By Dan Hermanutz

partnering with the rebels

Hockey FIT program offers local men a chance to get in shape

Feb 24, 2020 | 8:00 AM

Men aged 35 to 65 have a new opportunity to get into shape thanks to Hockey Fans in Training (FIT).

The program is beginning a partnership with the Red Deer Rebels starting this spring.

“Hockey FIT is a healthy lifestyle program meant for men between the ages of 35 and 65 that are looking to improve their health and are fans of the Red Deer Rebels,” said Dr. Brendan Riggin, a Scientist at the Center for Studies in Family Medicine at Western University and the head coach of the Hockey FIT program. “We are funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as the Canadian Institute of Health Research to run this program free of charge to run this program free of charge for guys across the county. It extends from a pilot program we did with the London Knights and the Sarnia Sting.”

The program began in Ontario in partnership with the London Knights and the Sarnia Sting, two OHL teams with funding from the Movember Foundation. It began after Dr. Rob Petrella was finding that it was difficult to get men engaged in healthy lifestyle programs.

“We found quite a bit of success not only in attracting men to a healthy lifestyle program, but something the guys really enjoyed and we we’re quite successful in improving their health. So we saw about a twelve pound weight loss just after 12 weeks. The guys met once a week for 90 minutes. And a number of different health related outcomes like related to their blood pressure, they lost a few pant sizes and things like that. The benefit to the guys is that they get to this behind the scenes to their favorite CHL team,” said Riggin.

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It is estimated that men’s health costs the Canadian health care system nearly 37 million dollars each year, but with more active lifestyles up to seventy percent of those costs are preventable.

“One of the advantages in partnering with a junior team is that they are often the big ticket item in town. We wanted to find something that wasn’t just appealing to the major or large urban centers, but some of the rural communities as well. And fortunately enough the Canadian Hockey League is across a number of different sizes of communities so when we did it in Ontario, we have some as large as Mississauga but also as small as Owen Sound and Sarnia too,” said Riggin.

Although the program only offers a male version because of the initial funding from the Movember Foundation, but a women’s and family version are well on their way.

The Red Deer program is currently open for registration until the end of April, when it will begin after the season is finished. To register or for more information, visit www.hockeyfansintraining.org.