InFocus Magazine

Sarah Seads wears many hats: business owner, personal trainer, author, accomplished adventure racer, mountain biker, motivational speaker and adventure travel organizer, to name a few.

Today, her red curls spill out from under a soft grey, short brimmed cap and she adjusts it slightly before telling me about the evolution of her business, Equilibrium Lifestyle Management, or ELM. Now in its ninth year, ELM has grown from a company focused primarily on boot camp classes and personal training to a wonderfully diverse business expanded to include women’s-only fitness clinics, learn-to-run classes, hiking clinics, adventure race training, trail running skills, orienteering, and, more recently, adventure travel trips and new writing projects.

“There has been a big evolution with ELM,” says Seads, 33. “It has changed with the needs and requests of my clients.”

Seads’ dedication and attentiveness to clients has obviously paid off as she was recently voted the “Best Personal Trainer in Western Canada” in Get Out There Magazine’s People’s Choice Awards. This was an honor Seads knew nothing about until the congratulatory call, and she was floored. She blushes as she recalls that moment: “It was a total surprise and it made my day. It is such an honor because this award comes straight from my clients. They matter the most, so it was a great pat on the back and nice to know that people would take the time to show their appreciation.”

A Channel News did a piece on ELM recently and interviewed Seads’ client, Brenda Dean, who summed up Seads’ effect on her own life: “Sarah is passionate about what she does. She believes in it. It is her life. And through osmosis, just by being with her, you walk away with that feeling…and it’s become a template for my life.”

ELM has become a fixture in the Valley and participants recognize the company brand or the women’s only clinic “swirl” logo on passing runner’s shirts and give a wave or a cheer to a fellow member. Seads’ only frustration is that “because we offer a few women’s-only clinics, some people don’t realize that all of our other programs are co-ed.” She is hoping to attract more men to the clinics in the coming years because they “bring balance, strong energy and a little healthy competition.”

Healthy competition has always been a part of Seads’ life. Chuckling, she recalls her days as a hyper kid growing up in Victoria. “When I was little I was fast on my feet. When I was in Grade 2 or 3 they asked me to run track in two grades up because I was a hyper kid and a fast runner. That gave me a taste for competition and then I started playing whatever sports I could. Being on a team then became a part of my life.”

She pauses, then says, “I can’t imagine growing up without that special bond you get with your teammates. I met my friends there, learned about rules, fair play and hard work.”

Seads ended up playing almost every sport at Victoria High because it was a small school without a lot of athletes. Her hard work earned her the “Jock of the Year” award in Grade 12 because she was on all the teams—everything from badminton to soccer.

From there Seads went to the University of Victoria and played junior varsity field hockey. Her initial university interests, however, were unrelated to athletics. “I went to university to become a photo journalist and writer,” she says. “I ended up switching direction in the first year because the entry level history and English didn’t inspire me.” So, she took a semester off to tree plant and travel with the earnings.

This is where serendipity stepped in to push Seads toward her true calling. While tree planting she hurt her back. “Inevitable,” she says, “when you are bending three million times a day with a bag of trees on your back and driving on bad roads in crummys.” So, she went to a physiotherapist at the university and learned about injury rehabilitation/exercise physiotherapy. She decided to enrol in Kinesiology.

“I put my application in, went travelling and left it up to fate,” Seads says. While she was away her parents told her that she had been accepted, so she returned home. “I loved the program right away. I was learning all the secrets to how the body works. It wasn’t work for me. It was fun and interesting.”

She smiles. “This was my passion. Up until that point sports were something I did but I didn’t even know that a stream of education existed that I could tie into my love of fitness.”

After graduating with a degree in Kinesiology from UVIC, Seads worked half time between her Kinesiology career and her work as a forest fire-fighter. She was a Rapattack fire-fighter based out of Salmon Arm for five summers. “It is just like any other forest fire fighting once you are on the ground,” she explains, “except that you get there by rappelling out of a helicopter. Primarily we fought small, lightening-caused fires that are inaccessible by road.”

To become a fire-fighter Seads had to undergo a rigorous fitness testing and interview process. But it was the boot camp after becoming a fire-fighter that “ratcheted” up the intensity and ultimately inspired her first ELM fitness program. “We spent over five weeks in training boot camp before we were certified to fight forest fires in BC,” says Seads. “Our boot camp included daily physical training that was constantly changing. It was extremely challenging, as we did this along with long days of classroom and skill training for the job.

“I have taken plenty of physical training ideas from those long, hard weeks and carried them into my own ELM Outdoor Fitness Boot camp program,” Seads says. “Although the consequences were a wee bit different (work vs. play) the training is quite similar: it is outdoors, using the natural environment and your own body weight, plenty of variety and group teamwork.  Many of my drills and exercises come straight from those weeks in training. I only wish I had more time each day to push my own recruits so they could get a better taste of what I went through!”

Sitting across from me Seads looks strong and healthy. It isn’t hard to see why she has built such a successful business and accomplished all that she has in the 10 years since graduation. And this doesn’t even include her prowess as an adventure racer, which she humbly says is “a ton of fun.  Adventure racing is my way of staying motivated with my own training and blowing off steam.” A quick look at ELM’s new website shows that Seads has placed first or second in almost all of the 18 adventure races she has participated in over the last few years.

In between all of this, Seads has written two books and is about to publish a third. “I have been working on a few writing projects over the past two to three years,” she says, “and it has been a wonderful, creative experience for me.  I started by producing a yearly fitness logbook in 2006 and this past December I released the first edition of my cookbook: NRG Foods That Will Move You.”

The cookbooks have been hugely popular, selling out of the first two print runs in two weeks. Both books are available in the online store on Seads’ website—www.elmhealth.com. The store also has online coaching, and a new video series. The first video, SCORE is a video of actual ELM class sessions taking place this winter.  Each class is 55 minutes and combines core and flexibility training into one great mat workout.

“The most exciting writing project is my next non-fiction book, which is due to be released this March,” add Seads. The book is titled Fit & Free and it walks the reader through their seven key steps to achieving fitness for life. It is written for anyone who has ever struggled to stay on the fitness “train”.  Pulling from her years of experience in the fitness and rehabilitation field, these steps are critical to ensuring success over the long term.

“You can’t do it on willpower alone, and I want my readers to know that.  There are ways that you can make your journey more difficult, and there are ways that you can set yourself up for success. This book works through these.”

Each chapter has a tool to be completed by the reader.  There is some work involved, but these tools are simple and easy to use and they personalize the experience.

Fit & Free is only the beginning of Seads’ writing career. She is starting to weave her earlier love of writing into her work in the fitness field and, more importantly, she says, learning to make more time for writing in my life.

Now I pop the question that has been on the tip of my tongue since Seads walked in. “What is this I hear about an ELM hiking trip to Peru?” Seads brightens, gesturing and speaking quickly as she describes her most exhilarating trip yet: “This year a dream is coming true for me and for 12 women. I have joined forces with one of my clients, Jane Hay, who is an adventure travel agent, and Karavaniers, a Canadian guiding company, to offer a 12-day trip to Peru to train and trek the Inca and Salkantay trails.

“This isn’t the kind of trip that you will find on an internet site or at a travel agent,” Seads adds. In fact, their journey to Machu Picchu will not begin in Peru at all. It will begin here in the Comox Valley, with the help of this unique trio.

Six months before the trek starts, the women who signed up for this trip more than a year ago will begin a physical training program designed by Seads that will ensure they reach their own ‘peak’ in hiking fitness when they arrive in Peru.

“This program has been designed specifically for the demands of the trek and will include three months of group hikes where the women will have the opportunity to train together and create a special bond while they get miles under their boots.”

Seads beams with pride as she outlines the program and training. “Education and coaching will be provided along the way, and each trekker will receive a detailed training manual, monthly guidance as well as specialty knowledge from local gear experts, Valhalla Pure Outfitters, at the start of their training program.
“And,” she continues, “it doesn’t stop there. Once the women are physically ready to begin their trek in September, they won’t have to stress about any of the travel logistics as every detail has been taken care of. From accommodation to travel, equipment and meals, each aspect of the trekker’s journey in Peru has been organized by the three of us to ensure a smooth, safe and unforgettable travel experience.”

After a moment’s pause she adds that even though the trip sold out a year in advance, one spot has recently opened up for this special journey.
Unfortunately, Peru won’t be an annual trip for ELM, but Seads has big plans for possible future fitness travel adventures, including cycle touring in France, rafting the Grand Canyon, training for Hawaiian marathons, or trekking up Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Seads and her company are a testament to the Comox Valley’s support of local businesses. Her open nature and endless enthusiasm have drawn a following of fitness enthusiasts and trainers that can’t say enough about how fabulous their ELM experiences are.

An ELM participant since 2002, Korky Richardson says the clinics have had a wonderful impact on her fitness, and her life in general. “I have met and made a lot of my close friends through the clinics. I also keep up my activity level with all of the different seasonal clinics. Being in a group like this is an incredibly positive experience.”

Richardson loves that there are “new and exciting” clinics on offer every year and hopes that she will always be a part of “the many adventures that are offered!”
“When I first started up the company it was just me,” Seads says. “Over the years the ELM team has grown to include five trainers, an admin/marketing manager and a big family of very special volunteer clinic leaders.

“I am so fortunate—not only to have these amazing people working at ELM but also to have them in my life. ELM as we know it would never exist without them and I am more grateful for their support, passion and energy than words could ever express. I have met so many amazing people since starting ELM. Running a business in the Valley has shown me what a wonderful community we are surrounded by and I feel lucky to be a part of it.”

For more information about Equilibrium Lifestyles Management, to find out about upcoming classes or to secure the last spot on the hiking trip to Peru, please visit www.elmhealth.com or call Sarah at 250.338.8998.