Watch it
take shape.

Permits, trades, equipment, coaches — every step of building Highmark, posted as it happens AND we’re giving away ten pairs of socks October 1st.

Build milestones

Status

What are we waiting for??

Fair question. We’re incorporated — Highmark Training Co Inc. is a real company now — and the building permit and business licence applications are in. Behind those, months with engineers reworking a space that was never drawn for people training hard: how the floor takes a loaded barbell, how the air moves, how sound carries. The layout shifted too. Change rooms and showers now open onto the social space instead of away from it, because what happens either side of the workout is half of why people stay. What’s left sits with people who aren’t us. We’re considering writing a book. Opening A Gym 101, Chapter One: build a schedule, then double it. Which is our long way of saying we are, unfortunately, now trending to a November opening.

Coaching

Coach outreach is underway

We’ve started reaching out to coaches. If you coach, or you know someone who belongs on this floor, and we haven’t reached you yet — email us at info@highmark.fit. We’d rather hear from you than miss you.

Systems

Picking our tools

We’re leaning towards Wodify to run memberships, scheduling and bookings, and Mayhem for programming. Both were chosen because they make the coaching better, not because they make the admin easier.

Construction

Trades on deck

We’re lining up trades now so crews can start the day the permit lands instead of scrambling afterwards. Quotes in, sequencing sorted, everyone on standby. This is the part where it stops being drawings.

Permitting

Into permitting

Our building permit application went in mid-August. Nothing gets built until it is in hand — it is the gate everything else waits behind, and the one thing on this page that is not ours to hurry.

Gear

We have socks

Shirts, hats, quarter-zips — and socks. Designing the kit has been the most fun we’ve had on this whole project, and the socks caused the longest debate of any decision we’ve made. Worth every minute. The socks are Friday Sock Co, a Calgary company, but made in Italy — same as our equipment, which also comes from a Calgary company, Bells of Steel. Soon you’ll be able to buy it all from the app, but for now we’re giving ten pairs away on October 1st, and everyone on the registration list is already entered. Not on it yet? Click here to register.

Equipment

Equipment on order

The full equipment package is locked in and out for pricing. We took our time on this one — gear we actually want to train on, built to hold up under daily use, and enough of it that everyone trains at once, on their own setup. It comes from Bells of Steel, just up the road in Calgary.

Launch

We go public

highmark.fit went live and registration opened — the first real look at the two tracks, the capped class model, and what we’re building in Seton. The response told us we weren’t the only ones who wanted this, and that the appetite leans heavier toward GOAT. The list has grown every week since.

Brand

Highmark gets its face

The vision came first — two tracks, capped classes, coaching that actually coaches. The brand followed it, not the other way round. GOAT and ENGINE gave Highmark its shape; the Rocky Mountain goat, the navy and the red gave it a face. And the line we keep coming back to: Show up. Find your limit. Exceed it. Built with @niceoneyyc and @specialforcescreative. More on the thinking behind it.

The Space

The space is chosen

We walked the Seton bay with our architect and laid out ten training stations under nearly fifteen feet of ceiling. Designed from the floor up around GOAT and ENGINE — not a standard gym plan with a rig dropped into it.

More as it happens. Follow along on Instagram, or register your interest to get updates by email.