Jonathan Goodman loves exercise, hates bad socks, and considers himself a key lime pie connoisseur. He is the creator of the Personal Trainer Development Center (thePTDC) a site that reaches over 2.45 million trainers a year, sold tens of thousands of copies of his books, training programs, and courses, and has been featured in Men’s Health, Schwarzenegger.com, Muscle & Fitness, and Forbes amongst others. Originally from Toronto, Jon spends his winters exploring the World.

Jonathan Goodman's journey can be characterized by the mantra "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear".

It all started in 1999 when a goon served him with a cheap shot leaving him concussed in a hockey game. At 15 years old and weighing 105lbs soaking wet, he joined the local YMCA. Those early days are fondly remembered by picturing the day when he would be able to "lift the big boy weights" – the ones that weigh 20lbs each.

Quickly discovering a love for exercise physiology, he enrolled in a 4-year honors program studying Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario. By second year he was a personal trainer at the University's sport and recreation center – a position that he held for 3 years until he graduated.

Aside from the 20-25hrs / week practice in the gym while studying Kinesiology, the position afforded Jon the luxury of countless mentors posing as gym rats that were completing their PhD's in exercise physiology and Nutrition. High level discussions would often take place until 2 or 3 in the morning and Jon was allowed to be a fly on the wall.

It was at the University of Western Ontario where Dr. Peter Lemon (also the mentor of Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition) introduced Jon to research, introducing him to cutting edge studies on the benefits of creatine, protein supplementation, and caffeine as an ergogenic aid. In addition to his schooling and work in the gym, Jon had the opportunity to participate in a semester abroad studying sports science in Melbourne Australia.

Upon graduation Jon took a position at Body + Soul Fitness, a boutique gym in Toronto, Canada. Having an affluent clientele proved beneficial. Little did they know it, but much of what Jon knows he learned from his clients as they ranged from lawyers to doctors to teachers and even included the associate Dean of Medicine at a major University and the head of psychiatry at a major hospital in Toronto.

At 23 years old Jon took on the role of senior trainer at Body + Soul's brand new flagship location -- a 10,000 square foot facility in one of the wealthiest areas of Toronto. It was here that he began to hire, train, and mentor trainers. During this tenure Jon became disenchanted at the lack of adequate materials for trainer-education. After speaking to a client who would soon become his greatest teacher, he took it upon himself to "write the book that was going to change the industry around the World". Jon's never been one to think small.

3 years later Ignite the Fire V1.0 was released and with it, the Personal Trainer Development Center (thePTDC) was born. Since then Ignite has been bought by tens of thousands of trainers Worldwide in addition to being added to College curriculums, trainer mentorship programs, and as a staple in many gyms onboarding programming. Since it's birth in 2012, thePTDC has grown into the largest collaborative blog for personal trainers Worldwide reaching over 2.45 million trainers yearly in all corners of the World.

Jon has contributed work to Men's Health, Schwarzenegger.com, Livestrong, Bodybuilding.com, Greatist, and a host of other magazines and blogs. In addition, Jon's been a featured or quoted expert in the following newspapers and publications: Muscle & Fitness, Forbes, The Globe and Mail, IDEA Fitness Journal, Personal Fitness Professional, AusFit Pro, ACE Prosource, BreakingMuscle, and many more.

Being the benefactor of so many great mentors himself, Jon's hope is that he can Ignite the same Fire in others.

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