Functional training has its roots in physical therapy. The idea is simple and basically involves training for specific movements by doing similar movements. An example for this is a basketball player who is trying to increase his high-jump. A traditional approach would have him doing leg extensions, leg curls and leg presses. A functional approach however would simply have him doing regular squats and jump-squats.

Functional training often involves weight baring activities with a lots of emphasize on core stabilization. Functional training also teaches your body’s neuromuscular system to recruit your muscles in a more efficient way, and more often than not, movements originate at your core. An example for this is a martial artist. If he simply lifts his leg and uses his quadriceps to kick his opponent he will not be able to generate a lot of power. Through functional training he can be taught to create a lot more power by starting the movement with a trunk rotation originating at the core. If performed properly, this type of training leads to strength increases increased joint stabilization and muscular balance. This in turn helps prevent injuries.

Where there are different opinions however, there will always be a debate. Functional training advocates will say that by doing traditional, fixed exercises on a single plane of motion, you will not improve your overall performance when executing full body movements over all three planes of motion. Not only are you increasing your muscular strength and endurance while engaging in functional training, but you are teaching your body a motor skill. Your body learns how to use all the different muscles in conjunction with each other to perform the motion in the most efficient way.

The other side will counter saying that by isolating each muscle; you can train it more effectively and make it stronger. And stronger muscles = better performance. Functional exercises also offer a higher risk of injury.

Although this is an extremely difficult concept to prove or disprove, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research published a study that had been conducted by Spennewyn in 2008, in which fixed variable training was compared to functional free motion training. The results of this study were very impressive. Functional trainers had a 58% greater increase in strength over the fixed form participants. Their balance improvements were 196% higher than their fixed form counterparts. Additionally, they also reported an overall decrease in joint pain by 30%.

While one favorable study alone may not prove without a doubt that functional training is superior to traditional training, it is a strong indicator.

Some of the most common strength training equipment used for functional training is:

-    Functional Trainers (Adjustable cable machines)
-    Kettle Bells
-    Exercise Balls,
-    Sandbags
-    TRX Suspension Trainers
-    Medicine Balls
-    Dumbbells
-    Barbells
-    Body-weight

It is very important that when you engage in a functional training regime, you make sure that you are using correct form. Functional exercises brig huge benefit along with them but can also result in serious injury if performed incorrectly.

Hydration before, during and after exercise is crucial and is often affected by the type of physical activity you are engaging in. To ensure that you’re properly hydrating with the right type of drink for your type of workout, the exercise experts at Fitness Town and Life Fitness suggest these three drink tips:

Strength Training: Every time your muscles contract, they release toxins that are stored in the tissue into your bloodstream causing your body to become dehydrated. Dehydration leads to muscle fatigue and cramping, exhaustion and loss of coordination. To prevent dehydration try a properly formulated sport drink to help replenish your carbohydrates and electrolytes to healthy levels, which is important for maintaining fluid balance, and helping with muscle contractions and energy levels as you exercise.

Cardio Exercise: If your cardio sessions last 60-90 minutes and are at a high intensity level, you should consider a sports drink during your workout that includes carbohydrates and electrolytes. For a moderate intensity workout that causes you to work up a sweat and lasts less than 60 minutes, water can usually do the trick for fluid replacement. You should drink 4-6 ounces of water for every 15 minutes of moderate activity.

Group Cycling Class: If you have ever taken one before, you know they aren’t always a ride in the park. – you often leave the class drenched in sweat. Water isn’t the only thing your body loses when you sweat. Electrolytes such as sodium, potassium and chloride are lost in sweat as well. Water may be sufficient after light exercise, but you may be surprised to know that drinking plain water after high-intensity or long duration exercise is not always effective for rehydration. For proper hydration levels to be restored, water needs to be consumed with foods that contain sodium and other minerals. Try a recovery sports drink or foods containing adequate amounts of sodium such as nuts, pretzels, trail mixes or energy bars.

By understanding how drinks play a part in maintaining fluid balance in your body before, during and after exercise, you may find that proper hydration can make your longer, more intense workouts a little easier!

Fit Tips are provided by Fitness Town and Life Fitness, the leaders in designing and manufacturing high-quality exercise equipment for fitness facilities and homes worldwide. For more information on FitTips and other fitness advice and expertise visit www.fitnesstown.ca or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fitnesstown or join our facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/fitnesstown.ca

Although often overlooked at first, functional trainers make extremely versatile home gyms. Their design is quite simple. Two cable columns, two weight stacks (some only have one) and a chin-up bar. With this simple but ingenious design you can perform countless different exercises. To make things even better, you can use functional trainers to emulate nearly every motion from everyday life or from a specific sport. If you are thinking of purchasing a home gym then you should definitely check out some functional trainers and have one of you local Fitness Town experts give you a demonstration of all the different ways you can use them.

There are several things to look out for when you are choosing you functional trainer. Here are a few important factors that make some functional trainers a better choice than others

-    Make sure it has two weight stacks! This is extremely important. If there is only one weight stack then it defeats the whole purpose of a functional trainer, since one side of your body can compensate for the other just like with a traditional home gym. This will only increase muscle imbalances and promote future injury. Two separate weight stacks will allow each side of to work independently and hence even out any imbalance.

-    Long pulley travel. You want to be able to take several steps outwards with the pulleys. This will allow you to do power lunges and weighted sprints as well as several other exercises.

-    Smooth like butter. I think that everyone knows that whole is not always equal to the sum of its parts (at least not the sum of its described parts). No matter what fancy names people come up with to describe the pulleys or the weight stack guide rods, you have to try it out to feel how smooth it actually is. The smoother it is, the more even of a resistance you will get. You will also be able to carry out quick powerful movements that will aid in increasing your agility and strengthening your fast twitch muscle fibres.

-    Lots of adjustments. Make sure your new functional trainer has a lot of different height adjustments. Too few adjustment options might make certain exercises awkward or difficult to perform correctly.

-    Simple to use. If it is difficult to adjust the height of the pulleys then you won’t enjoy using it. And if you don’t enjoy using it you quite simply won’t. Easy adjustments will also make your workout quicker and more effective because you won’t have to take lengthy brakes to adjust the machine.

-    Good chin-up bar. A good chin-up bar with multiple different grip options will save your wrists and allow you to target different muscles. Of course the machine should be well balanced so that it feels solid and sturdy when you are doing pull-ups.

-    Storage. Most functional trainers come with several different cable attachments to use for your workouts. If the unit doesn’t offer an easily accessible storage spot for all you accessories, they will end up lying around on the floor impeding your workout.

There’s a ton of different brands of functional trainers in the marketplace, just make sure to stick with a brand that makes high-quality, commercial grade equipment.  Many of these manufacturers already make commercial functional trainers for fitness facilities around the world, and have just taken these designs and made home versions for the residential consumer.  A few brands to look at include:  Hoist, Life Fitness, Matrix, Keiser, Cybex, and SEC.  Visit your nearest Fitness Town location to ask any one of our experts to walk you through a 15-minute functional trainer, body blast.

The simple answer to this simple question is yes! No matter how experienced you are, you can always benefit from a personal trainer.

The first thing that a personal trainer will offer you is accountability. Many people struggle with consistently going to the gym and working out. A personal trainer will give your exercise regimen structure and hold you accountable. In the long run this will help you create a healthy, active lifestyle. A good personal trainer will also assess your current lifestyle and nutritional habits and recommend changes. And here too, they will hold you accountable to change your bad habits and eat according to their recommendations.

When you get to the actual workout, a personal trainer will be able to create a personalized plan for you. This generally involves a lot more than just coming up with a few good exercises for you. This process takes into consideration what your goals are, how experienced you are, how you have trained in the past, if you have or have had any injuries, if you play any sports etc. Then they will come up with a long term periodized workout plan for you and help you track your success.

If you are relatively new to working out, then a personal trainer can help teach you the basics of working out. In addition to this, anyone from a complete rookie to a seasoned gym veteran can benefit from having a good personal trainer watch and correct your form and technique. By doing this, your personal trainer will also be able to identify any potential weaknesses you may have and help prevent imbalance and injury.

If you work out at home, hiring a personal trainer may just be one of the best investments you ever made. A personal trainer can show you have to make the most of your home fitness area. Whether you own a full set of cardio machines accompanied by a functional trainer, power rack and a set of dumbbells or you simply have an exercise ball some resistance bands and a medicine ball, you can learn how to use the equipment you have for an effective work out.

And this brings us to the final point. A good personal trainer will teach you to do it on your own. Their main goal should be to help get you in shape, but also to teach you so you can continue on successfully without them. A lot of people will however choose to continue working with their personal trainer two – three times per month just in order to be held accountable and to be able to consult and increase their own knowledge base.

With a 45 pound barbell, 21-15- and 9 reps for time of:

• Turkish Get-ups, alternating arms

• Sots press

(16:05)

Click Image Below – for example of barbell Turkish get-up

Click Image Below – example of sots press using kettlebels.

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses–behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
- Muhammad Ali
Follow me here…

If I told you there’s one thing you can do to improve your health, function, and performance immensely and it only takes 10 minutes a day. Would you do it? Of course you would. Unfortunately, there are many athletes and individuals who do not know about this simple and effective tool they can add to their training. Moreover, the ones that do know, much like stretching, often neglect this aspect of their training because it’s boring. I admit it, foam rolling and stretching aren’t exactly as sexy as max effort lifts and high intensity conditioning. However, I argue that it is just as effective. Most people do not know how beneficial trigger point therapy can be for them. I will outline the physiological process that goes on during trigger point therapy and then tell you how you can benefit from it.

A trigger point is a part of the muscle that is commonly more dense and tougher than what a “healthy” muscle should feel like. Trigger points have many tough adhesions within the muscle and in the myofascia. The myofascia is a thin layer connective tissue that encompasses and covers all muscles. You know when you eat a chicken thigh and you could see a thin, clear covering over the muscle? That is the myofascia. The problem is that when we train, our protein fibers in our muscles break down and we create adhesions between the muscle and the myofascia. When we are sedentary for a long period of time, our muscle get shorter and tighter, and we develop more adhesions. We are constantly getting more and more myofascial adhesions all the time. Therefore, it is even more important to break down these trigger points in order to keep our muscles healthy.

Trigger points can decrease the ability of our muscles to generate power. Trigger points can also shorten our muscles. Shortened muscles can decrease power due to the length tension relationship of our muscles. Furthermore, trigger points have overactive chemical reactions happening all the time which may lead to a faster fatigue in our muscles.

Trigger points lead to tight muscles which lead to tight muscles pulling on our joints which leads to many orthopedic problems that millions of people suffer from everyday. I’m sure you’ve heard of problems like plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome. These problems along with IT band syndrome, knee pain, neck pain, and even headaches have been diagnosed due to trigger point syndrome.

Keeping all this in mind, it is very important that every one of us include some form of myofascial release or trigger point therapy into our lives. Athletes and de-conditioned individuals like rehab patients can all benefit greatly from trigger point therapy. There are many products that come in all different shapes and sizes that can be used for trigger point therapy. Foam rollers, massage balls, the stick, trigger wheels, and various other rollers can help us break down any trigger point we have. Because muscles in our bodies come in various shapes and sizes and are connected to our skeleton in different angles, we need a variety of objects to reach every nook and cranny in our muscles. Bigger muscle bellies like the quadriceps, lats, and pecs work better with a foam roller or stick.

Muscles around the hips and along the spine would work great with a ball.

There are also specialized trigger point products for the neck and the foot, both very common areas for trigger points to arise. You could spend upwards to $90 an hour paying for a massage therapist to help you release these trigger points or you could invest in a few good quality trigger point products and start rolling yourself today. Here is a video detailing how to use these products.

Come down to Fitness Town where an expert can help diagnose your problem and find the right trigger point product for you!

A certified personal trainer and crossfit coach with more than four years of experience, Patrick Vuong has helped countless athletes, elderly, and everyday folk improve their lives through better movement, nutrition, and body re-composition. A kinesiology graduate of UBC, Patrick continues to educate himself daily on fitness and promote the benefits of regular exercise to everyone. He currently is the Assistant Manager at Fitness Town Burnaby.

A good strength coach or trainer doesn’t need any equipment to train their clients. A good strength coach can screen, assess, and train their clients in as small as a 4 x 4 foot space. If you have a limited budget and limited space and you’re working with a general client, you should still be able to train them this way. Having said that, a trainer with more a bigger arsenal will be able to do substantially more with their clients, especially if their clients are athletes. Here is a list of essential equipment to have, and can all be purchased on a limited budget.

Medicine Balls

These are great for developing power in your athletes. For the client who cannot or are not comfortable doing Olympic lifting, a medicine ball is a great substitute to develop power in the hips. Most people don’t have the flexibility in their wrists to catch a bar in the clean position, and older clients will not have the patience or coordination to learn the Olympic lifts.

A medicine ball can be thrown to develop great hip extension power. A medicine ball can also be used as a substitute for the Olympic clean, squat clean, or power clean. Medicine balls can also develop rotational power which is essential for athletes. Think of a rugby player and the action of passing a ball sideways to a teammate. That is basically a rotational throw with a medicine ball. Another kind of throw often seen in sports is the overhead throw; that throw basically mimics the overhead pass in basketball. Moreover, tennis players and pitchers need to develop their overhead eccentric strength to prevent rotator cuff injuries. Any kind of medicine ball throw is a great total body and core exercise as you need to stabilize your torso while throwing the ball.

Medicine balls come in either elastic or non elastic types. The elastic balls are rubber balls that bounce. These balls are great for throwing off a wall and having it bounce back to you. Non-elastic balls are balls that don’t bounce. These balls are best thrown in open space and are good for any kind of strongman tosses and throws. Dynamax or Rage balls are used for wall balls, various partner passing drills, and are awesome for practicing the med ball clean. Slam balls are another great tool for providing a great upper body throwing power exercise. Ball slams are excellent when incorporated into a metabolic conditioning workout.

Kettlebells

Kettlebells, like medicine balls are tremendous for developing hip extension power. Hip extension is the most important movement in sports; it is involved in jumping, running, leaping, bounding, and throwing seen in almost every sport. The Russian and American kettlebell swing generates power at the hips and mobility in the shoulders and mimics the hip extension seen in Olympic lifts and jumping. Another exercise that can be used with a kettlebell is the Turkish get up. This exercise can be done during the warm up or cool down and develops trunk stability, shoulder stability, hip mobility, core strength, coordination and balance. It can also be used as an assessment to screen the limitations in your clients. For example, if your client cannot transition from the lying down with arms up to sitting up with keeping the arm up, then your client is limited in hip flexion strength.

Other exercises to be used with kettlebells are the suitcase carry for developing hip stability and grip strength. Strength coach Mike Boyle uses this specific movement as a progression to the side plank. Farmer walks with two kettlebells are also superb for grip strength and the walking locomotive pattern.

Sleds

Sled pushing and pulling are great for hip extension strength, speed, and power. Notice a trend yet? It sports and in life, mobility in the hip is of utmost important. Sled pushing improves specific strength and power in the form of sprinting. The biomechanics of pushing a sled is the same as sprinting where your center of mass is slightly ahead of you and you create ground forces by pushing your feet off the ground. This is the overload principle, if you use the same mechanics of running with a heavier weight, you will be faster without the weight. Acceleration is what separates elite athletes from the regular athlete. Sled pushing or running with a strap and sled are excellent at producing acceleration.

TRX

I cannot begin to express how important the TRX is to any trainer’s repertoire of equipment. If you cannot afford a $3000 cable functional trainer, a $149 TRX system is just as good, sometimes better. Any exercise that can be done with a cable machine can be done better with a TRX. I can say that because almost every TRX exercise incorporates core stabilization. I love using the TRX for inverted or horizontal rows. I can just adjust the straps to change the angle of the row to make it easier or harder depending on the fitness level of the client. The TRX is universally scalable for any strength level by adjusting the straps. The TRX can be used for inverted pull-ups, a progression for push-ups, feet elevated push-ups, planks, split squats, knees to chest, and a whole bunch more. Do yourself a favor and get a TRX today!

Crossfit consists of three general modalities: weightlifting, gymnastics, and mono-structural movements.  Weightlifting refers to lifting external objects or weights like power lifting or Olympic weight lifting.  Gymnastics is moving your body weight through space. Calisthenics is another term that can be used to describe this, examples would be a bodyweight squat, push up, pull up, and sit up.  Mono-structural movements are what most people commonly refer to as “cardio” like running, swimming, or rowing.  We do not use the term “cardio” to describe this modality because in essence, we are able to achieve a cardio response combing a number of different movements from weightlifting, gymnastics, and mono-structural activities, not just running alone.  If you’re thinking of starting Crossfit, but you don’t want to join an affiliate yet.  Here’s how you do it

A good beginning program should consist of movements from all three of these modalities.  It should be designed around the following parameters:

•    Low technical skill requirement
•    Minimal coaching requirement
•    Simple, easy to follow
•    Accessible for beginners
•    Ability to progress to more advanced Crossfit programs
•    Be able to fit in any schedule

You need to be able to master the basic functional movements like the squat, deadlift, overhead press, and running.  The squat is a body-weight air squat, not a back squat.  Master these foundational skills before you could move on to the progressions of these movements.  But learn the foundations first, and then everything else will come easy.  The great thing about Crossfit is that it is a free resource online and it’s free!  That’s how I learned everything, I was self taught.  I spent countless hours watching and studying videos on www.crossfit.com.  I learned how to do kipping pull ups, deadlifts, and the Olympic lifts from reading articles and watching videos online for free.  I suggest you do the same.

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind before starting this program.  Start with the greatest weight in which you are still able to properly execute the movements.  This is a 4 day per week workout program and each workout should not take longer than 30 minutes to complete. Try to increase your load by 5lbs per week on the deadlift and presses, only increase loads when the last workout was completed successfully.  Increase your squats to 18 on week three and to 21 on week four.  The intensity and volume will gradually increase each week to build work capacity.

The great thing about Crossfit is that it is universally scalable being able to accommodate everyone from moms to be, grandfathers, to professional athletes.  The idea is to scale intensity, load, and volume to fit any fitness level.  Movements should not change but can also be modified to make it easier or harder.   Here is a video explaining how to modify the push up from a beginner level to a more difficult progression.

People do many things to sabotage their weight loss goals. It’s not uncommon to have someone make a decision that is actually quite detrimental to losing body fat.  For the purposes of this blog I will do my best, for the most part, to offer 8 tips that go against conventional wisdom.

Tip#1:  Avoid drinking fruit juices

Avoiding Soft drinks is a given, however replacing your can of coke with your typical fruit juice is not the best strategy. 250ml of juice contains roughly 32g of carbohydrate, the same quantity of soda contains about 28grams. Therefore juice is equally bad when it comes to getting an influx of sugar.

Try substituting soft drinks and fruit juices with water, tea and even a cup of coffee if you need the caffeine fix.

Tip #2:  Avoid Cereal in the morning.

A friend of mine really made it clear to me how typical “healthy” breakfast cereals were complete crap.  Essentially cereals are quite high calorie and devoid of adequate micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals). They often have a glycemic index close to that of table sugar.  Therefore, cereals typically cause a rapid increase in blood sugar which in turn boosts hunger.

Try replacing your morning cereal with some fruits. A small fruit salad consisting of some blueberries, strawberries and apples will not raise blood sugar too rapidly, supply much more micro nutrients and keep you full. Don’t forget to have a small portion of protein with your breakfast (smoked salmon, chicken, protein powder)

Tip #3:  Morning coffee

Coffee itself is not the culprit, it is what goes into coffee that’s the problem. A coffee that has 3 sugars and 3 creams will contain roughly 15g of sugar and 12g of fat (168 calories). It is not a high calorie breakfast, but it is devoid of any nutritional value and will only result in binge eating later in the day. The reason you are not hungry in the morning after your morning coffee is that caffeine is an appetite suppressant.

Have your coffee in the morning but try maybe 1 sugar and 1 cream. Don’t forget to have a real breakfast as well see tip #2 above. If you want a coffee that will really aid you in weight loss keep reading.

Tip #4:  Have a super coffee

I need my coffee in the morning, I don’t know if it’s the caffeine, or the taste. A great way to get your protein and your coffee fix in the morning is to mix your favorite protein powder in a plain black cup of coffee. Vanilla and Chocolate work especially well. In my experience chocolate peanut butter protein powder mixed in black coffee is delicious. This will help you get the protein you need in the morning and have a great tasting cup of coffee as well.

Tip #5:  Having crackers instead of potato chips

It’s common knowledge that potato chips will make you fat in a hurry. They are high calorie and devoid of real nutrients. Unfortunately people often believe that crackers are okay because they are a low fat alternative. Unfortunately the leading cracker brand has only 15 percent less calories than the leading potato chip brand.

If you need a snack reach for some vegetables. Keep a Tupperware container in your desk or fridge at work with some chopped up veggies. If you have a good serving and a small glass of water it will fill you up and provide minimal calories.

In the end it is best to avoid things like crackers, bagels, pretzels, breads, rice and any other carbohydrate rich snack.

Tip #6: Reduce your intake of grains, increase your intake of fruits and vegetables

This includes your consumption of “whole grains” as well. Many of you may gasp because you have been continuously told that whole grains are healthy and conducive to losing weight.  In truth, grains cannot hold a candle to fruits and vegetables when it comes to nutrient content (yes that includes fiber). Not only that, 400 calories in fruits and vegetables will fill you up much more than 400 calories in whole grain bread.

Tip #7:  Stop blaming your parents

There is no doubt that we all fall somewhere when it comes to body type. However blaming your genes or your metabolism is a paper thin excuse. Yes some people have an easier time staying lean, but almost anyone (barring real medical issues) can improve there body composition.  If you have parents who are in there 50’s and 60’s just ask them if kids were often fat when they were growing up. They will most likely tell you it was quite rare. So I ask you what changed, genetics or diet?

You can only make a real change when you accept full responsibility for improving your body composition.

Feel free to blame your parents however for teaching you bad eating habits like stuffing yourself full of grains and dairy. When you are done yelling at them pull up your socks and start cleaning your diet up.

Tip #8: Skipping meals isn’t such a bright idea

Skipping meals is akin to racking up credit card debt. You have to pay for it eventually and with interest. The biggest issue with skipping meals is you are going to war against your hunger hormones. Guess what, you won’t win. Eventually you cannot resist and you resort to eating a dozen cookies and a half liter of ice cream. Eating too little early in the day is one of the most common things I see that sabotages people’s fat loss efforts.

It is actually a great strategy to make breakfast and lunch your bigger meals of the day. This will aid in keeping late night binging under control.

Hopefully these tips help enlighten you on your quest to drop some fatty tissue. Even with summer coming to an end it’s important to do our best and develop good eating habits.

Train hard

Doug Shanks photo, Story as published by Hannah Sutherland in the Peace Arch News
Published: August 26, 2010 12:00 PM

What began as a two-person effort in last year’s Adventure Challenge has grown into a solid team of seven, after more Peninsula women caught wind of the September fundraiser and jumped on-board.

Fitness Town Freakettes – comprising five South Surrey mothers and two other friends – will kayak four kilometers, bike 20 km and run 5 km Sept. 11 in North Vancouver’s Deep Cove.

The group has been training over the last year for the event, which benefits Canuck Place and its palliative and respite care services for sick children and their families.

Melanie Berezan decided to take part after learning about the race through past participant Esther Peverley, whose children go to the same school as her own.

“I heard about Adventure Challenge from her last year, when she did it,” said Berezan, an avid runner who has six half-marathons under her belt. “That’s my passion – to try new things and have fun.

“I’m excited about the challenge.”

But it was the prospect of raising money for children that was the biggest draw for the mother-of-four. “I just love the idea of being part of a team and helping kids. It just reinforces the fact we’re all in this together.”

The cause is especially meaningful for Berezan, whose daughter was taken to BC Children’s Hospital with a fever a few days after being born. She recalls being unable to hold and comfort her newborn, who was hooked up to an array of equipment.

“In the four or five days that she was in there it was so traumatic.”

Berezan said she was shocked to walk outside the hospital and see numerous motor-homes in the back parking lot, where some families stay while their children receive medical care.

“I was at the hospital for a few days, and (seeing the motor-homes) really put it in perspective.”

With long-term hospital stays usually associated with stress and trepidation, Berezan said she was surprised to learn from Peverley – a Canuck Place volunteer – that the Vancouver hospice has a joyful environment.

“It’s not a depressing place, it’s just a place that provides so much fun.”

Peverley said everyone at Canuck Place – located in a 100-year-old, 16,000-square-foot Shaughnessy mansion donated to the city by Elisabeth Wlosinski in 1991 – has a “fantastic outlook,” and it’s hard not to be absorbed by the upbeat energy.

“I try to explain to people, 95 per cent of the time you go into the hospice and it’s happy,” she said, noting family volunteers such as herself interact with sick children and their siblings by playing video games, having water fights and going on field trips.

“It’s a very positive, happy, fun place.”

Peverley said Canuck Place is mostly volunteer-run, and 65 per cent of its funding comes from donations – a fact Berezan was shocked to learn.

“I was really blown away – I didn’t know that.”

To contribute to its operations, the Freakettes are raising $1,000 each – the minimum required to participate in Adventure Challenge.

Already, Fitness Town and the group’s trainer, Dai Manuel –a fellow parent at Rosemary Heights Elementary – are sponsoring the team, and have offered to pay for each members’ $50 registration fee.

Berezan said they are now looking for outside donations, which can be made at www.adventurechallenge.ca

“No amount is too small – we’d be grateful for anything,” she said, noting people are also encouraged to come out the day of the event and cheer them on.

“We could use all the help we could get.”