Fitness FX

Ask Jon a question and you’ve got no idea what’s coming back. His humour is dry as a bone and he never breaks. I’ve been caught more times than I’d like to admit.

Meet Jonathan. Part of our Facility Care Team, Leafs fan since birth, and part of the reason this place looks the way it does in the mornings.
He’s the one filling spray bottles before anybody’s asked, wiping down the bench you just left, putting away weights he didn’t take out. Nobody tells him to. Bottles first every shift, then a Ghost or Batch 27 Red Freezie. Same order every time. He does not experiment.

Ask him what he likes best about the job and it’s not the work. It’s you. Ask who his favourite member is and he’ll say all of them, and he means it.

He plays rec hockey Tuesdays, so Wednesdays he shows up with a story and fresh bruises. Ask how he got them and it’s always the same answer. He put his body in the way and stopped the play. The man does not go around anything.

Now the part most of you don’t know.
A while back Jon decided he wanted to run. No plan, no race in mind. First attempt took him an hour, with breaks.
One month later he ran the Blue Nose 5K in 26 minutes and 26 seconds. Citadel Hill nearly got him. His dad got stuck in traffic trying to make it, so Jon beat him to the finish line too.

Here’s what makes that number mean something.
Jon suffered a brain injury as a young child. Doctors told his family he might never walk. Might never talk. If he did, it wouldn’t be much.
He asked us to put that in. Not for sympathy. He wanted people to know where he started.

He trains with Austin Austin Buchanan three times a week and wants to be pushed hard. Bench is at 171, going after 200. He’s put up 270 on the hack squat.

Ask him what he’s most proud of. One word. Strength.

What he’d tell anyone convinced they can’t do something:
“If you have a dream you can do it, no matter how hard it is.”

Doctors said he might never walk.
He ran a 5K.
Say hi to Jon, you’re in for a treat.
GHOST® | BE SEEN batch27

She doesn’t set an alarm. Not one.

Her body just wakes up at 4-something and goes, yeah, let’s open a gym.

Meet Maci mace If you train early, you know her face. She’s the one unlocking the doors at 5am, always with a smile, and no she does not drink coffee. We asked twice.

A few things about her:

She can find her way anywhere after going once. GPS is scared of her.

Her dream superpower is being able to mute gym grunters on command. We’re looking into whether this can be added to your membership.

And her favourite part of opening isn’t what you’d expect. She says it’s peaceful before the day gets loud, and she likes knowing the morning regulars. Andrew Kline you’re always first through the door and she knows it.

Here’s what most of you don’t know.

Maci’s an athlete. Basketball growing up, now ringette, and she plays forward. Fast, competitive, the kind of player who makes things happen. She’ll tell you that until you’ve watched a high level game in person, you have no clue how quick that sport is.

She also tore both ACLs. Nine months apart. Two full seasons gone. As soon as she got through the first one, she had to turn around and do it all over again.

The hardest part wasn’t the rehab. She actually liked rehab. It was sitting out every game and every practice and not being able to compete. So she showed up for her teammates anyway.

She gives a lot of credit to her family, her teammates, and her trainer Pat Patrick Busby, who built her whole program around getting her back to sport and made the hardest days a lot more fun.

Her words to anyone who just got that same news:

“It feels like the end of the world when you first hear it, but it’s not. Take it one day at a time and don’t rush the process. Surround yourself with the right people and find ways to make rehab fun. You’ll surprise yourself with what you can come back from.”

She’s back playing. Still chasing goals she hasn’t hit yet.

And she’s here before sunrise with a smile, holding the door for the rest of us.

Say hi to Maci mace 🖤



Thanks for the staff 📸 Chris Wanamaker

We’re closed this morning due to a power outage in Clayton Park. Nova Scotia Power is showing just under 3,800 customers affected with an estimated restoration of 7:45am.

I’ll post here the second the lights are back on.

Sorry to anyone who made the drive this morning. Should have had this up sooner. That’s on me.

Hey Fitness FX fam, quick heads up. Nova Scotia Power’s doing planned maintenance in our area today, so the power might blink out for a bit sometime between 11:30am and 11:30pm. Thirty minutes max, and we honestly don’t know exactly when it’ll hit.

We’re staying open. If the power drops, the weightroom side still has natural light so you can keep lifting. The cardio floor side will go dark, and the washrooms run on emergency lighting for as long as it stays charged. Power’s back fast and you carry on.

Appreciate you rolling with us. See you in the gym.

Better late then never… smith to be installed next week.

We’re hiring.

Weekday PM shifts (2pm–11pm) and weekend shifts (6am–2pm or 2pm–10pm) are open at Fitness FX.

We’re looking for people who actually want the hours. Reliable, approachable, and into health and fitness. If you can work 2 to 3+ shifts a week with good availability and you’re cool with weekends, we want to hear from you.

No fitness degree required. We’ll teach you the rest.

Weekends aren’t optional here, so make sure that works for you before you apply.

Send your resume to [email protected]. Starting ASAP.

📍 70 Lacewood Dr, Halifax

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Making cleaning our bars easier located in the powerlifting room. Let’s keep it there and do our part!

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