In this episode, I sit down with one of the true heartbeats of Capital Strength — Michelle Ayotte.

If you’ve ever trained at Capital, you know exactly who she is. The big smile. The loudest cheerleader in the room. The coach whose voice carries across the entire facility. The mastermind behind Boost Your Body Bootcamp, and so much of the creative energy that fuels our community.

Over the last four years, Michelle has grown into one of the most impactful coaches on our team — and in 2025, she challenged herself in a whole new way by completing a Half Ironman, showing a level of discipline and commitment that inspired all of us.

In this conversation, we dive into:

• What makes Capital Strength different and why she loves being part of this team

• How her coaching style has evolved since 2022

• Her most memorable coaching moments and the mentors who’ve shaped her

• Why she loves coaching women and what she’s learned from that experience

• The mental and physical challenges of training for a Half Ironman

• Her biggest lessons from endurance training

• What’s next for her competitively

• And her upcoming move to BC

Michelle brings energy, honesty, and heart to everything she does. This episode is about growth, commitment, community, and what it really means to lead from the front.

In this episode, Nick sits down with Matt, one of the physiotherapists at Capital Strength, to dive into hockey injuries, hip and groin health, and the role of sport science in modern rehab and performance. Drawing from his background as a high-level hockey player, Matt shares insights into why hip and groin issues are so common in skating sports and how understanding biomechanics changes both assessment and treatment. The conversation also explores how objective data from VALD testing is shaping smarter return-to-play decisions, reducing reinjury risk, and improving collaboration between coaches and clinicians. Matt also reflects on his first six months at Capital Strength, the power of an integrated team environment, and why community and culture matter just as much as the technology, or more!

Our first professional athlete on the podcast, and Capital Strength's first professional soccer player!

In this episode, we sit down with Emily, a professional soccer player for the Ottawa Rapid of the NSL, to reflect on her journey from collegiate athletics to the professional game. She shares what it was like being part of the Rapids’ inaugural season and how that experience compared to playing professionally in Sweden the year before. We dive into how her strength and training evolved across college, international play, and her summers at Capital Strength, and how an ACL injury in late 2024 reshaped her perspective on performance and resilience. The conversation wraps with insights on the growth of women’s sport in Canada and the lessons Emily hopes the next generation of athletes can take forward.

Donny came to Ottawa to be a Gee-Gee football player, but he stayed in Ottawa to be part of the Capital Strength family.

After football, through his love for the weight room, Don found Capital and never looked back. He retells the tale of how it all came to be in this episode.

Don takes us through his transition from Football, to Powerlifting, to Olympic lifting and his is debut on the marathon scene!

He’s a strength and breathwork coach, and the founder of Submerge Wellness.  A company redefining performance and recovery through breath, cold exposure, and sauna. We met during my planning phase of the 10 year anniversary party and we immediately connected on so many levels. He’s a husband, a father,  an inspiration to the health and fitness space, and leader in the industry here in Ottawa, welcome to the show Tarik Hassan! 

Today we’re going to discuss what got Tarik into the business of recovery and breath work and how he has progressed through his journey as a coach.  We’ll dive into the health and performance benefits of his recovery tools, we’ll get into some business stuff, challenges and lessons he’s come up against. And see where he thinks this space is going in the future…

Meet one of our newest Therapy Clinic additions, Justin Mai. Justin is one of our Performance Physiotherapists at Capital Strength .

He elaborates on his own story of pain and dysfunction that plagued him for years and eventually led him down the path towards Physio. He is a compassionate healer and someone who tackles musculoskeletal problems with a very holistic approach.

We discuss the shortcomings of traditional physiotherapy, the power of rehab and dive into the meaning of Performance Physiotherapy.

Raymond Rizk is a very good friend of mine and a longterm client. I've known him for over 15 years and trained him since he was a young boy going through the hockey ranks. He has been a Capital Crew member for over 5 years.

Now he is a polished professional in the finance world and for the first time on this podcast we discuss financial health. There are many parallels to finance and fitness, and we discuss several in this episode.

Ray shares his experiences with clients of all ages and tells the story of how he entered the industry. He is a CIM and CFP for Scotia McLeod who is now making a huge splash in the industry as a 29 year old in Ottawa. He is wise beyond his years and has so much important information to share with our community.

Listen and learn how having a goal in finance and fitness are achieved with a very similar plan, the secrets are in this episode!

Dr. Dave has become an integral piece of the Capital Strength Therapy Clinic and CSTS Fam.

Tune in to hear about his path towards becoming an elite level chiropractor in Ottawa. From almost dropping out of university to strength coach to dedicated practitioner, Dr. Dave has a very interesting story to tell.

Dr. Dave discusses his style of chiropractic practice. How he became the "needle guy" with his high level use of acupuncture and the lens it has given him when he's solving patients problems.

He also opens up about what inspired him to become an endurance athlete after completing 2 half iron-man's and how he balances the heavy demands of training with his work and personal life.

Sue is a long-time member of Capital Strength, an original from when our doors opened in 2015. She has see the changes and growth of CSTS with her own eyes from the start.

Sue's professional career started in fitness and she grew in the industry for 20 years before making her way in to Real Estate where she know leads a team who is recognized nationally within Royal Lepage.

Sue share's how she's kept fitness front and centre in her life through raising kids and becoming a working professional. Her outlook on fitness, nutrition and her level of discipline is something I think everyone can appreciate! She's been walking the walk and talking the talk for almost 40 years.

I think every woman and mother should give this one a listen, but I think everybody in our community would benefit from hearing her story!

Get to know Coach Mason in this podcast!

Learn about the path he took to Capital Strength and the experience he gained along the way. Mason and I met back in 2010 when he was a young AAA hockey player and I was his Strength Coach. A full circle moment for us.

Mason had the privilege of spending a summer as an intern at Gary Roberts Performance ,a world class hockey off-season program that houses NHL household names every summer. Mason shares inside stories of his time there with guys like Connor McDavid, Phil Kessel, Mark Sheifele, Steven Stamkos and more..

We discuss Sport Science, our experience with it and how we used it to revamp the Capital Strength Hockey Program.

Mason is a big Sens fan, so you can count on us chatting about the Ottawa Senators, their 2025 playoff run and their future.