Thomas King, MSc, CK, CSCS, is a Certified Kinesiologist (Newfoundland and Labrador Kinesiology Association), Strength and Conditioning Specialist (National Strength and Conditioning Association), and JKConditioning’s (JKC) first full-time strength coach. 

Thomas has been training clients since completing his Bachelor of Kinesiology degree in 2014. While working as a trainer, Thomas pursued his Master of Science in Kinesiology at Memorial with a focus on human performance in harsh environments graduating in May 2016. In July of that year, he began working with JKC and has been with the team ever since.

While working with JKC, Thomas has co-authored fitness articles with Jon-Erik Kawamoto for publications such as Bodybuilding.com and Muscle and Fitness magazine. He has also been quoted as a fitness expert in Men’s Journal and has co-authored one peer-reviewed publication titled: “How does load and impulse influence the success of jettisoning a simulated S-92 push-out window”. 

During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, Thomas began to feel that his own workouts and pandemic “routine” had become stale. To remedy this, he completely shifted his personal programming and began training for Strongman competitions. To date he has competed in numerous local shows with his best finish being second place at the 2023 NL’s Strongest competition. Nationally, Thomas was one of two athletes to represent the province at the Canadian Hercules contest in Calgary in September 2023 finishing in tenth place.

I’ve always struggled with both my weight and anxiety throughout my life. As a writer you live a pretty sedentary lifestyle filled with both realistic and unrealistic deadlines, so I needed something to get me off my butt and to get me moving. JK has been a godsend during this past year and a half in particular. The pandemic has been tough, but workouts with both Thomas and Jon have really helped reduce the stress and strain of a global pandemic, and added an anchor of normalcy back into my life — which has been worth its weight in gold.

JKC has created an incredibly inclusive environment that’s filled with all kinds of supportive folks from all kinds of different backgrounds. For folks like myself, being surrounded by people with such athletic ability can be intimidating in most gyms. It can actually be a deterrent, and it sometimes has been for me. But, at JKC it’s far from that — it’s inspirational. Everyone supports one another. Which is something that’s not easily found in this day and age, inside of a gym or out. Not to sound like a total cheeseball here, but it really feels like a family.

log overhead press

I had tried JKC based on the recommendation of a parent of one of my students. I originally started by attending Saturday drop in classes. I was hooked. I decided to join full time when I I had taken a year off from teaching and it was the best thing I have done for myself.

First and foremost the trainers at JKC are extremely knowledgeable. I feel like they are as dedicated to my success as I am. The workouts are tailored to me, my skills and my goals. This is important. Jon and Thomas truly want the best for their clients no matter what level of fitness they are starting from. I also like being able to book a session at a time that suits my schedule. This also helps keep me accountable. Once the session is booked I am not likely to cancel!

My original reason for joining JKC was to get some sage advice to help with my running. I had been looking for awhile, came across Jon, met for an assessment, and was quite happy with how that all went. Apart from the running specific strengthening and conditioning approaches, JKC is different from other gyms as I am a fan of the small group sessions where everyone has their own goals and individualized programs. As well, the run coaching is super. All the coaches go the extra mile to make sure you get the best out each training session. They are fantastic motivators! My favourite memory is deadlifting 330lbs. Making a lot of great friends and meeting some really cool people is pretty high up on that list, too.

I recently turned 40, and I have been training at JKC since the summer of 2020. My partner Michael had already been training at JKC, so it came highly recommended. We had set up a home gym at the start of the pandemic, but needed to mix it up after the first lockdown. JKC differs from other gyms because of the personalized workouts. Jon, Thomas and Craig are great at challenging me to do more than I would on my own.

I recently visited Newfoundland for one month, and was looking for a good place to train while I was there. Jon and the team at JK conditioning really took the time to assess what I already knew, and set achievable goals for the time that I had with them. The gym was such a great place to push yourself. It had everything you needed, but more importantly it had a well organized, very knowledgeable, and really motivating group of trainers to push you at each workout. Not to mention a really nice group of other members who also motivated me to go that little bit further. I would highly recommend the gym to anyone who has a goal and wants to find a place to help them achieve it.

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