Q&A: Coach Shannon Rempel, biofit Calgary
Biofit Coach Shannon Rempel
A 4-time Olympic athlete and one of our coaches at the biofit designed gym in Calgary, we sat down to hear her impressive health & fitness story so far.
Q: What sports or movement practices have been of most influence on you?
A: I’ve spent the majority of my life training and racing in the sport of speed skating so I’ve always had an appreciation and focus on technique in movements. It’s a far more technical sport than most people realize - while being strong is important, being able to translate that strength and power into the ice to generate speed is essential. For speed skaters, a lot of that requires timing/coordination, and understanding basic biomechanics of pushes and movements.
Q: What fitness / coaching qualifications do you have, besides being a biofit coach?
A: I have done personal training on and off for a few years now, and I’m also a Level 1 speed skating coach.
Q: What does a typical week of your own training look like?
A: I typically train twice a day, 6 days a week. I’m usually on the ice to skate for the morning session, then the afternoon session varies, anything from cycling, running, weight lifting, or technical dryland work. Technique, power, speed, and overall fitness are all important in speed skating, so training is quite demanding. Our training is designed to have us race ready through the winter months, so we go through cycles of training that focus on different aspects of our fitness.
Q: What kind of a dietary regime do you follow?
A: I’ve been an elite athlete for more than half my life now, so nutrition has always played an important role in my day to day fuel and performance. I focus on high quality, unprocessed foods that allow me to train energized, and also recover between sessions properly. My diet includes complex carbs, lots of fruit and veggies, protein, and healthy fats. My training load for the day usually dictates when and what I consume.
Q: What is your go to podcast, website or YouTube channel for health & fitness inspiration?
A: Most of my inspiration comes from the amazing high performance athletes that I’m surrounded by on a daily basis – watching and learning from the best in the world (in various sports) keeps me motivated to continue to learn and push myself. We also have an incredible integrated support team (physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, nutritionists, lifting coaches, and sport physiologists) that are constantly adding new and innovative ways to train and keep our bodies healthy – both preventative and restorative.
One website I do check out occasionally is altis.world which focuses on training and technique for sprinter athletes and coaches
I love to cook and create healthy recipes, so I’m always looking at blogs and websites for inspiration. Some of my go to sites include HealthfulPursuit, WholeFoods, PaleOmg, OhSheGlows
Q: What is your favourite biofit movement and why?
A: Over the past few years I have began to focus more on bodyweight exercises, so I enjoy all the biofit movements but my favourite is Monkey, it’s very versatile, increases hip mobility and helps progress to inversion and handstands, which have been really fun to work on recently.