Posted by Sudbury Northern Life 
Sure, there's the engaging personality, the bountiful
enthusiasm, and the zest for life that emerges the moment one
sits down to chat with Cal McGibbon. But rest assured, that's
not even close to what has allowed this self-made personal
trainer to establish an ever-growing reputation in a field
where credibility means everything.
McGibbon has taken a rather unique, and quite fascinating,
career path that sees him now working with a good handful of
Sudbury's top young athlete, most notably hockey talent.
Born and raised in the Barrie area, McGibbon was active in
sports - wrestling being his favourite - despite remaining
undersized by most athletic standards. Finding work initially
as a labourer with a construction company after his secondary
schooling, he admitted it was a life-changing experience on the
work-site that likely forever altered his life.
After witnessing to the death of a co-worker, McGibbon reacted
by throwing himself into learning everything he could about
first aid and treatment - courses that would soon merge with an
ever-increasing need to understand, as much as possible, the
human body.
His background in wrestling gave way to an interest in boxing
and he began to spend hours on end at the gym, tapping into the
knowledge and training methods of Ian Walling, a successful
proponent of natural bodybuilding.
McGibbon's natural curiosity and willingness to learn from
every conceivable source led him to try a wide variety of
approaches and techniques, constantly expanding his base of
knowledge.
Although the personal training business in the mid-1990s
remained heavily influenced by the bodybuilding culture, that
was about the time it changed. McGibbon noted an influx of
athletes from a wide variety of sports, including hockey
players, who were beginning to look at ways of maximizing their
game day performance by maintaining far better care of their
bodies away from the game.
More than any other, the hockey grouping fascinated McGibbon,
and in very typical fashion, he looked to every possible source
to find a locale that might suit his particular skill-set.
"My dad had lived in Parry Sound and we had gone camping a few
times across northern Ontario for a few weeks. And I read
somewhere that northern Ontario produced more pro hockey
players per capita than anywhere else," McGibbon explained of
his decision to relocate to Sudbury.
McGibbon's natural curiosity and willingness to learn from every conceivable source led him to try a wide variety of approaches and techniques, constantly expanding his base of knowledge.
In 2003, McGibbon opened Healthy Living, a retail store that
focused on natural nutritional supplements, primarily looking
to establish a direct link to the athletic community.
Enduring the normal growing pains of any small business,
McGibbon found himself traveling three times a week back to
southern Ontario to continue working with his Toronto-based
clientele, living out of his car in order to keep his head
above water.
Initially targeting the Sudbury Wolves for his product and
services, McGibbon remains ever-thankful to coach/GM Mike
Foligno for his support early on.
"It probably took Mike about three visits before he started to
see that there was far more that could be done in this area."
Before long, McGibbon was working closely with a pair of up and
coming athletes in Nick Foligno and Tessa Bonhomme, and the
snowball effect soon began.
"It didn't take long for word to spread at that point - who is
this guy? What's his background?"
Spend just a few minutes chatting with McGibbon and you realize
part of the attraction is the grounded reality he maintains,
the fact that he knows all too well that he doesn't know
everything. Not even close.
I swear sometimes that McGibbon views the world around him as
one large encyclopedia, and he lives by the mantra that one can
never have too much knowledge. The self-comfort in not having
any reluctance to tap into countering perspectives or differing
viewpoints is what has led, in part, to the next phase of his
business.
Enter Laurentian University swim coach Alain Delorme, a
diametrically opposite foil to McGibbon. If McGibbon is all
about street smarts supplemented by an expanding awareness of
written material, Delorme is much more the pure academic.
Where some might view the book-smart ways of Delorme as a
threat, McGibbon embraces it.
"I think differently. Right away when Alain and I got talking,
I thought diversity always trumps ability.
"I think that bringing somebody in who thinks exactly the same
way as I do is useless," said McGibbon. "I think every single
athlete that works out with us is blessed with the fact that
someone with a completely different point of view has come in."
A competitive swimmer in his youth who worked his way up to the
national level, Delorme was schooled in radiation therapy by
trade, moved to Sudbury in 2002 with his wife and soon began
helping out coaching with the Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club.
A stint in Australia working alongside Sudbury-native Alex
Baumann substantially expanded Delorme's exposure to elite
athlete development.
It's a background that excites McGibbon with its endless
potential, where the sum is clearly greater than the total of
the parts.
And that excitement shows through every time McGibbon
talks.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Persona 10 Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.
