Len Fridman, Co-Founder

Having worked 9 years in the corporate environment, Len knew all too well the rigors and stresses of the rat race and corporate life. From being a fit, vibrant young man, who spent his youth as a competitive tennis player, he became the shadow of his former self; relegated to spending upwards of 12 hours a day seated in front of a computer. Like many, Len’s only form of exercise was walking to and from his car.

Inspired by his wife’s transformation and the desire to be a positive role model to his daughter, Len recommitted himself to honoring his body and health. Today, Len is stronger, fitter, healthier and happier than he has ever been all because he made a simple choice to improve his life and invest in his health.

Len co-founded MetaBody with a mission to make a positive difference in the health and the lives of as many people as possible, by providing the most comprehensive fitness program available anywhere. Together with his wife, Adele, they have created something truly special. They’ve assembled an elite team of health and fitness professionals who share their same vision and help spread the message of health and fitness to people like you; people who are ready to finally embrace all that life has to offer and are ready to achieve the health and well-being they deserve.

“Being healthy is a conscious choice we make every day. It is a simple decision to honour our body; whether it be by eating the right foods or getting up in the morning and doing simple exercises. It is a collection of choices that have lasting and profound rewards that echo throughout all aspects of our lives. Let us give you the guidance, tools and motivation you need to achieve the results you have been searching for. It all starts now with a simple choice”.

Len Fridman

Marc L. Megna, Celebrity Personal Trainer and Fitness Director

Born and raised in the blue-collar, working-class town of Fall River, Massachusetts, Marc learned the importance of hard work and dedication at an early age. Involved in sports since he was six, Marc excelled in baseball, basketball and in particular football.

His passion and drive on the gridiron throughout his high school career served notice to college scouts that Marc was the real deal when it came to the game. Marc received a scholarship to a Division 1 school and later earned such prestigious titles as 3-time Conference All Star and 2-time All-American. Once college ended, Marc went on to a successful career playing professional football.

Marc is a spokesperson for Muscletech Supplements and works as a personal trainer and CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) in Miami Beach, FL. His time in professional sports served him well and educated him on the importance of proper training as he now trains a long list of clients – from fitness enthusiasts to professional athletes and celebrities. For more info on Marc, make sure to check out www.marcmegna.com

Sunny Amirpour, Karate and Boot Camp Instructor

After 12 years of teaching karate and numerous years of leading group fitness classes, Sunny joins Metabody as one of our boot camp instructors. Sunny's high energy and total body workouts leave recruits feeling motivated and empowered.

Sunny holds a third degree Black Belt from the Canadian Wado Ryu Karate Federation and is an international instructor. As a competitor, Sunny was the three time Ontario Champion and member of the 2005 Canadian Karate Team, where she was ranked as the 7th top female karate competitor in the world. Currently Sensei Sunny is a senior instructor at the North York YMCA Karate Club and coaches the North York Wado Ryu Karate competitors for both Kata and Kumite in addition to her role as MetaBody Boot Camp Instructor. Sunny also holds several awards and designations from Karate Ontario, and conducts women's self-defense classes on a regular basis.

Lisa Faria, Personal Trainer & Boot Camp Instructor 

Lisa’s passion for fitness was borne four years ago when she went through her own personal transformation.  Tired of carrying around the “last ten” pounds; tired of being uncomfortable at the beach; tired of putting other things ahead of her own heath, Lisa learned how to eat clean and how to fit regular strength-training into her lifestyle.  The transformation resulted in her entering figure and bikini competitions for the next three years.  It also resulted in her becoming a Personal Trainer. 

Lisa has realized that fitness will always be a part of her life—making healthy choices and being active are forever—and she wants to share that with others.  Lisa’s goal, whether through teaching high school students, training clients, or instructing bootcamp is to pass on her knowledge and expertise to others so that they too can catch the “fitness bug”.

Crystal Stephenson, Personal Trainer, Nutritional Consultant & Boot Camp Instructor

Crystal Stephenson specializes in personal training and nutrition coaching. Crystal’s clientele include; stay at home moms, working professionals, athletes and students. Crystal focuses on setting realistic goals and programs of clients. Crystal has experience in Kickboxing, Pilates, Yoga, Spinning & Strength Training and incorporates these components in her training sessions. Crystal also has experience in Sports/Exercise Nutrition.

Armed with a positive attitude, she will leave you feeling empowered and motivated to achieve your goals! With over 4 years of experience in the fitness Industry, Crystal has quickly become an icon in the health and fitness arena. Crystal’s holistic approach to health and wellness makes the transition to a healthy lifestyle a manageable and maintainable one.   

Carley Simandl, Registered Nutritionist 

Carley Simandl is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, Professional Make-Up Artist & a Certified MetaBody Coach.

Carley Simandl grew up in Barrie, ON - a small town with small town values. Growing up, Carley competed in jazz, tap and ballet. After completing school, Carley travelled the world visiting exotic places and experiencing different cultures. While exploring the wilderness of British Columbia, Carley was inspired to pursue a career as a professional Make-Up Artist. Carley worked as a freelance Make-up Artist for 5 years and travelled internationally visiting clients from all over the world . Soon after, Carley became a teacher at The School of Make-up Art in Yorkville successfully training over 50 graduating students.

Discovering that skin is a direct reflection of how you feed your body, she decided to pursue her passion for nutrition and become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. After conducting extensive research in skin health, Carley knows all the beauty secrets from the inside out!

Working with Carley as your personal coach means she will customize a nutrition/exercise program based on your personal goals and nutritional symtomology. Carley can visit your home and perform a pantry purge, take you on a grocery tour, as well as provide you with the support to attain your goals. Carley Simandl is dedicated to bringing out the best possible version of you; the version you know you can be.

Leah Day, Personal Trainer & Boot Camp Instructor

Leah Day has been an avid runner for over 20 years. She has won several running awards and competed in a variety of sporting endeavours. She took part in her first ‘Iron Man’ competition in 2001 and completed her first trail marathon as part of the ‘Play Outside British Columbia’ program for charity that same year. She logs over 80km every week and averages 100km every other week. Leah has run in all provinces and territories within Canada. She is currently training to run solo across Canada to raise awareness for the hearing impaired in 2010. Leah has been training adults and children to run, safely, and with passion for over 10 years.

Leah has taught Pilates and Aerobics for several years before becoming a boot camp instructor for MetaBody. Leah has always been in a believer in “safety first”. She insists that proper warm up and cool down are part of a safe and effective workout routine. Leah has a true passion for health and fitness and she brings that enthusiasm to her boot camps. The fun and energetic atmosphere that she creates forms an empowering environment for all the boot camp participants.

Leah practices what she preaches and she uses her vast knowledge of nutrition to stay on an extremely healthy diet and has never had reason to break that ingrained habit of self care. Leah helps instil those same healthy habits to her students by leading by example.

Omar Niño, Personal Trainer & Boot Camp Instructor

Omar is based in Miami Beach, Florida who graduated with a Bachelors Business Administration degree with plus 10 years of personal training experience. His clients range from celebrities to business professionals to specialty training.

Jacqueline Kasen, Personal Trainer & Boot Camp Instructor

Fitness trainer Jacqueline Kasen is a proud trainer at Equinox in South Beach, Florida as well as one of MetaBody's elite Boot Camp Instructors. She has trained in New York, Boston, and currently Miami. Before her career as a fitness trainer, she worked for her father's fitness and wellness company named Inspired Studios formerly known as Peter Pan Industries (PPI). She worked on production and was head of consumer sales for fitness DVD's for various fitness celebrities such as Denise Austin, Leslie Sansone, Tony Little, Minna Lessig; just to name a few and worked on such titles as The Method Series, SHAPE, and Elle. Her athletic abilities have very deep roots, as she was a track and field athlete and played tennis and skied in college. She has her B.S in Exercise Science, minor in health and was certified by the National Federation of Personal Training, Pre and Post Natal, ViPR, Kettlebell Concepts, and currently going through her National Association of Sports Medicine Certification.

Ariel Vega, Beauty Specialist

Your personal transformation is complete with Ariel Vega, Beauty Consultant to the stars! Ariel has done makeup for such notables as Daisy Fuentes. Ariel has worked with Adele on a number of photo shoots and provides MetaBody clients with natural beauty and skin care enhancement tips!

Ariel moved to New York City in 1996 to pursue his career in make-up artistry and has worked since with countless celebrities in Film and Print work. Ariel prides himself in the art of beauty make up while helping women find the right products, and the right application to enhance their inner beauty. Ariel has worked with some of the industry's most prestigious make up lines and clearly knows how to bring out your inner beauty.

Kevin Tierney, Personal Trainer & Boot Camp Instructor

With over 10 years of experience in nutrition and fitness Kevin Tierney is a true health and fitness enthusiast. Kevin is a professional Trainer with the Toronto Arlies AHL Hockey Team and competes in several bodybuilding/fitness competitions. Kevin trains everyday people as well as Fitness Athletes for professional fitness/bodybuilding shows which includes regular nutritional and exercise consulting. Kevin has expertise with agility, pylometric and core strength training principles. Kevin is a goal-oriented lifestyle coach/trainer who encourages accountability while making fitness fun! In group training, Kevin gravitates towards team drills because he believes that competition and team building brings out the best in everyone. Working out with Kevin will improve your body helping you look leaner, tighter and toned!

Marina Da Re, Registered Nutritionist & Personal Trainer

Marina Da Re is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and a Certified Personal Trainer Specialist. Marina has also completed a four year Hons. B.A., at the University of Toronto specializing in Languages and Translation.Years back, Marina’s youngest brother recovered from leukemia. After seeing the impact this had on her brother and family, Marina dedicates her career to learning more about disease prevention through optimal nutrition and lifestyle support.

Marina understands that each client is different and creates programs specific to each individual’s goals. Marina provides online/phone nutritional coaching to MetaBody worldwide clientele. If you’re local to Toronto, Marina’s services also include; grocery tours, nutritional workshops, pantry purges, cooking lessons and more...

Tanya Ricci, Zumba Instructor & Personal Trainer

Tanya has been dancing since the age of 4, studying various dance disciplines including jazz, tap, ballet and flamenco. She has performed and choreographed for numerous productions including half-time shows at Football and Basketball games. Tanya's love for Latin music, dance and fitness led her to Zumba®. She was instantly hooked! She decided to become a Zumba Instructor and Certified Fitness Instructor Specialist through Can Fit Pro so that she could share her passion and love of Zumba with the world! Tanya's classes are fun, energetic, and great for all levels of fitness. She'll definitely have you jumping, sweating, smiling and "shaking" along with her! 

Derwin Johnson, President, USKD MMA Inc.,Certified Black Belt Instructor Professional, Mixed Martial Artist, Certified Personal Trainer

Prior to the conception of USKD MMA Inc. Derwin led a successful career in the corporate world of publishing. His personal pursuits included service as an Infantryman within the Canadian Armed Forces and gracing the silver screen. He is also an accomplished pianist with the Royal Conservatory of Music and has taught piano and theory.

For the past 13 years he studied and became proficient in a variety of martial arts including: Shaolin Kempo, Muay Thai, Filipino Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He has trained with the likes of Sam Stout, Mark Hominick, Mark Boeck, Chris Clements, Claude Patrick, Sean Pierson, David Crawley and with organizations including: New Energy Muay Thai, Lin Martial Arts, Toronto BJJ, Xtreme Couture, BTT Canada, Elite Training Centre, Southside Muay Thai and UMAC. As an elite athlete he maintains a winning professional competitive record.

Derwin's desire and love for both the martial arts and fitness propelled him to leave a successful career in the corporate world to follow his dream of helping others achieve fitness excellence. The goal became reality with the creation of USKD MMA Inc. USKD MMA Inc. is committed to providing dynamic results oriented fitness and martial arts based instruction to bothindividuals and groups. Derwin believes that the fitness philosophy should be to create muscle confusion to achieve faster results, improve athletic performance, develop long muscle, increase flexibility, tone, trim and strengthen the core. Ultimately, to assist clients in achieving fitness goals and provide them with the tools to lead balanced, safe, healthy and happy lives.

Jaime Rojas, NLP Master & Life Coach, Fitness Specialist

A Colombia native, 30 year old Jaime was not always the superior athlete and Life Coach he is today. Like most, Jaime’s success story is not free of the many trials and tribulations that we all encounter during our life journey. Initially handicapped by a respiratory condition at a very young age, Jaime found little success in the realm of sports. Fueled by his burning desire to prove himself and overcome his obstacles, Jaime persevered and never stopped believing in himself. Eventually, he became a triathlete for Hollywood Ocean Rescue and acquired numerous certifications including N.S.A.M, N.F.P.T, KETTLE BELL C.P.R, and A.E.D. But even then, Jaime was only human. Overcome by a moment of weakness, in the epitome of his youth, Jaime found himself behind bars for almost four year.

In jail, Jaime lost his freedom, his life, and his desire to live. After spending nearly 9 months trying to commit suicide, Jaime realized that his only option was not to end his life, but to change it. His mission became to change it in a way that he had never changed it before, and to eventually lead others to those long-lasting changes that equate to a higher quality of life. He longed to get back to his career, and be able to provide even greater services to his clients. Jaime could change his client’s bodies through exercise, but he wanted to change the way they looked at and experience life.

After serving his time and emerging with a new found courage, passion, and inner fire to change his life and that of others, Jaime began working on his Life Coach certification, and achieved a prestigious certification as an NLP Master Coach. Through this intensive training, Jaime acquired the knowledge to empower himself and those he works with to make long lasting changes to improve quality of life. The life coaching process is the only improvement process that allows Jaime to focus completely on his clients, helping them establish control over the goals and the results they achieve. As a Life Coach, Jaime partners with his clients in seeing them improve and grow as a person as the means to achieve their goals. Through his coaching process, Jaime assures that his clients have the mind-body awareness to achieve goals; fitness or otherwise.

Jaime’s training knows no bounds. His heart and desire to see other immerge from the depths of an unsatisfying life is beyond description. Jaime will soon add yet another title to his name-author. His eagerness to share his knowledge and experience to positively impact the lives of as many people as possible has led him to write a few books that will soon be released. With his books, Jaime hopes to expand his reach to an unimaginable audience, leading people across the globe to a more satisfying and rewarding life. As an eternal student, Jaime continues to add skills and wisdom to his resume. He is currently a loyal student of Bob Proctor, Anthony Robbins and Brian Weiss, as a new means of helping some of his clients.

Jaime customizes his programs and approach, tailoring it to his client’s needs and wants in life. In the end, his clients find themselves internally motivated and capable of setting and achieving goals independently. No goal is impossible. Jaime is living proof that no matter where you are in life, even if its rock bottom, you can emerge victorious. He is here to help you do the same. Jaime has taken a client who could barely swim across a pool, and has helped transform him into a hard-coretriathlete. His training and philosophy has proven successful with his extensive list of clients, ranging in all ages and backgrounds including children, athletes, and even celebrities such as Latin superstar Willie Chirino. That list will soon include you!

Micheline Poncelet, Kinesiologist,Rehabiliation Specialist, Figure Competitor & Fitness Specialist

Micheline Poncelet has been active in the fitness market for almost 2 decades. After receiving her Diploma in Fitness and Lifestyle Management from George Brown College, she continued her education at the University of Ottawa receiving an Honours degree in Kinesiology.

Micheline works hard with her clients with an understanding of Fitness and Health as a Lifestyle. Having worked in several Physiotherapy clinics within Toronto and Ottawa, Micheline has vast experience in rehabilitation from sport or work related injury and uses this knowledge to ensure her clients get the most out of their workouts as possible. Micheline takes pride in her work and has always been willing to spend a great deal of one on one time with clients requiring special needs. She has experience helping clients with a wide variety of Fitness goals, anywhere from fitness/figure competitive regimes to long term health plans for obese clients.

Micheline also enjoys challenging herself and spent 4 years training and competing in Figure (physique) competitions with WNSO (Word Natural Sports Organization) and Neutron Sports.

In addition to the above, she has added class instruction to her experience base and specializes in muscle conditioning/body sculpting, interval classes and indoor/outdoor boot camps for all ages an fitness levels.

Micheline quotes, "I am passionate about people and love the fact that I spend every day at work helping my clients be their best selves!"