The fitness industry has a reputation problem. We realized that governments and health authorities don’t value our profession in relation to preventative health. It’s heartbreaking and incredibly disappointing. We have a lot of public relations and lobbying work to do to build our reputation, and we can start here: Want fitness to be seen as essential? Speak less about the bodies we sculpt. Speak more about the lives we save. In many provinces, states, and countries gyms were amongst the first business to close during the pandemic and the last to reopen. Through my work as VP of the Fitness Industry

A message to fitness instructors who are recently unemployed. You’re allowed to be heartbroken, please take time to heal. Then, when you’re ready, get curious and creative about what lies ahead for the fitness industry. Please trust me – NEVER BEFORE HAVE THERE BEEN MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR QUALIFIED AND DEDICATED FITNESS PROS! I’m inundated each week with “if you know someone great” messages from owners and leaders.  These may look different than what you’ve been used to, especially if you were teaching pre-formatted classes. So that means change, which is uncomfortable. But helping people move past their comfort zones to better

Let’s get real fitfam; we have a relationship problem. Business owners and managers are struggling more than ever in finding the right staff and fitness pros aren’t working WITH them to build the compensation they want.  As the cupid of the fitness industry, I absolutely see both sides and am here to help! Let’s not waste a crisis and use the current employment climate to break away from traditional compensation models.  Fitness pros keep telling me they hate being seen as staff who just come in to teach their class or train their client, and then leave. They are paid as

I read a post by Cory Muscara that stopped me in my tracks last week. “Not being willing to let go of a life we like is often the reason we don’t have a life that we love.” Does that resonate with your current job in the fitness industry? I know the reason I stayed at a few jobs was because I “liked” it: the work, the people, the salary. The push to move away from those jobs just wasn’t enough and I didn’t have anything much better lined up. So, I stayed, sometimes longer than I should have for my

Congratulations Louise Vigneault for winning canfitpro’s prestigious Participant’s Choice PRO TRAINER Award! Please join us in celebrating our phenomenal PRO TRAINER team member Louise who was selected by canfitpro thanks to her incredible mentoring and support of each and every student that comes through her certification courses. Here is just one example of feedback we’ve received from a former participant in her course: “Louise is a fantastic teacher having the knowledge, the methods, the talent to connect to people, and the patience to help her students overcome all the obstacles.  Louise is honest, friendly, and very pleasant. I know she will

Have you walked by your headshot at your gym or studio and noticed you changed your hairstyle 4 times since then? Does your LinkedIn bio still have you working at your old job? Not keeping up with all the in-person and digital places where we identify ourselves can lead to some serious confusion as to who we truly are and the fantastic services we now offer.  It can be a bit embarrassing. How do you consistently communicate the best of yourself to ALL potential employers and clients?   You need to attract more of the right career opportunities and build your

Do you have everything in place to get the most out of your fitness career this Fall? Here are my top 3 tips to use in the next 3 weeks of August to set yourself up for 3 phenomenal months of Autumn!  The last 6 months have been a whirlwind of adaptation and resilience and all indications are that Fall 2021 will be thriving in health and fitness. If you’re like me, you not only kept serving your clients and participants as well as staying agile to respond to new opportunities that came your way. The stage is set to thrive

We are perfectly poised for long and rewarding careers, as long as we understand key opportunities. Are you ready to adapt to trends in the $1.5 trillion wellness market? Your current and potential clients are looking for programs and services that are at the fingertips of savvy fitness professionals.  Here are three key skills that will have you serving your clients’ needs in the years to come:  Skill #1: Moving Towards Better Sleep With most adults stating that they aren’t getting enough sleep, we owe it to provide guidance towards better sleep hygiene. Its impact on productivity, energy, food choices and

As we enjoy the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere things are heating up in the fitness industry! Is your summer programming setting you up to thrive in your career in the Fall?  Some of us are jumping right into some new routines with our clients and classes while others, especially those who kept going the past 15 months, and taking some much-needed rest.  For me, I’ve adapted my planning from 2 seasons-ahead to 1 season-ahead in order to stay agile and be truly adaptable to faster-moving changes and needs of my clients and partners. I thought I’d

Depending on how long you’ve worked in the fitness industry, you’ve probably been through a few iterations of stretching versus flexibility versus mobility. We all want our clients and participants to benefit from pain-free movement and are drawn to theories, systems, and tools that can support it.  As a Yoga teacher, I constantly get asked which movement, or asana, helps “stretch” which muscle by my clients, and my answer is rarely as simple as they’d like it to be. My colleague Mai-Linh Dovan from Rehab-U wrote this comprehensive article that helped me reframe the concept, I hope it does the same

Do you have the desire to provide a motivational boost to your community? I have the perfect solution for you! National Physical Activity Day will be held on June 5th and I invite you to participate by offering an event.  While this is a Canadian event, I promise my fitfam around the world that you’ll be inspired and find great resources on these web site and apps!  It is my pleasure to be a part of it again this year along with you, my wonderful colleagues. This year’s National Physical Activity Day will also give you the opportunity to speak out