Our Team

James FitzGerald 

The guy that paints the picture, James is the founder of OPT and a full time husband, father and fitness athlete. His 16+ years of experience and service as a strength coach/technician, tireless practice on refining energy system work, nutritional and lifestyle balancing techniques and training of other coaches has made OPT a sought after method of bringing fitness to a Higher Order. 

Max El-Hag

Max was a two sport division 1 athlete, playing both football and wrestling at Lehigh University.  After injuries cut his collegiate athletic career short, he searched for competition in his training.  After a brief stint on Wall Street, he found mixed modality style training as a form of conditioning for his mixed martial arts hobby and began his coaching career.  Max holds certifications as a level 1 PICP Biosignature practicioner, a level 2 PICP coach, a USAW Level 1 sports performance coach, and a variety of others.  After spending time under James as both a client and an OPT CCP coach, he is happy to have transitioned into a full time member of the OPT team. Contact Coach Max

Natalie Taylor

Natalie Taylor has been participating in sports and fitness activities for nearly 30 years. She was both a competitive gymnast and swimmer and enjoys running and triathlons.  Her interest in these activities led to coaching jobs while she earned her degree in physical education.  After graduating from California State University, Chico,  Natalie spent 10 years teaching physical education, health, and nutrition science in the junior high and high school setting.

Her athletic background was the perfect combination for mixed modal training.   As she progressed in the sport of crossfit, Natalie's interest in coaching other adults led her to make a career shift.  For the last 5 years Natalie has worked as a personal trainer, group class instructor, and manager at NorCal Strength and Conditioning.  During her time at NorCal, Natalie was steeped in the application of paleo nutrition, and is continually looking to increase her knowledge and improve her coaching.  Her experience with OPT CCP led her to a position with the OPT team.

Natalie's teaching experience, personal fitness background, and general love of movement create a superior combination for coaching.  Natalie has worked with clients of all ages and fitness abilities, but she specializes in helping clients take that first step toward fitness.  She makes health and wellness attainable for everyone by creating an appropriate training and lifestyle plan designed to improve time management, sleep, nutrition, and fitness.

She is available for individual or small group training, as well as remote programming.   Finding time for fitness isn’t always easy—however with Natalie you will work efficiently by including multi-joint strength development, speed, stamina and flexibility as part of your sessions. Natalie holds her NSCA CPT as well as a variety of CrossFit certifications. Natalie will help to make fitness a foundational and successful part of your life.

Trevor Salmon

Mathieu Lalonde

A big part of OPT - the nutrition expert. He is our OPT Coaching Certification Program Nutrition Module Course Co-Condutor. Mathieu is a research chemist with a genuine interest in human metabolism, nutritional biochemistry, health and athletic performance. Matt obtained his bachelor's degree of science with a concentration in chemistry from the University of Ottawa. He then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to pursue graduate studies in organic chemistry at Harvard University. Upon completing his Ph. D., Matt decided to examine the primary literature on the subject of nutrition with the rigor of the scientific method in mind. This painful yet enlightening process underscored the flawed logic and experiments that lead to today's largely erroneous nutritional advice. Matt aims to teach individuals how to interpret published material such that they can determine for themselves what is fact and what is unsound. Ultimately, Matt's goal is to truly help the general public attain optimum health and fitness through proper nutrition.

Sean Greeley

Sean is all about making the most from of all you've got. We are very fortunate to have Sean as OPT CCP Business Module Co-Conductor . As a professional Wake Boarder he rose to the very highest level, representing team USA at the World Championships in Germany. As a fitness business owner, again, he far surpassed what many of his peers in the industry dreamed of accomplishing, creating a 653-strong client base and 2-location business in just 3 years, starting from nothing. Sean was also recognized as one of the Top 10 personal trainers in the country during that time.

After battling Stage IV cancer, Sean sold his fitness businesses and (along with his partner Eric) started another business from scratch and turned it into a multi-million dollar, industry leading company called NPE (which stands for Net Profit Explosion) that supports fitness business owners in all aspects of business growth and development. A feat recognized by the very best business builders in the world at the Glazer Kennedy Info-Summit 2008 where Sean & Eric won the "Info Marketer's of the Year" award. And now in 2010, NPE has been recognized as #131 on the Inc 500 list (and #16 in the Marketing & Advertising sector) of the fastest growing private owned US corporations.

Sean's biggest asset is his ability to systemize and then maximize almost every business essential from sales, to marketing, to management and more. If there's a faster, easier and more profitable way to do something, Sean will find it.

In his spare time Sean likes to "relax" by cranking out nausea-inducing OPT workouts, surfing in oftentimes shark infested waters, or being pulled at up to 23mph, hanging onto the back of a wakeboarding boat.

Bernie Novokowsky

Bernie Novokowsky is the founder of Novokowsky Consulting Group. Bernie has a Master of Arts in Organization Development and a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems –- both from The Fielding Graduate University (USA). Bernie's clients range from large multi-national companies to small business operations and individuals in many different industries.

Bernie is a co-author of the successful book "Creating Paths of Change" 1993, 1997), which has been a required text for Transition/Change management seminars at the University of Calgary and at the Banff School of Management. Bernie is also the author of a chapter in the recently published book "Transformative Phenomenology: Changing Ourselves, Lifeworlds, and Professional Practice" (2008). Bernie's first career was in the Canadian army; he then Bernie practiced leadership in the corporate sector as a Team Leader of Organizational Effectiveness in a mid-sized oil company. In the last 18 years, in now his third career, he remains a leader in consulting practices, as well as in his volunteerism.

Over the last 18 years, Bernie has presented at numerous conferences, focusing on helping organizations survive and thrive in today's business environment. Bernie focuses on applying "Higher Order Thinking" (HOT) frameworks for designing and implementing better organizational (and personal life) work practices, systems, and outcomes. His HOT schema emerged as a result of his doctoral research and practitioner experience into personal/professional power. After a three –year hiatus with cancer, Bernie is continuing his practitioner-scholar research, development, and consulting of pragmatic "higher orders".

Dr. Jeoff Drobot B.Sc., ND

Dr. Drobot is the Medical Director of the prestigious Calgary Centre for Naturopathic Medicine.

Dr. Drobot graduated from the University of Calgary with a Science degree in Exercise Physiology. He then pursued his doctorate degree from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon.

He is regarded by his peers as a leader in Naturopathic Medicine.

Dr. Drobot is a leading authority in the fields of European Biological Medicine, chronic and autoimmune disease treatments, detoxification, hormonal imbalance correction and customized sports medicine and nutrition programs. His love of medicine has evolved into a vast clinical focus treating men, women and children from the youngest to the oldest - all of whom benefit from Dr. Drobot’s constant quest for knowledge. This passion for learning has regularly led him to travel the world attending seminars and spending time with the most talented people in medicine.

Dr. Drobot has written health care articles for a variety of publications, including the Calgary Herald and Alive magazine, and he also routinely lectures for major corporations, sports teams and associations.