A Christmas Poem from Twist Conditioning Whitby

A Twistmas Tale
by Jeff Roux

Twas 2 weeks before Christmas and all through Centre
Heather’s touch made it festive for all who would enter.
Eric calculated and cursed from his Ballast Ball
And the smell of Jesse’s dinner permeated the hall.
Adam walked in with his usual shout,
Yo, what’s up y’all Twist gang, it’s %$*@ing cold out.
Jeff was all snuggled in at his laptop upstairs
Listening to mashups and getting workouts prepared.
Big Todd was out setting up hurdles and sleds
With Nancy digesting the drills she just read.
A regular night at Twist Whitby it seemed,
Then, I ‘m not sure if it happened or was something I dreamed,
As, what to our wondering eyes would appear
A sleigh full of people, what they wanted unclear.
The leader came down and walked up to the desk,
“I have for you Heather, a unique request.
I know its late notice with 2 weeks remaining,
But I fear that me and my boys here need training.
We’ve got a big job on December 25th
In order to fill all of the world’s gift wish lists.
My arms feel too flimsy for hauling the sack,
I’ve been feeling a tweak in the small of my back,
And when everything’s frozen my feet seem unsteady.
So what can you do to help us Be Ready.
Heather smiled at the man in the red suit and beard
And said, “sir, things may not be as bad as you’ve feared.
Our team can help your team prepare for game day”.
And with that she pointed and said come this way.
Coach Todd led the group through the DWU
And Jesse proceeded to coach SAQ.
Adam addressed them with respect and great care
Then created a complex that made even Santa swear.
Coach Nancy came in to create CORE confusion,
As the elves were awaiting the workout’s conclusion.
Then Heather came back for some poses and chants
And watched Santa sweat bullets in his red yoga pants.
At the end of the session the group was all smiles
“Exactly what we needed to help conquer the miles”.
They had one more thing to say as they prepared for their flight
Merry Twistmas to all and to all a good night!

A Great Summit

A great big thank you to all of you who attended the Twist Sport Conditioning and Functional Fitness Summit. We gathered together a passionate group of sport and fitness professionals and had 2 outstanding days of learning and training - Twist style.

Saturday Highlights include:
Sport Balance Level 2 - the 50 coaches in attendance got an indepth experience as they learned all about advanced balance training methodology with Douglas Brooks, Peter Twist and Gerard Recio as their presenting team - world class presenters AND cutting edge training.
Sport Movement Level 1 - a great group explored the fundamentals of movement precision and teaching progressions with Arielle Nash and Scott Atkins and found out quickly how much fun learning can be!
Sport Conditioning for Child to Champion - the first ever Canadian delivery of this great new workshop brought together teachers, sport coaches, rehab professionals, and enthusiastic participants to learn the theory and practical concepts behind Twist Smart Muscle training for athletes of all ages.
TRX Workshop and Advanced Training Tools - both workshops were very popular and everyone enjoyed learning at the Twist Whitby Sport Conditioning Centre using tools and exercises to take their training to the next level.

Sunday Summit Highlights
Peter Twist kicked off the day with an inspirational journey in his keynote address. Recounting how coach and athlete work together to create exceptional results, his story took us on a grueling early morning climb to show us all the rewards that hard work bring. The view from the top is phenominal, but with many barriers and obstacles along the way, experiencing the journey is just as valuable as getting to the summit.
Douglas Brooks kept the group engaged with a very indepth review of the balance controversy in the sport and fitness industries and helped us realize that though research is validating our practical techniques, there is still lots to learn about how much balance training can impact the physicality of all types of athletes.
Lorne Goldenberg created a great road map for conditioning coaches to help them safely and effectively improve speed, agility, quickness, power, acceleration and movement skills. More than just cool drills that are fun to challenge athletes with, having a sound progression plan is the key to results.
Peter Twist provided the group with a great strategy to create athleticism using whole body, multi planar, multi joint strength based on Smart Muscle methodology - teaching the human machine to have excellent mind to muscle connectivity using movement complexity and progressive challenges leading to muscle compliance with the mind's commands.
In the afternoon, we broke the entire group into 3 teams and everyone had the opportunity to learn practical skills and drills for improving athleticism using Movement (with Lorne), Balance (with Douglas) and Strength (with Pete). We tried a new learning methodology to help improve the overall experience - no notes, just a focus on trying exercises, interracting with each other and learning by doing. Overall the workshops were high energy where participants could fully engage in the skills and drills and challenge themselves to execute new exercises. Some team challenges formed as the day went on and presenters duked it out over Canada vs USA attitudes and abilities. The teaching synergy between hear it - see it - do it methodologies helped participants really get it!
By day's end, everyone involved was physically and emotionally drained having given so much energy to learning. Arielle lead the group in a visually directed stretch while the presenters fielded questions. A networking event capped off the event, providing participants with an opportunity to interact with each other and with the presenter team.

From the entire Twist Team - thanks for joining us for an outstanding event. We all had a blast sharing our passion for sport conditioning with each and every person who attended. See you all again next year - in the mean time, enjoy the journey to the TOP!

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Twist Conditioning: A Small Giant

When I started with Twist Conditioning I was one of five employees packed into a small office in an industrial business park in North Vancouver, British Columbia. We were a cohesive group that shared common interests in life, philosophies on training, and 2 very small offices.

The business was simple. We perceived our training and educational services to be in demand as we ran a very popular summer hockey camp, trained athletically inspired clients during the day and spoke at local coaches workshops and fitness clubs. We carried a small product line whose inventory we stored in one of the 2 offices that the 5 of us shared. We were a small company making a positive impact in our city.

Over the last few years we have experienced our tipping point. We now refer to Twist Conditioning as a Small Giant whose does BIG things. Despite Peter Twist never wanting to actually have a facility, we now have 4 Twist Sport Conditioning Centers in Canada. We ship our product line from 3 warehouses in North America and distribute it internationally through great partners in Australia, Holland, the UK, and Japan. 2008 was our busiest and potentially most impactful year to date. We presented at 60+ (and counting) fitness and sport conferences, delivered over 120 certification and workshops across Canada, spoke in front of 10000+ S&C Coaches, Personal Trainers, teachers, Sport Coaches and Health Professionals in Canada, USA, Holland, UK, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, Australia. Our Coaches helped prepare athletes for the Beijing Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Pan American Games as well as a variety of Professional Leagues. We were every where. It was a great year.

We are now by choice a small company, packed into an office in North Vancouver. We are still a cohesive group that shares common interests in life, but now we are reshaping the way people train for life and sport. We are Small but our impact is Giant. Our new Website is designed to help unite the Twist Community by bringing together all our athletes we love to train, the fitness professionals and sport coaches we have the honour of educating, and too best portray the scope of what a Small Giant is capable of doing.

By sharing videos, pictures, success stories, training tips, and some cool life adventures along the way we hope to continue to inspire and motivate.

We hope you enjoy the new Twist Website!

- Andrew