Iron Fit Personal Training

Nathan’s Championship Calibre

Being a highly competitive athlete of any type is extremely demanding both physically and mentally. I was lucky enough however to have the privilege of having Mark Kay as my personal fitness trainer during my years of competitive hockey. At first, Mark had spent time with my “AAA” hockey team. Over the years, I got to know Mark better each time we had team workout. I was always impressed with how he handled himself – calm, cool, collective. With that said though, he was never soft or easy on us. He wanted to the best for us. So Mark always pushed us hard day in and day out. He knew however just how hard to push us and when he had to make adjustments. Safe to say, over those couple years I was involved in group training sessions with him, I managed to increase my fitness levels, as well as my knowledge of basic body and muscle functions that Mark would educate us on along the way. I guess I forgot to mention the most important part – it was always a good time training with Mark. Even though the workouts were tough, it was still somehow having fun and enjoying them.

This really stood out to me – so I eventually contacted Mark about doing some 1 on 1 personal training in the summers to get me into top physical shape for my junior hockey camps in the fall time. Mark sat down with me and we mapped out a plan of my goals and where i wanted to be by the end of the program. He identified my weaknesses, and areas I needed to improve in immediately through basic fitness testing – and then we got to work. I will say honestly that the 1 on 1 training sessions were even better than the team/group sessions I had previously participated in. Basically, for that one hour I was training with Mark three times a week, it was all about me. Mark gave me his 100% full attention at all times. His goal for each session was to make sure that I was doing the best I possibly could, and that I was constantly and consistently improving and moving closer to my goals. I won’t lie, the sessions were extremely tough on the body. Looking back though, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The strength gains I saw by the end of each summer were unheard of. I was consistently knocking multiple seconds off my timed tests, adding on numerous sets to my repetition tests, and drastically increasing the weight to my weighted tests. It was almost surreal to see just how far Mark had brought me over the summer. Not only did it show on paper, it also showed on the ice. Both years of my Junior A hockey career were giant successes. I was able to become a better all around player on the ice and I know for a fact it’s a direct result from how Mark built up my body as a hockey player. My speed increased, my acceleration got quicker, I was harder to knock off the puck, and my upper body strength really started to show whenever I shot the puck or laid out body checks. So much in fact that at the end of each year, I was voted top defenseman on my team. I was a huge part of my team that eventually won a provincial and regional championship and a 3rd place finish in the nation. I couldn’t have done it without Mark. Workouts can be tough when you are not training with the right person. I did not feel that way with Mark. His knowledge of the human body and his drive and motivation to make sure each one of his clients reaches their goals is incredible. Yes we did train hard – but we kept it light at the same time ; always finding time for good conversation in between sets and sharing some laughs and stories. Mark really does have the perfect balance between : an extremely good trainer that will work you hard to get you to where you want to be – and a great overall guy that will make sure you are still enjoying yourself during your time with him and feeling good about what you are doing.