Everyday people who may not feel it’s worth it to see a personal trainer and a nutritionist regularly in person, or perhaps simply can’t afford to.

There are 4 main objectives that we can currently handle within the group coaching option through semi-customization.

1. Fat Loss (our core offering)
2. Healthy Living
3. Muscle Mass Gain
4. Athletic Performance

The last one is still pretty generalized and largely has to do with a more advanced training program.

Naturally group training lowers the cost but also decreases customization.

*If you have specific athletic objectives that require specific training and nutrition strategies we recommend you sign up for our VIP Coaching option or our Private Coaching option.

This is the program option for people with more specific goals that need specific training programs and more specific nutrition advice for reaching those objectives.

If you have more specific needs or have a competition coming up and need to touch base with someone regularly for technique reviews and custom programs, then this is the option for you.

So far online we’ve trained people seeking:

• Fat Loss
• Muscle Mass
• Weekend Warriors

More specific athletic performance work has been conducted at a distance for:

• Marathoners/Distance Runners
• Cyclists
• Martial Arts Competitors
• Mountaineers/Climbers
• American Football Athletes
• Soccer (Football) Athletes

Basically we can cater things to specific sports, specific competitions and specific muscle or fat loss development. The group coaching program can only generally focus on fat loss, healthy living, muscle mass gains and some general improvements in athletic performance. That means it lacks much customization or specialization outside of that. The VIP coaching program is for someone who needs everything that private coaching offers just with extra accountability, more support and more coaching.

Our newest option!

This is the program option for people who need our utmost attention and highest priority. That means more feedback, attention and care.

Each week you’ll have a booked video call with your coach to go over how things went, how they are going and what changes should be made for the next week.

You get a weekly standing appointment with your coach. We’ll even take you through workouts, or help you with cooking or shopping.

Some people just need that accountability, that extra little bit and a monthly call is too long a time to be off-track.

Like the private coaching option, this one is still generally for people with more specific goals, that need specific training programs, and more specific nutrition advice for reaching those objectives. It just goes one step further; It’s for people who need even more customization and specifics for a special circumstance.

Whereas the group and private coaching programs help people who want coaching on the cheap and can do a little more on their own. This option is more for people who may have tried the group or private options and found they weren’t enough.

It is also an option for short periods of time when you may want/require a little more help with something.

Ever done a ‘do-it-at-your-own-pace’ online course before? Stats indicate that only about 3% of people actually finish those and derive the benefit they’re supposed to impart.

Why?

Mostly it has to do with some form of accountability. You’ll do better in this program going through it with a bunch of other real people in a similar situation to yourself. Social support is an invaluable ally in the process of change.

That means the group has to also be going through the same coaching process and experiences together. Our group programs are pre-planned and have group calls on any given skill typically every two weeks. If it was self-paced everyone would be all over the place, at different parts of their journey, so we’d never be able to coach you effectively.

The private and VIP coaching programs foster a stronger connection with your coach rather than the group as a collective. These options are more limited by coach availability and are made available as we hire new coaches or existing clients graduate onwards.

Why not commit to improving yourself for an entire year?

We started our one-on-one option first with a three month program. Everyone stayed on past three months. So we did a four month program. People stayed so we moved to a six month program and people still stayed in the program!

We thought maybe 8 or 10 months next but thought, why not just jump to a year? Most people stay at least that long anyway…

A year long commitment lets us offer you two months free, which is the biggest discount we offer on any of our coaching programs.

You can stay longer than a year if you need to, or cancel your monthly subscription if you got all you need out of the program eight months in. Up to you really.

Realistic change is 1-2 lbs of fat loss a week. Realistic muscle mass gain is half that. Real long-term sustainable change happens slower than we hope. More importantly as our program is predominantly mindset driven, changing your psychology is even slower but definitely worth the most investment.

Why not commit to improving yourself?

We started our private coaching option first with a three month program. Everyone stayed on past three months. So we did a four month program. People stayed so we moved to a six month program and people still stayed in the program!

So when we launched the group program we made it a year. We’ve had people in our private coaching program for over 3 years now.

However, moving our private and group options to a year committment seemed like a little too much money for most people to pay upfront so we settled on a 6 month subscription instead.

It’s a secret. Not really… but it’s hard to explain. You really have to experience it.

To offer our basic and group programs we are using largely the Precision Nutrition* curriculum. Basically we have something for you to do almost every day, a routine to get into. You’re contacted daily to login, you take measurements every two weeks to gauge progress, there are lessons to teach you the basics of nutrition, workouts to do regularly and a habit (we prefer the term ‘skill’) to practice every couple of weeks.

It takes anywhere from 5 minute a day to roughly an hour or so on days you train. It’s a journey of self-discovery that you can opt into as much of or as little of as you’re prepared to commit. We meet you where you’re at.

Then some of the Fitnack system we built for one-on-one coaching is available to you to augment their curriculum and provide a little more semi-customization. It lets us put our spin on an otherwise pretty great group coaching system.

*Please note we are not affiliated with PN beyond this capacity. We have effectively a licensing agreement. We cannot change their curriculum, only augment it with our coaching feedback and the Fitnack system. 

It’s a secret. Not really… but it’s hard to explain. You really have to experience it.

You can access the same group program (just not in a group) if you like. However, you’ll still have your private calls and the custom programming. We meet regularly to redesign your exercise program and recommend more specific nutrition strategies.

Typically though people will use the Fitnack system more directly as it was built more for one-on-one coaching. That means we do a more specific individual assessment and then on our coaching calls we decide and assign skill modules to you.

Most skill modules are 2 weeks in length but we also have some very specific diet solutions for level 2 or 3 eaters. We can get into more advanced stuff in the customized modules. This is important for people who already have the basics of nutrition and or exercise down.

You even shape our development of new skill coaching modules and your customized programming helps influence and drive some of our group options.

The private and VIP programs have and require a little more autonomy. The group and basic programs are more automated.

Basically all you have to do is login and complete the cards/lessons/modules assigned to you. We (or PN) even send you email reminders to do so. We’ll take care of the rest.

Once you’re in, you’ll see 1-3 small tasks to complete each and every day. You’re just going to read, listen to, practice, measure, implement or watch something we ask and give us some notes on those things. There is a chat system available to you to interact with your coach and we encourage you to use it. We try to keep things quick and to the point, so you’re spending about 5-15 minutes a day logged in doing various things.

It’s just an accumulation of many typical days. Our program truly focuses on each day, rather than each week or month. You can’t look ahead or daydream too much into the future.

If you choose only an exercise option, you’ll typically be asked to do a provided training program a minimum of three days per week and a maximum of six, depending on you and your preferences. If that’s a customized program it will be catered to you exactly. Obviously people who train more get a faster result, but not necessarily a ‘better’ result if training too frequently each week isn’t sustainable. Training sessions are typically 20-60 minutes, again, depending on you. There are several different options and an element of autonomy here.

If you go with only the nutrition option, most days you’ll be required to login and practice the nutrition skill/habit asked of you. There will be something daily for you to read/watch/listen to. There is more to it of course, but you have to take the program to find that out. All options have the ability to track progress bi-weekly.

If you opt for both (we think you should if you can) then you get all of that.

We’re going to teach you a lot about the psychology of change. The idea is to help you stick with daily changes consistently through your week.

No problem. The group and basic programs last a full year but assumes you’ll have a few weeks of vacation out of the year. You can always catch up on things after the fact.

You should communicate as best you can with your coach and we’ll make it work. Most places have an internet connection these days, so we’re still just a click away.

The private and VIP programs have travel modules build specifically for getting more out of your eating and exercise routines while travelling. That means your vacation is the perfect opportunity to practice your skills.

We travel and work a bunch too. The nature of being a trainer or a nutritionist is to have a very unpredictable schedule. Sure cooking all your own meals is a safe way to lose fat, but it’s not incredibly realistic if your occupation relies on client dinners. Let’s face it sometimes you’ll just want to eat out too.

We teach you a ton about planning, damage control, back up plans, stress management, sleep management, productivity, how to choose meals at various restaurants or on planes, etc…etc… Nobody wants to be ‘that-guy’ or ‘that-girl’ on a diet.

Remember we don’t think a diet is something you go on, so our program is about blending the positive benefits of higher quality eating and moving into your busy lifestyle. It’s NOT about putting your life on hold, just to get a short-term result.

The private and VIP coaching options have more specific modules on this.

If you’re on the month-to-month payment plan, you can cancel at any time from your ‘My Account’ page for an upcoming month.

You can also message us within the app or email support and let us know that you’d like to cancel before your next payment is due and we’re happy to cancel your coaching program. You’ll have access up until the day before your next payment would have been due.

If you committed to a six-month or yearly option you can do the same and you’ll have access up until your next payment would have come out.

If you want out early from a long-term discounted program before your next payment is due we can pro-rate the difference for you. However, early cancelations of discounted programs will forfeit the discount. That means we’ll pro-rate and refund the equivalent month-to-month payment, not the discounted payment.

Early cancelation would otherwise serve no incentive. Basically any discounted upfront payments will revert to month-to-month in the event you have to leave your coaching program early.

i.e. You sign up for 6 months, do 4 months and can no longer continue before the start of month 5. We’ll refund you some of your upfront payment minus 4 months x $169 out of your total upfront payment. 

All your tracking records will be deleted from our system within a month. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Absolutely. Not many fitness apps can say that.

If you get into the program and after a month or three or six you decide it’s not really for you or you no longer want to participate, talk to us.

We don’t want anyone we work with to be unhappy. We guarantee you’ll be happy or we’ll make you happy one way or another!

If you’re really unhappy at any time just talk with us. We’ll work it out. If you have to leave, or the experience isn’t what you expected, we want you to leave happy.

We believe in good Karma.

Bottomline we want you to be happy.

The customization we can do in the more expensive private and VIP coaching programs is not paced in advance. It can be catered to someone who perhaps has a very specific goal to hit by a certain date only a few months from now. Say someone who wants to lose 10 lbs for their wedding in a few months.

In such a case you may only want to sign up for a month-to-month program. We’d encourage you to commit to at least six months, that’s why we offer that discounted rate, but it’s up to you.

This discount is place because we’ve found over the last couple of years that all of our online clients have stayed for at least six months anyway and yearly payments would be too large otherwise.

However, this won’t work well for the group programs. Group programs have a paced curriculum that is slowly released to you over a years time. The group programs focus on long-term change rather than short-term goals.

The group month-to-month options are for people with monthly budgets in mind, or those who prefer a monthly payment similar to your cable or hydro bills.

We know that all of this doesn’t seem fair but it reduces our administration costs to only have to worry about billing once or twice a year.

If we’re being honest, it also helps our small business with cash flow and it felt nice to pass some of those savings forward to clients.

Of course it also incentivizes you to commit to a longer term and disincentives people who aren’t ready to commit. We’ve found a long-term commitment is a critical element to success and most people don’t really hit their stride until 2-4 months in, even with the weekly calls.

Everyone has their preconceived notions about what a “healthy diet” is. We’re here to tell you that the perfect diet doesn’t exist, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can move on to what matters.

A good diet does 5 things:

1. It’s maintains your quality of life (something you can live with!)
2. It addresses nutritional deficiencies
3. It controls energy balance
4. It places an emphasis on quality
5. It reduces refined fats, sugars and grains

We’re going to give you an easy step-by-step approach to eating based on developing skill and changing your habits, rather than worrying too specifically about calories or other labour intensive eating methods. We focus on cleaning up your meals and finding strategies that work for you. It’s not a diet you have to go on.

Of course! We love working with people from all backgrounds and of all levels of experience. We’ll help you figure out the specifics of your vegetarian approach, like if dairy, eggs or even being a pescatarian might be appropriate for you.

After all, there is more than one kind of Vegetarian.

We’re not here to tell you right or wrong, we’re here to work with you on optimal solutions given your desire or need to eat a certain way.

For instance if you’re not an ovo-lacto-vegetarian, then we will work with you on finding optimal sources of protein for your diet.

Absolutely! Honestly, we respect your right to choose how you eat. Most of the Vegan’s we’ve worked with, do so because of their beliefs on eating animal products.

The coaching process isn’t about telling you that your diet is wrong or right. It’s about working with you to find optimal solutions based on your wants, needs and beliefs. We don’t believe in dogma or pushing an agenda. Our only agenda is to help people succeed.

There are certain constraints of certain approaches to eating that can make thing seem harder, but we’ll simplify them for you. For example, with a Vegan diet, we might ask you to consider additional supplementation for nutrients that tend to be lacking in a Vegan diet, like Vitamin B12.

We’ll work with Vegan’s, Vegetarian’s, Low-Carb eaters, Keto folks, High Carb Eaters…anyone really…

It really doesn’t matter how you want to label your eating, we’ve worked with people like you. We know how to find solutions to common problems, while sticking within your eating ideals.

What separates us from most “diets,” isn’t what we tell you to eat, it’s how we help you change what you eat over time.

Provided you’re open to some changes…

Often people who take on big changes in diet like Paleo, can feel stuck without some key mindset help. We help you figure out the components of a diet that work for you within a supportive environment.

Of course the basic premise of fat loss is a negative energy balance. The basic premise of muscle gain is a surplus.

It’s just not that realistic to reduce (or increase) your calories on paper and expect that to translate to the real world.

Your body is a complex biological organism, with lots of factors contributing to energy balance. Calorie counting for example, can be off 8-25% from what your bioavailable (fancy word for what you actually absorb) calorie intake actually is.

There are lots of reasons why just ‘eating less’ tends to fail:

• Makes you feel perpetually hungry
• Creates too severe of a deficit (alters metabolism negatively)
• Can create nutritional deficiencies
• Heavy restriction increases desire for junky calorie dense foods

You can lose weight with any true negative energy balance, or gain it with some resistance training and a surplus but some ways are easier and more healthful than others. We believe our approach is a more healthful way. Don’t kill Peter to pay Paul.

Yep! Everyone has slightly specific needs. If you can’t tolerate dairy or gluten, don’t worry, we don’t place any specific emphasis on any specific foods.

We use a concept we call ‘spectrum eating’ and fill in your gaps within the spectrum.

There is no such thing as “good” food and “bad” foods, but rather more ideal foods for a certain individual and less ideal foods for the same individual.

Even people with lactose intolerance can often tolerate lower lactose foods like cheese or butter in small quantities. Dosage matters. The quality of your ingredients matters. We go over all of this in the program step-by-step.

Yep. We’ve worked with all sorts of injuries before, so we’ll cater your program to your needs. You might even say we specialize a little in post-rehab training.

Even our non-customized group programs have built-in workarounds for people with common acute or chronic issues.

We might encourage you to see a physiotherapist or an athletic therapist if we think you need additional treatment, but most old nagging injuries are incredibly easy to work around if you know what you’re doing.

We’ll teach you how to get an awesome training effect with suitable exercises based on your needs. We don’t use square pegs with round holes.

Yes and no. We will always work with you to find suitable substitutions, no matter what your situation.

However, we strongly believe that access to certain training equipment like free weights, bands, cables stacks, and a few other noteworthy pieces of equipment can be extremely helpful. Many of these pieces of equipment are expensive and more readily available at your local gym, but not an absolute requirement for participation.

We have at-home training options in our group and customized programs.

Although training from home is convenient, it’s often a distracting environment. There are dishes to do, kids to feed, the internet is begging you to check facebook and of course T.V. If you do want to train from home, we encourage you to create your own isolated training space that creates some separation between your personal home life and your exercise life.

You will however, probably need to invest a few more dollars into some recommended home training equipment. Things like a foam roller, elastic bands, a chin-up bar, a suspension trainer and maybe some dumbbells.

See this for our recommendations on home training equipment.

Unlike our custom programs where we custom design programs specifically to your needs (including how many times per week you want to train or don’t want to train and all the exercises) there is more of a system involved the group programs.

It will depend on what goals you have and what injuries but there are 14 different year long exercise programs designed for specific objectives for each gender (yah they are specific to gender too!).

Depending on what objective you choose (there is something pretty much for everyone) most programs have something for you to do five or six days a week but everything is opt in. Meaning, if you can only train two or three times a week, then you only train two or three times a week.

It’s just easier to plan for the max number of days we’d ever program for someone and then scale it back to semi-customize it for you based on how much time you can commit. Each workout has a few different modification options too depending on your situation on that day.

That being said…We try to encourage working up to a minimum of three days of training per week, and a maximum of six. Something is always better than nothing.

We can help you find more time in your week that you can schedule for training, as well as showing you how to optimize your time during training to squeeze more effectiveness out of each and every training session.

If you can train five or six days a week, awesome, you’ll probably get a faster result with more frequency, but it’s not a requirement. A faster result won’t necessarily help you in the long run if you can’t sustain it either.

VIP and Private trainees will receive customized workouts via PDF and/or spreadsheet.

Again, Fitnack is really about you.

Ideally we find something you are willing to develop skill in rather than something you suspect you could be passionate about. Contrary to popular opinion, passion tends to follow skill development.

So while most people would tell you to just find a form of exercise you enjoy, that is easier said than done. Really you should focus on a form of exercise that you feel you can develop a certain level of skill doing.

We’re slightly biased to resistance training in combination with some exercise for your heart for this reason. They are both approachable forms of exercise that anyone can do with little previous experience. There is a short learning curve for each.

However, the specifics of the approach is different for everyone, so even though there is a group program, your version of it will vary from other people in the group program.

If you already love doing something, awesome! We’d never ask you to stop moving or participating in an activity you really enjoy. We’ll find ways to compliment them with other forms of training if we can.

That’s great active recovery. It’s just not nearly as effective as planned deliberate exercise. Lower intensity activities require more time investment due to lower intensities. What you could do with three hours of deliberate progressive training a week, might take ten or more with light activities like walking or gardening. Not to mention that a lack of time is the biggest reason cited for not exercising.

Many light intensity forms of movement are a good way to get started on your own, but with a little help we can progress you past that quickly to a better result.

Of course we’d never tell you to stop those activities. Anything that keeps you moving regularly is useful, it’s just not the most time efficient for specific objectives like fat loss. You’d be hard pressed to gain much muscle mass without resistance training if that’s your goal and you’d have a tough time improving athletic performance without a combination of both.

Chances are if you were having success with this option, you wouldn’t be here either. You can keep doing what you’re doing, or you can consider trying something different.

Many people still believe that they have to absolutely kill themselves training to get the result they seek. However, people who maintain really well, elicit entirely different behavior. We’re going to work with you to find an appropriate intensity of training based on your needs.

For some people that means learning when to actually take a break. Too much exercise can sometimes hinder progress.

For others it means figuring out what the high end of your threshold is. Not enough of a stimulus means your body doesn’t adapt to training and you don’t get the result you seek.

Interestingly enough this is something that separates elite athletes from amateur athletes. Elite athletes are far lazier than you may think, but when they go hard they go harder and when they go light, they go lighter than amateurs. The light ‘lazy’ work lets them handle harder work when it actually matters.

Most of the time we stick by our motto:

Work + Rest = Success

Everybody has to start somewhere!

We’ve helped many people in their 70’s, who have never formally exercised a day in their lives before working with us. You’re never too old or too young to start really.

Exercise is a skill that can be taught like any other (like math or writing) and we’ve been perfecting our system of teaching for more than 10 years. Working with beginners is wonderfully rewarding and we welcome it with open arms!

Do you want to get bulky?

This can be a common concern, particularly for women. We hear you.

No doubt you’ve probably been told you have 10x less testosterone than men (a key ingredient in muscle building) and that even with resistance training several times a week you won’t get bulky. The truth is that it’s often difficult for men to ‘bulk up.’

For example, see one of our awesome female clients, who has been weight training two to three times a week with us for more than a decade now.

We know that’s not always what you mean. Maybe her look isn’t your desirable look. That’s fine. Each of the 14 group exercise programs is catered to different needs, so if you don’t want to build muscle you won’t be on a muscle building program. Simple as that.

Again, Fitnack isn’t about us telling you what’s right and what’s wrong, it’s about working with you to find what works for you.

Resistance training is extremely healthy for women, who suffer from more muscle and bone loss due to aging than men. Maybe twice a week is all you need for health though and you want to round that out with more cardio or a fun activity you like to do. That’s cool too.

We will say this: It’s typical for everyone to retain more water when they first start resistance training. This creates a ‘puffy’ undesirable look in some people that they mistake for ‘bulky.’ If they had only continued down the path, water balance usually sorts itself out and that undesirable look gradually disappears.

That’s part of the reason our program isn’t some get-fit-quick-28-day-scam. After 6-12 months of training, you’ll have had enough time realize the benefits of including resistance training in your routine. Without the puffiness most 28 day programs could leave you with. We’re confident you’ll be happy with how you look at the end of the program. That’s all that matters to us.

How much value would you find in free? It’s easy to skip out on free, or leave it till tomorrow. Basically we take free for granted and are less likely to follow through on our objectives.

Netflix is completely automated with no human beings checking in on you all the time, changing exercises, making nutrition recommendations or interacting with you. All of those things require a well-trained coaches time. Maybe one day we can offer a coach-free program, but we’re not there yet.

The secret sauce of Fitnack is the regular human interaction. Mentorship is 3x more effective than trying to figure something out on your own.

Can you figure things out on your own?

We don’t know, can you?

Why are you here if you have it figured out?

Charging a real fee creates a stronger association with completing the program. We want you to take this seriously and we only want to work with serious people.

If you want to try things on your own, you’re welcome to do that, if you like . Please feel free to use any of our many free resources like our blog or White Belt Fitness.

I’ve (Darren) personally answered almost two thousand questions on Quora for free. It’s all top notch information but it’s not the same as having a coach with you every step of the way.

More satisfaction than a grande latte each and every day.

$99 is roughly what you’d pay an above average trainer or nutritionist for each hour of their time in most large cities. We don’t know of any trainers or nutritionists in that price range that will touch base with you almost every day.

Seriously, it works out to be about $3.30 a day. In Canadian dollars too, so that’s like an additional bajillion% off every app that charges in USD.

Considering the frequency you get to touch base with us, it works out to pennies on the minute. Believe us, this is one of the cheapest coaching experiences you’re ever likely to have.

Research continually shows that nutrition combined with exercise changes leads to maximum results.  Just in case you think you have a distinct problem with one or the other, we have a cheaper option that just tackles one or the other.

It basically has everything the group program has but you can:

• Start at any time we have openings
• Have a private video chat with your coach every month
• Get additional access to Fitnack features
• Receive customized exercise programs and nutrition strategies

This is probably the right option for you if:

• You think you’re going to need a something a little more customized to you, rather than a group
• You’d like more direct attention and face-time from your coach
• You’re a little more private or introverted so the group thing isn’t your bag
• You’ve gone through the regular program with some success, but not all the success you’d like

It requires more time from the coach, hence the slight increase in cost, but gets you more face time to ask specific questions in a private environment. Due to time constraints, we can only make these available as coach availability opens up. You can access everything within the group program still and more if you desire.

It basically has everything this program has but you can:

• Start at any time we have openings
• Have a private video chat with your coach every week
• Get additional access to Fitnack features
• Receive customized fitness programs and nutrition strategies

This is probably the right option for you if:

• You have impactful mental or emotional hurdles that you know you have to work through
• You know you’re going to need to talk things through with your coach regularly
• You need high priority support
• You’d like a lot more attention and face-time from your coach
• You’ve gone through one of the other programs with some success, but not all the success you’d like

It requires the most time from the coach, but gets you more face time to ask specific questions in a private environment and access to a few extras. We prioritize coaching and support for our VIP clients but only take on a select few each year.

We don’t actively push this option because we believe that nutrition + exercise = the best result.

We don’t recommend it unless you feel confident that your nutrition or exercise program is on point.

Meaning: It’s not for you unless you only want or need help with nutrition OR exercise.

However, some long-term fans wanted something at a lower price point so we’ve decided to offer something slightly more affordable.

By focusing on only one thing, we give you some flexibility and additional affordability. It also gives you an opportunity to test the waters out, see if Fitnack is right for you, at a lower cost.

Maybe you feel like your nutrition is awesome, you just really need to figure out how to get more out of your training. Or Vice versa?

Sometimes it helps to isolate one variable at a time. Focusing your attention on nutrition or fitness can prevent some people from feeling overwhelmed.