Guest Blog Post by Lift4Life Worldwide Ambassador, Sam Murray
As a national leader in coaching for powerlifters, bodybuilders, strength trainers and fitness enthusiasts, the knowledge that The Strength Guys have brought to lifters across the world cannot be underestimated. By partnering with Lift4Life Worldwide since the beginning of our organization through their Coaching for a Cause program and personally coaching Zimbabwean lifters from beginners to champions, they are truly supporting Lift4Life Worldwide’s mission to make strength accessible to all.
We sat down with the Strength Guys President and Co-Founder, Jason Tremblay, to understand what strength means to him and why he is so passionate about supporting our work in Zimbabwe and beyond.
Q: What is your history with the Strength Guys and Lift4Life? Tell me about your organization and why you find this service so important.
A: I have my bachelors degree in health and physical education from Mount Royal University and the Personal Trainers certificate also from Mount Royal University. I started the Strength Guys (TSG) when I was 19 and we’re almost nine years old. I’ve known both figureheads of Lift4Life for many years now – I’ve known John Downing for over seven years, in a capacity of coach, friend and co-worker. I’ve known Nicola for about five years now, in the capacity of both a co-workers and a friend. I was John Downing’s powerlifting coach and we would talk almost every day. He messaged me about his excitement about finding a gym on his last day on his trip to Zimbabwe. He told me about what he wanted to do, and I said it was a good idea and to let me know how I can help. Ever since day one when John sent me that text, I’ve been involved with Lift4Life.
Q: How old is TSG? How do you fundraise for Lift4Life through your company?
A: TSG will be 9 years old this October. Upon sign up, clients have the option to whether or not they want to donate a small portion of their fee to the Coaching for a Cause program. What that does is collect funds from clients and donate to charities that we’re involved with, which includes Lift4Life for the past 2 years now. Coaching for a Cause is a specific program from The Strength Guys; it was actually Nicola that came up with the idea and we’re happy to support Lift4Life through this program.
Q: Would you consider strength training and/or fitness valuable? If so, why?
A: Strength training helps with the overall improvements of physical and mental health. It keeps your muscles and your mind stronger. It can teach you a lot about discipline, attention to detail and the fact that doing ordinary things with a lot of focus & intent can make you get better. These are all valuable lessons that can transfer into other areas of life. So, yeah, I think strength training should become as common as brushing your teeth is. It’s a way for people to take care of their bodies and keep thier bodies strong.
Q: How have you seen strength training/PL better someone’s life?
A: I think from my own perspective, when I was younger, I was on anti-depressants and was clinically diagnosed with depression. I was overweight, nearly obese, and didn’t have much confidence. The very first time I went to the gym, I fell in love with it and in love with the idea of building myself up and having a place you can go to after school – no matter what type of day you had, you can take it out on the weights and build yourself up. I realized from the very first day I went to the gym, I didn’t need to take anti-depressants anymore, so I stopped right there. I was able to get through my depression just through regular exercise.
Audrey, Lift4Life Program Facilitator in Zimbabwe, and Lift4Life Executive Director, Nicola.
Q: Other than Coaching for a Cause, is there any other way you’ve been involved?
A: I’ve been able to provide educational and program resources that I’ve designed through my coaching business. I’ve given access to my programs to Audrey (Lift4Life Worldwide Program Facilitator in Zimbabwe), facilitated through Nicola. I’ve also coached Audrey through her first appearance at the African Arnold Classic, where she won a gold medal in bench press. It’s been a pleasure to work with Audrey; I’ve worked with her for about a year and from what I understand, she is the leader for Lift4Life on the ground in Zimbabwe. I took my first chance to help her grow her knowledge not only as an athlete, but also as a coach.
Q: You obviously support a lot of strength athletes in Canada and a few in Zimbabwe; why do you find it important to support those across the world in something like strength training? How do you think it can improve the lives of those in Zimbabwe?
A: I have disabilities of my own – I have glasses, people close to me will also see that I wear hearing aids. With that said, I feel like I have gotten a pretty good go at it in life in terms of opportunity, but also understand what it’s like to feel like I am behind the 8 ball in terms of physical ability in some respects. I also feel that in areas where my hearing loss has held me back, it’s frustrating because I wish I had more of a fair opportunity to navigate that in life, but for people with hearing loss, it’s on you to fund the treatment for that. So, I have that as a part of my identity. As well, when I was a young coach, it really bothered me that people doubted me because of my age and thought I didn’t have the necessary background and education to be coaching.
I realize how euro-centric our world is, and I understand that not all people have a fair shot in life. For me, The Strength Guys and Lift4Life have been an avenue to give young coaches a chance to grow, athletes from all walks of life have an opportunity to train with us here, and I provide as much opportunity as I can to people who don’t usually get it. I think it’s so common that traditionally, in North American society, the white cisgender male gets all of the opportunity. I am trying to do a little bit better and be cautious of that as I own & operate my business. Things like anti-racism, diversity and giving people a chance is really important to me – long before the BLM protest and other equality protests have emerged this year. That’s the “how and why” of The Strength Guys supporting Lift4Life. It’s part of my background and who I am. I hope people think The Strength Guys is a company that has made an effort to give back to the world and make the world a better place.
Q: As a donor to Lift4Life and supporter, what would you say to people that are interested in supporting us but haven’t yet?
A: With a lot of bigger charities, you make a donation and the money goes into a pile and you don’t really see where your funds are going to help people. I actually get to see where the money goes – For example, our money went towards buying a gym, or the first ever Eleiko equipment, giving athletes something to train for, women’s hygiene or a community garden. It’s really nice to get a photo and a message that says “hey, your charitable donation went to this.” It makes me feel grateful even more for what we have here in North America. It’s eye-opening that there’s people out there that can really benefit from us being more generous and a little bit more considerate about our geography, our privilege.
Thank you so much to Jason and The Strength Guys as a whole for their generous donation to our COVID-19 Campaign this past summer. With their help, we were able to fundraise over $5,000 in support of a community garden, a chicken coop, new equipment to support social distancing and more!
If you’d like to learn more about The Strength Guys, please visit https://thestrengthguys.com/.