Back Room Talk Coach Spotlight: From Darkness to Purpose: Deven Kennedy's Mission to Save First Responder Lives
This episode of Back Room Talk explores the powerful journey of Deven Kennedy, a police officer turned fitness coach who transformed personal tragedy into a life-saving mission. After experiencing injury and psychological trauma on duty, followed by the devastating loss of a colleague to suicide, Deven founded Resilience Through Fitness – a coaching service dedicated to supporting first responders across Canada and the United States through the unique challenges of their demanding careers.
The Call to Service: From Policing to Coaching
Deven's journey began in 2013 when he started his career in policing. By 2016, he had already recognized a troubling pattern: "I noticed that there wasn't enough supports for first responders. And for about 10 years that I've started with my career, I noticed that I needed more and more supports and that fitness needed to be a bigger part of my life."
The turning point came in 2022 when Deven was injured on duty. The physical injury was just the beginning – the psychological impact would prove to be the catalyst for his life's work: "In that recovery from the physical and psychological injuries, I really realized that there was a need for supports for first responders and ways to reach more first responders, not just in my local community, but right across Canada and into the States."
This realization sparked the creation of Resilience Through Fitness, but it wasn't until a personal tragedy that Deven's mission became truly urgent.
The Moment Everything Changed
About six months before our conversation, Deven experienced a loss that would forever change his perspective on the importance of his work: "I had a classmate of mine or a troopmate of mine that unfortunately took his life to suicide and none of us knew he was struggling. So that really, really lit a fire under me. Like, no, this has to change. Things need to be done."
This devastating event transformed Deven's approach from passion project to life-or-death mission: "I just really doubled down and invested every waking minute that I'm not full-time policing, I'm doing this. So just trying everything I can to make sure that we don't have to go to so many funerals for first responders."
Building a Team That Understands
Rather than trying to scale alone, Deven made a strategic decision that would become central to his success: building a team of coaches who truly understand the first responder experience.
"Resilience Through Fitness is all first responder coaches or veterans," Deven explains. "I really wanted a team of coaches that understood shift work because it's really, really hard to understand shift work. Yes, you can know the kind of metrics of it and the limited sleep and this and that. But unless you've done it, it's hard to really understand."
The team includes specialists with different backgrounds:
Sean, a competitive CrossFit athlete
JT, who brings corrective exercise knowledge and is competing in the World Police Fire Games
Rayann, a firefighter who understands the unique demands of fire service
Two lifestyle coaches joining in March to address stress, sleep, and recovery
This collaborative approach reflects Devin's philosophy about coaching: "I find too, coaching is almost like policing. We all work in silos and we all think that we know the best and we don't want to give our trade secrets away... I want to bring people in to help out, to reach as many people as we can."
A Comprehensive Service Blueprint
Deven's approach to coaching goes far beyond traditional fitness programming. His service blueprint addresses the whole person, recognizing that physical fitness is just one component of overall wellness for first responders.
The RTF Process
The Resilience Through Fitness process begins with comprehensive intake:
Complete lifestyle assessment including sleep, recovery, and nutrition
Goal setting specific to individual needs and department requirements
Video consultation to understand the person behind the badge
"With the intake documents, it's all like top to bottom, like how's your sleep? How's your recovery? How's your nutrition? Everything. And then what are your goals?" Deven describes.
From there, each program is built from the ground up: "I build a ground up program. So I'll just rate from open canvas... specifically to what their availability is. Some people are at like a Globo gym. Some people are at the department gym. So what they have available to get them to their goals."
The Whole-Body Approach
What sets RTF apart is its focus on the complete picture of health: "I also look at the lifestyle. So how are you sleeping? How's your nutrition? Your shift work, right? Like what's your stress levels like? And having the lifestyle side of CoachRx was my favorite thing because that's the missing piece I find with coaches."
Devin's perspective on this holistic approach is clear: "We are focused so much on what their strength numbers are. And I'm like, that's awesome, but I don't care if you can lift 400 pounds. If you're not sleeping good and you're eating like crap and you're stressed as hell. So what? I don't care if you can eat and lift 400 pounds. You have to have that whole body health, right?"
Using Fitness as Therapy
Deven's personal experience with trauma led him to discover fitness as a powerful therapeutic tool. After his on-duty injury, he experienced panic attacks triggered by high-intensity exercise: "I was doing a burpee style workout and I had a complete full blown panic attack. I had to grab onto the rig, took a knee, couldn't breathe, but nobody was in there trying to hurt me in the gym. My body was just having a maladaptive response to it."
This challenge became an opportunity for discovery: "I really, really dug into how can I retrain my body in conjunction with the traditional techniques, psychologists and all that good stuff, but how can I fast track that progress?"
His solution involved cold water therapy and breathwork: "Shocking my body in the cold and then working through my breathing to bring my heart rate down naturally through my own mindset... that's really, really where the fitness side of things took off."
This personal journey informed his coaching philosophy: "Using fitness as a way to help first responders or anybody general public anyone... a way to set us up for that long-term success, not just talk therapy or just pharmaceuticals and stuff like, there's a way for our bodies to be put out of their comfort zone to make them better."
Adapting to the Realities of Shift Work
One of the biggest challenges in coaching first responders is the unpredictable nature of their schedules. Deven has developed specific strategies to work with, rather than against, the realities of shift work.
The First Day Off Rule
"I find with shift workers your first day off as no matter what it's that first day off is your recovery day. Just, just get the body back to normal."
RPE Over Percentages
Rather than rigid percentage-based programming, Devin uses Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): "I use a lot of RPEs... try not to use percentages with first responders, especially because you're, you're 90% of your one rep max. That's all fine and dandy. But if you just got called in to night shift the night before, or you just had a shitty call the day before and you're super stressed... well, 90% of your one isn't capable today, but what's 90% of what you're able to do today?"
Flexible Programming
Deven builds flexibility into every program: "I usually will put like alternate workouts in. So let's say it's supposed to be a heavy day on their second day off where they're starting to get recovered. Well I might put in an alternate day so if they get called in for overtime on one of the days of their days off then they can do a home gym workout."
The Power of Simplicity
One of Deven's greatest strengths as a coach is his ability to meet clients where they are, regardless of their resources: "People overthink it. They think, man, like, you know, I don't know what to do. I don't have this. I don't have that. Well, what do you have?"
His examples demonstrate this philosophy in action: "If you have a kettlebell, I'll make you a program. If you have a set of stairs in your house, we can work at work, right? Like it's, you know, there's so many options with so many different things that people don't even realize."
Even more creative solutions emerge when necessary: "I had a client now that's at Depot for the RCMP and he didn't have like sandbags or like heavy kettlebells, but he had water jugs like big heavy-duty water jugs. I was like, well farmers carries here we go, right and that was it right."
Technology as an Enabler
Deven's use of CoachRx has been instrumental in scaling his impact while maintaining the personal touch that makes his coaching effective. The platform allows him to:
Manage multiple coaches under one organization account
Share programs and templates across the team
Provide real-time adjustments even while on the road
Monitor lifestyle factors alongside fitness progress
Maintain consistent communication with clients
"I love CoachRx... this is the perfect system for what I want to do. And it allows me to do it while I'm on the road," Deven explains. "I can keep up with all my client stuff. If they need anything adjusted, I can do it on the road. I can hotspot off my phone... it was wicked."
From Surviving to Thriving
Deven's personal transformation through this journey has been remarkable. His approach to challenges has fundamentally shifted: "I'm never, I'm not the same Deven I was before the incident, but it's like a Deven 2.0. It's a better version, right? I know so much more of what I'm capable of now than what I did before the incident."
This growth is evident in how he approaches physical challenges: "Even whenever I was doing the run the other day, I was, I think, hour seven-ish. And I had just enough time to get one more lap in... the old me would have been like, no. And like another lap. And I was like, yeah, let's do it."
Building Community Beyond Training
Deven's vision extends beyond individual coaching to building a supportive ecosystem for first responders. He's created "Partners in Resilience," a network of complementary services: "For instance, like, you know, even if they're not like a paid coach with RTF, let's say it's like we have, innate renewal out of Ontario. So they're out of Ontario. They can only counsel out of Ontario, but I have a ton of clients from Ontario."
The network ensures comprehensive support: "If I have a client from Ontario that wants to seek counseling, they can reach out to innate and innate it's like, Oh, you're an RTF client. A hundred percent will take you on."
Looking Forward: Expanding the Mission
Deven's excitement about the future is palpable: "I honestly I just I know like I can I always I keep telling the coaches it's like there's a little like fires are burning everywhere and they're starting to catch and like it's just it's right there like it's just gonna take off."
His goals include:
Expanding to serve more departments across North America
Developing in-house fitness programs for smaller agencies
Growing the Partners in Resilience network
Attending events like the World Police Fire Games to build community
Advice for New Coaches
When asked about advice for new coaches, Deven's response reflects his own journey of authenticity and purpose:
"Don't try and follow what everyone's doing. Don't follow the cookie cutter way of doing it... what do you want to do? Cause you can do whatever the beep you want in life. You, and if that's your passion, roll with it because you only get one crack at life."
He emphasizes the importance of genuine care: "Do what makes you happy and what puts a smile on your face. You're golden it'll people really gravitate that because you genuinely want them to get better and you're gonna do whatever it takes to get them there."
The Ripple Effect
Deven's work with Resilience Through Fitness represents more than fitness coaching – it's about creating systemic change in how we support those who serve and protect our communities. By addressing the whole person and building a network of understanding coaches, he's creating a model that could transform first responder wellness across North America.
"The networking has been so empowering," Deven reflects. "We need to elevate each other, as opposed to feel that we're competition... We need to assist more people because the health of the worldwide population, it's quite bad."
Perhaps most importantly, Deven's story demonstrates that our darkest moments can become the foundation for our greatest contributions. Through his willingness to be vulnerable about his struggles and his commitment to preventing others from experiencing similar trauma alone, he's created something that extends far beyond fitness, he's created hope.
Connect with Deven
Those interested in learning from Deven or accessing RTF services can reach out through:
Website: resilienceforfitness.com
Email: deven@resilienceforfitness.com
Instagram: @resilienceforfitness
"Everybody's got a starting point," Deven encourages. "We just got to start with the volume and there's a method to the madness. It'll work. We just got to, you just got to trust me."
Next Steps
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