Q+A with Coach Colin, Personal Trainer and Owner of Studio Kokoro

We met Colin a couple of years ago when he moved to the area and opened an event space called The Fifty-Eight with his partner Tara. When the pandemic hit, they were forced to put a hold on all events and temporarily close. With Colin’s long career in Personal Training, they decided to pivot and turn the unused space into a personal training studio to focus on one on one and couples training. We managed to sweat it out recently pre-lockdown with a custom program and we learned so much in such a short time span. Colin’s attention to detail is bar none. The little tweaks he made were beneficial and gave us a better understanding of how our body functions. We highly recommend everyone to book an appointment!  Colin was kind enough to answer some questions for us for our monthly blog. Colin’s programming is currently virtual but looks forward to getting back into the Studio with you all soon!

Q.  Hi Colin, tell us about your background and how much experience you have as a personal trainer?
A. As a competitive athlete in my formative years, I began teaching power skating and off-ice agility courses in my late teens into my early twenties for hockey schools and junior travel teams. It was definitely a much more rewarding part-time job than my other gig working in the dish pit at the local Keg Restaurant! Ever since, I’ve weaved athletic training into my life.

While studying at York University, I worked with the varsity strength and conditioning team on sport-specific programming. During the last few years of my corporate employment, I made it more official and received my CPTN (Canadian Professional Trainers Network) designation, one of the most intensive and academic personal training designations in Ontario. I slowly began taking on clients before and after work and would fill in at a CrossFit gym in Liberty Village when instructors were absent. All of this reignited my passion for coaching different training modalities.

At the beginning of this year, I also got my Pn1 (Precision Nutrition designation), allowing me to offer my clients a more holistic fitness experience. This coincided with my quitting my corporate job (just weeks before COVID hit) and pursuing training and nutrition coaching full time!

Q. Was it an easy decision to transition from event space to studio?
A. Well, COVID made the decision easy. The transition was relatively seamless as our programming was in the vein of health, fitness and lifestyle events. My partner Tara and I love this community and saw a gap in the industry primarily dominated by big-box gyms and ‘bro-centric’ boutique outfits. We aim to provide a welcoming and non-threatening space to individuals of all levels of fitness and all walks of life.
We designed and custom-built the space ourselves – from the weightlifting platform and plyo-boxes to the modular peg shelving. We now also offer custom home-gym builds and have been helping the community procure fitness equipment as well as design and build custom residential fitness spaces.

Q. Who is your ideal client?
A. There is no ideal client per se, but the qualities I screen for are open-mindedness and motivation to work towards incrementally consistent and sustainable progress. I don’t believe in 30-day beach body type fitness plans. Instead, I try to motivate clients to uncover goals that go beyond just weight-loss or a 6-pack as these are all just by-products of a well-designed health and wellness routine.

Q. What type of workout should one expect?
A. It completely depends on the individual! Before anyone works out with me, I schedule a consultation and fitness assessment. This helps me gauge their goals and level of commitment, general lifestyle/ habits, and learn about any injuries, imbalances and pre-existing health conditions. From there, I design a custom periodization program based on that client. For most clients, I recommend a 3-month commitment. This provides us with enough time to build towards a goal while creating new habits towards embedding wellness into their everyday lifestyle.

Q.  Does your client need to have experience working out?
A. Absolutely not! I recommend a beginner work out with a personal trainer first before diving into group classes in a larger gym. One-on-one attention is the only way to really get an understanding of how your body moves and get a full understanding of proper posture and form. This will drastically reduce the chance of injury within any fitness practice.

Beyond that, I love helping clients reevaluate and reshape their relationships and behaviours around health and fitness. There are also so many mental benefits of embarking on a wellness routine. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a client attain tangible results – from improved mental health and focus to better eating habits and stronger bodies.

Q.  How are you protecting your clients and yourself from Covid?
A. I come from a family of medical professionals, so sanitization is part of my DNA! We have rigorous COVID-19 protocols within the studio. We require masks to be worn within the space (luckily, there is a door close by so clients can go outside to catch a breath or between sets); hand sanitizer is available and must be used upon entering the studio post-workout. We close the studio for 30 minutes between each client for a deep clean using Virex (hospital-grade disinfectant) – all surfaces and every piece of equipment is disinfected. We also have an Air Pura Purifier, a hospital-grade air purifying system that can completely clean the air within the space in 10 minutes.

Q. Your Studio name is unique. Does it have a special meaning? 
A. Kokoro is a Japanese word connecting mind, body and spirit. In Japan, these are not seen as separate entities; they form a holistic construct. In English, we don’t actually have a word for it. This is really the basis for my programming design. I’m not here to torture clients and put them on strict diets; instead, my approach is to balance the mind, body and spirit and help clients feel present, confident and energized.

When we launched, we needed to differentiate ourselves from other gyms. Our business model is different, as is our approach to creating an inclusive and very intimate experience. The brand needed to encompass a new way forward for the industry during and post-COVID.

Q. You have been living in Mimico for many years now; what do you love about this community?
A. We absolutely love Mimico! Having previously lived in downtown Toronto and Leslieville, we feel a very unpretentious down-to-earth vibe here. It really feels like a tight-knit community that is growing. We’re located right on Mimico Avenue and welcomed new amazing neighbours, Handcandy Salon this past summer. We’re excited to see what else pops up in the area!

Q. What do you like to do on your days off?
A. My partner and I love to go for walks around the neighbourhood and along the waterfront trail. We are lucky enough to have a wonderful backyard, so in the summer, fall and spring, you can find us BBQing for friends and family (socially distanced, as of 2020); or coming up with new recipes. We LOVE to cook…and eat!

Q. What are your favourite local spots (restaurants, take-out, parks etc.…)
A. There are so many! The entire waterfront trail is really fantastic with all the parks and trails – it feels endless from Humber Bay Shores to Mississauga! Of course, we love Birds and Beans Coffee, Royal York Meat Market, Tita’s Mexican, Mooring Eats, Revolver Pizza (that sesame seed crust is genius), Great Lakes Brewery, Chaing Mai and Momo Dumpling Express.

To contact Coach Colin please visit:

email: colin@studiokokoro.co | web: www.studiokokoro.co | IG: @studiokokoro