Chris is not my first. By Chris, of course, I am referring to our fitness lord and savior, Christopher M. Collins. The MSc, CSCS, strength coach, gym founder and all-around guru-dude cracking the whip here at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. Now you have to know that I’m not bragging about this. To have gone through seven or perhaps even eight different trainers in the last twenty years or so is not exactly a badge of honour. I want nothing more than for Chris to finally be my last. It’s been a solid two decades since I first went to war with my body. And throughout that time I have enjoyed my share of victories and defeats, along with more general frustration and base-line annoyance than I could ever shake a foam roller at. (and if you don’t know what that analogy means then I guess you gotta join OPP…) Sure I can get motivated but I can also give up. I can get happy and excited but slip just as fast to angry and frustrated. The battle is never-ending, for me at least. Now I recognize tagging this intensely personal struggle as a “war” may not be a particularly healthy way to view such things, but in all honesty that is exactly how it’s progressed. I fight my way down the weight ladder (or up the fitness one) only to lose focus or somehow self-sabotage and muck things up anew. I’m petulant, impatient and easily distracted. I’m also slow-moving and easy, until I get annoyed and flip out in an instant. I am as active and as diligent as I can be lazy like a sloth. Add in decades of marinating my over-stimulated consciousness within a brew of media-perfected imagery crossed with Hollywood outcomes and you’re left with a forty-two year...

Remember back when you were in school? Maybe you're still in school and this is very familiar. But for those of us that aren't going to school anymore we'll have particular memories.Sometimes they are good memories of teachers that helped us get to the next level and develop. We probably did better in their classes and worked a little harder. And maybe we had some smart friends to do some group study sessions with to help us along.The point is when we have success in school, or in many other things for that matter, there is often someone else we can look to who helped us. With school this would have been a teacher, a tutor or a friend.But the cool thing is that this applies to all areas of your life. Think about it.When I think back to when I made the best gains in the gym it was when I had a training partner. But not just any training partner. It had to be someone who was equally committed. Someone who shared similar goals. And most importantly someone who was a step ahead of where I was. Someone who could show me the ropes and help me get to where I wanted to be.This is very similar to the saying that your income is related to the five people closest to you. That's not the exact expression but it's something along those lines anyways.And it applies to your health and fitness as well.We could hang with these 5 guys...or...with these 6 people.Most likely the second group is going to be a better influence. They will probably get more sleep. They will probably train more frequently and more intensely. They will make better nutritional choices. And they probably won't smoke and drink.Of course these are all generalizations.Fit people stay up too late....