I was born on December 21st, 1979 in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. My hometown is Flin Flon, Manitoba; I lived there until I was 24 years old. Both my parents Gord and Cathy, my brother Neil his wife Leanne and Two sons Cole and Nate currently live in Flin Flon. As a youngster all I ever wanted to do was play hockey in the N.H.L. Flin Flon is a huge hockey town so it’s in your blood to love the game.

Ever since I can remember I’ve always enjoyed playing a wide variety of sports depending on the season. No doubt Hockey was my favorite since the winters can last up to 8months. As I became older my interest in hockey started to diminish it just wasn’t fun anymore. I started to play golf during the summer months and after the first summer I was hooked.

My brother Neil and I began to golf competitively in our late teenage years. Neil is 18months older than I am so we never got to compete in the same age categories. Thank god for that as he beat me on a daily basis at our home club Phantom Lake golf Club in Flin Flon. Around once or twice a month I would get lucky and maybe tie him or beat him. Considering we golfed 27 holes 8-7 days a week that is not a great percentage of the time. Most summers in our teenage years were spent practicing up for various junior tournaments. The tournaments took place in July in Winnipeg Manitoba, which is 7 hours south of Flin Flon. We had lots of fun competing in these tournaments. Myself I was not very successful I had a few good finishes here and there but nothing great. Neil seemed to do well every time he competed against the best in the province. In 96 he finished 3rd in the province, qualifying him to represent Manitoba at the Canadian championships. After our teenage years most of our competitive golf was behind us. We still enjoyed competing in local tournaments around our hometown and began having more fun with the game of golf. The serious side still comes out but not the same degree it did growing up. Now that Neil and I live so far apart we don’t get the opportunity to play golf together very often. One thing that has not changed is Neil laying a “Beat down” on me nearly every time we play. I don’t think he will ever get tired of that.

One problem that really limited my athletics growing up was my weight. As a child and teenager I was drastically overweight making it tough to actually participate in some of the sports that were very enjoying to me. Even though weight was an issue I was still very athletic. Throughout high-school I played lots of school sports, Basketball, Volleyball, Badminton and of course golf. My Junior year of high school our team won the Manitoba High School Provincial Golf Championships which was a great honor.

A year after graduating high school my life underwent a dramatic change. Sick of being overweight and unhealthy I committed myself to living a healthier lifestyle. My family has a huge history of health problems that really opened my eyes and was a big determining factor in my lifestyle change. Over the course of a year and a half of staying committed and learning all I could about living a healthy lifestyle, I was able to reach my weight loss goal. The funniest was walking down the street or seeing old friends from school and having to tell them who I was. Lots of my friends were totally shocked that I could turn myself around in such a short time. Many people ask me how I made the lifestyle turn around; simply I respond there are no secrets dedication, commitment and consistency.

After most of the weight was off I began toying around with the idea of putting on some muscle, maintaining my new healthier look. I decided to start lifting weights, still to this day I recall my first ever workout. Soon after I joined a local gym (Flin Flon Weight Lifting Club) and became one of the regular gym rats. It was a small gym with a small membership so I new pretty well everyone who trained there. The guys who trained there treated me awesome and showed me a few tricks here and there to get me going. After a year of training I wanted to start bodybuilding and eventually step on stage and compete. My friend Aaron also was interested in bodybuilding so we teamed up and began training together. We trained extremely hard these training sessions are still some of the most intense workouts I have ever done. We pushed each other to new limits, never missing a workout and eating a strict diet. The results were amazing Aaron decided to compete the following march, winning his weight class in the Manitoba Novice bodybuilding show. I wasn’t ready to compete yet both mentally and physically but seeing Aaron transform was inspiring and something that I wanted to do in the near future. . The gym back home is going strong I always stop in for a workout when I’m home. Still see most of the same faces that bring back so many great memories.

Post high school I worked at a Gold mine 2 hours north of Flin Flon. The job was 4days on 4days off coming home every 4 days was a good deal. I worked underground as well as on surface in the mill. I had to opportunity to work with some amazing people and meet some great friends. I worked there for 7 years, in late 2005 the mine closed down and left me unemployed. Finding employment in the mining industry was not that difficult at the time. I decided this is not something I see myself doing for the rest of my life. My passion was becoming a personal trainer, helping individuals reach their fitness goals and live a healthier happier lifestyle. At the age of 25, I made the decision to go back to school and become a personal trainer.

I began taking courses through Northern Alberta Institute of Technology distant learning program. I found the program tough without having an actual instructor or hands on experience that students are accustomed to having. My aunt Joyce and Uncle Paul Gagne live in Spruce Grove Alberta and offered to help me out let me live with them allowing me to have access to the college. Turned out just before Xmas I talked to some of the staff at the college and they were able to get me into day classes for 2nd semester. This was a whole different experience than the distant learning I was used to. The hands on training and being physically in attendance made all the difference in the world. As a result I became a better all around personal Trainer.

In the fall of 2006 I decided to compete in my first bodybuilding show. I began prepping for the Saskatchewan novice show that was taking place in April of 2007. My permanent residence was in Creighton Saskatchewan at the time, meaning I had to compete in the Saskatchewan Amateur bodybuilding association. It was great going to school at the same time learning so much about the body and how it works, I couldn’t wait to apply some of this to my contest preparation. I could not believe the changes that my body went through over the 20weeks of prep. It was tough trying to get ready for finals in the same time as my bodybuilding show. I managed to do both and neither suffered as a result which was amazing. I also got a call in mid February from my brother informing me that him and Leanne were getting married in a couple of weeks. That was not a lot of time to get organized but I would have been there the next day no questions asked and given up my entire contest preparation if need be. The wedding was in Saskatoon so travel was not to big of an issue and I thank my brother and his wife for understanding my situation and knowing how much work I put into preparing for this competition. I spent a few extra days visiting my family and catching up on old times after the wedding.

The time had come, the last 4 weeks of prep flew by and I had to make the long drive to Estevan, Saskatchewan. I got some good new a couple weeks prior, my dad was going to come down and watch and help me out with the little things involved in contest prep. There are tons of little details that need to be taken care of the last few days leading up to a competition. It was awesome that he was coming down to help me, we would be able to catch up and chat a lot, this took all the nervousness and pressure of competing off my shoulders. Before I knew it, it was show time. My placing in the show was not that high, but I was thrilled with my finished appearance and most important I had lots of fun. For the evening show my buddy Aaron came down from Flin Flon, that was awesome having him in the crowd I couldn’t wait to go out and perform my posing routine. This experience taught me so much both good and bad. I’m not sure yet if I will ever compete again this is a huge commitment, currently I am enjoying being fit, healthy and having a more athletic physique without being a slave to the gym.

I graduated from N.A.I.T. with honors in April of 2007 with a diploma, Certified Personal Trainer. In the summer of 2007 I started up my own business Perform Your Best Inc. Personal Training. I started training at the Tri-Leisure Center out in Spruce Grove, working with a wide variety of clientele. There is no better reward for me than seeing client achieve their fitness goals and develop a healthy active lifestyle.

In March of 2008 I came across an opportunity to train at a personal Studio in Edmonton, Advanced Conditioning Solutions. This was the exact opportunity I was looking for. After meeting with Rob and Shara I new this was the direction I wanted to take as a personal trainer. Training at A.C.S. along side Rob and Shara is a great chance for me to learn, and expand my knowledge as a trainer. I have been able to learn so much in the short time I’ve been training at the studio. I am constantly learning everyday and I will continue to do so forever.