There is an inspiring upward trend of fitness and health consciousness that is sweeping the world with pioneers like Jonathon Nicol at the forefront. A lifelong coach and student of physical education, Mr. Nicol has seen it all in his 15 years of coaching experience. Bringing his years of experience into his own venture Prehab + Performance, a revolutionary platform of personal training that provides remote programs, workout regimens, in-person training, and overall health awareness programs.
His commitment to better health by any means necessary is certainly a trend we can get behind. He sat down with us to have a chat about how it all started for him, the common mistakes he’s observed in his years of experience, and the best way to start a health aware journey.
Hey Jonathon, thanks for taking some time to chat with us today. Let’s start with what first enticed you into personal training and fitness?
I was raised in a household where sports, exercise and fitness were a way of life. I played every sport I could get my hands on and from the age of 15 I started my coaching career as a basketball coach. I saw the impact coaching had on the individuals I was coaching, from that moment on I knew I had found my calling.
I’ve now been coaching for over 15 years, trained 100s of clients from different walks of life as I’ve worked in the best sports clinics in both Toronto (Canada) and London (UK) as well as being a personal trainer at both Claridge’s Hotel (UK), Toronto Golf Club (Canada)
I now own my own company ‘Prehab + Performance’ where we provide personal training (remotely, at home, gym, outdoors and provide online strength programs).
While it’s great to see a renaissance of sorts for fitness and health-awareness, the internet and social media are awash with misinformation and poor advice – how have you approached these new obstacles with clients?
The best way to combat the misinformation is to get clients fantastic result using proven training and nutritional principles that are rooted in scientific evidence-based research. I use all of the great innovations such as zoom, social media and other information sharing platforms to educate, guide and teach all of my clients.
What has been the most fundamental or common mistake you’ve seen with clients in their approach to fitness and training?
By far the most common mistake I have seen over my long career is the ‘all or nothing’ mentality. Which is applicable to both training and nutrition.
Anybody you meet who is in phenomenal physical shape has established great eating, training routines, habits and discipline over countless years.
You shouldn’t be drastically reducing your calorie intake or training multiple times per day unless you’re a professional athlete or a competitive powerlifter or bodybuilder.
This is something I discuss in great detail with all my potential clients in the first health and fitness consultation.
While COVID dampened routines around the world with Gyms being closed and restrictions being implemented – how did you adapt your business to survive?
I adapted and changed with every new regulation that was made. I trained clients remotely doing zoom sessions, I increased my online personal training offerings. I invested in lots of new gym equipment so I could train people at parks or their back yards.
This was one of the busiest periods of my career and the obstacles that arose from COVID allowed me to adapt my business and improve my client relationships. Some of my client’s now work remotely and I have helped the buy small bits of equipment to improve their home workouts.
What has been your proudest or memorable moment as a personal trainer?
There have been plenty of memorable moments, from helping people lose 100’s of pounds to getting people strong enough post injury to resume the sports and activities they love.
Hands down my most rewarding job was working as a strength coach for people diagnosed with cancer. It was transformative for me as a person. I loved watching some of the strongest people I’ve ever met achieve their fitness and strength goals.
If you can see your business growing and becoming what you imagined it to be, what would that look like?
The end goal for my business is to have an international business where I can reach as many people as possible. The online component of the business has been very successful at getting people phenomenal results. It would be amazing for me people to know about my business.
Lots of our clients were dealing with injuries and were trying to return to the gym or get back into shape. That essentially is our niche, improve people’s body compositions while teaching you how to move pain free.
I have a small collective of fantastic personal trainers who can really impact the world.
What would you say to someone who is ambitious about starting their fitness journey, but unable to take the first step?
The best thing you can do is start today! Start with baby steps, slowly improve life routines around nutrition, taking 10,000 steps per day.
We offer all potential clients a free health and fitness consultation. This is a great opportunity for us to provide free resources, advice and motivation to help you start your fitness journey.
Finally, any new projects on the horizon?
2022 projects include:
- Partnering with as many small businesses as possible
- Expanding the business so we can offer more personal training in condominiums
- Partner with local sports clinics
- Increase the reach of the company to help as many people as humanly possible
Thank you Jonathon for your time!
You can follow up with Jonathon Nicol at IG@torontoprehab or at https://prehab-performance.com
