Recently I was sharing with a client how one of the most important factors related to how quickly and how much weight someone loses is not their training program. It isn't the sets and the reps. Or the frequency or duration. Or even the type of activity. And I'm not specifically referring to their nutrition. It isn't the ratio of macro-nutrients. Or the total energy consumed. Or the timing of the meals. Or whether they fasted or not. Sure all these matter and play a role in a weight loss strategy. But these efforts can all be wasted if there isn't one key component of a healthy lifestyle already in place. And this key component is sleep. I'm not going to go into detail in this blog about the impact of sleep and fat loss. If you would like to know more, and are interested in which hormones are involved in sleep and fat loss then make sure to comment below and I'll see you the report. But for now let's focus on getting the best sleep possible. And to do this I've broken this up into four categories which are routine, technology, journal and nutrition. Below is a little more detail on each. Condition #1 for Better Sleep - RoutineIn order to get the best sleep you need to establish a sleep routine. For here the analogy to use is putting a baby to sleep. If you do the same things in the same order each day at the same time before bed a baby will not only know to expect sleep is coming but will actually look forward to sleep. Change the order of the things you do and the baby may not sleep. Do these things at a different time and the baby may not sleep. Change the...

Who doesn't want better results? It doesn't matter whether this relates to business, finances, education, fitness or anything else. We all like to experience improvement.But you know what's better than improved results? Better results in less time.Think about it.If I told you that investing $1000 could turn into $10,000 would be impressed or interested? It depends, doesn't it? Obvioulsly the time component makes a huge difference on whether or not this would be considered impressive. 10 days to turn one thousand into ten thousand would make any investor curious and possibly interested. However if it took 100 years to achieve the same no one would be interested.In the same we need to consider the time component when it comes to achieving results in the gym. Better results in less time always wins. So with that in mind here are 5 ways to make your workouts more efficient and get better results in less time.1. Skip the General Warm-upWhat's the first thing most people do when they get to the gym? The jump on a bike or walk on a treadmill. While there may be a slight increase in heart rate and circulation this does next to nothing to mobilize and activate the thoracic spine, shoulders and upper body. And while the foot may contact the belt of the treadmill there isn't the same proprioceptive feedback gained from solid ground contact. And with a bike there is no ground contact. Add to this the lack of frontal or transverse plane motion as well as nervous system excitation and the pre-workout cardio becomes more useless. But personally my main reason to ditch the general warm-up is that is uses energy that may have allowed for more intensity, volume or speed of movement.2. Perform Complentary ExercisesWhen someone new to training performs a chin up for...

Hi there: If you've been following this blog for any period of time you're aware that I'm all about providing you with the best return on investment. I want you to realize the best results with minimal investment in time, finances, sweat or any other sacrifice you may have to make. But this isn't about seeking out the 'magic bullet' so no hard work has to be done ever again. Instead it's about finding ways to get in sync with your body and its environment so every effort results in forward momentum.And along the lines of forward effort and forward momentum there are times when we may slip back slightly. Think of the progress you make as the peaks you climb and the setbacks as being the valleys you fall into.Now here's the trick.You don't want your peaks to be too steep or your valleys too low. Notice I referred to the peaks in terms of steepness rather than height. I'll explain more about why height may be more crucial than steepness in a moment. But first consider the following.If you think of the expressions we have for when things are working well for us we refer to 'smooth sailing' or 'everything is on track'. On the other hand when we are having troubles we consider this a 'shipwreck' or 'off the tracks'.Let's look at how your rest, nutrition and training apply to the concept of peaks and valleys.Rest - We know that the body needs around 8 hours of sleep a night. And if we deviate up or down from this number significantly we run into problems. For example we can't stay in bed for days on end to make up a sleep debt. And we can't get by with 5 hours a night thinking we're fine. We need to...

Hi there: Hope you had  a great week. As the weekend approaches for many this equates to some down time and relaxation. And this is vital for optimal health and performance. We can't be at our best if we don't allow our bodies to rest and recover every now and again.So with this in mind I wanted to pass along one of my favourite ways to recover in between training sessions. I'm talking about massage therapy. But rather than have me attempt to pass along all the benefits I thought I'd get a registered massage therapist (RMT) to fill you. So I'll let Tanya Gervais of Lotus Massage take it from here. For those interested in a massage make sure to read to the bottom for a special offer Tanya is extending only to the readers of this blog.What are the benefits of massage therapy?The easy answer is for me to blurt out everything that I learned in school; however, the other answer is to reply that this is a heavily loaded question. There are a multitude of different conditions that massage therapy can provide treatment for.  Massage therapy isn’t just about getting a good (and I’m cringing as I say this) rub down; there are specific treatment protocols for specific injuries and conditions; e.g. tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, frozen shoulder, and sprains. For other conditions that are more related to pain syndromes as a result of repetitive movements and or occupational postures, education, prevention and a maintenance program play an important role in a successful treatment plan.How to Assess Tissue HealthThere are many factors involved when assessing tissue health. Muscle tension may be due to repetitive movements from work, play or hobbies that apply stress and strain to the body. Sports injuries and car accidents can create trauma to the tissues and affect...

Hey there: It's Hallowe'en weekend and in the past I've given you some strategies as the 'best' treats to eat this weekend. Or I've given you extra workouts to do before heading out for a night of partying but today I have something different in store for you. But before I get to today's tip I want to let you in a little experiment I'm running.The experiment is the Collins Health Project. What this involves is a behind the scenes look at the healhy and not so healthy things I do. Yeah I admit it. Every now and again I like to enjoy a beer, some pizza and maybe even some ice cream. But I have a standard to maintain, as do the rest of you. And of the best ways to make ourselves accountable is to let others what we are doing. They will support us and give us a pat on the back. And at the same time they will let us know when something is out of character given what out stated goals are.So with that in mind I'm going to video portions of my workout? I'm going show what I'm eating, how much and how often. You'll get to see what I do to relax during my down time. This will serve two purposes which are to help me get in the best shape of my life and secondly to help you steal some ideas that may help you as well.Stay tuned because some of the first footage you'll see from this Hallowe'en weekend will be unique but hopefully serve as a great launching pad for the rest of the project. Now on to the tip.Did you ever watch the Price is Right? I remember watching this a kid when we would visit our grandparents in Edmonton....

Hey there: This past spring I was contacted regarding training a few Special Olympics athletes. Richard, Glen and Andrew compete in track in field and were looking for some help in getting ready for the Nationals in July. So I agreed to do my best to help these guys out. What a great experience it was.At the very first meeting we sat down and discussed their goals, training history, previous injuries, rest habits and anything else relevant to realizing success in track and field. And I was really impressed how much focus these guys had. They were dedicated to their training. They avoided empty calories and made sure to get at least hours of sleep a night. If I remember correctly Andrew told me he really likes having stir-frys for dinner. Unless there's pizza!And so we got started. I didn't realize their level of dedication until one day Richard was quoting one of my more recent emails that you all receive. It didn't make sense how accurate he was it being able to recall the content until I realized he was printing them all off and collecting them in a binder. He would bring the binder to our training sessions and then share them with others.Lastly I'll remember Glen for going for runs into between our training sessions. Even if his training partners were busy he'd still be out there putting in his mileage then come inside the gym for a workout. Although I seem to recall him teasing me about how poorly Italy did in the World Cup.Recently one of these guys received a very admirable acknowledgement. Richard was named Special Olympics Canada's male athlete of the year. While Richard will be receiving the award all there of these guys are deserving. And knowing Andrew and Glen they are proudly...