Business Resiliency Winner: Synapse Health & Fitness

ABOUT IMPACT MAGAZINE & THE AWARDS

As IMPACT Magazine celebrates its 30-year anniversary, they are also be celebrating and honouring others in the health and fitness industry that have embodied the definition of strength and resilience during the past year. The pandemic has had an uncertain impact on the global economy, especially for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses. The health, fitness and sports industries suffered significant consequences.

However, resilience emerged as we were all reminded of the importance of our physical and mental health during these times. We’ve seen our industry pull together, adapt, and grow stronger in the face of challenges no one could have imagined. IMPACT’s family of businesses are ones that focus on inspiring and supporting wellness through health, fitness, food and nutrition, mental health, and sport performance.

OUR NOMINATION

I've been with Synapse for over 3 years now and have had the opportunity to see it grow into the community leader it is today. All of us have seen the everlasting impact COVID has and will continue to have on the way our businesses operate - especially those in the health and fitness industry.

Regardless of our personal values and beliefs, multiple provincial lockdowns, fast tracked vaccine development and emergency response benefits has proven to everyone that nothing comes before our individual or communal health - not even money. As a start-up business founded in 2018, Synapse Health & Fitness is built off of the 'health over wealth' concept. Our team consists of health professionals that truly want to help people first. That is why we offer no memberships, no contracts and no minimum purchases along with free Movement Assessments to everyone in the community. Whether we are their solution or not, this approach helps people get connected with the right professional to get their health and wellness moving in the right direction.

Education is another core value at Synapse and an integral step in preventative health. Anyone with experience in the health and fitness industry has felt the shift from a treatment model to a preventive one, with fitness leading the way. Treatment has it’s time and place but the most sustainable treatment is prevention and prevention can only be practiced if our communities are educated on lifestyle risks. Whether they stick with us or not is unimportant because each person leaves our studio understanding more about how their body operates which will improve the health of our communities in the long run.

This past year has been challenging for everyone, especially small businesses like ourselves. Despite adapting to develop more of a virtual presence, we haven’t been able to help our clients to the full ability they have wanted or needed. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our clients who are true community leaders, continuing to find ways to support us despite our doors being closed. It takes a village, and they are the ones we continue to empower to make wide sweeping, positive change when it comes to the public health of their communities.

It’s the support from these individuals and COVID highlighting the importance of what we offer to our community that is allowing us to double down, expanding our space to make what we do even more accessible to the people who need it. Some think it’s risky (including ourselves) but at the end of the day, it’s not about the money – its about helping individuals, because collectively they determine the health of our communities. This expansion allows us to continue growing, offering a true collaborative approach that will include additional fitness offers like our Exclusive Group Training fitness classes and treatment options like Chinese Medicine, Massage, Acupuncture and Athletic Therapy.

PERSONAL TRAINING & MOVEMENT THERAPY

With more than 100 combined years of experience in personal training and other nodes of health and wellness, our team has had the opportunity to connect and learn from a number of people in Calgary that are open and willing to share their journey’s with us. One of the hardest things we consistently hear from clients is how many different personal trainers, movement therapists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and other health professionals they see before they finally landing at Synapse. Although we can’t turn the clock back, we wanted to help others navigate the black hole fitness has become to equip them with the most important questions to ask and things to look for when connecting with a personal trainer.

EXCLUSIVE GROUP TRAINING CLASSES

We’ve all been there before – you’re excited to try out a new gym with different fitness classes. You get to the facility, get changed and walk into a jam packed room with the regulars shmoozing each other and talking about how they’ve been. If you have a good instructor, they’ve introduced themselves before starting. Otherwise, the class starts at a high tempo, leaving you lost on whether you are doing any of the exercises correctly. On top of that, you feel like you can’t keep up with the instructor or other participants in the class. You get a good sweat on, but are left wondering if there is something more that you may have missed.

Believe it or not, we heard the exact same sentiment from our clients and the instructors. Discover what makes our Exclusive Group Training different than any other group fitness offering in Calgary. With classes that cover all fitness levels, including Zumba and Kinstretch, no contracts and the first class always free, our Exclusive Group Training fitness classes in Calgary are unlike any other.

Exclusive Group Training Class: ZUMBA

This series provides an insiders look into all of our Exclusive Group Training classes so you can discover more about the instructor and their classes