September 3, 2014 would be the final day she would experience full sight and yet, be the beginning of her pursuit for better vision.

It was a miserable, grey day in Bavaria, Germany when Wheatley brought her grade 10 students onto the baseball diamond to put the skills they had found in their introductory lessons to the test—this time using the bat.

The events that followed happened seemingly in slow motion—a stark contrast from the reality of the baseball travelling approximately 90 kilometres an hour that made direct contact with the side of Wheatley’s head. With her eye closing, swelling to the size of a baseball, Wheatley knew her students needed to act quickly. She was rushed to the local hospital.

“I knew from the instant I got hit that something was seriously wrong,” says Wheatley. “Yet, the ER medical team told me otherwise so I told myself to toughen up.”

Having passed the coherence test, Wheatley was sent home with a black eye. Although her head was pounding and the nausea had completely averted her appetite, Wheatley was sure she could push through with her plans of competing in the World Long Distance Duathlon Championships in Switzerland that weekend.

Her hope was quickly dashed and Switzerland was replaced with a second trip to the hospital. Wheatley was transferred to a neurotrauma hospital where it was determined that her black eye was in fact a fractured skull paired with brain bleeding and swelling. Months in the hospital soon became inevitable.

For the Thunder Bay native, a life without movement, especially one in a fluorescent hospital room, felt completely foreign. Skiing, cycling, trail running, snowshoeing and spending hours outdoors became a part of Wheatley’s identity early on in life—but now had been stripped and replaced with one-on-one care, innumerable tests, therapy and rehabilitation.

“Losing 70 per cent of my eyesight, I felt like life was not worth living as so much of this lifestyle was lost,” says Wheatley. “Or so I thought.”

“I was stuck and did not believe life with a disability was worth fighting for.”

After spending 26 dark months in seven hospitals spanning three countries, Wheatley started to heal from the subsequent health complications of her trauma and was ready to meet her new self.

The mountains just beyond her window at the recovery centre in Denver, Colorado, seemed to have all the answers. And Wheatley was eager to pursue them.

“I was drawn to being alone, away from society,” says Wheatley. “I spent more than two years [in and out of hospitals], much of which was one-on-one care where I was never alone. I thought that time alone with Mother Nature had the potential to lead to inspiring light.”

For a year, Wheatley travelled throughout a variety of massifs starting in Europe and landing in the Himalayas, hoping to avoid the stares and stigma of society and instead, confront herself. With the limitations of a wheelchair not far behind her, Wheatley soon found herself running the Annapurna Circuit, Manaslu Mountain Trail Race and throughout the shadows of Everest. 

With new confidence in her ability and renewed optimism, altitude seemed like a natural progression. After climbing several 6,000 metre peaks, she took on Manaslu sitting at 8,163 metres.

Embracing the life she nearly lost is a continuous journey for Wheatley. “Accepting the physical change has been a mountain. I appear different from what society tells us is normal,” she says. “It has been extremely difficult to accept.”

Alongside Imagine Nepal, a local Nepali expedition team lead by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, Wheatley fearlessly conquers heights she, at one point, thought were impossible.

“I climb as any full-sighted climber,” says Wheatley, who can only see out of the bottom of her left eye. “Depth perception is created by both eyes working together. Because I do not have that, I have had to learn to adapt and use a variety of cues to help measure depth and distance.”

Now with a base in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wheatley is in the midst of climbing her remaining eight summits, including Everest, with hopes of conquering the world’s 14 highest mountains by the end of 2023—an achievement that can be claimed by less than 50 mountaineers.

“If anyone is experiencing darkness and learns of how I was in the darkest of crevasses to the highest peaks in the world, I hope they may find light and hope for better days,” says Wheatley. “We cannot always choose how life plays out, but we can choose our response.”

Follow along with Jill Wheatley’s journey on her personal blog, mountainsofmymind.com.

Photography by Savannah Cummins

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Read This Story in Our 2023 Summer Outdoor & Travel Issue
Featuring Alison Jackson, Canadian cyclist and only North American male or female to win the famed Paris Roubaix. Travel the country’s most stunning hot spots by campervan. Become a better trail running by improving your ascents and descents—plus, train outdoors with Canada’s Top Fitness Trainers. Enjoy plant-based summer recipes and so much more. 

On the way, Houle reflects on how far she’s come in five years. She thinks about her husband, four children ages eight through 16 and all her supporters from the Whitefish Lake Band #128, for whom she is about to lift.

Houle turned to fitness—first flipping tires outside—to escape her thoughts. “I suffered from postpartum depression and a lot of trauma from my residential school,” says Houle. “I picked up a weight and that saved my life.” She now trains five days a week, starting months before a competition.

As her lifts got heavier, her mental state became lighter. “I lift some of the heaviest weights I never thought I could lift in my life,” says Houle. And she truly means heavy—Houle lifts a 600-pound yoke, deadlifts 400 pounds and holds a national record for the axel press. “When we go into these types of competitions, mentally we have to prepare for a lot of these lifts because it could easily snap your back,” she says. 

On Oct. 22, 2022, Houle was handed her pro card. With six sponsors already and invitations to some of the most prestigious competitions in the country and around the globe, Houle’s platform continues to grow—and she has big plans for it. 

An advocate for mental health and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Houle hopes her title of Canada’s first Indigenous strongwoman to earn a pro card will only continue to amplify her message. “It just hits so close to home because our numbers are so high. In almost every family we know there’s two or three women that have never been found,” Houle says. “I do it for them because they never made it home.” 

Houle is currently training to compete at the 2023 Arnold Classic in March, and you can bet she’ll be in red face paint and her moccasins, ready to lift the voices of those forgotten.

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Photography by Joel Kingston

Read This Story in Our 2023 Inspiration Issue
Read about our 2023 Canada’s Top Fitness Instructors – our top 30 from across Canada! How to Train Smarter in 2023, Yoga Nidra for What Ails You, Racing the World’s Highest Ultramarathon, our favourite plant-based recipes and more!

The latter has been debated for decades with claims that it is impossible to replicate the complete animal-proteins with plant-based substitutes, but actually you can–it just takes more planning to get all nine essential amino acids. In conjunction with the rise in popularity of plant-based products, studies have shifted from overstating the downsides to being vegetarian or vegan, to finding its many health benefits. Elite athletes such as Venus Williams and Scott Jurek have proved that plant-based diets can improve performance and recovery.

Beyond your own health, dishing up plates full of plants will benefit the health of the environment. Global food production accounts for 35 per cent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions (that’s almost 19 times the amount of carbon dioxide from the commercial aviation industry), according to a recent University of Illinois study. With animal-products producing twice the amount of emissions than planet-based ones, how you choose to fuel your body can move the needle for your own health and for the planet—without compromising your fitness goals.

Here are five tangible steps you can implement for a healthier you and a healthier planet.

1. Embrace plants, not labels. If the world’s population were to become vegetarian by 2050, we could reduce food-relatedgreenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent. “Aim for effort over perfection,” says Dr. Anita Vandyke, author of A Zero Waste Life. “Small steps can make a big cumulative difference. Rather than strictly adhering to any diet and labelling it a certain way, it’s best to just be consistent and do your best.” By opting for meatless meals (even if it’s just two days a week), we can reduce risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, improve gut health and lower mortality rate. If you’ve been holding back for fear that you won’t get enough protein to ensure your gains, rest easy. In a 2022 review of 43 studies, researchers determined plant-based animal product alternatives are healthier than animal products, aiding in weight loss and muscle synthesis. And with the plant-based meat market valued at over $5 billion last year and expected to increase by 19 per cent by 2030, options are only going to continue to improve.
   
2. Go (no) fish. A fresh filet may provide the essential Omega-3 fatty acids which aid heart health among a slew of other benefits, but there is a tiny problem with choosing fish as your main protein source: microplastics. Fifty-one trillion microplastic particles—more than 500 times the number of stars in the Milky Way—are in the sea and likely will make their way on to your plate. While only 0.03 per cent of ocean plastic comes from the now largely banned plastic straws, 10 per cent of all ocean plastic can be attributed to fishing gear from commercial fishing. A study that looked at the three commercially important wild fish from the north east Atlantic Ocean found that 49 per cent have microplastics in their system—32 per cent of which is found in the often-consumed dorsal muscle. By opting to get our omegas and lean protein from walnuts, flaxseeds or chia seeds, we can do our part in reducing the plastic in our bodies and our oceans.
   
3. Eat for the season. Filling up half your plate with local, readily available fruits and vegetables helps reduce your carbon footprint in multiple ways. The transportation of food is responsible for six per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study published in the journal, Nature Food. Produce makes up the majority of these emissions due to the demand for out-of-season items and the refrigeration required to transport them. Eating seasonally helps you get the most nutritional value out of your produce and promotes a healthy microbiome due to a more varied diet. Also, a recent Australian study compared individuals who ate 230 grams of fruits and vegetables to those who consumed 470 grams or more. The individuals in the latter group had 10 per cent lower stress levels.
   
4. Pass on plastic. By shopping the areas of the store with less packaging you’ll be doing both you and the planet a favour. Ultra-processed food (usually packaged in plastic) often contains sugar, artificial ingredients and trans fats that can lead to a plethora of health issues such as heart problems and obesity. Also, researchers found that individuals whose diets consist of more than 20 per cent of ultra-processed foods experience a 28 per cent faster global cognitive decline. When we stick to whole foods we can help reduce the plastic pollution of our aquatic ecosystems and our bodies—the average person ingests a credit card’s weight of microplastics each week, according to new findings by University of Newcastle. “Don’t beat yourself up when you realize that avoiding plastic altogether is virtually impossible,” says Lindura and Dr. Antonia Sappong, co-founders of Plastic Free Toronto. “Single-use plastic has become ubiquitous in our society, so celebrate your small wins and keep it moving.”
   
5. Get creative in the kitchen. How many of your perishables well…perish before you get to them? The average Canadian household throws out 79 kilograms of food each year, according to a 2021 UN Environment Program report. When you go to the grocery store try reducing your shopping list by 30 per cent and check your kitchen stores before heading back to the aisles. When produce is starting to spoil, freeze it for smoothies or future stir fry’s. By getting creative with what’s in our fridge and cooking at home more, we can ensure food is seen as it truly is— a valuable resource for fueling a healthy body.

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Healthy Eating

Read This Story in Our 2022 Fall Fitness & Food Digital Edition

Featuring Brendan Brazier, athlete and pioneer in the plant-based sports nutrition industry. Trail Running 101 – plus this year’s Trail Running Shoe Review. Travel around the world to the top vegan-friendly destinations, recipes and much more!

1. START STRETCHING: FLEXIBILITY TEST

With the pursuit of building muscle or shedding a couple pounds, flexibility is often a fitness component left behind–or let’s face it, skipped altogether. Adding flexibility assessments such as the sit and reach test, can help keep you accountable to keeping the performance-boosting habit of stretching in your daily routine. Along with measuring lower back and hamstring flexibility, regularly completing this staple flexibility test coined in 1952, can help reduce injury and improve posture.
To complete this test, sit on an even surface with legs stretched out in front of you and soles of the feet against a box. Palms should face downwards aligned with either leg and the back of your knees should remain pressed flat into the floor. Reach forward as far as you can.
“Keep your back straight throughout the movement, no jerky movements and never force the stretch,” says Paul Nam, Certified Personal Trainer and Owner of The Workout Loft. “Go only as far as your body will let you.” Frequency: Daily
SCORE:
• Below Average = Shins
• Average = Below Ankels
• Above Average = Toes

Results can be measured based on the area that is able to be reached (and held) for 2-3 seconds. To accurately track your improvement, also record what type of warm-up (if any) preceded testing. Traditionally, testing is done without any warm-up.

2. PUSH YOUR LIMITS: STRENGTH TEST

Measure the muscular strength and endurance of the upper body with this non-stop, push-up test. Keep a steady pace throughout the repetitions as you complete as many push-ups (with good form) as you can without stopping. To modify this test, complete the push-ups from your knees. However once you can complete 10 knee push-ups, switch to push-ups on your toes. Frequency: 2-3 per year.

SCORE:
Push-Up Test (Men)

SCORE:
Push-Up Test (Women)

“The idea here is to improve on your own score,” says Nam. “If you’re a beginner, try to find a workout buddy you can do the test and train with. Having someone else to talk to and train with will work wonders with motivation and reaching goals.”

3. ROW TIME: CARDIOVASCULAR TEST

After a brief warm-up, test your cardiovascular health and endurance by rowing two kilometres as fast as you can. “We like this test because it’s a great way of evaluating cardiovascular fitness through a full-body physical challenge,” says Innovative Fitness Trainer Sean Allt. Frequency: Every 90 Days.
SCORE:
• Below Average = 9 Minutes
• Average = 8 Minutes
• Above Average = 7.5 Minutes
• Elite = 7 Minutes

Along with recording your time, wear a heart-rate (HR) monitor to record max HR during the test, HR immediately upon completion, HR one minute after completion.
“When it comes to evaluating one’s fitness level, first and foremost, we encourage our clients to compare their current score to their own previous score as a means of evaluating the progress they’re making,” says Allt. “For those who need a little extra competitive motivation, Concept 2 maintains worldwide rankings on their website that can be used as targets to shoot for.”

4. STRONG TO THE CORE: STABILITY TEST

The key to proper plank testing is proper form. Start by lying face down with your legs extended and your elbows bent. Push your forearms and toes into the ground to raise your body in a straight line from the top of your head to your heel. Keep your body aligned by keeping your gaze down and not allowing your hips to rise or sag. Frequency: Every 8-12 Weeks
SCORE:
• Below Average = 10 Seconds
• Average =20-30 Seconds
• Above Average = 60 Seconds

“Although 60 seconds has often been an industry standard of good, ‘good’ for whom?” says Dione Mason, fitness and lifestyle coach who reminds her clients to take generalized scoring with a grain of salt. “I prefer to have an individual approach in training since it’s not a competition.

MIND THE MENTAL GAINS

While these four trainer-approved fitness assessments can help you test your endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility, there is one more key component to fitness that should be consistently monitored–your mental fitness. Testing with these four methods should be motivating, not discouraging. If you’re feeling good physically and mentally post-workout, your workouts are likely working for you.
“I encourage people to focus on their mental health over physical results,” says online fitness trainer, Emily Thorne. “I always ask clients how they feel after each workout. If they’re exhausted, great. They’re done for the day and achieved a killer workout. If they feel like they could have pushed harder, then they know they can step up their workouts.”

Read This Story in Our 2022 Inspiration Digital Edition
Read about Canada’s Top Fitness Trainers 2022. Need new ideas for your next workout. Test your fitness levels and see how you measure up. World-renowned breath expert, Richie Bostock shows us how to breathe correctly, 7 yoga poses for a better sleep, recipes and much more!