I wrote previously a post on advice and tips on sticking to your workouts. Along with this, finding a good gym can sometimes be a tricky business in itself.

The good folks at blogTO put together a top 10 list of the best fitness clubs in Toronto. From a quick glance these gyms seem to be more specialized and fit the “boutique style”. They are not your average YMCA or standard fitness gym but they are definitely worth a look. Also include a decent summary/review of each one and some user comments.

If you are looking for even more motivation, check out sportaholik.com to find a workout or fitness partner or join a fitness league.

The Toronto Star reports today that the small YMCA on Kingston Road will be closing in August due to declining membership.  However, they also say that ‘selling this facility is also part of a plan to build others across the GTA‘.  Find YMCA services in your area here. Need a partner for your Y activities? Post it at sportaholik.com!

The City of Toronto has backed down on the 21.5% sport and recreation facility rental increase, but they will still be increasing rental fees by 5% on top of the inflation increase.

‘Fewer than three in 10 Canadians play sports regularly — down from almost half in the early 1990s –and even the national institution of hockey is feeling the crunch.’

… according to a new StatsCan study. However…

‘They’re participating in other activities such as jogging, walking and fitness classes…’

One surprising thing is that golf has apparently taken over hockey as the most played sport in Canada. Other popular sports are swimming, soccer, basketball and volleyball. Enjoy!

As hinted at yesterday, the proposed hike for those renting ice time, pools, and other City of Toronto sports and recreation venues has been quashed. David Miller has apparently told the Parks department to find other ways other than rental rate hikes. Stay tuned.

There was news yesterday about fees for recreational sports venues to be hiked by the City of Toronto. The 2008 budget calls for an average 21.5% increase in the hourly rental fees for ice rinks, pools and sport fields. The National Post reports that, ‘the cost of renting private ice time at an indoor rink during prime time would rise to $325.23 from $242.89.’ The hike appears to have caught many councillors by surprise and some are vowing to have the price increases reversed. If the increased fees do go ahead Toronto recreational sports players can expect bare the brunt of the increases as sports leagues will likely pass along the fee hike to its players. Can’t afford the fees? The alternative, for some sports, is to get a group of players together to play at one of the many parks or school yards in the city for a game of pick up ball hockey, basketball, volleyball or baseball (to name a few). First step in organizing all of this is to put the word out for players and/or contact those who are looking to play. Playing sports in Toronto doesn’t have to be an expensive thing. The City of Toronto provides many parks that can be used free of charge. Yes, it may be harder to get a group of people together but that’s what sportaholik.com is for! (by the way, it works)

About a month ago I had half my soccer team fall apart - players moving out of town, busy with work or just couldn’t stomach our horrible losing record anymore. Whatever the case was we needed to rebuild our soccer team. This is the exact scenario that helped lead to the creation of sportaholik.com. So, I ventured into the sportaholik.com Toronto player database and contacted some of the soccer players listed. Between that and a game posting, within a few days I had filled the holes in our squad (4 players to be exact) and the rest is history. Oh, and our team, the Wooden Spoons, have been making a comeback in the standings ever since! There you have it: at least one proven success story for sportaholik.com. So, when you need a player or two (or four!?) for your Toronto team, whether for one night or a season, try sportaholik.com. Like what we’re doing? Why not tell a friend or join us on Facebook!