Buying local produce in BC isn’t just about tariffs—it’s about fresher, more nutritious food, a stronger local economy, and sustainability. Learn why choosing BC-grown fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, and seafood supports your health, community, and environment. Discover where to find the best local options and how small changes can make a big impact.
Discover practical tips for better sleep, whether you’re a Night Owl or an Early Bird. From creating healthy routines and optimising your environment to using tools like sleep tracking, supplements, and napping, this guide will help you wake up refreshed and energised every day.
Exploring the role of feasts throughout history, highlighting how they foster connection, reinforce cultural values, and celebrate abundance, this post examines our evolutionary tendency for overconsumption during feasts and offers strategies for enjoying these occasions mindfully without compromising health. By approaching communal meals with intention, we can maintain balance and celebrate without overindulging.
We had a great turnout for the first-ever BTG Baby Barkley this past Saturday, with eleven people participating. The weather was beautiful, and actually was quite comfortable for most of the duration, only getting really hot in the afternoon hours. Read the full post for my recap of my (just under) 6 hours’ effort on the mountain!
If like many people these days, you’re stuck training at home, you may be wondering what equipment you need to get a really good workout that covers all your bases.
We’re going to be lending out most of our equipment to our in-person training members to use while we’re shut down, but if you want / need to buy some gear of your own to get in a good workout at home, we’ve put together this list of recommended equipment to help make it easy for you!
Earlier this week, one of our members asked whether it’s better to stretch before or after a workout, which then led into the discussion of whether “stretching” is really necessary or good. In the full article, we explore what “stretching” means, the difference between mobility and flexibility, and how to achieve both.
One of the keys to maintaining a lean, healthy body is eating enough protein. In addition to the energy (calories) it provides, protein also provides essential amino acids that are needed by your body to rebuild and renew tissue, vitamins and minerals to support your body’s day-to-day functions, AND it can help rev up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to break it down than it does for carbs or fats.
Ideally, we should be getting most of our protein needs from whole foods, but sometimes it’s tough to know what to buy, especially if you’re on a budget. For that reason, every once in a while, I take a cruise through the local grocery store and update this protein price list for the reference of our members at The BTG, and now I’ve decided to share it with all of you!
As a trainer and nutrition coach, people frequently ask me about the latest fad diets. These days, people are asking about ketogenic diets. A few years back, it was always about gluten-free or Paleo. Back when I started in the industry, the Zone diet and Atkins were the big ones. Pretty consistently throughout, people always ask about “cleanses” (which are total B.S., but I’ll get into those in another post).
Everyone wants to know what the “Perfect Diet” is for them. Will the latest fad work for them? After all, their friend Sally lost 20 pounds doing X, so it must be good, right?
My answer is almost always, “It depends.”
The most common thing I’m asked about these days is Keto, and whether folks should be avoiding carbs, so here is my answer to “The Keto Question”…
In 2020, we have several athletes looking to complete their first Spartan Trifecta, and lots looking to make a return to the Spartan course for a Sprint or Super. I’m really pleased to see so many of you sharing my enthusiasm for the challenge of Spartan races, and I look forward to an even more successful year on the mountains and trails in 2020!
So far, all of you who are part of The BTG Spartan Team for 2020 have run at least one Spartan race before, so you have a good idea of the basics. We’re going to take things up a notch (or three!) in our preparation for the 2020 races to get you all to where you’re not just completing your chosen races, but to where you can feel that you’re actually “competitive” and putting in a performance you’ll be really proud of.
Because most of the races we have on our tentative schedule take place on challenging, mountainous courses, prepping your legs for that challenge will be our main focus. We want to build speed, power and durability so that you can crush those hills and still feel relatively fresh when you get to the obstacles…
Sunday, September 29, 2019
On yesterday’s Valley Vertikiller 25K Clinic training run, I failed.
Right around the 15K mark of a planned 20K distance (with 1,100m of climbing!), my legs fought back against my will with a vengeance. Excruciating cramps in my hip flexors, quads and adductors literally brought me to a standstill, and I had to will my muscles to relax enough to keep moving forward. Every step from that point forward was an exercise in suffering and anger.
Thank you to Dr. Jeff Godin, Head of Fitness Education for Spartan Race, for another great learning experience, and for his kind words in the email sending me my certificate!
Dear Coach J.P.,
Attached you will find your Level 2 Spartan SGX Coach certificate. Your work was exemplary and demonstrates the level of knowledge Spartan expects from our Level 2 coaches.
Congratulations and thank you for your continued support of Spartan and Spartan SGX.
We are honored to have you as part of this elite team of coaches. AROO!
Dr. J
The level 2 certification focused more on endurance training and nutrition, and preparing for racing in extreme environments (altitude, hot / cold environments). I sure learned a lot, and look forward to sharing that knowledge with The BTG Spartan Team and all of The BTG crew. :)
Whether your Spartan Race goal for 2020 is to run your first ever Spartan race, complete your first Trifecta, or something in between, the time to start preparing is now. Read more to find out what The BTG Spartan Team is doing to crush it in 2020, with Spartan SGX Level 2 certified coach J.P. Siou.
On September 14 & 15, 2019, The BTG Spartan Team took to the course at the Spartan Race Whistler Sprint and Super, with a total of 16 athletes competing across three different categories / distances.
(All of our photos from the weekend can be found on our Obstacle Course Racing Gallery page)
Read on for more info on how the team did!
At The BTG, the majority of our members are not competitive athletes, nor do they have jobs that require them to maintain a high level of fitness year-round (E.G. front-line first responders, active duty military, etc.). As a result, we’ve often had folks ask “what the heck do you guys train so hard for?”
The short version is pretty simple - to just kick ass at life, able to meet any challenges that come our way with a balanced spectrum of physical abilities, and to maintain those abilities for as long as possible. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Peter Attia, our aim is “to be the most kick-ass 100-year olds possible.”
Where that gets a bit more complicated is in the details. What constitutes a “balanced spectrum of physical abilities”? If we have no specific demands from a sport or our work, how do we determine where we need to focus our energies?
To understand that, I need to tell a different story…
Coming from a guy whose business is training others and coaching them on their nutrition and lifestyle habits, what I'm about to tell you may be a bit of a shock. I am unhealthy and out of shape, and it's exactly because I haven't been eating right or exercising enough in the last year or so. I have not been "walking the talk" as the saying goes.
I put on a pair of 34" waist cargo pants - barely - and thought, "WTF has happened to me?" I mean, I had to full-on suck in my gut and worry the button was going to break off squeeze those suckers on.
Let's not sugar coat it - nothing I have ever experienced or could even have conceptualized in my mind can compare. This was easily the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
Having never done anything like this before, we thought a 4-1/2 to 5 hour estimate to complete the 21+ km course with 34 obstacles was feasible. 7-1/2 hours later, the four of us (myself, Coach Julia, and brothers Scott and Dillon) were about as broken as we've ever been.
The obstacles were no big deal, really - but the terrain! Oh, the terrain! Did I mention the terrain?
Great job by Raina on her return to sprint triathlon competition. For those of you who didn't know, Raina was out of commission and barely able to walk back in late January of this year with a herniated disc, and wasn't sure that she'd ever be able to run again at all, never mind get back to her favourite event, sprint triathlons.
Through great work by physio Chris Zwicker at CBI Sport & Spine Railway, and Raina's determination to get better, she came back to run a 5K at the Run for Water in May, and compete in today's Abbotsford Triathlon.
Raina was the 4th woman out of the water (swim time 15:07), 8th coming off the bike (bike time 46:39), and 12th at the finish (run time 31:54) with an overall time of 1:33:40. She was 4th in her age group.
Awesome performance, particularly considering where she was just seven months ago, barely able to walk to the end of our driveway and back - we're super proud of her!
UPDATE 2020-07-24: Copied this over from the old blog for posterity. My super-wifey continues to be super awesome five years down the road. ;)
Easy, right? Everyone knows what “real food” is, don’t they? Sadly, not. It is not labelled “all-natural”, or “made from whole grains” or “fortified with vitamins and minerals”. It usually does not come in boxes, or have an indefinite shelf life. Just because something says “organic” on the label, don’t be fooled!
Real food is a nutritious, edible plant or animal product in its least-processed available form. It is usually perishable, does not have an indefinite shelf life (though there are some exceptions!), and must be kept refrigerated, frozen or at the very least in a “cool, dry place”.
Let's also get this out of the way right at the start - if it has added sugar, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, or some other refined sweetener added in any way, shape or form, it shouldn't be going in your body.
But let's give you a bit more info on what Real Food really is
