Ian's Story
When the pandemic shut down local hockey and soccer leagues, Ian had trouble prioritizing his physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Through his training sessions with Amanda, Ian gained a new appreciation for working out, learned to prioritize his overall health, and improved his performance in his favourite sports.
Ian playing in an international soccer tournament in Prague.
About Ian
As a youthful 33-year-old, Ian was used to staying active through sport and social activities. When these social activities were put on pause because of the pandemic, Ian struggled to find the motivation to exercise.
Without the ability to do what he loved Ian was demotivated. He had trouble prioritizing his physical health which negatively affected his mental and emotional wellbeing. He struggled until he learned about Body + Soul Fitness and decided to use his complementary training pass.
The Challenge
When he first met with trainer Amanda in July 2021, Ian’s goals were quite broad. He just wanted to be motivated to exercise and wanted to gain muscle mass.
To better understand Ian’s starting point, Amanda guided Ian through a health and fitness assessment. She took note of his past injuries and helped him narrow down his goals.
With Amanda’s help, Ian changed his broad goal of “building muscle mass” into specific goals. Ian was blown away by Amanda’s knowledge and was confident that she could help him achieve results. For Ian, her knowledge and guidance made this “premium service so worth it.”
The Program
Using what she learned from the assessment, Amanda built a training program specifically tailored for Ian. Considering his goals and background in competitive sports, the program focused on correcting his current imbalances in strength and mobility. To prevent future injury, Ian’s program was also centered on building a foundation of strength and conditioning.
Foundation
In phase one of his training program, Amanada and Ian focused on structural balance. Ian was dealing with limited range of motion and strength in his elbow due to a previous injury. He couldn’t bench press without pain and wanted to overcome this.
The first phase of Ian’s program emphasized improving his strength in his elbow and associated muscle groups. To help him reach his goal of pain-free movement and increased strength, Amanda guided Ian through accessory exercises – like ring push-ups – before progressing to the bench press. She also made sure to help Ian improve his mobility in his hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, and calves to prevent future injury.
Ian snowboarding at Kicking Horse Mountain in British Columbia.
Progress
The second and third phases of Ian’s training program built on top of his newly established foundation. Amanda focused on progressing his work capacity to match the demands of the sports he plays.
For example, Amanda found that Ian was much stronger on one leg from playing soccer. To correct this imbalance, she guided Ian through unilateral work like single leg hamstring curls and split squats. After building strength and stability in Ian’s shoulders and elbows, Amanda introduced the full range Swiss bar bench press into his program.
As Ian worked through his training, Amanda revisited the program every two months to assess Ian’s results and adjust his program. Amanda continues to adapt Ian’s program to match his needs and Ian mentions he feels like they are a team working on his goals together. Amanda encourages Ian to push through his training and makes sure he understands how each exercise will help him achieve his goals.
The Results
Ian progressed into phase four of his program after achieving incredible results. Having worked hard throughout phases one to three, Ian corrected a large imbalance in length-tension between his hamstrings and improved mobility in his quads. This has led to improved performance in both soccer and hockey.
Ian was also able to achieve his goal completing confident, pain-free barbell bench presses. Thanks to increased range of motion and strength in his shoulder and elbow, he was able to progress from the Swiss bar bench press.
Ian sandboarding in Huacachina in the Peruvian desert.
Ian progressed into phase four of his program after achieving incredible results. Having worked hard throughout phases one to three, Ian corrected a large imbalance in length-tension between his hamstrings and improved mobility in his quads. This has led to improved performance in both soccer and hockey.
Ian was also able to achieve his goal completing confident, pain-free barbell bench presses. Thanks to increased range of motion and strength in his shoulder and elbow, he was able to progress from the Swiss bar bench press.
With increased mobility and corrected imbalances, phase four of Ian’s program focused on strength. Amanda and Ian set specific goals including increasing his bench press maximum from 165lbs to 185lbs – an 11% increase! Ian crushed this goal in 6 weeks and balanced his upper body push to pull ratio. He also achieved his deadlift goal and increased his 3-rep max from 175lbs to 195lbs in 6 weeks.
Ian’s physical results are incredible, but he has also experienced changes outside of the gym. Ian noticed that the strength he has built in his legs has improved his hockey performance. “I should be getting worse at hockey as I age, but my performance has been getting better because of Amanda’s training program,” says Ian.
Ian says that his greatest achievement has been his new outlook on his health. He’s learned that all his systems – physical, emotional, mental – are connected and he challenges himself to take a more holistic approach to life.
Conclusion
“My training has been a catalyst to look at my life as a whole and to be more resilient to other stresses in my life,” says Ian. Taking ownership of his health and working towards goals has given Ian confidence and made him feel amazing inside and out.
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