BCBusiness

O btaining services from outside sup- pliers — other- wise known as outsourcing — is a valuable business practice because, if done correctly, it means the best professionals are acquired to help you achieve your business needs. Curtis Christopherson believes this concept should also be applied to health and tness. In fact, he has built his company, Innovative Fitness, around this idea and its success has rendered gyms obsolete for thousands of clients. That's because Innovative Fitness (IF) is a private training studio rather than a gym: nobody dropping in off the street, no group tness sessions, no waiting to use the equipment. Instead, an intuitive personality matching process pairs each IF client with a professional training coach and a personalized tness program that suits his or her needs, and the workouts are scheduled. Launched more than 20 years ago, IF has 11 locations (including downtown Toronto) and is currently the largest network of exclusive personal training studios in North America. Christopherson, who owns and presides over the organization, notes that outsourcing one's tness in this fashion is especially important for people in the business community. "By the time you reach your mid-40s, chances are you've compromised your health in order to build your career, and yet you're just about to enter your highest income earning years. "It therefore makes sense to become as healthy as possible, if only to maximize your productivity — and instead of wasting time in a gym, a personalized program gives you measurable goals that an experienced coach can help you achieve." Indeed, while the tness industry over the decades has cycled through boot camps, cross-t, interval training, and other trends, IF has steadfastly remained true to its core concept. And while its facilities are bright and luxurious, the fundamental reason for IF's success is its coaches, who are fully certied with training that extends beyond four-month programs and includes degrees in kinesiology and human kinetics, golf and sport specic certications, nutrition and stretching. With this degree of knowledge, IF will rst discuss with a client his or her health history, past injuries and tness goals. A functional movement assessment is then undertaken, followed by an overall tness assessment in order to establish benchmarks for cardio, strength, exibility and other factors. "From there, a workout program is formulated that is truly tailored — and by exercising one-on-one with a coach instead of in a group, you are held accountable for your performance," says Christopherson, who adds that workouts are taken seriously to the point where a 24-hour appointment cancellation policy is mandatory. All of this is vital to the time-starved CEO or entrepreneur seeking a healthy lifestyle because it eliminates the time waste associated with the group tness approach or cookie-cutter coaching found in most gyms — as high-power clients such as professional athletes, celebrities and individuals like chef Rob Feenie (who lost 62 pounds in six months and dropped his body fat from 34 percent to 13.5 percent) and many others have discovered. IF's client base includes some of the biggest entrepreneurs in Greater Vancouver and Toronto, which is especially satisfying for Christopherson as he expects this clientele to expand steadily. "The business world is more stressful than ever, and thanks to mobile technology there's no such thing as leaving your ofce at the end of the day," he says. "Health is absolutely paramount in this environment, and I'm proud to be able to provide efcient solutions." + INNOVATIVe fITNess A Customized Program Will Suit Your Exact Fitness Needs Instead of wasting time in a ym, you are held accountable for what you do here Created by BCBusiness in partnership with Innovative Fitness Im age cour t esy InnovatI v e FItness Innovative Fitness has remained true to its core concept that personalized workouts give you measurable goals

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