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Hey! My name's Derek Arsenault.
My friends call me "D".
Seeing as how the health and wellness profession deals with people on a very personal level, it makes sense for you to get to know who I am a bit more don't ya think?? Whether you're a client (past or present), regular follower or just someone stopping by the Zen Blog, I feel it's important to know who you're dealing with; Especially when it comes to something as important as your health and wellbeing in a time when ANYONE can put stuff out there. There's SO MUCH to filter through isn't there?
Let me answer some questions for you about myself as a professional in the Health & Wellness industry to give you a better idea...
First thing's first, how long have you been working in the Fitness & Health Industry?
I began my journey into a career in fitness and health in 2001 at Loyalist College in Belleville, ON, Canada. At that time, I began volunteering and working in the industry, achieving my Fitness & Health Promotion Diploma and becoming a Certified Personal Trainer through the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology (CSEP). The fact that (at the time of this blog post) it was 24-years ago is still mind blowing to me!
Wait - You're a "Certified Personal Trainer", so why do you call yourself a Coach?
I've been calling myself a coach for years. Typically it evolves within the realm of what I do. I've had titles such as "Fitness Coach", "Conditioning Coach", "Fitness and Health Coach" and now I prefer to call myself a "Health and Wellness Coach". To me the words "Personal Trainer" are attached to too many stereotypes and really doesn't give the general public insight into how we can help them. We're still perceived as muscle bound, non-human drill sargeants who tell you what to do... while forcing you to eat broccoli... while bench pressing a ton of weight... and making you do things you dread!
The word "Coach" for me is more along the lines of what I do and how I can help clients. I think you see it alot more often over the past 5-10 years as well. In our line of work we educate, motivate, guide and support our clients. On any given day you can simply be an ear for someone or a teacher, all the way to someone who helps you show yourself that you CAN do something you never thought you could do. As a lifelong athlete, the word "Coach" means these things to me. My coaches would educate, guide, motivate and support me as an athlete, but ultimately I had to do the work, put in the effort and the practice to improve/change. It's the same concept in the Coach-Client relationship in the Health and Wellness industry.
Ah! I see. Makes sense, Coach. How was it in the beginning of your career once you graduated?
I remember as we were graduating our group of friends were asking each other; "Do you feel ready for the real world and clients??" None of us thought we were. But once you got out there, you realized what two years of studying and practical experience did for you compared to the general population. Though we were all still very green in the profession of course.
I graduated with three jobs;
-Part time Personal Trainer at Copperfield's Fitness (Trenton) - Private Fitness
-Part time Fitness and Health Consultant at Strength Tek (Nortel -Belleville) - Corporate Fintess
-Soccer counsellor (Quinte Soccer/Arts Camp - Belleville) - Summer job
The first two jobs I was hired on straight out of my placements in my second year of college. I moved to full time in corporate fitness within a year or so and LOVED IT!
It took over two decades and several burnouts to get to a more comfortable, realistic and manageable workload and approach, that's for sure. And I'm proud to be at that point.
Speaking of proud, could you pinpoint any major turning points for you in your career so your far?
I'd narrow it down to three major turning points actually...
The first was shortly out of college. I was now full time at Strength Tek (still one of the best jobs I'll ever have and an amazing company), when at 23 years old the opportunity to purchase and own a local fitness studio business was presented to me. LONG story short, a friend of mine and I were young, niave and ambitious so we took the jump! It was one of the toughest years in my career with lots of good and plenty of bad. But so many lessons came out of that tough experience, that there's no way I could have done all the things following that that I did!
The second was joining the team at One-to-One Health & Fitness Centre. At that time, it was the place to be in our region for health, fitness and performance. Now with a business debt hanging over me, I had to make the very tough decision to leave Strength Tek once again. After they took me back without hesitation following my business closure they couldn't offer me enough money or hours for it to be realistic for me. I left a great job and great people. The bonus was, I was moving into a place with all of that and more at the time. I spent 6-years at One to One in charge of sports conditioning, spending most of my days working with amateur to elite athletes, but also working with clients and meeting so many people from all walks of life. The connections and friendships created there were amazing and I'll forever be grateful for those years. I was proud to be there and part of that team.
The third turning point would have to be moving my business home and combining with my wife's business, to create Zenergy Health & Wellness Studio. I left alot of good people and clients who lived in Belleville where my studio was at the time, but it was the first time in my career that I made a decision for my own health, wellbeing and family. And it felt good!
You mentioned you worked with athletes, can you tell us more about that? You don't do that anymore?
I spent 11-years working full time with athletes from amateur to elite levels. Predominately hockey players, but I also had athletes in soccer, golf, rugby, football, figure skating, volleyball, basketball... It was really cool! I accomplished WAY more than I ever would have thought I could, especially right here at home in Quinte. There's some really amazing Condtioning Coaches and facilities here now that are doing way more amazing things, but I couldn't be more proud of myself for having the experiences I did.
Experiences that really made me proud to be a part of were things like...
-My first winter at One to One I was in charge of 9 hockey teams conditioning sessions. That's approximately 135 kids per week (just from those teams alone). It was awesome!
-I trained mostly hockey players however I also worked with athletes from a variety of sports (football, soccer, golf, rugby, figure skating....)
-I had the experience of working with many junior hockey players (Junior C, OJHL, OHL), University and College athletes (NCAA, OUA, OCAA...) and even some pro players (ECHL, AHL, NHL)
-Working with Hockey Canada female athletes
-Being named to Hockey Canada's regional trainers list
-Working with the Belleville Bulls (whom I was a fan and grew up watching),
-Designing the Belleville Bulls off-season conditioning manual and programs (used from 2009 until they left Belleville... I still miss the Bulls)
-Working with pro athletes and also with players throughout their junior careers as they moved into pro hockey. (Nick Cousins for example was with me throughout his OHL career and I had the pleasure of working with him into his early days in the NHL with Philadelphia Flyers.)
These types of clients allowed me to connect with NHL Strength Coaches via email and phone conversations which was really cool! All of them so helpful and willing to communicate.
-Being on staff with the Trenton Goldenhawks for two seasons as their Conditioning Coach
- Finishing my 11-years work with athletes by training the Loyalist Lancers Women's Volleyball Team was a really awesome surprise in 2017.
Why did you step away from athletes? It seems like it was alot of great experiences.
It absolutely was! I definitely am proud of how I followed my heart on that decision. As my life and career continued to grow and change, I was relating more to my general clients who just wanted to be healthy and happy, compared to the athletes who just wanted the competitive edge to perform at their best NOW. I wasn't relating to that mindset anymore. I said to myself "You've done MORE than you ever thought you could or would with sports conditioning right here at home in Quinte and have so many great memories and experiences..." What's the harm in change?
The other factor in my decision was, I like creating connections with people. Most of my clients are upwards of a decade or more. Some are nearing two decades at the time of writing this believe it or not! I've got to know them and their families well, and have developed some friendships along the way. I watched many athletes come and go throughout my career; I saw them grow and mature, but then... they're gone. They move away for pro levels or go to University levels for both sport and academics and start their lives. You lose touch. And it sucks sometimes.
I chose to step away from sports conditioning for both these reasons, and have no regrets. My timing was great and I listened to my heart.
What type of people do you work with now?
The majority of my clients are middle-aged to older adults now and I love it. My clients are those with bills to pay, life responsibilities, life stresses and yet still want to feel better inside and out. My career has evolved to work with the Deep Health Model, which takes into account the WHOLE HUMAN. Fitness is a part of it, but the needs and wants of clients have changed. How we coach people has changed. Life has changed in 20+ years. Now much of what I do is discussing habits, stress management, sleep, mindset etc and doing my best to help empower clients when it comes to their individual deep health; Helping them re-learn to trust their own physiology. I'm absolutely LOVING it and clients have been positively impacted as well.
Fianlly, do you have any regrets during your time in the Health and Wellness industry?
Not really! Like anything, you always had things you wish maybe you didn't have to go through or deal with, but they all helped me evolve to where I'm at now as a professional (easier to say when you're looking back on things than when you're in the thick of it of course). Like any profession, there's ups and downs, great moments and hard lessons. Not everyone can work with people everyday, all day. Like any job some days you feel on top of the world and other days you feel like crawling into a hole. Overall when I look back on my career, it makes sense how everything went. And if I had to leave the profession tomorrow, I would leave it damn proud.
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