07/24/2025
last Saturday’s Movement & Mobility class where former, long time clients who moved away, returned for the weekend and brought their parents to join us. As I taught my class, I couldn’t help but think:
Exercise and movement ought to be accessible, non‑intimidating, and free, yet in BC, they’re not.
Our provincial health care system is built to react, not prevent. While BC government programs like “ActNow BC” and the “Active People, Active Places: BC Physical Activity Strategy”, aim to promote walking, cycling, and physical literacy, they fall short of guaranteeing free coverage for gym access, coaching, and training to help people build lifelong strength and resilience.
Clinical prevention in BC focuses largely on age‑based screenings and behavioral counselling within medical settings under the “Lifetime Prevention Schedule”, but it doesn’t include funding for free access to personal training, nutrition coaching, or gym memberships as a core health benefit and pathway to resilience and independence.
Meanwhile, in schools, the “Grade K–12 Daily Physical Activity” policy required weekly activity but doesn’t build physical literacy or teach strength fundamentals to support long-term wellness beyond graduation. Misconceptions, like strength training stunting growth or making you “too bulky” or being reserved only for athletes, perpetuate today and discourage many from even stepping into a gym.
Health and fitness are political. We have select prevention-focused strategies on paper, but no real government investment in training, coaching, gym memberships, or strength education.
Why isn’t the system built to support everyone’s right to move, learn, and thrive? Perhaps it’s because the current system benefits when we stay uninformed and sick 🤔
How do we get the health care system we ought to have?
