggest inspo and teacher. His work focuses on deepening mobility and awareness in order to hit optimal positioning and add years to your spine and joints. He’s brilliant and digestible. Start here if you wanna learn how to move. He has great insta and youtube content and a can’t miss coaching app. His book “Becoming a Supple Leopard” is a must-have.

Jeff Nippard:

He takes the actual science (and research) and breaks it down for people with an insightful and charismatic flourish. For some very solid nutrition and movement info based on real science this is your guy. Find him on YouTube. You’ll be busy for a while.

Squat University

Dr. Aaron Horschig is an incredible, indispensable resource for movement and performance. His YouTube and Insta are top quality and if you have a question about lifting issues, there is a good chance he’s answered it. Cannot recommend enough.

Catherine Shanahan M.D.

Dr Shanahan wrote a book called “Deep Nutrition” which fundamentally changed my life. There are some skippable sections to be sure and a bit of an obsession with beauty imo but the science of what she writes about is spot on (again - it’s open to debate). But for me and my body it really did the trick. If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of nutrition and to really clean up your diet, this is it. As a corollary I’d also recommend Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”.

A Personal Trainer in Toronto offers two more suggestions

What I’ve referenced so far is really a huge chunk of everything you would need to completely reinvent yourself physically inside and out. But I do have a couple of other solid favs that I will give a quick shoutout here too. As a personal trainer I find I reach for these two less, but they are still very solid resources that I do use consistently.

Athlean-X: Jeff Cavaliere has been putting out solid content for a long time now and I would definitely give him a look. He has a lot of fun ideas, a raft of intel and experience. His YouTube is huge but you can also catch him on the ‘gram. Jonni Shreve on YouTube rounds this all out with some very solid training advice from a bodybuilding pro. He does a lot of stuff around what not to do and honestly as a personal trainer in Toronto gyms that is well worthwhile.

A personal trainer in Toronto hopes this helps

Check these out and carefully follow a lot of the advice therein and you will be well on your way to your fitness dreams. For real. This will improve your gym game immensely. As a personal trainer I find them indispensable. Check back next week! I honestly can’t remember what I’m writing about but I’ll be here!