Karen
KAREN
TRAINER
From a young age, Karen has had to learn the importance of maintaining good health. As a result of being inactive and eating unhealthy foods, she has faced various conditions such as childhood obesity, high cholesterol as a teenager, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) as a young adult. She also has had to overcome severe back pain that developed into herniated discs in both her lumbar and cervical spine, which at its worst point left her unable to walk. All of these challenges are what specifically motivated Karen to transform herself and her life – and ultimately inspired her to go back to school and turn her passion for health and fitness into a career.
Initially, Karen began her journey by becoming a CanFitPro Personal Training Specialist in 2007. Since then, she has continued to expand her knowledge by obtaining a diploma in Health and Fitness Promotion from George Brown College and earned the prestigious Dean’s Award for the top overall mark in the program. Karen continued to expand her modalities by recently becoming a Registered Holistic Nutritionist through the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and a Fascial Stretch Therapist through Stretch-To-Win, both in 2019. In addition, she continues to participate in numerous continuing education courses and currently is a Fitness Coach with Orangetheory Fitness.
Karen approaches both fitness and nutrition from a holistic viewpoint (mind, body and spirit), and has always had a passion for physique training. Her interests in weight loss and body transformation are what lead her into bodybuilding, and as an athlete in the sport she achieved great success as a fitness model and figure competitor. Although Karen no longer competes, she still enjoys resistance training through a wide variety of modalities and maintains her competitive drive by running in half-marathons.
Today, Karen has succeeded in overcoming her personal health challenges and openly shares her stories to inspire others about the power of personal change. Drawing from her experiences, her goal is to empower clients to make more positive and impactful changes in their lives.
Whether your goals are to improve your health and fitness, transform your body, alleviate pain or end up on a competition stage - Karen will be there to coach you every step of the way!
QUALIFICATIONS:
EDUCATION
Health and Fitness Promotion Diploma, George Brown College
Holistic Nutrition, Canadian School of Natural Nutrition
Bachelor of Design, York University/Sheridan College
Bachelor of Arts, York University
CERTIFICATIONS
CanFitPro: Personal Trainer Specialist (PTS, Fitness Instructor Specialist (FIS), Healthy Eating & Weight Loss Coach (HWL)
Functional Movement Systems: Level 1
TRX: STC, FTC, GTC, SMSTC
DTS: Level 1, Barbell, Kettlebell, Low Back Specialist
FST: Level 1 and 2
Bellies Inc: Core Confidence Specialist for Pre/Post Natal Fitness
WaterRower:
CPR and Emergency First Aid
