Is Striation 6 Right For You? 7 Questions to Consider.

If you’re in Toronto and have been working on your health and fitness, you might be wondering, “What is the best gym for me?”

Your gym choice should reflect all of the things that matter to you. This includes location, community, vibe, exercise quality, instruction quality, pricing, and whatever else matters to you. With that said, there may be several options that fit the bill for you.

If you live in or near Davisville Village, you may have heard of Striation 6. We’ve been in the area helping Davisville Village and midtown Toronto residents get fit, healthy and pain-free since 2014!

One recent realization I had as a Toronto gym owner is that for a gym to be successful, it has to be a good fit for its clients and vice versa. We are upfront with potential clients if they are looking for something we do not offer. In fact, we will even refer you to colleagues or other facilities that specialize in what you are looking for. The idea is that if we cannot serve you properly, then it is best to be upfront.

However, you may have heard that our clients get great results! That they end up in better shape, pain-free and living with fuller body confidence. And, understandably, the prospect of that for you might be intriguing.

This article provides you with a framework to determine if Striation 6 is a good gym option for you. Have a read through it. If you think we might be a good fit for each other, come on in and check us out.

1. Are you looking for a short-term fix or long-term health?

Many people dealing with health issues get wooed by quick-fix solutions.

You might recognize this if you’ve:

• purchased supposedly instant weight loss programs where the ads read or sound like: “Shed x number of pounds in y number of days by simply drinking this product”
• gone to gyms or participated in other fitness programs that promise total-body transformations in short windows of time
• been manipulated by a cult to solve emotional or life problems

Yes, you read that last one correctly. They are not that different.

This matters because the likelihood that these programs either didn’t work or only worked temporarily is very high. Far north of 50%.

Without a long-term approach to exercise and health, these nil or fleeting results will simply keep occurring. If your “best Toronto gym for me” includes taking a long-term approach, then Striation 6 is for you.

A long-term approach looks like:

• exercise that is moderate enough that you can perform it consistently, recognize your effort, and recover with little risk of injury;
• nutrition coaching that is specific to your biochemistry and to your specific lifestyle needs;
• a gym filled with accessibility tools to new exercisers; and,
• customized solutions to help you address the body problems that are preventing progress in your health and exercise performance.

If this sounds like you, or at least something that interests you, let us know.

2. What are your travel considerations?

Striation 6 is located at 33 Davisville Avenue in the heart of Davisville Village in midtown Toronto. The facility is a two-minute walk from Davisville subway station with plenty of accessible parking.

It’s an excellent location that makes us available for a great number of Torontonians.

However, we recognize that travel time is a major consideration for maintaining exercise consistency. Your travel time from work or home might interfere with your exercise consistency at Striation 6. Having a long commute to the gym is likely to affect your overall exercise experience, too.

We would love to help you with your health and exercise. However, we want you to be confident that actually getting to the gym won’t be an issue for you. One option would be to consider our trials. We have 30-day trial options for Open Gym Services, Personal Training and Small Group Fitness. This times allows you to figure out your travel considerations and any other factors that make Striation 6 your “best Toronto gym for me”.

3. When you think about the “best gym for me” in Toronto, what features are most important for you?

Many features of Striation 6 make us proud as owners, managers and professionals working in the space. If you peruse our Google Reviews, you’ll find that our gym is:

• clean;
• has great service providers and an excellent exercise environment; and,
• has everything you need to have a customized, diverse exercise experience.

That being said, there may be features in your “best Toronto gym for me” scenario that we do not have. For example, we do not have saunas or hot tubs, towel service (BYOT), televisions attached to our cardio equipment, massage chairs, larger group fitness classes, pizza party nights (yes, some gyms have those) or an Olympic weightlifting platform.

Not having these features is the result of conscious choices on our part. We are intentionally creating a certain kind of exercise experience.

If any of these features are important to you, then another facility might be a better fit for your needs. However, if your desired exercise experience is focused on driven results, excellent quality of services and a customized exercise service for your needs, we would love to meet you.

4. Are you looking for hard workouts or smart exercise?

There is still a pervasive belief out there that exercise has to be extremely hard in order to be effective. We understand why people buy into this. Only until very recently, popular exercise promoted that back-breaking workouts were the only reliable way to advance exercise progress.

This is very important: That notion is both wrong and abusive in its nature.

It is true that for some goals, some degree of very intense effort is required. However, that is not necessarily the case for you.

You might be thinking that you want hard workouts. My simple response to that would be: Why?

This is a question worth examining. If you’re not looking to win any sort of athletic event, get ready for a bodybuilding competition, or achieve any other extreme goal, then hard workouts should be done only as required. In fact, they should only be done as required, even if you have an extreme goal.

(Potentially) Unpopular opinion: if you are seeking out punishing exercise for its own sake, then the exercise is secondary to the punishment. This type of effort almost always has a net negative effect on human health. You might want to examine this drive, and perhaps even seek professional help in that examination in order to avoid physical injury and, hopefully, redirect your exercise efforts towards your long term benefit.

Smart exercise, in contrast to haphazardly hard workouts has the following features:

• It feels effortful without feeling unbearable, and often feels enjoyable.
• It follows some level of planning and progression
• It is governed by the quality of your experience(rather than what anyone else projects onto you)
• It renders net positive health results.

To end this section, I’ll pose the question again: are you looking for randomly hard workouts or smart exercise? If your response is the latter, definitely check us out.

5. Are you okay with a small “best Toronto gym for me” experience?

Striation 6 is a smaller Toronto gym. Our community is tighter than bigger gyms. Many people know each other’s names, and the atmosphere is a healthy mix of “friendly” and focused. People are here to exercise, and the environment is welcoming and safe.

Does that sit well with you? Our clients and members, especially those who have been with us for a long time, love it!

If you prefer to more easily remain anonymous and be left quietly to your own devices, or to have a more active “social scene”, then a big-box, larger gym experience might be a better fit for you.

6. Does your “best Toronto gym for me” experience include personalized exercise services?

Our personalized services at Striation 6 are well-known and highly revered. Personal Training and Muscle System Work attract clients from all over the GTA.

There is no obligation to purchase these services as a member. However, if you are looking for personalized exercise guidance and we are accessible to you, definitely contact us.

We specialize in helping people with complex exercise problems (e.g. pain, exercise progress stagnation, people who have been unsuccessful in multiple exercise environments). We also see people without such problems who appreciate our environment and approach. They come to us because they want to avoid developing such problems in the future..

Check us out if personalized exercise coaching matters to your best gym experience. We even have a trial offer for Personal Training and a Free Posture Assessment available.

7. Are you open to exercise and nutrition information that is data-driven rather than trend-driven?

There are so many places where you can successfully start to get answers and guidance around your exercise.

No one will doubt the idea that lifting heavy things within reasonable limits can make you stronger, and engaging in vigorous cardiovascular exercise will help you get fitter. Furthermore, you can count on the idea that both of these activities can help you live a longer and fuller life.

However, it is also true that there are limitless ways to engage in exercise, and just as limitless “exercises” that are available for you to perform.

So, how do you start?

How do you progress?

What safeguards are there in place to make sure that the exercise you’re doing is stimulating your body appropriately to help you feel, function, look and live better?

How Data Can Help

Truthfully, these questions have answers, but only vague, general ones. Think: “Listen to your body”, “Know the difference between ‘exercise pain’ and ‘joint or body pain”, and “Slow and steady – moderation always wins”.

If these are helpful to you, then great. However, especially if you have challenges like a recent surgery, chronic pain, autoimmune issues, or anything else that puts you at a relatively greater risk when exercising, you are going to need guidance and answers that are meaningfully specific rather than wanderingly general.

This is where data comes into play. Information about your:

• health history
• exercise experience
• current state of health
• exercise and health goals
• your ability to move

informs how to approach and progress your exercise. Overlooking this information is a crucial error among exercise professionals.

At Striation 6, you have the option of proceeding with your exercise on your own or with various levels of personalized guidance. Before beginning any progressions in Personal Training or Muscle System Work, you will perform an assessment that includes the thorough collection of information about you. This information helps our Exercise Professionals make decisions with you about your exercise process. Our Nutrition Coaching system is also designed to address your individual needs.

We believe that this approach is integral to a successful exercise progression for you, and to a successful long-term relationship between you, your chosen Exercise Professional(s) and our facility.

If you are okay and have had success with following the same workout programs as everyone else around you, or by simply engaging in trial and error with your exercise, then we applaud you and would still welcome you to our facility. However, if you are someone who appreciates data and specificity around your exercise, then Striation 6 would be a great place for you.

What If You Answered “Yes” or Agreed to Several of These?

If you found yourself nodding along to many of the questions above or answering them positive, that’s meaningful.

To be frank, it suggests that your current exercise facility is not aligned with what you need to progress your health.

We don’t mean to pressure you with these questions. We intend to declare ourselves to you.

Because when it comes to choosing your “best Toronto gym for me”, alignment matters a great deal.

Supporting Your Health and Exercise in a Sustainable Way

Improving your health through exercise and proper nutrition isn’t just about trying harder.

While effort is a factor, the more important factors are how you direct that effort and the value presented in the Toronto gym of your choice.

If you recognized yourself in several of the questions above, you’re not alone and you don’t have to keep figuring this out on your own.

Becoming a Striation 6 client means having access to an environment that is exercise-first and client-centred. It also means being in a setting that values data and has the resources to help you achieve your exercise goals in a progressive, process-oriented, data-driven way.

If you’re ready to stop guessing and start supporting your health with clarity and structure, we’d love to support you.

Curious about us and how our unique approach can help you live pain-free? Sign up for our Free Posture Assessment. It’s a great “sneak peek” at our success recipe for longevity and health!

Want to keep learning?

Check out these other resources:

• How Nutrition Coaching Can Boost Your Overall Health and Fitness
• How to Set Fitness Goals for Lasting, Long-Term Health
• Is Chronic Pain Holding You Back From Exercising?