The Nova Health Club Vision

Josh Allen • January 1, 2025

“To redefine the fitness industry by evolving into holistic health coaches who transform lives and operate in the 'blue space' where competition is irrelevant.”



This is our company vision and I would like to share some perspective behind this vision and how it impacts you as someone in our Nova Community.



25 Years Experience


I started personal training in the year 2000 when I was 20 years old. 


When I started personal training in 2000 I was a trainer who only knew about exercise. My 4 years studying Kinesiology at University only taught me about human movement. My knowledge in areas such as nutrition, mental health or sleep was next to nothing. 


I also never had any health adversity that would have ever taught me anything other than how to workout. Like most young personal trainers, I had high energy, ate whatever I wanted and could do things like party till 2am drinking alcohol.


It was not until I was 30 years old (10 years into my personal training) that I started to see that health was more than just working out. I started noticing unfavorable changes in my metabolism, ability to recover and stress levels. When I was 36 years old, severe burn out brought my health to a screeching halt. It took me 5 years to recover from this and during this time is when I connected the dots to health and really started to appreciate what my clients needed.



Personal Trainer to Health Coach

As a young personal trainer who trained a clientele with the average age of 50 I only focused on how to ‘train’ a client with exercise. As I matured I realized that exercise was only a small part of my responsibility to my clients and if I continued to only focus on that, I would be creating a disservice to them. I started to observe things with my clients that proved my point. 


For example, the 6am high stress client who had a poor sleep needed a specific type of workout at 6am and coaching on how to sleep and manage stress. The client who was always getting injured needed support with stress, recovery and nutrition - not just rehab training. The client who was struggling with weight loss did not need more working out, they needed support in the other areas of their health like digestion, insulin management and sleep.


My biggest epiphany came to me when I realized that few of my clients were reaching their goals. I had clients that had the same goal year after year with little progress towards it. 

Sure they were active but the working out was not making as much impact in their lives as it could if I connected the dots for them. This did not sit well with me and was not the legacy I wanted to leave behind.


I started changing the tune of how to ‘train’ my clients. Though my sessions were founded on getting a ‘workout’, my priority was to support them as much as possible in areas OUTSIDE of fitness that I call the 5 Pillars of Health. Because I realized that what happens outside the gym determines what happens in the gym and ultimately the results and transformations that people wanted.



The ‘5 Pillars of Health’ 


1)Movement

2)Nutrition 

3)Sleep 

4)Stress 

5)Mindset



The Wellness Revolution


Wellness is a holistic term which takes the 5 Pillars of Health into consideration. Personal trainers focus on fitness, but fitness is just one piece of the puzzle. Without addressing the other elements of holistic health, fitness alone will fall short of taking you as far as you want to go or resolving the core issues that led you to start your fitness journey in the first place.


Fitness is a gateway to wellness and is probably the best place to start. That is why people see their personal trainers multiple times each week and not their doctors. Personal trainers therefore have a larger responsibility than they know. But the industry is changing and Nova Health Club is going in the direction of wellness.


That is why our name is Nova Health Club and not Nova Fitness. We want to create a massive impact in your life by supporting you beyond just working out. To do this our vision is to evolve from personal trainers to health coaches.


Fitness will always be at our core, but as we grow, we seek coaches with a holistic approach to training. Nova ‘Health Coaches’ will be equipped to support you in the 5 Pillars of Health, going beyond simply pushing you to work out harder. We are also going to continue expanding our programs and services to offer more support in nutrition, sleep, stress and mindset.



The Blue Space


One of our core values is ‘Excellence’. This means we have the desire to do great things and stand apart from the rest. We are confident that achieving our vision of redefining the industry as holistic health coaches will take us into an area that we refer to as the ‘Blue Space’. 


The name ‘Nova’ means ‘new’ and the ‘Blue Space’ is new unchartered territory where few people and companies go to. As industry leaders it is our long term vision to move in this direction, exploring new areas of health coaching that have never been done before.


We’re excited to be on this journey and invite you to join us, moving closer to your true potential and living your healthiest life yet!



The Nova Health Club Vision:


“To redefine the fitness industry by evolving into holistic health coaches who transform lives and operate in the 'blue space' where competition is irrelevant.”

By Josh Allen • October 4, 2026
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By Josh Allen • October 2, 2026
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By Josh Allen • September 26, 2026
Default vs Future Thinking Here is a question we should all be asking ourselves more: "What would the future version of you be doing right now?" Not the current version who is tired, busy or overwhelmed. The future you who is leaner, stronger, more energized and showing up powerful in every area of life... The version of you that has the results you want. The Future Self Thinks Differently And they got there by making different choices than the easy ones our current self so often subscribes to. Your future self doesn't cancel a workout because sleep wasn't perfect. They don't skip exercise because they are tired or because something came up at work, a last minute social invitation appeared or there's a haircut to fit in And if something does get in the way, they reschedule to earlier, later or the next day. They don't put health at the bottom of the list and wait for the schedule to calm down. Because they figured out something most people never do - things never calm down. Life doesn't get less busy. It just finds new ways to fill every gap you leave open. Your future self made a decision at some point. They started prioritizing their health the same way they prioritize family and work. Not above everything else. Right next to the things that matter most. That one decision is what separates the people who get results from the people who stay stuck in the same cycle year after year. The Two Versions of You Here is the thing most people miss. There are always two versions of you competing in the decision making process. The current default version that is tired, reactive and looking for the easy way out. And the future version that is already living the life you want and making choices that reflect that. Every single day you are casting votes for one of those two versions. Every time you show up when it is hard you are not just getting a workout in. You are becoming your future self. Every time you cancel/skip/defer you are voting to stay exactly where you are. The identity shift doesn't happen when you reach your goal. It happens in the small decisions you make when nobody is watching and things are hard. The Question That Cuts Through Every Excuse Stop asking yourself how you feel about your workout today. Start asking yourself what the person you want to become would do today. That question cuts through every excuse because the answer is always the same. - they show up. Next time you are faced with a decision that interferes with your workout, take a moment and ask yourself two things. What does my default mode want me to do? And what would my future self do? The gap between those two answers is exactly where your results live. The Shift Starts With One Decision You don't need a perfect plan. You don't need the right time or the right conditions. You just need to start making decisions that your future self would be proud of. One session at a time. One choice at a time. That is how the identity shift happens. That is how the results follow. And if you want support making that shift - a coach and a team who hold you to the standard of your future self, not your current default - is exactly what we are here to do.
By Josh Allen • September 20, 2026
Why Your Brain Talks You Out Of The Gym Every Time There are days when my energy is low. I didn’t sleep well the night before and I'm deep in work, the timeline is tight and everything is pulling at me at once. In those moments the last thing I want to do is work out. I'm tired. I'm stressed. I'm scattered. Not feeling it at all. And my brain does what every human brain does in that moment - it looks for the easy way out. The easy way out is always the same - skip the workout. I tell myself I'll make up for it tomorrow or next week… Or when things calm down. But tomorrow and next week are never any different. I've been training consistently for 30 years and I still feel this at least once a week and I've learned to recognize what's actually happening in that moment so that I don’t self sabotage. The Two Voices We all have these moments and when it happens there are two voices in your head. The first voice is loud, justified and incredibly convincing. It tells you that you're too tired. That you deserve a break. That you've been working so hard and one missed workout won't matter. That you'll go tomorrow for sure. This is your default voice - the one wired for the path of least resistance. It has kept humans safe and comfortable for thousands of years but it is working against you big time! The second voice is quieter. Easier to ignore. It doesn't shout. It just says - go anyway. That voice is your future self. The version of you that is leaner, stronger, more energized and more capable. And the future version of you didn't get there by listening to the loud default voice. The future self got there by learning to hear the quiet one. Here's what most people don't realize. Every time you listen to the default voice you make it louder. Every time you listen to the quiet one you make it stronger. The workout you skip today isn't just a missed session. It's a vote for the version of you that stays stuck. Your Default Operating System We all have a default mode - a way of thinking and behaving that kicks in automatically when things get hard. If your health is not where you want it to be, your default operating system is a big part of the reason. It generates a thousand reasons why not to continue when things get challenging. Too tired. Too busy. Too stressed. Not the right time. After the holidays. When things calm down. Sound familiar? The default voice doesn't just keep you from working out. It keeps you exactly where you are - year after year - wondering why nothing ever changes. Most people don't fail because they are lazy. They fail because they never trained the most important muscle they have - their mind. Thoughts create feelings. Feelings create actions. Actions create results. Change the thought and you change everything. The Agreement I Made With Myself On the days I don't want to train I make a simple agreement with myself: if I go, I am permitted to put in less effort. 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Not despite the stress - because of it. Exercise is one of the most powerful stress regulators your body has access to. The workout you want to cancel the most is almost always the one you need the most. So the next time your brain starts telling you to take a session off, recognize what's happening. That's the loud voice. The default voice. The one keeping you small. Your future self is the quiet voice on the other shoulder saying go anyway. Every time you listen to that quiet voice you are casting a vote for the person you are becoming. Show up tired. Show up stressed. Show up scattered. Just show up. A bad workout is always better than no workout. Always!!! You Don't Have To Figure This Out Alone One of the biggest reasons people keep listening to the loud default voice is because there is no one holding them accountable. When the only person expecting you to show up is yourself, the loud voice almost always wins. That's not a character flaw. That's just human nature. 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By Josh Allen • September 20, 2026
Injured? Here's Why You Should Keep Training Injuries happen to all of us at some point. Maybe it happens during a workout. Maybe it's moving a heavy piece of furniture at home. Maybe it's just waking up one morning and something doesn't feel right. Whatever the cause, the moment something hurts most people do the same thing - they stop. Rest. Recover. Wait until they feel better. I understand why it feels like the safe and logical thing to do. But after 25 years of coaching I can tell you that stopping completely is almost never the right answer. The Doctor's Advice - And Why It's Incomplete When something hurts, most doctors will tell you to rest and stop working out. I get why they say it - they don't want you making things worse and they are being cautious. But here is what most doctors don't factor in: there is a difference between resting an injured area and stopping all movement entirely. Your doctor is not trained in how to work around injuries during exercise. That is a completely different skill set - one that coaches who have studied kinesiology, anatomy and biomechanics spend years developing. Knowing how the body responds to training under stress or injury is exactly what we do. And the answer is almost never to stop moving completely. The Choice Most People Don't Realize They're Making When you get injured you actually have two options. Most people only see one. Option A is to protect the injured area and keep the rest of your body strong. Option B is to protect the injured area and let the rest of your body get weaker at the same time. When you look at it that way the answer is obvious. And yet most people still choose Option B without even realizing it.  I learned this firsthand years ago when I dislocated my shoulder. For about six months I couldn't do any serious upper body training at all. So I kept showing up with the exact same consistency and focused entirely on legs. My legs became super strong during that period. Meanwhile someone who stops going completely doesn't just lose upper body strength - they lose strength everywhere. The injury heals either way. But only one person comes back stronger. Be Solution Oriented - Not Problem Oriented Two people with the exact same injury can have two completely different outcomes based on mindset alone. The solution oriented person works around the injury and keeps moving in a modified way. The person with a limiting mindset stops everything, fixates on the problem and waits. The only bad workout is the one that didn't happen. That is not just a motivational line - it is the difference between people who get results and people who don't. Think Like an Athlete Have you ever heard of a professional athlete cancelling all of their training because of an injury? Never. When a professional athlete gets injured their training becomes modified - not cancelled. They focus on three things: rest, rehabilitation and maintenance. By continuing to train the right way they recover faster and come back stronger. You don't have to be a professional athlete to think this way. This is just how the body works - for everyone. 3 Parts to Fixing Injuries 1) Rest Strategic rest - not complete rest. Avoid the activities that aggravate the injury but keep everything else moving. If you tore a hamstring from sprinting, stop sprinting - but don't stop training entirely. 2) Rehabilitation Specific exercises that promote blood flow and healing to the injured area. A torn hamstring still needs gentle activation to heal faster - not complete shutdown. This is where having a qualified coach makes all the difference. 3) Maintenance While the injured area is healing, the rest of your body still needs attention. There is no reason to lose the strength and fitness you have worked hard to build just because one area is compromised. Common Injuries and What You Can Still Do Shoulder or arm injury? Focus on legs, core and rehabilitation work for the injured area. Back injury? Deep core work, supported upper body exercises and mobility - there is more available than most people think. Knee or leg injury? Upper body work, hip hinging movements and rehabilitation exercises that don't load the joint directly. Twisted ankle? Upper body, core and stretching. More options than you'd expect. The only time to completely stop training is if you are fully incapacitated. For almost every other injury there is a path forward. You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone Knowing how to modify training around an injury takes experience and knowledge. If you are injured right now and not sure what you can or can't do - that is exactly the kind of problem we solve every day. You don't have to wait until you feel 100% to reach out. In fact the sooner you do the better your outcome will be.
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