William Gilpin

I've been interested in fitness all my life. I grew up in a small town in southern Ontario that Beaver Cleaver would have loved. Life was simple, family orientated ... In the summer kids would gravitate towards baseball, and in the winter we'd all rally around the rinks to play hockey.

My favourite hockey player was Bobby Orr. I had all the 'Bobby' paraphernalia, signed hockey cards, posters etc... I even tried to practice signing his autograph with that familiar backward slant of his now valuable signature.

I wanted to be an NHL goalie. My father provided me with the support to reach that goal by sending me to a couple of Canadian Hockey Schools. A young Doug Jarvis was there perfecting his snap shot that was so heavy I sometimes feared putting my catching glove in front of it! I never made the big league but, a group of guys were videotaped by the Boston Bruins, and I was the goalie they used against the likes of Al Simms and Doug Gibson.

Boxing was my next adventure. I took up training out of the basement, of a school, that my trainer had turned into an accommodation for himself and his family, and began to jab and hook the boxing bag and spar with all kinds of weight classes. I won the Western Ontario Championships and came runner-up in All Ontario.

I've been interested in Body-building and exercise ever since I saw Steve Reeves as hercules, and watched Superman soar in black and white.. I wanted to be fast and powerful. And moreso to look powerful. I started working with a health club and began progressing my way up through the organization. I became a fitness instructor, proceeded to floor manager, then program director, then finally an assistant manager. I was so energetic about helping others meet their fitness needs. I ate, drank and slept fitness. My motto is work the basics and the results will follow...

I have a vast background that can't be accommodated in such a short bio including a time in the Canadian Armed Forces as a Med A!

I've helped train a number of athletes and people from various walks of life... I'm interested now in getting Seniors back to the basics. And in this blog, I will tell you why I am interested in doing this as well as the reason why seniors should take up the basics, rather than fall for the trappings of gimmicks.