Hi, my name is Chad Benko. I am a co-owner of Synergy along with Ian MacDonald. I grew up in a small town (Raymore) where agriculture and sporting endeavors took priority. Growing up in a small sporting town was great as team work and a sense of community was highly respected and I had multiple sporting activities to choose from (football, baseball, volleyball, basketball, and hockey – although I think I was the only Raymore resident who could not ice skate). Growing up in a small town environment molded me into the person I am today – I grew up in a family where work ethics, morals, and honesty were highly respected and this is something that has stayed with me over the years and I now bring to my work life at Synergy.
I moved from the dusty roads of the farm to the big lights of the city and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Degree in Kinesiology and exercise science. While attending school I became involved in personal training and lifestyle coaching. This was an eye opening experience as I found out very quickly that I knew little about exercise and lifestyle modification at the time. This is what began my passion for learning in the field of health and wellness. University prepped me with the basics, but I wanted and needed so much more. I began learning from and working with some of the world’s best coaches – Charles Poliquin, James Fitzgerald, Greg Everett, Mike Burgener, Terry Hadlow, plus many others from within the CrossFit community. In my early days as a personal trainer I worked in multiple different gyms throughout Saskatoon, but never truly found a home as I was never satisfied with the environment, services, and outlook on fitness that most gym owners and trainers provided to their members and clients. It seemed as though the bottom line always came first and not the members and their health. I knew there had to be a better method of operating a fitness facility and impacting peoples’ lives positively while still maintaining the bottom line as a business. After a few years of indecision I made the final plunge (mostly due to the assistance of Ian – my business partner) by opening Synergy Strength and Conditioning – Home of CrossFit Saskatoon. From the start our main goal has been to stay true to our beliefs and be different…different in the fact that our gym focuses on all aspects of health and wellness in an effort to move our members forward and focus on what they need in order to achieve their goals. this is what we call a results oriented approach to business and training!
I love working with our members and seeing their progress and achievements. I am very passionate about making a difference in our community (within the walls of our facility and the city of Saskatoon). I am very thankful for the people in my life who have influenced and empowered me to continue learning and reaching higher within the field of health and wellness. I know there is a lot more that can be done to improve our club and the lives of those we influence and that is exactly what we (the Synergy team) are doing and continuing to strive towards. I firmly believe we have the greatest community, members, and coaches here at Synergy due to the pride and focus of our staff on the betterment of our club. I see a very bright future for all those involved with this club and what we are doing – this I am very proud to be a part of.
