Trainer Andre Rose goes online with fitness classes

Fitness trainer Andre Rose is making the most of the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The fitness and wellness professional is filling the void left wide open by the closure of gyms across Canada with his virtual training online on various platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and his website.

The 41-year-old Jamaican entrepreneur holds a daytime job at Amazon (Canada) but is also a motivational speaker, and has made fitness his lifeline - something he wants to share worldwide in as many capacities as he can.

But for now, he is focusing on his trainer-led online classes, live streams, and a do-it-yourself website.

"My business is about fortifying mental well-being, as well as fitness, gentle guidance, and positive talks. It is a lifestyle choice," he said.

The 2013 third-place winner of Men's Novice Bodybuilding Lightweight says his fitness lifestyle began when he was inspired by Taye Diggs's muscular form in the movie How Stella Got Her Grove Back, which was shot in Jamaica.

He lived in Jamaica then, and dreamt of having a similar body profile and an opportunity to showcase his talents.

"As a young boy growing up in Jamaica, everyday life was just a physical experience where we would walk for miles to get to school, church, and many other places," Rose recalled.

CAREER CHANGE

His boss at Kingston store Collectibles got him, and other workers, gym memberships, in a bid to boost productivity. It would be the start of a lifetime love and career change.

It was in Canada, though, that his awareness that fitness and health went hand in hand was awakened.

"But, though fitness was natural, men's health usually becomes secondary. Medical issues such as prostate, diabetes, alcoholism, and other chronic illness that affect males, even within my own family, needed to be magnified," Rose said.

He said it became important - almost a mission - for him to become an ambassador for men's health awareness. Realising that his community needed a voice, he got involved with the work of The Walnut Foundation, a Canada-based charity that focuses on increasing information/awareness of prostate health among young males and has been pushing to get more men of colour and of African descent interested in keeping fit and staying healthy.

He is now an appointed board member of the foundation and an advisory committee member of the Canadian Cancer Society and Prostate Cancer Canada.

Rose is also the creator of the underwear company Steele by Andre Rose, and author of the book, Buns of Steel: The Unstoppable Pursuit of Fitness.