Who
is Rhino Fitness?
Thanks
for visiting my site, I hope my passion for learning about
health and fitness and passing it on to others helps you in
some way.
I
have been coaching since 1987 and also enjoy athletic competition
myself competing in road and mountain bike racing for the
local Winnipeg bike shop team,Team Woodcock Cycle. I began
my cycling coaching certification process in 1987 with the
NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program) through Coaching
Canada. My coaching license number is 232305.
I
am an an associate of the Tudor
Bompa Institute and am certified through the institute
as Periodization Planning Specialist.
In
addition to full time coaching, I occasionally am asked to
offer my coaching expertise in assisting with exercise research.
In 2006 I attended the American Thoracic Society International
Conference in San Diego USA where the research team I was
part of, lead by Dr. Sat Sharma, submitted the following research;
Proceedings
of the American Thoracic Society Volume 3, April 2006
Spirometric
Changes before and after Marathon Running. C. LaBossiere,
A. Taylor, D. Moffat, P. Harnett, S. Sharma. University of
Manitoba
Hypoxemia
in Healthy Runners Following Marathon Race. P. Harnett, N.
Marten, G. Eschun, C. LaBossiere, S. Sharma. University of
Manitoba
Biochemical
Markers of Cardiac Injury during and Following a Marathon
Race. D. Moffat, C. Sathiannthan, P. Harnett, C. LaBossiere,
S. Sharma. University of Manitoba
Significant
Hyponatremia Does Not Occur Following Marathon Running. P.
Harnett, C. LaBossiere, A. Schaffor, K. Wiebe, S. Sharma.
University of Manitoba
I
also assisted in research on exercise induced arterial
hypoxemia, and how obesity may effect the diagnosis of
asthma. I am intrigued by human performance and am very curious
as to how the human body functions and adapts to various living
habits, mostly how diet and exercise effects us.
Philosophy
I
am a strong proponent of evidence and ethics based coaching
where in order to prescribe exercise or diet recommendations
a coach must have scientific evidence to justify the prescription,
and that coaching ought to be delivered with the respect for
others humanity and physical and emotional health. Fitness
and sports should be fun, personally fulfilling, and part
of developing the whole person.
Fat
loss, muscle gain, quick fitness, and high performance programs
are contaminated with hokum and unethical motives that typically
use the promise of hope to promote them. It's disheartening
to see just how much of the health and fitness industry is
all about quick fixes and magic solutions without any concern
for ethics or efficacy.
There
is much to be learned about human physiology and the truth
is there is more we don't know about adaptations to exercise
than what we do know. We should limit our prescription of
exercise and diet recommendations to encompass, but not replace,
what the current peer reviewed scientific consensus is on
such recommendations.
In
practice there will always be the "leading edge"
of research and coaching where understandings of human performance
are unclear and in need of proper investigation. In these
cases careful and ethical application of developing methods
should made based on scientific evidence supporting the developing
method while being wary of falling for or making the unjustified
promise of hope.
Where
did the name "Rhino" come from?
"Rhino"
is a nickname I have had for about 24 years.
Where
I train:
There
are three gyms I do my own workouts in Winnipeg; the Assiniboine
Athletic Club, YM-YWCA, and the Winnipeg Squash Racquet Club.
When I visit Vancouver I train at the South Slope Y, the YWCA
Downtown on Hornby, the Arbutus Club, and the Canada Games
Pool in New Westminster. I have also trained at the Minneapolis
YMCA while visiting there. While in Toronto I use the Downtown
YMCA. I also have a Bowflex and some free weights at home.
For
cycling I train 100% indoors all winter on a Kurt
Kinetic Fluid trainer (a device that my racing bike attaches
to). In the spring and summer months about 90% of my training
is outdoors and 10% is on the trainer. I use the Lactate Pro,
PowerTap Pro, and Polar 725X to monitor and measure my own
training.
How I became a trainer
In my teens I took up a pack a day cigarette smoking for about
5 years-- a terrible habit that, ironically, drove me to live
a healthy lifestyle.
At about age 17, I recall riding my 10-speed bike up Western
Drive (on Mary Hill) in Port Coquitlam BC where I lived at
the time. A kid no more than 10 years old passed me on his
single-gear BMX bike. The gauntlet had been dropped so I sprinted
past him. But the little germ-bag passed me again and this
time I could not compete. In fact, I was thrown into a harsh
coughing fit that forced me off my bike. After expelling a
glob of black goo I was overwhelmed with fear. Smoking had
really taken its toll on my health and I was not yet 20 years
old.
  This
is the spot on Western Drive in Port Coquitlam BC. The picture
on the left is the very spot the black goo came up! On the
right is me tromping up the hill - no germ-bag in sight..
(Click on photo's to enlarge) Photo's taken August 2004
I
went home and threw out my remaining cigarettes, lighters,
ashtrays and anything to do with smoking. That day I quit
smoking for good. Each time I had a craving for a cigarette,
I rode my bike instead. I rode my bike a lot. Every day I
rode, farther and faster, angry at how stupid I was to have
smoked in the first place. Go to the Manitoba
Lung Association or Canadian
Cancer Society for more info on quitting smoking.
Eventually I no longer craved the cigarette… I now craved
the bike ride. Within a few months I decided to try bike racing.
To understand training and racing better, I enrolled in the
NCCP Coaching Certificate course and become a certified cycling
coach.
I have always been an information junkie so I bought up textbooks
and researched journal issues on exercise so I could continue
learning about training. I applied my new knowledge and worked
with several athletes I knew. Within two years I had worked
with two provincial cycling champions in BC and a few years
later I had a steady stable of mountain bike racers. I continued
to study and obtain various training certificates, the latest
is becoming part of the Tudor Bompa team as a certified "Planning
Specialist" through the Tudor Bompa Training System.
After a few years of training I became a very fit athlete
myself. I have continued to compete in cycling to this day.
I race for team Woodcock and also coach some of the teams
top athletes. Click
here to view some recent race pics, and here
for team race results.
Coaching started as a volunteer part time hobby and eventually
grew into Rhino Fitness. My passionate hobby became a serious
endeavor and a full-time business. I still have that same
passion today and I am grateful for being recognized as a
leading professional coach.
A
growing passion
About 10 years ago I came across a mall display on stopping
racism. As I read the material my emotions turned. I was reading
about slavery, segregation, and other human atrocities. It
occurred to me that if I was so emotionally disturbed by these
things, that I should do something about it.
I am disturbed by the fact the only time the issue of racial
discrimination is "popular" is during Black History
Month (February) and on March 21, the International Day for
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I hope that we can
learn to be more mindful of how destructive discrimination
is and what each person can do to be part of the solution
and not part of the problem - and not just during February
and March when it is fashionable to do so.
I can be contacted by any school or organization to do my
presentation, "Identifying and Eliminating Discrimination"
on a volunteer basis. Click
Here for the two page hand out I use when discussing discrimination
in high schools.
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