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At Bang Fitness, we believe that your fitness has a unique fingerprint. We work with you to find it and develop it. Nobody is quite like you—so nobody's training program should be quite like yours.

We start with what will help you see quick progress and then—more importantly—we keep things rolling via training that is sustainable, engaging, and constantly evolving.

Even the greatest exercise program won't deliver without a ton of support. That's why you'll get it—both on the training floor and behind the scenes. Loving the shit out of our members is what has made us one of Toronto’s best gyms since 2008.

If you believe that good exercise does more than just make you tired and sore AND you’re looking to make lifelong (and maybe life-changing) progress, then we’d love to meet you.  

Here's the truth about what's stopping you

Want to know how to work out for maximum results? Avoid common mistakes and choose the most effective exercises with this guide.

You may not feel that way but I promise that this is a fact. It is the only real reason you’re reading this.  

You want to feel stronger, more physically capable, and generally just at home in your own body. You don’t need to be convinced or sold. This is fundamental human stuff.  

Likewise, you don’t want pain or a lack of confidence to stop you from getting the most out of life. No marketing campaign or lobbying required.  

The only real question is what’s standing in your way right now. Something is. But that something isn’t motivation.  

“If motivation isn’t the issue, what is?”  

Demotivation is what messes with you. This is not just semantics either. To clarify why, I’m going to use the word demotivation interchangeably with friction. Your goals and desires point you in the direction you want to travel. Friction is what makes it harder to get there.  

When you’re in zero gravity environment, you don’t need much effort to move forward in a straight line. You just push off. Your only real responsibility is to aim carefully; precisely because there is no resistance!  

If only we could have that same zero-G experience when it came to our own health and wellness. Certain structures would make that easier. Living on a mountainside, for example. You’d build your own house, grow your own food, and wrestle grizzlies. This lifestyle would have you in incredible shape—no gym required. But as an actual, real-life human living in the big city, you have to become an expert at dealing with friction points.  

Eliminating friction points all starts with noticing where they exist in the first place. Here are some of the most common challenges:  

Friction Point: Not feeling ready  

The Real Issue: Not knowing how to shrink the change  

Tell me if this one sounds familiar: you decide that you’ve had enough with bad eating and that it’s time to make a change. So, you start a cleanse or intensive nutrition challenge. Things are hard—really hard—but you stick with them. You make legitimate progress, see the difference, and even enjoy it briefly before…Going right back to Square 1.  

If we look at this experience in retrospect, we can see that there’s just too big a gap between your cruising speed—the kind of daily habits you can comfortably maintain—and the challenge itself. They’re on two different islands and nobody has built a bridge. That’s why your habits—before and after the challenge—look pretty much the same. That’s because your body isn’t built on suffering or restriction. It’s built on habits.  

You shouldn’t need discipline for everyday habits. You don’t need to get psyched up to brush your teeth or wash your face. Nutrition should work the same way. One small change—like eating veggies with every meal—will not transform your body. That’s simply asking too much from your broccoli. But stacking one small change on top of another is exactly how big things get done. The trick is finding the right level of challenge and then balancing it with the level of change you need to maintain motivation.  

The better you get at choosing the right level of change, the more you’ll be (and feel) successful.  

Friction Point: Not feeling disciplined enough  

The Real Issue: Not having the right systems in place  

Let me tell you the story of Andy and Mandy, twins who have nearly everything in common—including a serious sweet tooth.  

Andy works in an open-concept office. Several of his coworkers like to bake and bring treats to work. Andy tries not to indulge too much but sometimes feels like his willpower is insufficient. He frequently caves and winds up with more chocolatey frosting in his bloodstream than he would like. Once a week, after work, Andy will head down to Costco and stock up on groceries and supplies. He doesn’t set out to buy junk food but will sometimes find a bargain that is too good to pass up. The plan is to be moderate about snacking on junk food at home but—once again, he often feels like willpower is his problem. He wants to work on this issue but—if we’re being honest—is pretty fuzzy about just how to do that.  

Mandy used to work from home and had the same issue with junk food. That was until she changed her shopping habits. While Mandy had no self-imposed restrictions about what she would eat, she only kept nutritious food at home. If she had a strong craving, she would walk or bike to the ice cream parlour a few blocks away. No restriction, just the addition of a friction point (these can work to your advantage as well).  

Mandy recently took a job back in an office environment that is very similar to her brother’s. She knew that she would be facing a lot of temptation, so she made a new rule for herself: no snacking. Mandy politely shared that personal rule with any coworker who offered her treats during the day. She was friendly and charming about the way she explained it and—because nobody personally felt judged—her colleagues respected and supported her decision. Some even adopted the same habit.  

This is a made-up example but you can see here how Mandy doesn’t rely on willpower for her day-to-day functioning. Instead of constantly having to manage temptation, she lets her systems do the heavy lifting. The result is a massive long-term difference in progress when compared to her brother.  

Friction Point: Fear  

The Real Issue: Associating pain or misery with the path you have to take  

Movies and television shows have done fitness a tremendous disservice. Now, many people are convinced that exercise has to be synonymous with suffering. For those with tons of stress in their lives, this turns the whole idea of consistently working out into an insurmountable obstacle.  

This stuff doesn’t have to suck.  

Exercise is not a punishment. It’s not absolution for your caloric sins. It’s a chance to tune into your own body and make sure that your internal ecosystem is tip-top. Exercise—all by itself—is a privilege. Exercise can also be fun.  

Please reread that last sentence as many times as necessary.  

Friction Point: Internal resistance  

The Real Issue: Having an identity that conflicts with the path you need to take  

Yoda said, “There is no try, only do.” Habit expert James Clear fleshed that out with a nice little continuum of change. It goes from being someone who tries something to someone who regularly does something to someone who is something. Here’s an example:  

Person A: I’m trying to quit smoking  

Person B: I’m quitting smoking  

Person C: I’m a non-smoker  

Similar but definitely not the same. My money is on Person C to stay smoke-free.  

I like to tell the story of one of our members, Adam. On his very first visit, he told me, “I’m not a gym person.” I didn’t fight him on it, I just helped this “non-gym person” structure some workouts. No great magic happened here beyond his utter consistency. As the weeks and months stacked up, so did his progress. At what moment did things change? There was no clear demarcation point.  

It wasn’t until Adam was back home for the holidays that he noticed that something had shifted. Some friends were discussing exercise when one of them turned to him and said, “Hey Adam, you’re a fit guy—what do you think of this?” Enough had changed for others to recognize Adam as a gym guy—even if he hadn’t yet. That’s how results work, though: they are the cumulative effect of your habits, not your intentions.  

Friction Point: Terrible gym experiences  

The Real Issue: Not getting support  

Whoo boy. This is a heavy one. This is why many people don’t think of themselves as gym people. Nobody wants to walk into a place where they feel judged or made to feel less-than.  

How do you get over that barrier? You get support. You get a workout buddy. You hire an expert. You find a place that is welcoming. From there, you put your head down and do the work. Remember though, if the person who is constantly judging you is also you, there is no respite. Be gentle with yourself and make room to build an imperfect practice of some kind.  

You Don't Need Motivation: Part I Bang Fitness Eject! Finally, if showing up, working hard, and being nice isn’t enough for you to be a valuable member of a community, you’re in the wrong damn community. Moonwalk (or Moon Door) right out of there immediately and go find your tribe!  

Friction Point: Lack of consistency  

The Real Issue: Choosing the wrong goals  

This friction point is one of the main reasons that people come to believe that they lack discipline or willpower. It relates very strongly back to the idea of shrinking the change. In other words, don’t take on too much too soon.  

Researchers Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky coined the term “planning fallacy” to describe the tendency to underestimate the time required to complete a future task. This idea definitely fits here. Have you ever chosen the wrong goal by underestimating what is really required for success? I’m pretty sure that we all have.  

There’s another piece to this, though, and it goes beyond strategy. You ultimately have to ask who you’re doing this for. Did you choose your goals because they resonate deeply with your values? Is this genuinely enjoyable for you? If at the heart of things you’re trying to please someone else or meet some kind of external ideal, your relationship with fitness is going to be transactional. The second it stops delivering, you’re going to lose momentum pretty fast. So, keep digging until you find a big enough why.

In a zero-gravity environment, stopping is the only real challenge  

We're still doing some work on our site but you can read our back catalogue of articles by clicking can still exercise, stay strong, and feel great when out of town. Plus, maintaining your daily workouts will give you more energy and vitality to take on your travels with vigor. 

Hey, can I ask you a quick question?  

What is the core?  

It’s funny—but for all talk about how important the core is, not everyone feels super clear on WHAT it actually is. I’m talking about both geography and function here.  

There’s a very simple reason for this lack of clarity: core is a made-up term.  

Made-up doesn’t mean bad or wrong. It’s a convenient way to address trunk stability and connect it to back health, athletic performance, and all that good stuff. Sometimes, the idea is expanded to mean abs or to relate to a specific exercise. There are some inherent problems with this, though. This often leads to an acute case of broken telephone. Take the following example:  

“I have lower back pain.”  

“I was told that I have to strengthen my core.”  

“I started doing crunches every day.”  

“Crunches hurt my back.”  

“Maybe I’m just broken.”  

Have you ever read one of those ads that say, “It’s not your fault!” Well, it’s not your fault. If the above sounds like you, I assure you that you’re not broken or doomed to live in pain. You’ve just been doing the wrong stuff.  

Here’s why  

Often, the type of back pain people experience is flexion-based. For example, someone with this type of pain may sit all day with their spine in flexion. Choosing a movement like crunches INCREASES the intensity and frequency of the positions that are giving them trouble in the first place. Dammit—that’s a hard swing in the wrong direction!  

There are a ton of assumptions above, starting with the idea that core strength and back pain are related. They may be. Then again, that back pain might relate to anything from low-back endurance, to lifestyle demands, to basic biomechanics. We need to figure out what’s going on first.  

Is Your Core Weak? How to tell. Bang Fitness Look at these hipsters and bon vivants in various states of flexion Let me insert a quick disclaimer here. Diagnosis is best left to the pros—you know that. With that, if you’re pain-free—or already super-clear on your needs—let’s play around a bit.  

Let’s figure YOUR stuff out!  

The ability to stabilize your spine is fundamental. Even when you play a sport—like golf or judo—that demands spinal movement, stability comes first. Due diligence for back and hip health here still comes down to your ability to lock things down at will. What you add on top of that is up to you.  

Easily the most common example of static control is the plank. Gravity is trying to pull you into extension and you’re having none of that nonsense.  

Is Your Core Weak? How to tell. Bang Fitness Spinal extension One important piece of advice: planks are not one-size-fits-all! If you have ever experienced back pain during (or after) a plank, please check out this video.  

Exercise example #1: how you plankin’?  

Is your core weak or strong?  

To answer this question, let’s first define what strong means. In our world, a strong core is one that can resist spinal movement demands (flexion, extension, or rotation) AND have a buffer.  

The strength and endurance to resist movement  

The plank is an example of an anti-extension exercise. Merely getting into the position isn’t a guarantee that good things are happening, though. Being tuned into what you feel and being able to adjust things is a huge piece of the puzzle. At the end of the day, that’s the difference between a ritual and an effective action. A ritual is burning a candle and praying for money. Effective action is robbing a bank.  

With something left over  

A buffer means that your strength, endurance, and movement strategies exceed demand. This protects you when things go wrong. It also ensures that you can hold this position for more than a second—since endurance takes priority over strength for preventing low back pain.  

The buffer described here is hugely important because being responsive is part of the equation. Taking a massive breath, pushing out your abs with all available force (and until you go beet red) is entirely appropriate for a maximal effort. That’s not only standard but necessary in sports like powerlifting. The demand and the response match. However, if you’re going beet red to tie up your shoes, something is up. We often see a lack of responsiveness in people with low-back pain. In other words, they have trouble matching up the strategy to the demand.

So, what do we measure?  

There is no fixed measurement. Yes, there are some research-based standards (on the right). The truth is, though, that your ability to resist movement and look good doing depends 100% on what your demands are. This is not only relevant to fitness demands but to everything else. A blacksmith has different demands than an accountant and a stuntman has different demands than a taxi driver (hopefully).

Exercise example #2: Are your hips stiffer than your spine? 

Ok, it’s time to move your hips.  

 Let’s try a simple experiment: standing up (feel free to use support), bend one knee and push your heel backwards. You should be able to keep your low-back in an unchanging position until you find the end range of your hips. In other words, your hips should be mobile and your back should be stable. Many people will experience more movement in their low-back than their hips. If this is what’s happening to you, your hips are never going to get a chance to be mobile. It’s like having a spring in the middle of a teeter totter. You push one side down and—instead of the other side coming up, you just stretch out the middle. The middle, in this case, is your low-back—and it may not be loving it.  

This is not usually a strength issue so much as a coordination and awareness issue. So, how do you fix it? The same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Starting with this drill is great. The ultimate goal, however, is seamless and automatic integration—no mental effort required.  

Exercise example #3: Is your upper-back stiffer than your lower-back?

When you’re making a stability sandwich, the bread needs to be made of mobility. In other words, to have a truly stable low-back, the structures above (thoracic spine) and below (hips) have to be mobile. Mobility and stiffness are relative. If EVERYTHING is tight, you might not need much work to increase mobility. If EVERYTHING is loose, adding stability to the low-back is easy. However, if the low back is loosey-goosey and the hips/thoracic spine are tight, you’ll have some real work to do.  

Once again, you can address this by practising this in a stripped-down manner and then reintegrating into more complex movement.  

Also worth noting: this is why stretching your low-back isn’t always a good idea.

Summary As nice as it would be to have absolute numbers or standards, the truth is that nobody has needs quite like yours. We can guess at minimum requirements based on basic lifestyle demands but anything beyond that must be personalized. So, look closely at the kind of demands that you experience and reflect on how your body feels. At the end of the day, your job is to cultivate the type of strength and skill necessary to exceed them AND look good doing so.

HEY, WANT TO HAVE YOUR CORE STRENGTH ASSESSED?

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Spinal extension

From Low Back Disorders (McGill)  

TASTY!

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Want to know how to work out for maximum results? Avoid common mistakes and choose the most effective exercises with this guide.

Masters athletes are a special breed. It’s one thing to train and compete when you feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof (and live in your parents’ basement). It’s another thing to balance training, family, and professional obligations on top of a cranky body. You have to stay adaptable and open-minded about what will continue to carry you forward as a competitor. That’s why I put together these guidelines.  

1. Ask how to get the same job done at a lower cost We can think of your competitive performance as the peak of a mountain. There is very limited room at the top. However, there are also many ways up that mountain. The further away you are from competition, the more options you have for effective training.  

The truth is that you don’t have to practice your specific competitive movements year-round. I wouldn’t recommend this for an injury-free athlete in their 20s, let alone for a masters athlete with real mileage on their joints. Don’t try to mimic the parameters of competitive performance. Instead, ask the question of what transfers to performance but minimizes wear and tear.  

When you’re months away from competition, you have lots of options:  

A powerlifter might switch up stances, rotate speciality bars, and even limit range of motion—if necessary for low-back or hip health. I would mention cardio but I don’t want any angry letters.  

A weightlifter might use loaded jumps and quasi-overhead movements like a landmine press.  

A runner might focus on tempo runs, technical drills, and strength training.  

A CrossFit competitor might develop strength and aerobic fitness without any glycolytic (anaerobic lactic) work.  

As competition draws closer, you will have to reintegrate everything. However, unless you’re a novice, you’ve already had plenty of practice and reintegration will happen relatively quickly. Having well-developed foundational physical attributes (strength, aerobic fitness, etc), an absolute minimum of injuries and pain, and a renewed enthusiasm for your sport can be incredibly powerful. The real trick here is figuring out the optimal timing and frequency of your reintegration approach.  

2. The most successful masters athletes are the ones who train the longest Even if you’re a sprinter, this stuff is a marathon. The longer you can engage in quality training AND minimize the likelihood of injuries, the longer you’ll be a competitive force. Just imagine how different the podium would look if there were no such thing as a talented athlete retiring due to injury or pain. The more quality training you can accumulate, the better you’ll perform. This brings us to our next principle:  

3. Build momentum in training The odds are that hard work is encoded right into your DNA. Your ability to grind is what has taken you this far. This is a beautiful thing. Just remember that your next training session is even more important than this one. The real challenge is how to build momentum in training. In other words, you have to ask how you can ensure that you bring something better to your next training session. Maybe it’s more weight on the bar, maybe it’s better technical execution and, maybe it’s your ability to maintain a very specific level of effort or awareness.  

The best way to build training momentum is to embrace the value of both internal and external standards. You already know what external standards are. They’re things like game-day performance or weight on the bar. Internal standards, however, are tougher to measure. They’re largely about how you feel. You know what it’s like to ignore internal standards and adjust your effort to hit certain training numbers. That also means you know what it’s like to leave a session with more fatigue than planned. Often, the price you pay for this is losing momentum in your next training session—a frustrating experience. One alternative is to adjust your training numbers to match your effort. This simple switch will produce training sessions that are far more aligned with your physiological readiness. Today may not be ground-breaking but you’ll have set up your next training session like a champion.  

Two important notes:  

The closer you get to competition, the more rigidly you’ll have to adhere to external standards  

I’m not describing a strategic overreach here, where you might accumulate fatigue before a planned tapering period. Instead, I’m talking about the day-to-day experience of training in your offseason—whatever that offseason may look like.  

4. Find a therapy team that gets it Have you ever gone to see a health professional to get help with sport-related pain or injury? That’s good. Has anyone ever told you to simply stop training? I thought they might have. Did you listen to them? Ha ha ha! Just kidding.  

You need someone who understands that you’re an athlete. They need to know how to adjust—not eliminate—your training plan. They also need the expertise to get you feeling and performing better. It doesn’t matter if it’s a chiro, a physio, or somebody who wants to realign your chakras. It DOES matter if they have the skills, the understanding, and the collaborative mindset to make performance happen on your terms. Massive bonus points for someone ready, willing, and able to maintain open communication and cooperation with your coaches.  

5. Recovery is more important than ever I’ll keep this brief because you probably already know this stuff. Sleep, stress management, and nutrition are going to be the limiting factors of what you can throw at your body (and mind). However, it’s worth adding one more point here: often, the best thing you can do is ask what can be taken out of your life with no loss to happiness or performance. Thanks to Marie Kondo, more people than ever are asking what clutter they can eliminate from their homes. You can adapt this same principle to the way you spend your time and mental energy. If it’s not useful and it doesn’t spark joy, jettison that sucker.  

6. Don’t compare your younger self to your current self. “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”  

—Dr. Seuss  

You’re not that person any more. You’re older, wiser, and better in all kinds of different ways. But your hips or shoulders probably don’t move the same way. Keep your mind open to who you are now and how your body responds to training. Comparing your current performance to your past performance is no different than comparing yourself to someone else. That road only leads to misery. Instead, look for places to elevate your current performance, inch by inch. There are a million small opportunities that are ripe for the plucking. You just have to shift your gaze from the past to the path in front of you.  

7. Make up for (relatively) early specialization You may have come up through an organized athletic development program. You’ll know if you did. The odds are, however, that you found something you loved as an adult and got into it—hard! This is amazing news. That’s because there are going to be a number of general physical skills that will bring up your systemic strength and performance. Even better, these qualities should be easy to improve. There are tons of opportunities here. Check out this quick list:  

• Loaded carries  
• Brachiation (AKA hanging off of stuff)  
• Cadence or rhythmic work  
• Visual awareness  
• Active mobility (the value here often comes from specific awareness and coordination over itself)  
• Basic strength  
• Basic aerobic fitness  
• Footwork  
• 
  

If there’s something that has been left out, bringing your skill level up from poor to competent (no huge expertise required) should help you feel rapid overall improvement.  

8. Don’t forget that this is fun This stuff isn’t going to make you rich and it isn’t going to make you famous. It’s here to help you live the life you’re truly capable of. It’s an expression of some of your most unique abilities. Be present, be grounded, and appreciate the profound gift it is to be able to continue to compete as a masters athlete.

Let’s sweat together! Here’s our current list of small-group classes.  

Please note that and Hybrid Personal Training memberships include access to all small-group classes.  

If you need highly flexible scheduling options, please book a time to chat with us.

Monday 6:30 PM– 7:15 PM Anti-Gravity Society (Jeremy Fernandes)  

Tuesday 5:30 PM– 6:30 PM Olympic Weightlifting 101 (Vivek Padhiar)  

Wednesday 6:30 PM– 7:15 PM Anti-Gravity Society (Jeremy Fernandes)  

Thursday 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Powerlifting Club (Steve Vrbancic)  

5:30 PM– 6:30 PM Olympic Weightlifting 101 (Vivek Padhiar)  

Friday 6:30 AM – 7:30 AM Bad Juju Conditioning (Steve Vrbancic) 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Hustle and Muscle (Jeremy Fernandes) 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Advanced Kettlebell Class (Steve Vrbancic) 6:30 PM– 7:15 PM Anti-Gravity Society (Jeremy Fernandes)  

Saturday 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Powerlifting Club (Steve Vrbancic) 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Modified Strongman (Steve Vrbancic) 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Strongwoman (Steve Vrbancic) 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Performance Stretch (Geoff Girvitz)  

Sunday 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Powerlifting Club (Steve Vrbancic)