Michael's Biography
Over the past several years I have provided training and nutritional advice to people from all walks of life, including competitive athletes, rehabilitation patients, and the general population looking to get fitter, leaner, healthier.
Having done some Sambo wrestling and Karate as a kid and teen, I started lifting weights in the mid 1990s to gain strength and size. Having developed a reputation for pound-for-pound strength, I was first approached to train others in 1999 to help several colleagues gain strength and muscle and increase their athletic performance. Despite having great success I did not pursue this full time, instead choosing to train only select people that came to me via word-of-mouth recommendation for 6 years.
During this time I spent 5 years working for a pharmaceutical company, which gave me great insight into the state of the drug and medical industries and played a large part in developing my belief in the holistic approach to health and fitness.
I now own Flex Your Mind Personal Training, through which I strive to offer superior physical training as well as holistic lifestyle training and nutritional guidance.
Having started out coaching people to increase their strength and athletic performance, and in many cases muscle size, it is still my favourite aspect of the industry to train people for. However, over the years I've gained a lot of experience and had great success with training people for a variety of goals, including strength and conditioning, powerlifting, bodybuilding, sport specific conditioing, weight loss and even arm wrestling.
Qualifications and Related Certifications:
C.H.E.K. Institute Holistic Lifestyle Coach lvl 1
C.H.E.K. Advanced Program Design
Agatsu Inc. Level 2 Kettlebell Coach (1 of the first 3 to be lvl2 certified)
NCCP Olympic Weightlifting Competition Introduction Trained Coach
TWIST Sports Conditioning Coach lvl2 Trained (Includes Sports Movement, Balance, Strength)
MAT Jumpstart Lower Body, Upper Body, Trunk and Spine
Can-Fit-Pro Personal Training Specialist
CPR and First Aid
Canadian Powerlifting Records in the CPO:
Currently hold the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total records in the 67.5kg Amateur/Raw division of the Canadian Powerlifting Association.
Amateur = the athletes are randomly tested for banned substances.
Raw = no assistance equipment (like benching shirts, squat suits, 2.5m wraps, etc.) is allowed. Competition belts are ok.