Our coaches consistently succeed with our clients because we’ve created a private, appointment-only training facility that allows you guaranteed freedom from distraction and congestion typically encountered at mass membership gyms.
Our exclusive environment respects the sanitation and physical distance protocols that are now significant factors in all of our lives. We are in a unique position to offer both.
uthrive athletic is in the lower level of our medical rehabilitation partner uthrive medical: a unique multidisciplinary clinic that offer services in chiropractic, massage, physiotherapy, acupuncture and motor vehicle accident rehabilitation. These medical treatments are proven to complement and enhance your performance. Our philosophy focuses on Total Health by identifying and addressing underlying issues, so that your health and wellness journey is fully integrated and completely tailored to YOU.
Our Trainers
uthrive athletic believes that what gets worse with age, can get better with exercise. This is the viewpoint that our team collectively utilizes when working with our clients on their health and fitness goals.
Martyn Evans
I have committed 20 years to the health and fitness industry; so I can truly say my mission is to help people achieve their health, fitness and lifestyle goals. Spending my career working in Canada and the United Kingdom has allowed me the opportunity to work with (and learn from) some of the most elite fitness and medical science operators that North America and Europe have to offer.
I have gained experience working with collegiate and amateur athletes, pre and post – surgery joint replacement patients, clients suffering with chronic spinal deficiency, Heart Bypass and Stroke recovery patients, clients with MS, Cancer and Thyroid issues and in addition, people with no particular illness or conditions who just want to upgrade their lifestyles and feel better. I do not believe in taking short cuts and I will always build my programs around the person in front of me, not vice versa. I am open to working will anyone providing I feel I am in a position to help them.
My methods look at the big picture: I will address all facets of your life including work, family commitments, sleep, social and nutritional habits to ensure you are truly receiving “PERSONAL” training.
Jeff Aker
Jeff has been Personal Training since 2006. His personalized and adaptive approach to training provides a safe and welcoming experience to a variety of general and specific exercise goals. Over the years this has included Strength and Conditioning consulting at the University and NHL level, working privately with people who’ve overcome injury/illness and those who use the gym to better enhance their lives outside of it.
Jeff holds a master’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Victoria and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Since 2016 Jeff has also served as the Alberta Provincial Director for the NSCA. A volunteer role bringing industry leading continuing education events to Alberta Personal Trainers and Strength Coaches.
Jeff takes great pride in his work and is deeply committed to the multi-disciplinary skillset required to become an elite Trainer. This can be reflected by the commitment of his clients, many of whom have been working with Jeff for more than a decade. Additionally, Jeff has been featured by Impact Magazine as one of Canada’s Top Personal Trainers.
Brenda Keller
My goal is to create an atmosphere of positive thinking where my clients can be pushed to go beyond where they think they can go, to achieve those things they think are impossible to accomplish. I have been a part of the fitness industry since 1994 through sports coaching and group fitness instruction. After graduating from MRC with a personal fitness trainer diploma in 2001, I became a full-time personal trainer.
I pride myself in providing my clients with the most up-to-date information; new, fun and exciting workout programs; and my support. As an individual who has struggled with my own body weight issues, I have a passion and understanding for those going through their own weight loss journey. I love to encourage, support and give a little extra push to help my clients achieve a healthy body image. Working with clients to assist them in nutritional decisions and providing them with a number of body sculpting tools is what I strive to do.
Elderly or young, athlete or self-proclaimed couch potato – I strive to improve the daily living of all my clients. I have worked with individuals with acute injuries, as well as with those with chronic conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Other practitioners, such as physiotherapists, massage therapists and chiropractors, may have a vital role in the training capabilities of my clients; therefore working with the advice of the treating practitioner is always a consideration.
Kendra Dietrich
Being in the fitness industry for over 10 years, I’ve seen many changes both in my field and with my clients goals and expectations. I feel my approach to training is based on the fact that the fitness industry is always evolving and people’s goals can, and will change over time. You absolutely cannot apply a “one size fits all” approach to your clients.
It’s really about listening, understanding and being able to achieve a clients goals in a safe, fun and healthy way. Creativity is key! I often hear my clients say that they’ve never had the same workout twice. With all the amazing exercises and equipment out there, why would you?
Kate Zia
Kate earned her Group Exercise Specialist certificate through AFLCA in 2008 and her Personal Trainer Specialist Certification from Can Fit Pro in 2011. She worked the next four years with outdoor bootcamps where she learned the value of making fitness fun and accessible to everyone. She has been a full-time personal trainer with her own business since 2012.
In order to incorporate more longevity training into her workouts, in 2013, Kate completed the 250-hour Ashtanga Yoga Certification. In 2014, she began the Yoga Therapist Certificate from Mount Royal University. She graduated this 517-hour program in 2019 and went on to complete the 50-hour Seniors Yoga Certification from Yoga Santosha, Calgary.
Over the past decade, Kate’s keen interest in continued education has taken her to intensive workshops and certification courses across Canada on joint mobility, kettlebells, fitness kickboxing, TRX, running, circus and aeriel fitness, and Olympic lifting.
Kate offers one-on-one and partner training as well as yoga therapy sessions. Clients can expect workouts that focus on injury prevention and functional ability while adding a creative spin on traditional strength and cardio training. Kate enjoys helping clients set personal fitness goals that go beyond aesthetics to foster resilience, confidence and optimism. Training with Kate will spark or rekindle your love of fitness and improve your overall quality of life.
Kate’s background is in communications, but at 37, with her two sons in elementary school, she decided to switch gears and pursue a career in wellness. This move was spurred by her wish to achieve better work-life balance and to prioritize fitness, mental health and healthy aging. Over a decade later, Kate continues to enjoy the benefits of achieving that balance. Apart from work, Kate spends her time with family and friends, walking her dog, biking Calgary’s beautiful pathways and indulging her love of books and movies.
Athletic Performance
“Without perseverance talent is a barren plain”
Being an athlete doesn’t mean you have perfect movement skills or automatically make you the strongest, fastest person in the gym. Most importantly, it doesn’t make you immune from injuries. While the chosen sport of an athlete is a critical factor, we ensure we focus our training methods on the individual person — not just the sport. Sport-specific training might be efficient for the coach, however it seldom addresses the individual needs of the specific athletes involved.
The goal when creating a strength and conditioning program for an athlete is to ensure maximum performance with minimal risk. Athletes are paid to perform, therefore the greatest risk to the success or failure of their career is very often something they have little or no control over: INJURY. Injuries can and will always be a huge risk from any blunt force trauma however, soft tissue injures resulting from strength and mobility deficits and asymmetries are something that can be minimized with the correct strength and conditioning protocols. Our training protocols are designed to develop the most efficient athletes in terms of performance and injury prevention. The major components of our off-season training program include: (Phases will be tailored to the individual)
Movement screen and needs analysis
Designed to identify any compensations in movement quality on a joint by joint approach and assess the client’s risk of injury.
Foundation
We address movement competency with the aim of increasing both mobility and stability while also addressing any asymmetries between the left and right sides of your body. While this phase can be viewed as corrective in nature it is also developmental and utilizes Movement skill, Plyometrics, Strength / Power, Energy Systems Development (conditioning) and Recovery.
General Preparation
The focus here is on improving an athletes training capacity by increasing the total volume of work in each individual session.
Hypertrophy
Focused on increasing an athlete’s functional muscle mass. This is done by combining mechanical stress (actual amount of weight lifted) and metabolic stress (total time the muscle is under tension). You will see further improvements in work capacity however you will also establish the platform for further developmental phases such as strength and power.
Strength Development
Having achieved a strong foundation, this phase is designed to target an increase in overall strength. Movement efficiency remains the primary focus of the overall program therefore we target total body strength. By utilizing fundamental movement patterns as opposed to isolating muscles you will build functional strength and increase multi directional strength which is proven to provide a positive transfer to the court, field or sporting arena.
Power Development
Power (the product of mass and velocity) is a critical factor in many sports. In order to develop power, you will focus on the speed at which primary movements are performed. The ability to generate force at speed is proven to increase athlete performance, strength alone does not suffice.
Putting it all together
The information above is intended as a “snap-shot” of what Athletic Performance training might look like. A performance program should always consider the following:
- The physical demands of the chosen sport.
- Where applicable, the individual role of the athlete in that sport.
- The frequency and duration of competition.
- Recovery, encompassing hydration, nutrition and targeted soft tissue release.
No two athletes are 100% the same, therefore, the approach to preparing them for competition should not be.
Rehabilitation Program
Regardless of age, gender or athletic ability – at some point in all of our lives, we suffer from physical fatigue and often injury. Although the nature and cause of an injury can be complex and overwhelming, your recovery doesn’t have to be. With the assistance of our on-site rehabilitation partner, uthrive medical, our client recoveries are both efficient and holistic. Our continued success for over 10 years in downtown Calgary has allowed us to consistently evolve our expertise. We offer a comprehensive range of services and treatments that are designed to enhance performance and accelerate recovery of both acute and chronic injuries.
In addition to aiding in injury recovery, our team also provides enhanced injury prevention. Our various practitioners and therapists offer techniques and treatments that naturally compliment an active lifestyle. Our goal is for you to maximize the benefits of your personal training investment. Having the input of medically qualified rehabilitation specialists on site gives uthrive athletic a huge advantage when it comes to the fine details of customized performance programming for our clients. This input allows us to ensure our programs are truly specific to the individual and vitally, preventative as well as developmental.
Join our team of personal trainers
Space, equipment availability and COVID-19 safety measures are all factors that affect the performance and success of training. We aim to remove all the obstacles of a commercial membership gym by providing each trainer the option of their own personal “training pod”. Each pod is designed to give both trainers and clients all the tools they need in order to excel without the issues of space, availability and safety.
Our Trainer POD consists of the following equipment:
While we feel the comprehensive list of equipment designated to each pod provides an excellent foundation for trainers and clients to excel, we are open to reasonable requests for additional tools. In addition to the equipment listed above, we also provide conditioning equipment in the form of treadmills, rowers, spin bikes and Air Dyne bikes. These are shared use and sanitized after every period of usage.
The goal of uthrive athletic is not to be the best, we feel that mindset can often lead to complacency. Our goals for our facility, our trainers and most importantly our clients is simply, “to be better”. The desire to improve what we do both in and outside of the gym is paramount in our mindset and provides the foundation for everything we do. Our vision is to develop a team of focused and experienced professionals who are driven to learn and improve their own skillset for the good of both their clients and the environment they work in. We value diversity in terms of approach, education and experience. We invite trainers with similar mindset and approaches to contact Martyn Evans via email at martyn@uthriveathletic.com
Concussion Services
UThrive Athletic has partnered with HeadCheck Health to enhance the quality of concussion management provided to local sports teams and athletes.
HeadCheck Health empowers over 3,000 progressive organizations to make a difference in athlete safety, from professional sports leagues like Major League Soccer, the Canadian Football League, and the Canadian Junior Hockey League to local community sports teams and clinics.
Our team of healthcare professionals at UThrive Athletic will be providing baseline concussion testing and post-injury concussion assessments. We’ll be using the HeadCheck platform to conduct gold-standard testing, provide digital copies of results to our patients, and ease collaboration among multiple medical providers.
If you’re interested in either or want more information, don’t hesitate to contact us here.
The Concussion Problem
According to the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, 5 out of 10 concussions go unreported or undetected, and 2 out of 10 high school athletes will sustain a concussion this year.
“A well-managed concussion is the best form of prevention.” — Dr. Michael “Micky” Collins, clinical and executive director, UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program.
A concussion is an injury to the brain.
When the head or body is hit, it can cause the brain, which sits in fluid, to move within the skull. The mechanism of the brain hitting the inside of the skull causes chemical changes to brain cells and tissues and can result in a concussion.
Concussions can be hard to identify because of a wide variety of symptoms. In other words, no two concussions are created equal! For example, loss of consciousness does not have to occur to diagnosis a concussion, and it is not an indication of concussion severity.
If a sport-related concussion is suspected, the athlete should be removed from play immediately. They shall not be allowed to return to play until they are cleared by a medical professional trained in concussion care.
Most concussions recover in 1-4 weeks, but some can take months. One or more prior concussions can increase time to recovery.
Additional information:
- Concussion Checklist for Parents
- Clinics Help More Concussion Patients with HeadCheck Hub
- Coaches and Volunteers Keep Athletes Safe with HeadCheck Manager
