An intellectual, an avid reader, a creative knitter, a steadfast friend, a good wife, a good mother – all those terms were used to describe me. Never did anyone mention physical prowess when talking about me, and for good reason. The most physical things I ever did were holding a book or a pair of knitting needles. A bit of gardening, but not enough to overexert myself. Even as a child, playing was never physical and running was out of the question. Until I turned fifty-five and a younger friend told me that taking care of my health meant more than keeping my blood pressure under control and eating a halfway decent diet; it also meant getting fit before I died of chronic laziness. She gave me her personal trainer’s phone number and more or less bullied me in meeting him, at least for a preliminary assessment.

That personal trainer was Mike. Five years later, I still see him regularly. I have come to realize that I will always need someone to push me against my natural tendency to indolence. Things have changed a lot in those years. My weight has come down to a point where I can bend without the fat getting in the way and I have toned my muscles to a level that they had never reached before. I have sweated, uttered more than a few dirty words and tried to whine my way out of some difficult exercises, but Mike was watching and putting up a wall between me and inactivity. He also found, the way a good trainer should, what buttons to push in order to keep me going. The easiest of my buttons is a dare. I love a challenge, and Mike recognized it; he has challenged me to all sorts of things: climbing the CN Tower, running a 10K race (running is definitely not my thing, but at least I have tried it), walking for hours and all sorts of other things I used to find unappealing.

More than anything, however, Mike has taught me to realize that going a little further than the limits I thought were imposed by my body and my age is fun. Okay, there are still days when I think that the only thing wrong with exercise is exercise itself. But I enjoy the pushing ahead and I have come to find exhilaration in reaching a physical goal. Books are still a joy and a necessity; I can even listen to audio books while working out. Knitting is still a lot of fun, but now, instead of sitting down to think up a pattern, I lace up and get going and, surprisingly, it comes while I do something good for me. (One thing I haven’t discovered yet is how to knit on the go.)

Because my fitness level is better than ever, being alive feels fantastic. My challenges for this year: my third CN Tower climb and walking a marathon. Mike is guiding me towards these goals. All through a good trainer’s work and worth much more than the money I put into it.

I currently go to Precision Body Sculpting located on the corner of Duncan and Queen. I'm loving it! Being right by the Osgoode subway station, I can easily get there. I don't work very far from it so during lunch, I just walk over. Sometimes after my session, I just hop on over to Starbucks for a well deserved latte or stroll down Queen Street for some shopping.

I started with Mike Siaflekis, owner of Precision Body Sculpting, to get in shape for my wedding and honestly, my body never looked so good! He really pushed me and knew the right exercises to get me the results fast. The Precision Body Sculpting studio is small, private and very clean with lots of windows so you get that natural light coming in. It has all the equipment you'll need such as a functional trainer, trx, free weights, bench press, bosu balls, swiss balls, body bars, machines for squats and pretty much any other body part you can imagine. As a female, I like going to this kind of studio where there's enough equipment for both males and females to use. I love the fact that I can bring my own music (either on the iPod or MP3 player) and workout to the music I want. There's also a WII Fit that can be used between workout sets. A shower is available but because there is only one, it's only for 1-on-1 clients. Lately, I've been doing the Group Training classes and I'm loving them. The groups are very small so Mike can give each person individual attention as well as leading the group through either a circuit training session or a group-wide session. The circuit training session consists of a group warm-up followed by different stations that work different muscle groups. My group has 4 people so it's small enough that I take what I learn with the group and apply it when I'm working out by myself. At only $25 per session, group training is a really fun way to work out. Sometimes a full class at the gym can be too big and you don't always know if you're doing the exercises correctly. With this kind of group training, you get that personal attention from Mike, and the other people in the group help keep you on track with your goals. Mike does a fabulous job of adjusting the weights to each individual as well as to help with the technique of the exercises. I'm sure he's tired of us complaining as a group as we're huffing and puffing through the workouts but in the end we all feel better for it. :) I'm in the process of changing gyms but I won't give up my group training at the Precision Body Sculpting.