Absolute Wellness Group

Sometimes I feel like a horrible Unilocaler.
I let this review go far far (far) too long. Only because I feel like I have a bias on this place and if you spend 5 minutes with me talking about AWG and Chris (the owner and «kick your ass into awesomeness» trainer) then you’ll understand that bias.
I don’t know about you but I love to sweat.
(is she kidding?)
No, in fact I’m not kidding. I’m dead serious. I use a hashtag on twitter #movementismedicine and absolutely believe that physical activity is what saved my life (you do remember I used to be morbidly obese right?) and continues to save my life each and every day.
Now I didn’t lose the weight here at AWG. For that you’ll need to hop over to my wife Meegan’s profile. She did lose her weight with Chris and for that I’m eternally grateful.
However what I find in Chris I don’t find in many other trainers I’ve seen over the last 3 years or so on this weight loss/​maintenance journey; pure love of what he does. I’ve been coming to AWG for about a year now and every mon/​wed/​fri at 6:15a you can be assured that I have no idea what’s in store for me during the next 45 minutes.
Strength training, Cardio, Cross training it’s all there and no two workouts are the same. EVER!
Now the really cool thing about AWG is the full spectrum of healthy living available to clients. It’s called Absolute Wellness Group for a reason. This is NOT a gym. This is a personal training facility. You can’t take zumba or pilates classes or hop on the elliptical but you can see a massage therapist, an acupuncturist and take those yoga classes you’ve been dying to try.
I’m in pretty good shape (marathoner, triathlete etc etc) and if he’s kicking my ass then you know it’s a good place to leave some sweat.

I have been a client of Functional Fitness for almost three years, so when Chris at FF made the move and opened Absolute Wellness Group last Fall I was excited to see how it would all come together. The space brings together different resources to help you stay happy and healthy.
Training — Functional Fitness
Chris is the trainer extraordinaire at AWG. His skills and direction have helped me lose (and keep off) 110+lbs and the AWG space is fantastic. There are in house showers, changing room with lockers, and everything you need for an ass-​kicking workout (plus a few things you didn’t think you needed). You can find me there just about every morning of the week. I’m usually there on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for 6am FitFactor group training and on Tuesdays and Thursdays for one-​on-​one personal training. In addition to group training, and personal training, FF can help you with fitness assessment and analysis (I have had my body fat measurements with calipers more than once) and help you with Program planning (both my spouse Tara and I have had help with running planners).
Nutrition
There is also a series of Nutrition talks with Luke Corey from Complete Health and Nutrition that take place once a month through June.
Massage
Annette Thompson at Annette’s Therapeutic Massage has been a life saver for me in terms of recovery from an accident last November where I was hit by a car while walking in a cross-​walk. She has a wealth of experience and expertise in dealing with motor vehicle trauma and injury. She takes the time with each of her clients, and has her trained team of therapy dogs Ripley and Newt on hand (which I’ll admit I wasn’t sure about on my very first appointment, but now I look forward to almost as much as seeing Annette).
AWG also offers Yoga and Acupuncture, but I haven’t had a chance to partake in either… yet.
I love the facility, I love training and recovery there and I’m blessed that its found right in my own neighbourhood.