While Heather Burbidge’s outer strength is apparent, it's her inner strength that most impresses.
Burbidge once ran a successful gym in downtown Midland.
Called CBT (Complete Body Transformation), the fitness centre featured a fully equipped cardio/class area with a loyal clientele of close to 600 members, who could use the facility whenever they wanted.
But like so many businesses that rely heavily on human interaction for survival, she had to shutter her popular sports facility as a result of COVID-19 and the constant loss of a revenue stream.
“I held onto the gym as long as I could,” Burbridge says of her pride and joy that she opened in 2017. “When COVID hit, I lost my house, gym, everything. I was paying $7,000 a month in rent (for the gym).”
After losing everything, Burbridge and her three children — Connor, Cohen and Kamryn — lived in a trailer as they tried to get by.
But Burbridge, who grew up in the area, wasn’t going to let these major setbacks define her.
“I put my equipment in storage and scraped by for two years,” she adds.
While some might have just given up after going through something like this and looked to government assistance to keep living, Burbidge kept fighting.
She eventually reopened CBT Gym on Penetanguishene’s Main Street. The bright, open, 3,000-space-foot space features top-of-the-line fitness equipment designed to help one look and feel better.
“You can come by on Christmas Day, three in the morning, whenever you want,” Burbidge says, noting the facility follows the same 24 hours a day, seven days a week access as its predecessor.
Burbidge is also ranked as one of the top trainers in the world on the Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE) circuit and was recognized as Canada’s Contest Prep Coach of the Year for 2022 by UFE president Sean Everingham.
In fact, she recently brought a team of seven elite and pro competitors to the UFE world championships in Toronto where they captured four top placings.
“This is not a Barbie bikini contest…that’s what some people think,” Burbidge says, noting the UFE circuit features drug testing to ensure competitors have arrived at their physiques naturally. “Some body-building (events) are not natural. This sport is 24/7.”
And while one might wonder about the 24/7 calculation, Burbidge points out that 80 per cent of an athlete’s training occurs in the kitchen since what you consume can greatly affect your overall goals.
“Food is the devil,” she explains with a grin.
And Burbidge knows of what she speaks, having lost a “tonne of weight” after discovering the importance of fitness and healthy eating years ago.
“I completely changed my diet and am very careful about what I eat. I also don’t drink alcohol,” says Burbidge, who was a stay-at-home mom and eventually went back to school for fitness and healthy nutrition and eventually holistic health.
Burbidge, who once weighed in at 300 pounds, a far cry from her svelte, muscular 165-pound frame today, is also a certified holistic nutritionist. As a personal trainer, she creates custom nutrition plans as well as workouts tailored to each person’s unique needs.
And after five years away, Burbidge plans on joining her team on stage this spring at a competition, which will also undoubtedly feature local resident Jenifer Vital, a gym regular and also a world champion in the masters figure category.
"It was awesome to win, very cool," says Vital. "It's a privilege and an honour."
But getting to the point of placing first in an international competition doesn't happen overnight, according to Vital.
"I worked on it seven days a week," Vital says. "It took two years to get to this point. I did cardio towards the end as I got closer to the competition. Before that, it was a lot of weights."
Other CBT athletes who placed at the recent UFE competition include: Victoria McLean (world champion open fitness, world champion open fitness model and world champion masters fitness), Grant (who didn’t want his last name used, second place men's fitness model), Brittany Lewis (fifth place open fitness) and Alesha Farewell (open fitness third place).
Burbidge, meanwhile, is rightfully proud of her perseverance and what she’s accomplished by reopening her gym that features not just a top-notch facility, but also plenty of camaraderie between members and staff.
“We run fitness boot camps, classes and cater to everybody from students to locals. We have every demographic in here," she says.
“Our oldest competitor is 75-year-old Jan Belanger.”
