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“If you want to succeed, you absolutely have to have a good coach. You can read all the physiology textbooks you want—goodness knows I’ve read a great many of them myself— but there is no substitute for the skill and experience of a coach who’s sole responsibility is to put all the theory into practical usefulness. Your training plan doesn't need to be a trial and error process. Chris takes a modern and scientific approach to training his athletes, which shows in the results. In this, my first season racing seriously, Chris understood not only the amount of work, but the type of work that would be needed to achieve my goals. I cannot understate how much of a motivating factor it is to have your whole year planned out for you, knowing exactly how each workout brings you one step closer to achieving your goals. When you have a plan and a purpose, you never want to miss a workout, ever! As a result, at every race I competed in this season (May to October), I always felt I was optimally prepared, in peak shape at the right time. More importantly, Chris took special care to ensure recovery periods were well adhered to throughout the season, allowing me to maintain and improve my fitness the entire year without injury, illness, or mental fatigue.” "Thanks to Coach Chris, I have fast forwarded my cycling goals and never expected to be where I am now. Not only do I benefit from Chris's expertise and knowledge, but his encouragement and support is invaluable. He accomodates my lifestyle and takes into account the fact that my work hours vary as the seasons change. He is always able to modify my program to fit my personal life, which includes two young children. I can trust that my personal program will have me peaking for races and resting on the proper weeks. I never have to think about when or how to train because Chris takes all the guesswork out of it for me. During my first full season of having Chris as my coach and racing the Ontario Cup Mountain Bike series, I had a podium finish in every race except one, wherein I broke my hand and finished 5th! I ended up finishing 2nd overall in the point series which I was extremely happy with and could not have been so successful without Chris's coaching." "Working with Chris for the past two seasons, I have been able to accomplish several of my road racing objectives. While coaching myself, I was able to move up to Master 2, but my results always left me short of the podium. With the goal of moving to Master 1, Chris’ direction landed me on the podium three times in 2009. By the end of the season, I moved to Master 1 and finished 10th at the Provincial time Trial. In 2010, my first full season of Master 1, I finished 7th in the Provincial Criterium , and won the Master A Provincial Time Trial Championship. Chris’ program is tailored to my strengths, but also works toward improving on my weaknesses. He incorporated the right amount of volume and intensity, but with recovery right when I seemed to always need it. Most importantly, his program allowed me to balance my love for cycling with work and family. Thanks Chris!" “I have been mountain-bike racing since 2002, starting casually as part of a team and working every season to become a little faster. Having focused primarily on team events for most of my amateur racing career, I decided following the 2010 season that a coach’s expertise would be the best route to focusing on individual results . Having had positive results with Chris’s downloadable programs in 2010, it was time to get serious and get a customized program. Having had experience with Chris’ approach, I reached out to him to expand my training regimen starting late in 2010. Chris’s focus was apparent as to determining goals early on and focusing on how to achieve results that would be months down the road. Working through the winter, spring, and the race season with Chris was extremely positive. Not knowing what to expect from a coach, Chris more than exceeded my expectations. With the demands of a career and importance of family at the forefront of my focus, having scheduled workouts based on personal preferences took the guess work out of training and eliminated the potential for over-training due to riding when I was able not focusing on what was really required at specific times. In my first season of 2011 with Chris as my coach, I achieved my goals we established early in the program of a top three finish in the Tuesday Night Race Series at Albion Hills in finishing first overall in the 35-39 Master Sport Men category and a top five result in the Ontario Cup XC Race series finishing third overall in the 35-39 Sport Men category. Through any season of training, there are peaks and valleys of feeling good, healthy, or otherwise. At any time or at any low point of training, Chris’s availability for adaptation of my program was exceptional. Communication and direction was always received very quickly to “route the ship” so to speak based on circumstances. An added bonus to the aforementioned positives to working with Chris was the race day feed zone support. At all of the OCUP events, there was feed zone support to provide the necessary fuel to keep me going mid-race. A huge plus to what was already a rewarding coaching experience. I am already looking forward to another season with Chris as my coach and the results that come with it. “ "In the past 6 years Chris has taken me from a guy with a desk job who wanted to be a Triathlete, to riding the complete route of the 2010 Tour de France one day ahead of the pros. No matter how large my goals and dreams Chris has been there every step of the way. From his complete knowledge of training through perceived effort, heart rate training and training with power, Chris is also there for me on the bike and at the tours ensuring that I get the most out of the specific training programs he has designed for me. I'm impressed and grateful that through Chris' structure and experience he was able to prepare me specifically for each event. Whether it was a sprint triathlon, the World Duathlons, or a 3640 km trek through France Chris had me dialed in just right!" “After retiring from national level boxing I decided to try some triathlons. My background was running, with NO bike experience and NO competitive swimming experience. At first, my training was all over the map. I was injured and frustrated. I have always trained with purpose and it is important to me to know that the time I spend on the road or in the pool is leading towards improvement. I talked to some people in the cycling community, and the name "Chris Helwig" was always mentioned. I contacted Chris and the rest is history. I struggled with my run times for eight months. My training had no direction on the bike or in the pool. I met Chris and started to see huge gains within one month. I had my best 5km Road Race time of the year doing the first negative split of my entire life. I placed second in my age group at the Wasaga Beach sprint triathlon and at the Lakeside triathlon. At Lakeside, I had my best swim time and bike time ever. I look forward to my workouts everyday. Although they are challenging, I never feel fatigued and I have remained injury free. Chris' knowledge of periodization training has been the key to my constant improvements. In addition, Chris builds my training schedule around the many other commitments I have in a day. Chris is always willing to change my schedule at a minutes notice if necessary. Chris was also present at two of my races this year and he is a constant support and motivator. I have and I will continue to recommend Chris to my friends in the triathlon world. I am already looking forward to next season and to the rewards that Chris' program will bring.” "After doing beginner XC mountain biking Ocups for a couple of years, it was time to give Sport Class a try. I turned to Coach Chris and began his program on April 8, 2009. My first Ocup was April 26, 2009. I placed 30th and averaged a normalized power of 242 watts. However, 4.5 months later, I placed 14th at Ocup #7 and averaged a normalized power of 302. A 25% power improvement. Apart from results, Chris knows how to fit a training regimen into everyday life (i.e.wife, child, full time job, etc.). Looking forward to next year." "After many positive referrals about Chris' coaching program, I decided to try the program for myself for the 2008 season. As I'm getting into my late thirties, I figured I wouldn't be getting any better but rather, I'd certainly would be getting slower on the bike. However, this past year working with Coach Chris proved me wrong. I was used to riding 6 days a week as hard as I could. But Coach Chris' program forced me into a much different path than I am used to. The base training in the winter and early spring ensured a great start to my mountain bike season. Coupled with forced days off and being disciplined with my biking schedule (only 4 days a week) really proved to me how tapering for a race can really help and how strong I always felt on the bike when I rode. My hill climbing improved immensely,causing club mates to stare at me as I passed them on hills. That was a fantastic feeling! But not only did I do very well in the mountain biking scene, receiving a 2nd overall in the Expert category, Chris juggled my program to allow me to attempt my first three triathlons, where I even got a first! He also incorporated into my program, to allow me to build up mileage for the 3 day stage race, Crank the Shield where I got third overall. There is no doubt that my accomplishments this past season were because of the program specifically designed by Chris. I appreciate all the time and detail that Chris put into making this an impressive season for me. I will certainly use Chris' coaching for future goals. Thanks Chris!" “In 2006 I made the move up to Master Expert for the Ontario Cup MTB series. Leading up to the season I had trained on my own. In my first race I finished a disappointing 26th, and in the very next race, had a DNF from fatigue. This is when I decided to hire Chris as my coach. He first sat down with me to outline goals and ways of reaching those goals. Now my training is scheduled to meet the needs of my family and work commitments, while peaking for competitions. Chris has taken the guess-work out of training for me. It wasn’t long and I began making huge improvements, and even finished 2nd at the provincial championships in 2006. Now for the 2007 season, I have come out of the gates strong with a 3rd at the first O-Cup, and my first WIN at the second! I basically went from last to FIRST in one year. Hiring Chris has been the best money I have spent on my amateur cycling career. Thanks Chris.” "Chris has been a great inspiration to me over the past three years. I was an aspiring mountain biker and had been racing in the sport category for a period of 5 years. I was not improving so I decided that to enhance both my fitness and riding skills I needed some structure around my training. For the past number of years I have diligently followed a training program set up by Chris. The result has been outstanding in the Mountain Bike O-Cup series. My results have gone from finishing in the 20’s to several podium finishes this year including a Gold at Buckwallow. In addition I was able to move to Master Expert and finished my first race in that category with a 4th place finish. "Working with Chris has been a very positive experience. I have found in him everything I was hoping for in a coach, and as a "novice" cyclist I am surprised by how far I have come with Chris in a relatively short amount of time .I am impressed with the care and thought that is put into developing a complete personalized program and by his knowledge of the science of cycling. Working with Chris has allowed me to maximize the use of my time and taken the guess work out of my cycling — when I go out the door for a ride I am confident I am doing " the right thing" and taking steps towards my goals. With Chris to guide me through the off-season this year I am setting my goals higher and expecting even better things next year!" "As an athlete for many years I thought I knew what was needed to excel in a given sport. Having done triathlon for a number of years I felt I was well conditioned and would only garner limited benefit from a personal coach. I was sorely mistaken. I have been working with Coach Chris for just over a year now. At 36 years of age I am now in the best shape of my life. Personalized training and direction from Chris has made all the difference. My personalized coaching started with a nutrition management program which helped me lose 20 lbs and keep it off with little extra effort. Having trained only on ‘feel’ before, heart rate training has given me an objective measurement tool to use to gauge effort and see gains. The feedback I get from Chris’s analysis of the heart rate data is invaluable. Specialization in cycling is what brought me to Chris initially but his excellent instruction in the other areas of triathlon have allowed me to make huge gains in all facets. In 12 months alone I was able to take 3 minutes off my 10km time and over 6 minutes off my half marathon times. My cycling has never been stronger and for the first time in my life I am able to really compete in my age group. Scheduling of workouts and communication is tailored to fit my schedule and family life with 2 kids under 6yrs of age. Regular assessments of my fitness level have given me something to look forward to when not gearing up for a race. I am looking forward to continued training and improvement as I gear up for my first half-ironman next summer. With Chris I know my preparation will be complete and the personalized coaching I am receiving will help me reach my goals…thanks Chris." "Who would have ever thought how far coaching can take you in a given time. I've been training with Chris Helwig for almost a year now, and in that time I have seen a dramatic improvement in my cycling performance. Training on my own was tough, and with no real guidance I really didn't know how to achieve peak performance for my mid-season races. Together we set performance goals and developed a plan of smarter; more efficient training which eventually led me to three top 10 finishes and very close to a podium spot in Ontario Cup series racing." "In 2002 I had six top-ten finishes in sanctioned races, including two in Italy, I was in six winning breaks (one of which lapped the field) and I won a club race. In eight previous full seasons of racing, I had never once been in a winning break and I had never once won a club race. "Chris is more than a coach — he is a coach/athlete.
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