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The Hanson Fitness and Lifestyle Centre (HFLC), located in the Van Vliet Centre, is one of my favourite places on North Campus — and best of all, access is included in our U of A student fees! You can visit as much as you want and as often as you want.

Why I like to work out

There are a few reasons why I enjoy regularly working out, including both cardio and strength training:

• It’s some nice “me” time to disconnect from the stresses of my day and focus on doing something that’s good for myself (and for the future me). This has also encouraged me to take better care of myself in other areas of my life, like getting less screen time and keeping a regular bedtime.
• I’ve noticed that after spending a few years strength training regularly (I spend 2 - 3 hours per week lifting weights), my balance has improved, I don’t get sore or achy and lifting heavy things (like when moving furniture) is A LOT easier.
• Many of my hobbies involve some sort of physical activity (skiing, climbing, jogging), and I’ve found them more enjoyable and I recover faster.

But I don’t have a real background in sports and haven’t spent much time being coached or trained in my life. I wasn’t sure that I was making the best use of my time or doing something that was going to help me meet my goals (I’m pretty Type-A, so I do well when there’s a goal). Luckily, Campus and Community Recreation (CCR) offers fitness training and nutrition services, with Certified Personal Trainers and Registered Dietitians (trained professionals) who can help you get started and level up your personal wellness game.

The experience

Once I was booked for my Fitness Fundamentals program, I was connected with Troy, a Certified Personal Trainer and current U of A student (he’s finishing up a BSc in nutrition and food science to become a registered dietitian). He promptly reached out to me to book my times and to learn more about my goals, my experience/background with working out and if there were injuries he should be aware of. This wasn’t one-size-fits-all; it was very personalized and adapted to my reality and goals. We corresponded a bit over email, and we booked an hour to work together for the following week.

We met at the front desk of the HFLC (the trainers are really obvious — they all wear CCR-branded vests as part of their uniform), and Troy immediately made me feel welcome. He had me do some basic movements (like stretching and lifting some lighter weights) to see my movement patterns and mobility. We worked through a few new (to me) exercises, which he demonstrated and had me try. Then, he explained how the exercise was relevant to what I was trying to do. One really interesting bit was that even though I’ve been working out for a few years, Troy was immediately able to spot a few tweaks that would improve how I did the exercise, helping me get more out of it and reducing my chance of injury.

I returned a few weeks later for our second session (after more correspondence with Troy), where it was similar. He demonstrated a few more new exercises, and I worked through them. Then, he left me with a personalized routine and recommendations that I could do on my own.

Sometimes, it might seem like working with a personal trainer could be pretty intimidating, but after the experience, I felt it was way less intimidating than going to the gym on my own. Troy knew exactly where to go and what to do with all the equipment, and when I was doing exercises I was unfamiliar with, he helped me with the movement patterns and made sure I was going to do them correctly (avoiding the risk of injury). While Troy had a plan of what we were going to do for the day, it was tailored to my situation and we went at my pace, which felt really good.

Who would I recommend these sessions for?

After the experience, I think almost anyone could benefit from these programs, but I would recommend it to U of A community members who:

• haven’t used the HFLC or worked out much before and would like to make a positive change in their life, but find the experience unfamiliar (and maybe intimidating). Having Troy around (and I imagine the other trainers are also very good) was expert guidance, and I felt welcomed, safe and informed during the whole process.
• are like me, where they are regularly active but would like to “level up” their physical wellness game and improve what they’re doing. This could be anything from changing training patterns to meet a new goal, learning how to make the most of one’s time in the gym or just getting tips on changing fitness routines if things have gone stale.

Learn more from CCR

You can book the program I took part in through CCR, in addition to other programs they offer. While these programs do have a cost associated with them, they are discounted for current U of A students and staff. I felt that for what I received (personalized, tailored and professional instruction and guidance), the program offers a lot.