Julie Holl

Over the coming months you will see interviews with the fitness industry's leading professionals. These people influence personal trainers, educators and fitness enthusiasts across the globe with their passion for making a change in peoples lives through fitness.

Our first interview is with Fraser Quelch....

Name: Fraser Quelch

Occupation: Director of Training & Development, Fitness Anywhere (ww.fitnessanywhere.com)

Where are you from/where do you live now?

I grew up in Southern Ontario in Canada but now live in Banff in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

How do you keep yourself fit?

As I've gone through life I've acquired many physical passions that have kept me in pretty good shape. My problem is that once I get into something I have a hard time letting it go which means it gets to be pretty hard to stay focused. If I had to pick only one I'd have to say that my greatest passion is for climbing, rock, ice, alpine - I love them all. I went through a phase of Ironman Triathlon racing and I still love to run on the trails around my home, road ride and mountain bike. I grew up playing ice hockey and basketball and while I only get out on the outdoor rinks now and again to shoot the puck around, I do play in a competitive basketball league every winter. On top of that I of course supplement my activities with regular strength training.

What’s your favourite fitness tool/piece of equipment? 

In my position I would be remiss if I did not say the TRX :-)! Quite honestly in my career I have never come across any one tool that could do so much. Beyond that I think there are a lot of great tools out there. Amoung my favourites are kettlebells, medicine balls, the Tornado ball and good old fashioned barbells and dumbbells. I also know there are some very cool new things coming down the pipe that are being developed by some of my colleagues for people to watch for.

If you could change one thing about the fitness industry what would it be?

Guru following - I think that if as a professional you get stuck adhereing to only one set of ideas, one line of thinking that you limit yourself. No single school of thought is right to the exclusion of all the others. The reality is that everyone gets results so the broader our understanding is the more robust of a tool box we have to draw on. Additionally I would add that no matter how cool of a new training idea or philosophy or system we are using, if we don't connect with our clients passions they will not adhere to what we're doing and as a result they will get disillusioned and drop off having not achieved what they set out to do.

What is your number one tip to help people stay motivated with their exercise programme?

Own your goals and your results. It is discipline, adherence, sacrifice and desire that gets us what we want. Your trainer can only guide you but it is up to you to do it. The hardest thing is to get it in each day. When you own your results, own your process and take on that responsibility is when results happen!