Congratulations to our January Athlete of the Month, Leanne Polan!
Leanne is a mother of two who started training in our CrossFit Light program in July 2015. At the time she was an occasional runner looking to improve on her overall fitness. After spending a few months in CrossFit Light, Leanne made the switch to our regular CrossFit program and has been a regular in our morning classes ever since.
COACH
Sports and fitness are two things that have gone hand in hand for me since I was young. As a kid, I played every and all sports that I could, including swimming, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and hockey. As I grew into my teenage years, I developed a passion for hockey and I knew that if I wanted to succeed, training my fitness would be a huge part of that.
The first time I stepped into a functional fitness gym, I was hooked. The competition, the comradery, and the motivation and desire to push past your boundaries that you never thought you could achieve are things that have driven me on my fitness journey over the years.
After I retired from competitive sports, I needed another outlet to burn energy and maintain that healthy level of activity and that is when I really started to focus on developing my functional fitness. I trained and coached the adult program at a gym in Mississauga for 3 years where I was not only able to pursue and develop my own fitness goals, but also help other members set and achieve fitness benchmarks they never thought they could hit.
When that gym closed, I tried the big box gyms and hated it. I couldn’t stand the 2 hour workouts for 45 minutes of work but the big thing was I missed the community and the membership at the old gym. When my fiancé and I moved to Guelph, we met a nice couple who happened to own a Crossfit gym in Guelph. Craig invited me to come try it out and from the first day that I stepped into Royal City CF, I knew that this was the place I was meant to be.
I’ve been at RCCF since October of 2021 and I have loved every second of it. It’s been awesome to celebrate hitting new PR’s, hitting new gymnastic skills, and attending the socials as a member but now I am even more excited to do all of that as a coach. I’m looking forward to embarking of the next chapter of my fitness, and Crossfit, journey with the team at RCCF.
COACH
The first time I got involved with functional fitness I was a long distance runner hoping to gain some strength. This gave me so much more than the ability to do pull ups and gain some muscle mass. It gave me the ability to pass tests to become a firefighter, the energy to run around and play with my growing family and it provided a community of friends (and my husband!).
I grew up playing multiple sports including basketball, volleyball, soccer and track. Royal City Community Fitness helped to tie in different aspects of sport back into my life as it is so versatile and group oriented. I am hoping to use my background in athletics and my Human Kinetics degree to progress as a coach. Royal City has a great community of people and I hope to create a welcoming environment for new and old members.
CrossFit Level 1
Bachelor of Science (Human Kinetics)
Emergency Medical Responder
COACH
I graduated from Brock University with Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, and a Master’s degree in Professional Kinesiology. My education helped me gain vast knowledge on exercise programming, functional movement and leading a healthy lifestyle, which I am now able to translate to the members as a coach at RCCF!
When I was younger I loved to play sports and encouraged my parents to enroll me in a new sport every season. Tennis eventually became my sport of choice and I played for the Brock University varsity tennis team where I was able to learn a lot about myself as an athlete. My time at Brock also allowed me to aid in the Athletic Therapy clinic where I assessed many common athletic injuries.
My shift in focus from playing team sports to functional movement training was driven from a goal to improve my health and push myself harder independently. I started spending multiple hours in the gym engaging in different styles of training until I reached my goal of losing 55 pounds. During this process training has become my outlet and my escape from reality, like many athletes. Remember: train or remain the same!
CrossFit Level 1
Bachelor of Physical Education (BPhEd)
Master of Professional Kinesiology (MPK)
COACH
My functional fitness journey started when I was 17. As a kid I was always playing, moving and competing. So when my friend came to me one day and said “My buddy’s dad’s friend opened a gym, it’s kinda intense but wanna try it out?”, I immediately said yes. All it took was one workout and I was hooked. Sore, but hooked. I’m so grateful for those early years I had training, where my friends and I pushed each other beyond our limits every day and really honed in on our skills and technique. It was a lot of fun being part of fitness as a sport in its infancy, and watching it grow into what it is today.
Fast forward to present day, after a few years off I’ve come back with a new approach focused on form, mobility, longevity and mindset. I may not be as competitive as I used to be, but I’ve learned to train smarter, not harder, and I feel I am truly a better athlete now because of it. After time off, I’ve realized the value of community, and how important it is to have a supportive group of people around you to help you achieve your goals. In my coaching, I look to instill in all members a sense of togetherness and community cohesion. by promoting positive mindsets and self-talk. I want to make your body feel better through functional mobility by approach movements with a “form first” attitude. These core values are integral to my coaching and training. I get so pumped when I see other people getting after it and pushing themselves to their limits. So regardless of where they start, I’m excited to help motivate members to do whatever it is that gets them moving and active.
COACH
I began my functional fitness journey in 2013. I grew up very active, starting out as a competitive gymnastics and then moving into competitive soccer. I liked different aspects of both sports. In gymnastics, I loved the strength, power and the attention to perfecting skills. In soccer, I loved the team aspect. After high school I found it difficult to stay active as I was not used to training without a coach and also not comfortable doing anything in the gym other than running on the treadmill (which I found rather unfulfilling). I remember hearing about CrossFit and being super nervous to start because I had absolutely no experience with lifting weights. I eventually tried a class and was immediately hooked. I loved the competitive but friendly atmosphere, I loved having a coach and I loved learning and improving new movements.
The biggest thing I noticed after doing functional fitness for a few months was that I loved feeling like I was part of a “team” or community. As a coach at Royal City, it is my goal to make sure that everyone has that same feelings of being part of a strong community, regardless of where they come from or of their athletic abilities. I want every single member to feel that they have people in their corner and that they are being given the tools and support to grow in all aspects of their lives. As a coach, I strive to make every members’ day better, whether it be by the fact that they had a great conversation, saw an improvement, got a good workout in or surprised themselves by doing something they never thought they could do. I have already learned so much from the members by the way that they tackle new skills, support each other or maintain a positive attitude throughout life, and I can’t wait to see what else I can learn from the RCCF community.
CrossFit Level 1
Bachelor of Arts (International Development)
COACH
CrossFit L2
NCCP Certified swimming/diving coach
CrossFit Nutrition 1
CrossFit Scaling
HEAD COACH
From a very young age, sports and performance have been a focal point of my day to day life. Growing up in a healthy, active family, I was taught the importance of activity and healthy eating from the get go. Throughout grade school and the earlier years of high school I participated in several organized sports. It wasn’t until the later years of high school that I discovered the importance of weights, and soon after, Functional Fitness.
I started functional training in 2010 when I was introduced to it through a friend. I immediately fell in love with two things above all else, the community aspect and the constantly varied, real life application of it. I believe that community is a severely overlooked importance in conventional gyms. However in gyms around the world, like minded people gather every day to help push each other to their full potential. Through this phenomenon, we are not only able to enjoy our workouts more, but get more out of it physically, in less amount of time.
I am also a firm believer in the idea that real fitness is expressed outside of the gym. This is why I love the functional style programming. It allows us to develop our general fitness skills and body awareness in a safe environment, through methods that are easily transferable to real life activities. Be it as simple as getting out of a chair effectively or knowing how to brace properly before picking up a small child, or a bag of groceries. It also allows us to enjoy life to the fullest, through more demanding and complex skills, such as snowboarding, skiing, rock climbing and much much more. Is it a coincidence that functional athletes have an easier time picking up new skills? Doubtful! It’s more likely that through our style of training, unknown and unknowable, we are simultaneously training for every physical task, easy or difficult, that may ever arise in our lives.
I could talk for hours about how amazing I think this program is, and can be for anyone, but the most important thing I can say is to try it for yourself. It may change your life, and it may not, but you never know until you give it a shot!
CrossFit Level 1
CrossFit Level 2
CrossFit Mobility Certification
CrossFit Strongman Certification
GLPTI Trainer Certification
OWNER / COACH
At an early age, I was not exactly a superstar athlete. In fact, throughout grade school and most of high school, I was probably an average athlete at best. The turning point for me was when I began weight training at the age of 17 and started to notice significant changes in how I felt, looked, and performed. Since then I have been a fitness fanatic!
Today I have over 20 years of experience in fitness training and coaching. I have had the opportunity to train a wide range of individuals ranging in ages from 6 to 80, and ranging from sedentary beginners to Olympic athletes.
My graduate research experience has helped instill a deep understanding of how the body reacts to resistance and endurance training. I have been fortunate enough to put these principles to use in the form of programs that aid in the recovery from and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries.
Royal City Community Fitness started as a project for me to give back what I have learned about health and fitness over the years. Since then it has grown into an amazing community of people who are not only committed to improving their own health and fitness, but commit to improving the experience for entire community as a whole.
Bachelor of Science (BioEngineering)
Master of Science (Spine Biomechanics)
Precision Nutrition L1
CrossFit Level 1
CrossFit Level 2
CrossFit Nutrition 1 Certification
CrossFit Strongman Trainer Certification
CrossFit Mobility Trainer Certification
CrossFit Olympic Weightlifting Trainer Certification
CrossFit Kettlebell Trainer Certification
National Coaching Certification Program Olympic Weightlifting Club Coach Course
