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Total Ice offers fitness training for every level

Individuals and groups of all ages and capabilities looking to improve their fitness can find a perfect fit at Total Ice Training Centre.
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Total Ice Training Centre owner Tyrel Lucas offers fitness opportunities for all ages and levels — from elite athletes to newcomers.

Individuals and groups of all ages and capabilities looking to improve their fitness can find their perfect fit at Total Ice Training Centre.

From the elite athlete wanting to do specialized training right down to someone embarking on a first-time fitness regime, everyone is welcome, owner Tyrel Lucas said.

Through Total Strength and Conditioning (TSC) group fitness classes led by Lucas and the centre’s other coaches —Tyler Judd, Joel Nelson and Claire Lee — participants do a warm up and a new workout every day.

“The workout may consist of any combination of running, jumping, squatting, kettlebells, Olympic weightlifting and more,” Lucas said. “We design all our programs to improve functional movements for things you want to do on a daily basis.”

While the classes increase physical strength, they can also balance a person’s mental well-being, he added.

“For some people it is a stress release away from work and everything like that. It can target such a wide range.”

One of the things Lucas loves is how the centre attracts people of all ages.

It is not uncommon to have a 16 year old doing the same work out as someone in their 50s, with a few modifications.

“Conley Pinette trains here. He’s a water skier, one of the best in the world, and he’s working out beside a 55 year old who is deadlifting as much as he is,” Lucas said. “That’s what is special about group classes, you can be pushed by other clients if you want to be and if you don’t you are working under an individualized program.”

Athlete development programs targeted for any type of athlete are also offered through the centre.

“Kayla Moleschi trains here when she’s home and she has her own strength program,” he said. “The space and equipment we have here allows her to complete her program because a lot of it is specialized.”

In the off-season the centre trains rugby, soccer and hockey players, again with customized programs for each of those athletes.

As a hockey player, Lucas said he always knew the importance of being in the best shape possible, but when it came to training off the ice he was on his own.

“In today’s hockey game and other sports, science and exercise science have developed so much,” he said. “Even when I played, and I was growing up in Williams Lake, if I had a facility like this to train in with expert coaches to give me expert programs like we deliver now, I know that would have been hugely beneficial for myself.”

The goal of the athlete development programs are injury prevention and keeping bodies healthy so athletes can compete to their maximum.

When rep hockey and soccer teams come for group workouts once a week and are led through a workout the main goal is to teach them to be athletic and how to move properly in their body.

“If I can do a proper squat I will have a better hockey stride because I will be able to bend my knees, get down in the right position, and be strong enough to hold my body in that position,” Lucas said, noting what the athletes learn in the program they can take onto the ice or on the field.

Anyone interested in joining Total Ice is required to go through a pre-requisite Fundamentals Program.

Through eight sessions new clients learn how to do all the movements properly and safely so when they come to a class they know what is going on.

“We understand it is sometimes scary to get outside your comfort zone and join something like this. We always offer the first class free.”

Looking back over the five years since he opened Total Ice’s doors, Lucas said it has been very rewarding to impact so many people.

“We are very fortunate,” he said. “Our gym coaches are amazing and we appreciate the involvement from the kids in the community and their parents.”

Opening Total Ice was an “outside the box thing” to do in the community because Williams Lake had never had a similar business model, Lucas said, but added he was always confident the product was going to be at a high level.

“It has kind of developed its own heart beat. It’s become a big part of people’s lives.”



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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