Brittany Byrd

Name: Brittany Byrd

Specialty: Transformations
Certifications:
• Crossfit Level 1 (CFL1)
• Poliquin International Certification Program (P.I.C.P.) Level I and II Strength Coach
• Poliquin Performance BioSignature Practitioner
• Poliquin Performance Poliquin Instant Muscle Strengthening Techniques (PIMST),
• Poliquin Performance Facial Abrasion Techniques (FAT Tool),
• Poliquin Performance – (HERE)
• How To Train The Female Athlete Physique, Francine Savard
• Olympic Weightlifting Instruction and Certification, John Broz
• Functional Muscular Assessments & Graduated Exercise Methods, Dr. Astrid Trim 
• Personal Training Specialist, CanFit Pro 
• Level I, Fitness Kickboxing Canada

Home Gym, city and province: Aspire, Brockville, ON
Training style: Anything that allows me to push my limits.

Why did you become a personal trainer?

When I was younger, I read all the magazines, listened to others, and trained 10 hours a week; I did five hours of cardio and five hours of weights and thought I ate healthy. I always assumed because I did all this, I couldn’t get any smaller. I met a coach who changed my entire outlook on training. He cut me back on training and changed my nutrition, and within four months I had achieved a six-pack and a physique that I never expected my body could achieve. After that, I knew there was a better way, an easier way. There are so many women out there who do hours and hours of cardio, think they eat healthy, and deprive themselves of their favorite foods all to achieve the body of their dreams. After my personal transformation, I felt that if I didn’t share this knowledge, if I didn’t help others, I would be betraying my potential. To find something that I’m so passionate about at such an early stage in life, I’m incredibly grateful. I could talk for hours about fitness and nutrition. It’s what I am most passionate about, so it was just a natural fit.

What do you think is the reason your clients gravitated to you?

I think the biggest reason clients gravitate to me is because I’m real. I don’t try to pretend I don’t have cravings, because I do. I’m up-front and honest, and I want my clients to feel that they can be honest with me, and that they will never be judged.

Our programs also focus largely on changing mindset, not just changing your nutrition and training. Understanding why we do things (habits, cravings, etc.) is a huge stepping stone to bridge the gap between where a client is now and where they want to be. A lot of trainers are scared to educate their clients—some because they don’t know the education behind it themselves, or because they are scared if they do educate the client, the client will eventually leave. But a great trainer will never have a client for life, and you shouldn’t want to. A real success story with a client is when they are educated and empowered enough they no longer need us, and at Aspire, we pride ourselves in providing that education.

Greatest client success story:

This is a tough one because at Aspire, we have had so many successful clients. The most notable client is Tammy Carpenter. She is a business owner, and a mom of four boys. She and her husband came to me back in 2012 for my 60 Day Challenge Program. Tammy is an amazing woman; she said if she was paying for this, she was going to follow everything I said to a tee, and she did. When Tammy first started, she ran five days a week and had just finished her first 5K race. She was a smoker, and had about 30 pounds to lose. Over the course of 10 short months, we were able to get her down from 145 to 112 pounds, she quit smoking, she actually completed a 10K and half marathon race, running only two days per week, and I also convinced her to compete in IDFA’s Transformation Challenge, and she won! She accomplished all this in such a short period of time, and the biggest thing I must mention is it’s now almost two years later since her show, and she hasn’t put weight back on, and to me, that is true success.

Why do you think you can rep BSN like a boss? What do you love about the brand?

BSN’s Syntha-6 was actually the very first protein powder I ever bought. I remember I was in college, and that was the protein powder every raved about. Now over 10 years later, BSN has grown to be recognized as one of the leaders in supplementation. When it comes to recommending supplements, I am extremely picky. I probably spend more time learning about the quality and ingredients in supplements than I will take to pick out my wedding dress! I would never recommend something to a client that I haven’t used myself. What we ingest can have a very positive or very negative effect on our bodies, and our bodies deserve the best quality supplements. BSN has won more than 35 sport nutrition awards in the last six years—that’s more than any other company in the industry. With a reputation like that, it’s easy to recommend BSN.

Why should YOU be Canada’s Top Trainer?

There are a lot of incredible trainers out there, and everyone’s style is different. I feel I should be chosen as Canada’s Top Trainer because my company, Aspire, as a whole, is constantly trying to improve. Improve our knowledge, our clients’ experience, our clients’ results, everything. As Maya Angelou said, “Do the best until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” I live by those words in every thing I do. I have dedicated the greater part of my life to helping others become their best in all aspects of their lives—not just their appearance.

What is your favourite BSN product and why? 

I cannot pick just one supplement; the entire BSN line is truly set up to optimize your health. I always explain to my clients you can’t build a house starting with the shingles. BSN offers a full line of products starting at the foundation, and provides the necessary supplements to take your health and physique to the next level. The first supplement we always recommend is fish oil, and BSN’s DNA Fish Oil is of the highest quality. I look for a few things when I am recommending a fish oil, such as size of the fish. (Small fish are best. Remember, fish eat fish that eat fish. The biggest the fish, the more chemicals it has been exposed to.) There are so many benefits of fish oil; the list is so long, and that is why it's our first supplement of choice, but I recommend trying it for yourself and seeing all the benefits!