Making an impact for all
Impact Performance officially opens its doors
TRURO — It was a location known for improving and rehabbing auto bodies. Now, it’s human bodies.
Derek Webber has moved his Impact Performance business from meeting clients mainly at the Cougar Dome to his own space at 21 Brunswick St. in Truro, across the street from the Royal Canadian Legion.
Webber said the space is about 1,000 square feet and includes top-of-the-line equipment such as two Rogue squat racks with Rogue Olympic lifting bars, two TRXS, two fan bikes, flat benches, and a set of dumbbells.
“Having my own space has always been on my radar in terms of my aspirations,” said the former St. Mary’s Huskies football player who has a masters in strength and conditioning.
“It’s part of a three-to-fiveyear plan of doing what I do for athletes. The vision around having this space is to, essentially, impact health and wellness in Truro and surrounding communities, but also impact athletics in terms of having athletes train for a purpose, to achieve whatever goals they set out for themselves.”
Webber said, essentially, he works with three situations.
“Athletes for strength and
conditioning for performance in their sport; the general public who want to get fit for their own reasons; and then secondphase rehabilitation - people who have had an injury, or just gone through surgery, and are past the point of where they need hands-on pain relief,” he said, adding the ‘pain relief’ would be part of the first phase.
“The second phase is when you get into strengthening around the area, so you can live your life.”
He talked about one of those situations he worked with when he first started in the industry while in Calgary. It involved a gentleman in his 50s, an avid hiker whose life was altered by a serious car accident.
“As a result of that, certain surgeries resulted in one femur being shorter than the other, which required certain orthotics and a completely different moving pattern. His hiking became non-existent,” Webber said, adding the man came to him with the goal of returning to his favourite pastime.
He said, through a progression of “competent movements, coordination, and appropriate loading,” weekto-week, the man became stronger, had more range of motion, and better movement.
“It was about four months in he was getting back to trail walking a little bit and, eventually, ended up getting back to full hiking, which was cool,” Webber said. “I remember that because he would message me and include a photo of where he was. It was a very rewarding experience that way.”
PRIVATE SPACE
Webber talked more about his new location, noting it’s a private space.
“It’s not a training space where I’ll be selling gym memberships,” he said. “We schedule a training session, and that time is booked for you in a private space. Those training sessions are always coached by me and then, in the future, I might start opening gym time to people who are coached by me … but that’s down the road.”
Webber said it all comes back to delivering the best product he can for his clients, whatever their goal is.
Past clients talked about connecting with Webber’s approach.
“In training with Derek, I noticed significant changes in my athletic ability,” said former University of Calgary Dinos’ football player Alessandro Molnar. “Every year working with him, I saw improvements in my speed, strength, power, and explosiveness. He creates programs specific to the athlete and the sport.”
Triathlete Ella Hnatyshyn was equally appreciative.
“Derek was my strength and conditioning coach for only five months before he moved to Nova Scotia, but, in that time, he had a lasting impact,” she said. “The high energy, motivation, and passion that Derek brings to every session is contagious, and I think all athletes would agree that, after a session with Derek, they feel more energized and empowered than before they came.”
She also talked about Webber’s knowledge when it comes to strength and conditioning.
“As a triathlete, I have gone through many strength programs without ever knowing why I was doing what I was doing,” she said. “This was where Derek provided clarity. The workouts he designed were specific to the goals that we had as triathletes and, as a result, I feel stronger in swimming, biking, and running, and ready to race.”
Webber said the name of his business is significant.
“I named my company Impact Performance because you could squat 1,000 pounds, but if that doesn’t make you better at your sport, it’s of no use to you, unless your sport is strongman,” he said. “In terms of performance, not everyone is working towards being in the NHL, NFL, or CFL; some just want to be able to carry their groceries pain-free… be able to go on those hikes.
“Performance is individual to everyone and that is what I focus on – the individual.”
To contact Derek, visit trainwithimpact.com, email impactperformance.ns@gmail. com or call 902-890-7029.