Friday, August 8, 2008

Tae Kwon Do


TaeKwonDo is a great way to teach kids about discipline, respect, strength and patience. My boy did some classes at the Kicks for Kids Oakville location and not only did he love it, but I loved what he learned from it.

Instructors at Kicks for Kids are amazing, and several of the lead instructors are women. I love this because it teaches my boy to listen and respect women, which is a great benefit of martial arts training. He enjoyed learning Korean words, learning the chops and the kicks and especially yelling "Aayaa!" as he executed his movements. Fun stuff!

Another great thing for young "Little Dragons" is that they learn patience, waiting for their turn, quietly. Not so easy for a 3 year old! Watching them let loose on the drills in their little uniforms is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Imagine Fitness is running several classes at Kicks for Kids this fall, check out our schedule at http://www.imaginefitness.ca/

Here's my boy earning his green belt:


Cheers,


Sarah

Oakville Half-Marathon 2008


Hi Everyone,


This summer has been a blur! In June we were out to visit family in Nova Scotia, there is a cute little gym there called "Fit Folks", very maritime-cute! We had a move in July which was absolutely crazy, I've almost recovered. We're now into August and we have our annual fitness conference coming up next weekend. This is a fitness pro's time to get motivated, stay updated and get some new ideas for program design. More about that in next month's blog :) Right now I'd like to talk about what's coming up this fall.

We're kicking off September with a booth at the Oakville Half-Marathon on September 1st. I'll be participating with friends in the 10K run, please e-mail me if you'd like to join us, sarah@oakvillefitness.com This is our way of kicking it into gear after a busy summer, and hopefully setting new goals into the fall. Personally, I'm going to run the Toronto Half on October 19th. That's 10 weeks away, so just long enough to train safely.

If you're not a runner, maybe bootcamp is the way to go this fall. We have an outdoor bootcamp called PT on the Trails which we run at Neyagawa and Upper Middle in Oakville from September 13th to October 25th, 2008. We use bodyweight exercises, calisthenics, etc. to work you hard through this hour-long workout. If you need some help and a bit of a push with your fitness routine, we can help! See details at http://www.imaginefitness.ca/

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we'll see you in the fall!


Cheers,


Sarah

Monday, April 28, 2008

CN Tower Climb and the Fight Against Climate Change


Earlier this month I joined over 6 thousand people in the CN Tower climb to fight global warming. Many people climbed as early as 6am, but I chose to start at a much more reasonable 10:30am!

This fun event was sold out, which is a fantastic statement about local support for this cause. We raised over a million dollars overall! I hope you can join Imagine Fitness in our climb next year.

When I decided to participate in this event, I picked up David Suzuki's autobiography. I remember watching "The Nature of Things" when I was a kid and finding the show (and the host) so interesting. David is now in his 70's and he looks amazing! I found it disturbing to hear so many stories about the alarming evidence of global warming, with many indications being ignored since the '70's. It's a great read from someone I remember from childhood, and I recommend it as being relevant to the issue we hear so much about: climate change. You see his well-known face on commercials, the side of buses, radio commercials, so let's take those ideas and fight global warming.

If you'd like to support this cause, go to http://www.wwf.ca/ to sponsor me or donate in general, or see www.davidsuzuki.org to see what else you and your family can do. Let's help our environment, which we need to protect both for ourselves and our kids.

Cheers,

Sarah


Friday, March 14, 2008

Fitness & Spa Retreat at White Oaks Spa


I recently spent some time at a local Niagara resort. I expected a night away, a nice dinner, a comfortable bed. What I found, though, was an absolutely world-class resort with a fantastic ambiance and details I hadn’t before experienced.

We arrived at White Oaks Resort mid-day Saturday and were greeted by exceptionally friendly staff. We had lots of time to peruse the facility and to work out in their state-of-the-art fitness area. The cardio room enjoys lots of natural light, and features both a fireplace and a waterfall that add a feeling of comfort. The equipment is brand new and well-maintained. White Oaks has recently done a $10 Million upgrade to the fitness area, and you can certainly notice! The weight equipment is better than anything I’ve seen, and believe me I’ve been to a lot of fitness facilities! They have all of the toys you’d expect; BOSUs, med balls, cable machines and more. Even more striking is the massive mural in the weight room with gymnasts of years past crawling the walls-very impressive. The décor is modern and luxurious, there are separate rooms for yoga, spinning and the like. The most impressive element is the team training room-it even has a monster truck tire in there for truly functional training. It was a personal trainer’s dream…

I truly enjoy fine dining, I’ve certainly been to a few places not only in Toronto but in New York, Chicago, etc. The restaurant at White Oaks ranks with the best of them! Liv was both comfortable and chic. Our experience was outstanding, the food was utterly amazing and the service couldn’t have been better. When we returned in the morning for breakfast we were delighted in a full menu and delicious selections.

Excellent job White Oaks! We will definitely be returning to experience your spa facilities and treatments and to do another workout or two. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to join us-Keep your eyes peeled on the Events page for our upcoming girls’ weekend away in the Spring of 2008!

Hope to see you there,

Sarah