Fitness Town, now with 8 retail locations to serve you, specializes in supplying the home and commercial markets with mid to high end fitness equipment and accessories. Our chain has grown from a single location in Burnaby to include South Vancouver, Kitsilano, Langley, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, North Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta.

Fitness Town is also very proud to include an extremely successful commercial division that services the British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, Saskatchewan and North West Territory markets.

Setting us apart from other specialty fitness equipment retailers is Fitness Town’s large showrooms allowing for an unparalleled selection of brand name equipment, accessories, supplements and educational materials on display at all times.

And rounding out the Fitness Town shopping experience is our unyielding customer service focus – a byproduct of our friendly, experienced and professional staff! We at Fitness Town appreciate the opportunity of assisting you with your health and fitness needs!

Dai Manuel of Fitness Town just sent us this article through the Fitness Town Facebook group:

Proper Training Technique by Shawn Vint

In fitness, few things can limit progress like a training injury. An injury will usually necessitate a significant training layoff, and can serve to dampen the motivation needed to continue functioning well in the other pillars of a wellness lifestyle.

There are a number of things that one can do to reduce the likelihood of incurring a training injury…choosing an appropriate level of resistance or weight for your fitness level, ensuring that you are giving your muscles enough rest time between sessions, and by the avoidance of performing the exact same exercise movements every training session, which can lead to repetition injuries. The most common cause of injury, however, is improper training technique.

Any individual new to resistance training (weight training) should take the time to learn proper training technique, and nothing accelerates the learning curve like commissioning the services of an experienced and qualified Personal Trainer for a few sessions. They will teach you how to perform proper exercise technique by explaining the reasons why an exercise is chosen, as well as demonstrating and working with you until you are able to perform the movements within your specific program in a manner that’s as safe as it will be effective.

There are a number of training technique consistencies that will be common to all resistance training movements, and these will be the focus of this article. These common techniques don’t specifically address the correct sphere and range of motion of the individual exercises you will be performing. Those issues are best left to a trainer ‘on the scene’ so to speak, who can advise and correct deficiencies in those areas. The common items we will discuss are proper exercise posture, exercise speed, and a few tips that may help you reach your fitness goals faster, while reducing the injuries that slow down progress.

Most of us try to maintain proper posture throughout each day…at least we should. There is a healthy and an unhealthy way to present oneself to the world. I recall in grade school how in ‘health class’ our teacher would exhort us to ‘keep stomach in and shoulders back’. The effect on a bunch of grade-schoolers was rather comical, to say the least, and in hindsight not the best way to teach proper posture. Proper posture is really quite simple, and not as difficult to learn as one might expect. Best of all, the same posture that helps to present ourselves to the world in the best light and healthiest manner is also the best way to perform almost every resistance training movement.

The sternum is commonly referred to as the ‘breast-bone’. Running vertically from the base of the front of the neck to just above our stomach, the sternum attaches to our ribs via cartilage, protecting many vital organs from all but the worst physical trauma. On the first training day I have with every client, I begin with instruction on proper posture and start the lesson with a focus on the sternum. The lesson is as simple as this: ‘Sternum to the sky’…while standing up straight, concentrate on ‘tilting’ the sternum so that the flat front portion of the bone is elevated at an angle that points toward the sky, and most other elements of posture will almost always naturally fall into place. This motion will automatically place the shoulders into proper position and align the spine properly. This is the simplest and most easily understood method that I have found for teaching correct posture positioning, and it translates well onto the gym floor.

Trying to teach 4 or 5 separate elements involving shoulder placement, back curvature and chest position while learning a new movement is just too difficult, even for those with a good grasp of body positioning. Conversely, maintaining awareness of ‘sternum to the sky’ while performing any exercise is a very easy task. During different exercises we find ourselves lying down, bending or squatting, and sometimes I change the terminology to ‘sternum to the chin’, ensuring that regardless of body positioning, proper posture is maintained.

Maintaining correct training posture is crucial for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it will ensure that the muscles you are trying to target are the muscles that in practice are being worked. A common example of the importance of proper training posture is easily recognizable in the chin-up. Watch as someone at the club is performing a set of chin-ups. As they begin, they may have the correct ‘sternum to the sky’ posture, ensuring that the muscles of the back are being worked. As they quickly begin to tire, however, witness how they begin to drop the sternum, rounding the back and pulling their legs up towards the belly as they continue.

As soon as this happens, they have unknowingly transferred most of the workload from the back muscles to the biceps muscles of the arms. It’s a common occurrence, and the reason why it is a good idea to support the feet while performing chin-ups so that you can ‘self-spot’ yourself, maintaining proper training posture and working the back muscles that you intended. That’s just one example, and for every exercise that you perform, maintain the ‘sternum to the chin’ position and you will reap better results with fewer injuries.

In our Exercise Movement Series, I continually advise viewers to ‘go slow through the transition’ in video after video. The transition is best defined as the point in any exercise movement between the negative, or stretch portion of an exercise, and the contraction portion of the movement. For example, as you perform a standard barbell curl, the transition occurs as you reach the bottom of the movement and begin to curl the bar back up to the top, contraction position. That transition moment is the most vulnerable point of the movement, and the point where an injury will most likely occur.

At the point of transition, a large part of the load or resistance is momentarily shifted to the soft tissue of the tendons, and only after the first 2 or 3 inches of motion in the contraction portion of the movement is the load entirely shifted back to the muscle. By ‘bouncing’ the weight at the transition point the tendons, which are by nature very inelastic, are very susceptible to injury.

Instead of bouncing the weight, slow the movement significantly for the last few inches of the negative movement and the first few inches of the contraction portion of the movement. Once you are through this transition stage, accelerate as much as you can, creating force. Force is defined as moving a weight through a given distance in a given time…if the weight and distance remain the same but the time is shortened, more force is generated. This is the subject for another article, but is worth mentioning here as many novice trainers are under the misimpression that one should maintain a constant slow speed throughout an entire exercise movement.

By keeping both correct posture and transition speed in mind while you train, you will enjoy many more years of injury free training, reaping the rewards of that effort.

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City of Vancouver

City of Burnaby

City of Surrey

City of Coquitlam

City of Richmond

City of Port Coquitlam

North Vancouver, New Westminster, Delta, Langley, Port Moody, Maple Ridge, West Vancouver, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Pitt Meadows, and White Rock are also holding elections.

Family pumpkin carving

Prepare for Halloween night at the family pumpkin carving at Sunset Community Centre, 6810 Main St., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m. $1.50 per person. Pumpkins, tools and candles provided. Register by Oct. 22.

Barclay Manor Halloween

For bigger braver souls, there’s a haunted house at Barclay Manor, 1447 Barclay St., in Vancouver, on Thursday, Oct. 30, between 7 and 9 p.m. Suitable for ages six and up. Cost is $3 per person. Purchase your tickets in advance or at the door. Call 604-257-8333 or visit www.barclaymanor.ca.

Coal Harbour Halloween

Visit Coal Harbour Community Centre (480 Broughton St.) in Vancouver, for the Halloween Carnival and Trick-or-treat trek, Friday, Oct. 31, 3 to 6 p.m. Enjoy creepy crafts, terrifying treats, tombstone tumbling, eerie entertainment and much more! Don’t forget to wear your costume! Pre-registration is recommended, as space is limited. Cost is $5. Call to register at 604-718-8222 or www.coalharbourcc.ca.

Halloween preschool party

Put on your costume and enjoy play gym activities, face painting, cookie decorating, arts and crafts, drinks and more at Sunset Community Centre’s Halloween preschool party for children one to five, Friday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to noon. Call 604-718-6505 for tickets which are limited.

Carnival for the older kids

Also at Sunset Community Centre, there’s a Halloween Carnival for kids over three, Friday, Oct. 31, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Carnival games, fortuneteller, crafts, treats and more. Cost is $3 per child.

Halloween carnival

Drop by Killarney’s Halloween Carnival on Friday, Oct. 31, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Killarney Community Centre. Games, bouncy castles, haunted house, face painting, grab bags and more. Wear your costume for the Halloween parade. Geared for kids three to 12. Please register at the front desk – call 604-718-8201.

Roundhouse fun

Dress up in your creepiest costume and enjoy ghoulish games and creepy crafts, and explore the creepy hollow forest, at the Halloween Carnival, Friday, Oct. 31, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., Roundhouse Community Centre, in Yaletown. Children must be supervised by an adult. Cost is $5 per child and pre-registration is required.

Yaletown Trick or Treat

Trick or treat at dozens of Yaletown businesses in Vancouver on Friday, Oct. 31, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Check online for a map and more event details.

Haunted fun at Metropolis

The Metropolis Mystery Manor returns to Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby for 14 days of scary fun from Saturday, Oct. 18 to Oct. 31. Kids are invited to the mall Oct. 25 for fun with the Metrokids Club or for trick-or-treating at 6 p.m. on Halloween Eve. The Metropolis Mystery Manor, a haunted house where kids and grown ups are dared to be scared, is located in the mall’s Grand Court with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the Rotary Club of Burnaby-Deer Lake. This fun fright is recommended for children age seven and up. The Mystery Manor will be open Mondays through Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.

Halloween howl

Enjoy games, haunted house, candy and door prizes during the Halloween Howl at the C.G. Brown Pool, 3702 Kensington Ave., in Burnaby, on Thursday, Oct. 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. Cost is $2.60 per person. Children under seven must be accompanied by an adult.

Halloween on the Heights

Burnaby Heights is the place to be on Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31, as they are once again putting on the very fun Halloween on the Heights. Check out the fun planned on their website at www.burnabyheights.com.

Halloween Howl

For children two to five, there’s a Halloween Howl at the Port Moody Recreation Complex, Friday, Oct. 31, noon to 1:30 p.m. Enjoy a lunch, games, songs and crafts (wear your costume too!). Parent participation and you need to pre-register.

Trick or treat train

Take a ride on the Bear Creek Park Train through the Friendly Spook Alley daily from Oct. 11 to 31. Children’s fare includes a Halloween craft, game, treat and a real pumpkin to take home. Bear Creek Park Train is located at 13750 88th Ave., Surrey. For those looking for a real scare, there’s the Haunted Forest Scream Train, Oct. 17 to 31, 6:30 to 10 p.m.

Family fun night

On Friday, Oct. 31, it’s Halloween family fun night in Langley. Enjoy a Halloween costume dance, apple bobbing, ring the pumpkin, crafts, and much more. Fun nights are scheduled at WC Blair Recreation centre, 4 to 6 p.m., and Willoughby Heights, 5 to 7 p.m. Call 604-533-6170 or 604-882-0408 for details.

Spooktacular fun

Douglas Recreation Centre in Langley is holding its own Halloween soiree for parent and tots on Friday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to noon. Enjoy games, a movie, prizes, and more. Wear your costumes! Cost is $3 per child or $3.50 for family. Call 604-514-2865 for more.

Haunted House and fireworks

Check out one of the Fraser Valley’s best haunted houses at the Ghost Ridge Haunted House at the fairgrounds on 105 Avenue off the Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge. Haunted house runs from Oct. 26 to 30.

Halloween House

The MSA Museum Society presents Hallowe’en House of History, Friday, Oct. 31, 4 to 8:15 p.m. Enjoy a costume contest at 4 p.m., crafts, games, prizes, and more. Then at 6:15 p.m., the house will reopen as the Halloween House, Horrors from History. For all the details, visit online.

babyeats goes Bonkers!!

As a small part of babyeats’ Halloween madness they will have Bonkers the fantastic, creative musical duo perform interactive, imaginative songs, Friday, Oct. 31, 1 p.m. Make sure your child wears a spooky costume! This will be a ticketed event but admission to babyeats is included with the concert ticket to Go Bonkers. babyeats is located in North Vancouver.

Pumpkin patch party

Highlands elementary, 3150 Colwood Dr. in North Vancouver is hosting their annual pumpkin patch party on Saturday, Oct. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. at. Rides, haunted house pumpkins for sale and more.

Spooky FX Tours

The Thomas FX Group in North Vancouver is offering Spooky FX Tours, Oct. 26 to Oct. 31, daily 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Get a behind the scenes view of movie special effects in a spooky themed environment. Check out their special Halloween effects and decorations for sale too. For more details, call 604-929-5455.

Fireworks

After a busy night of trick or treating, bring the family down for the Halloween Family Fireworks Spectacular, Oct. 31, 8:30 p.m., at the Inter River Park. Park for free at Capilano University and ride the free shuttle to the event.

Terror Hall

Take a terrifying trip through Terror Hall at the East Richmond Community Hall, 12360 Cambie Rd., Richmond, Oct. 28 to 31, 5 to 9 p.m.

Frights and delights

Aberdeen Centre in Richmond is hosting lots of Halloween fun on Friday, Oct. 31, 3 to 7 p.m. in the central atrium. Don’t miss out on the trick-or-treating. For all the details on the Halloween Frights and Delights at Aberdeen Centre, visit online.

Halloween fireworks

Minoru Park in Richmond is having an evening of fireworks and fun on Friday, Oct. 31. Entertainment begins at 6:30 p.m. music, magician, balloons, face painting, clowns, fire juggling and more.

More fireworks

Also on Friday, Oct. 31, there’s other fun fireworks scheduled for King George/Cambie Community Park, 7:45 to 8:15 p.m.; West Richmond Community Centre, 7:30 p.m.; and South Arm Community Centre, 8 p.m.

Annual pumpkin fest

Ladner Village is hosting their annual Pumpkin Fest on Thursday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the village of Ladner on 48th Avenue. Rain or shine.

Pumpkin Yard

Check out more than 100 works of pumpkin art Oct. 30 and 31, 5 to 9:30 p.m., at 2527 Fernwood Rd. (between Bay and Haultain) in Victoria.

Ogden Point art

The pumpkins are back with the Pumpkin Art at Ogden Point in Victoria, Oct. 29 to Nov. 2, 1 to 9 p.m. daily. For more details, visit www.pumpkinart.ca.

Pumpkin patches . . .

Laity Pumpkin Patch

Have lots of fun for the whole family at the Laity Pumpkin Patch, 21145 128th in Pitt Meadows. Patch features interactive displays, small tractor ride, animal farm, corn maze, and a huge pumpkin patch. Admission is $2 (children under 12 months are free) and pumpkin prices range from $2 and up. Visit www.laitypumpkinpatch.com for hours and directions. With the Golden Ears Mountains as the backdrop, the pumpkin patch makes for a great place for a family photo.

Willowview Farms

Head out to the country to the Willowview Farms, 288 McCallum Rd., in Abbotsford, to pick out the perfect pumpkin. Saturdays in October are Pumpkin Daze, featuring a hay maze, petting zoo, and a hayride to the pumpkin patch. In October, the farm is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sundays. FYI: they also sell a tasty apple cider.

Apple Barn

Apple Barn, 333 Gladwin Rd. in Abbotsford is open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Apple Barn has a play pass for kids for $6.50, which includes hayrides, hay maze, bin maze, slides and petting zoo. Adults are $3, which can be refunded for $3 worth of apples. Pony rides are available on weekends for $4.50, and hayrides are available sometimes on weekdays.

Aldor Acres

Venture out to Langley to check out Aldor Acres, 24990 84th Ave., Langley. Cost is $6 per person or $27 per family, includes hayride, petting farm with many baby animals including a baby horse, a colt named Blaze, and Lavender, the pig, had babies on Oct. 1. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until Oct. 31.

Country Farms

Richmond is home to a great pumpkin patch at Country Farms, 12900 Steveston Hwy. Sing along hayrides, petting zoo, live entertainment, corn maze and much more. Hours are Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday (and holidays) 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Free admission for children under two. Weekday admission is $7 and on weekends admission is $10, which includes a kid-size pumpkin.

Peteys Pumpkin Patch

In Chilliwack, check out Peteys Pumpkin Patch and the Kids Zone. Take a train out to the pumpkin patch, little goblins can play in a Dora pirate ship, and much more. For a scarier trek, check out Reapers and the Dark Maze.

From the website:

Sunday, July 13, 7:30-9:30pm

Showcasing the beauty of Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will perform its annual free summer outdoor concert. Come early, bring a picnic basket and settle in for a wonderful evening of symphonic music.This event is presented by the City of Burnaby and Kinder Morgan.

The VSO, under conductor Evan Mitchell, will perform popular classics in one of the Lower Mainland’s most beautiful outdoor concert venues.
Evan Mitchell conductor
Jonathan Chan Violin

Chabrier España
Smetana Moldau
Saint-Saëns Samson and Delilah: Danse Bacchanale
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, 1st movement
Rossini William Tell: Overture
Bernstein West Side Story: Selections
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Free Admission!