VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Fit Fellas is the largest, longest-running and most successful fitness program in the District of West Vancouver, with multiple exercise classes – pre-Covid – taking place in the Community Centre gymnasium. The fellas can often be heard saying, “Keep it up, boys. Apparently, this exercise stuff is good for us!”

The youngest member of the group is 62 years old, and the oldest is 97. Many of them swim, play golf and tennis, and a few of them have half marathons and weekly Grouse Grinds under their belts. In the past, twenty-two of them have participated in the West Vancouver Masters Mile Run, and forty-five of them have joined in on walks and fitness classes to celebrate Canada’s National Health and Fitness Day.

Frank Kurucz started Fit Fellas in the mid-70s, and in the beginning, there were only eight members and two exercise classes a week. When Frank stepped down 18 years ago, Barrie Chapman took the reins and has been the driving force behind this initiative for the last 25 years. When Barrie started, they were still running two classes a week – but had 35 members. In 1996, he added a third day of classes to the roster and started teaching the Friday classes himself. Today, Barrie runs all of the programming – including volunteer management – which in itself is no small feat. He’s grown the program to what it is today with 175 members and eight exercise classes a week prior to the pandemic closures. The growth is nothing short of impressive.

Fit Fellas has been recognized for its uniqueness by Simon Fraser University (SFU) and has been the subject of a Master’s paper by Linda Cummings of the Department of Gerontology under Dr. Habib Chaudhury. They were also the subject of a study done by Professor Helena Brandão Viana from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, through her contacts at SFU.

In addition, they’ve been recognized for their achievements by and were the subject of a thesis and publication by Dr. William Dunlop of the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia under Dr. Mark Beauchamp. To further their research, UBC completed a two-year study in partnership with the Vancouver YMCA and 600 participants to conduct more targeted studies on the Fit Fellas model in an effort to develop a framework for use by others. In recognition of this initiative, UBC presented the Fit Fellas with a special plaque and made a donation to the West Vancouver Seniors’ Activity Centre.

Two of their volunteer instructors recently took part in another study, initiated by UBC, and involving over 400 older adults from across Canada. The purpose of the study was to provide the participants with an online exercise program run by older adult instructors, replacing their in-person classes at local fitness facilities, which had been closed due to the pandemic.

This same pandemic has also seriously changed how the Fit Fellas have been running their program this past year. Initially, they had to completely shut down their gymnasium classes but then re-started with limited attendance classes in the West Vancouver Ice Arena until the end of the summer. They then transitioned back to the gymnasium but with substantially reduced numbers, but Provincial Health regulations forced them to close this initiative down entirely in December.

Taking note of how well the online classes went with the UBC study, the Fit Fellas worked with the Seniors’ Activity Centre and the District of West Vancouver staff to initiate a similar online program with their guys, starting earlier this year. They are currently running one-hour online classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Although not getting the full complement of guys participating, they still see anywhere from 55 to 75 guys logging in and exercising at home. The Fit Fellas also walk each weekday morning together through our Dundarave neighbourhoods – masks on and socially distanced, of course.

Fit Fellas is run entirely by qualified volunteers who teach the classes and conduct their own instructor-training workshops. They share information on schedules, fitness, health, nutrition and medical issues such as CPR and stroke recognition through email and a quarterly newsletter. They contribute almost 800 volunteer hours a year to ensure the program runs successfully, and many of them volunteer hours at the Seniors Activity Centre’s events and on committees. In “normal years,” they also participate in community events such as the Coho Festival, Harmony Arts Festival, Canada Day and the Bridge Festival.

The Fit Fellas also celebrate an annual golf tournament, Bowen Island and Whistler trips together, as well as a huge Christmas Sports Awards luncheon with any profits going to charity. Last year, the Fit Fellas contributed over $100,000 to the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and $2,500 to the Senior’s Activity Centre. Other activities include a cycling group, and they enter a lawn bowling team in the Mayor’s annual tournament.

One of the important components of the program is the social part, which takes place in the Garden Café at the Seniors’ Activity Centre. The guys would gather after class for a coffee and share personal stories, trivia – and outrageous lies. If a birthday was being celebrated, cinnamon buns were ordered. Contrary to popular belief, the Fit Fellas consider cinnamon buns to be heart-smart, sugar-free and a source of energy (and when you have 175 guys, that’s a lot of birthdays and a lot of cinnamon buns!)

This momentous daily happening wouldn’t take place, of course, without moving all of the tables and chairs together so they could experience the intimacy and bonding that is so vital to them all. If the truth were known, they move the tables and chairs together so they can hear what the guy next to them is saying.

According to Chef Lou at the Garden Café, there was a floor plan where all the tables and chairs were strategically placed before the fellas arrived. Allegedly, everything would be lined up and looking very architectural, and then the guys would come in and destroy this beautiful sight! When they left, of course, the place was a mess, much to the dismay of Chef Lou. Despite their best efforts to restore everything back to normal, it was never quite good enough. It was suggested that a Table and Chair Committee be formed to oversee the restoration process each day.

There is no doubt the Fit Fellas provide not only exercise but friendships, camaraderie and lots of fun and laughter, which have proven to be essential to their health and happiness. The guys are very much looking forward to getting back to their full exercise program, truth-bending, coffee drinking and cinnamon bun consumption in the near future.

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