The Toughen Up Story

About Toughen Up

Toughen Up is a practical training approach built for people who want to stay fit, capable, and “hard to kill”—especially as they get older.

It delivers a no-nonsense approach to fitness that blends strength, conditioning, combatives, and common sense. The focus is on building strength that matters, refining skills that carry over to real life, and training in a way that supports long-term health, resilience, and performance.

Who I Am

My name is Randy LaHaie. I’m a lifelong self-defence instructor, a retired cop, a professional trainer, and, like many people, I struggle with procrastination, getting started, and staying consistent with training and lifestyle habits—which is why I’ve spent years digging into self-discipline, behaviour design, and the neuroscience of follow-through. These ideas are woven into the Adherence Strategies embedded throughout the Toughen Up approach.

I spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement, much of that time developing and delivering officer safety and use-of-force training for a large municipal police agency. I served on patrol, in plainclothes, as a SWAT team member, and as the Officer Safety Coordinator responsible for critical incident training, policies, and performance standards.

Before, during, and after that career, I taught self-defence and combative fitness to thousands of people—law enforcement officers, high-risk professionals, and everyday citizens. I founded Protective Strategies in 1994 and have taught seminars across Canada on personal safety, conflict management, and combative training. I’ve also provided expert testimony in court and forensic reviews of critical events.

Toughen Up is a personal “passion project.” It’s my thing, what I do, who I am. It’s for people like me. People who want to stay strong, mobile, and athletic into their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. People who are done chasing performance metrics that don’t matter and just want to train in a way that improves how they feel, move, and perform in life.

I’m not a fitness guru. I’m here to teach what I know and share what works.

Why Toughen Up?

Toughen Up is about cultivating both self-discipline and toughness—physical, mental, and emotional—through consistent training and deliberate lifestyle choices.

The program is built around a core training framework that includes:

  • Kettlebell and bodyweight conditioning
  • Steel club and steel mace work
  • Combative fundamentals & striking drills
  • Mobility and joint resilience routines
  • Simple lifestyle strategies (you can’t out-train a bad lifestyle)
  • Adherence and self-discipline concepts to help you start and stay on track with your training.

The goal: lasting health and practical athleticism. The kind that keeps you capable, confident, and “hard to kill.” Training that supports your health and real-world performance.

You’ll find training methods that matter, applied in a way that fits your life.

What’s Next?

If you’re just getting started, I’ll soon be publishing content that walks through the fundamentals of the various Toughen Up programs and resources.

If you need equipment, I recommend White Lion Athletics—they make solid, well-priced kettlebells, maces, and clubs. I use their gear, teach with it, and earn a small commission if you buy through my affiliate link.

I plan to expand with step-by-step instruction, seminar announcements, and a growing library of training content based on what readers and students find most useful.

Toughen Up is part of a connected group of websites and training programs I’m building:

These are all part of the same mission: to help people become more capable, more resilient, and more deliberate in how they train, live, and work.

But all roads lead back here. Toughen Up is the foundation.

Final Word

If you want to train smart, stay safe, and get tougher over time, stick around.

Train smart, stay safe and Toughen Up.