Meet Mel Cech - Founder of Team Mel Coaching
Canadian IFBB Figure Pro · Certified Personal Trainer · Nutrition Coach
Founder of Team Mel Coaching · Based in Victoria, BC
Mel Cech is a Canadian IFBB Figure Pro, certified personal trainer, nutrition coach, and the founder of Team Mel Coaching Ltd., based in Victoria, British Columbia.
She has coached hundreds of clients across Canada and internationally; from postpartum moms and busy parents to body recomposition clients, men in transformation phases, youth athletes, and physique competitors prepping for the IFBB stage.
Mel is a featured contributor in 100 Best Physique Workouts: Transform Your Body With the World's Top Trainers (Gareth Sapstead, 2024), a 3x Inside Fitness Magazine Hot & Fit 100 honoree — placing 3rd in Canada in 2024 with top-10 feature in 2023 and top 100 in 2022 — and was a cover feature in IAMALFA magazine (January 2023).
How I Actually Got Here
I didn't plan any of this. I planned to be a national-level field hockey player. The rest came from refusing to let a body that kept fighting me decide what I was capable of.
I grew up as a competitive athlete. I played field hockey at the national level through my teenage years and early twenties, and I loved it. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis I received at age 10, caught up to me and I had to retire from the sport at age 20, the very sport that had shaped my entire identity up until then. The years after were brutal. A major personal upheaval triggered the worst flare of my life. I was on heavy doses of prednisone, my insomnia was relentless, I gained 50 pounds, I was emotionally eating, and I was completely lost in a body I no longer recognized. I knew I needed to find my way back; both to rebuild myself physically and to get my arthritis under control. So, I hired a personal trainer. I was young and broke, and after a few sessions I couldn't afford her anymore. So I sat down and hand-drew every exercise she'd shown me as stick figures, scribbled out my own workout plan on paper, and showed up to the gym alone, checking my notebook between sets so I knew what to do next. This was before the internet was full of training content. I figured it out. I changed my diet. I got disciplined. I lost a significant amount of weight, and for the first time in years I felt unbelievable in my body. But, I was skinny. I hadn't built much muscle, and I knew I wanted real density and strength. So I inquired at a private gym and asked for a free consultation. The owner taught me how to deadlift. Something I had been wanting to learn for so long, but was too nervous to look weird in a public gym, or hurt myself. I told him I couldn't afford to work with him, and he told me I could come train with him anytime, for free. That generosity changed the direction of my entire life. I built muscle. I got strong. He eventually asked me to get certified and come work at his gym. So I worked a full-time day job, worked part-time at the gym at night, and studied for my certifications in between, because I was tired of relying on anyone else to give me direction. If I don't know something, I want to learn it inside out.
The goal was never to compete. The goal was never to become a personal trainer. It all fell into place because clients kept finding me, and because I refused to stop learning.
I started running group fitness classes early on, then began taking on personal training clients in person and online. When COVID hit and gyms shut down, my online business took off. I had to scale it while working a full-time job and being a single mom. By then I'd hired my own online coach. I never wanted to compete. But one day I overheard someone in the change room saying how easy it would be to win a competition, and the athlete in me, the field hockey player who'd been benched by her body years earlier, woke up. I told my coach I wanted to do it. She told me she'd been waiting for me to say that for years, because she always knew I was made for the stage. I quietly prepped without telling anyone (because the idea of having my body on stage judged, publicly, felt like my worst nightmare after years of feeling insecure, and I wasn't convinced I could actually feel confident enough to do it). I learned to pose maybe three weeks before show day. I even had to learn to walk in heels! I stepped on stage with zero expectations and won every category I entered, including Overall, which qualified me for a pro qualifier. So, I prepped quietly again. In 2019, I stepped on stage at the Latin America Championships — and I won my pro card. Two shows. That's not normal, and I know it. A year after COVID hit, I left my full-time job as a property manager and went all-in on Team Mel Coaching. I've been coaching online and in person ever since. And the arthritis I have been living with since I was 10? By my mid-twenties, I put it into complete remission. Not with a pill, but with the same lifestyle changes I now coach my clients through. I overhauled my nutrition. I prioritized mobility and strength training over the high-impact work that used to flare me. I learned how to manage stress like it was part of the program, because it is. Training. Nutrition. Sleep. Stress. Consistency. The exact things that built the body, the business, and the health I have today. I still live with osteoarthritis in the joints my RA flares damaged years ago — that part doesn't go away. But I've found a way to train smart, respect my limitations, and still become an IFBB Pro despite them. That's the part I want every client to understand: working with your body, not against it, is how you build something that lasts.
Why I Coach the Way I do
I've been the person who couldn't afford the coach. I've been the person who had to figure it out alone, with no direction and no community. I've been the woman whose body felt foreign after a major life shift. I've been the single mom trying to fit training into impossible days. I've been the athlete forced to start over. I've been a client of coaches who handed me copy-paste programs and never really saw me.
That's why I coach the way I do.
If someone is putting their trust in me to change their body and their life, I need to actually know them — what they're juggling, what they've tried, what their history is, where they're stuck. That's how I build a program that works for that person, not a recycled template I gave to ten other clients last month.
Empathy first, structure always
I've lived enough of the struggle to coach with empathy. But empathy without structure is just sympathy — and that doesn't change anyone's body. You'll get warmth and you'll get a plan.
Connection is non-negotiable
I had coaches who didn't know me, and I know exactly how that feels. Every client I take on, I'm hands-on. Weekly check-ins. Real conversations. Real adjustments. You're not a name on a spreadsheet to me.
Discipline, not motivation
I show up on the hard days. The good days. The exhausting days. Motivation comes and goes. The clients who change their lives are the ones who learn to just show up. That's what I'll teach you.
"If I can do this, I know everybody can. It's about the drive. It's about showing up on the hard days. It's never about motivation. It's just simply about showing up."
— Mel Cech
Specialties
Body Recomposition
Losing fat and building muscle at the same time
Postpartum Return-to-Training
Pelvic floor and core first, lifting second
Strength Training & Periodization
Progressive overload that actually progresses
Competition Prep
Physique and Figure bodybuilding, off-season through post-show
Hormone-Focused Coaching
Perimenopause, postpartum, thyroid, autoimmune
Youth Strength & Conditioning
Appropriate load management, speed training and injury support for athletes under 18
Credentials & Media Features
Credentials & Certifications
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Canadian IFBB Figure Pro
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Certified Personal Trainer
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Certified Nutrition Coach
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Certified Pre & Post Natal Coach
Featured In / Honoree By
Featured contributor: 100 Best Physique Workouts: Transform Your Body With the World's Top Trainers
by Gareth Sapstead (2024)
IAMALFA Magazine, Cover feature, "Team Mel"
(January 2023)
Inside Fitness Magazine Hot & Fit 100: 3rd in Canada (2024)
Additionally:
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Inside Fitness Magazine Hot & Fit 100: Top 10 in Canada (2023)
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Inside Fitness Magazine Hot & Fit 100: Top 100 in Canada (2022)
Pro Show Highlights
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Vancouver Island Showdown 2018: Women's Figure Overall
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Latin America Championships 2019: IFBB Pro Card winner (Figure)
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Toronto Pro Supershow 2022:
6th Place IFBB Figure
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Governor's Cup 2022:
4th Place, IFBB Figure
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Vancouver Pro Show 2022:
7th Place Figure, IFBB Figure
With my son in Italy - my favorite person to travel with.
When I'm not coaching
I live on Vancouver Island, BC, with my fiancé, my 10-year-old son, and our two dogs — who gets every minute of my free time that he wants. We play sports together, we go on adventures, and honestly he's the best part of my day. I've traveled all over Canada, the US, Asia, and Europe — and I'll still drop everything for a good trip. When I'm not with my family, I'm out on my motorcycle, in the garden, or buried in a book. I'm obsessed with learning about investing, personal finance, and the stock market — which is its own kind of training, just for your money. And I'm always working on the next certification. The day I stop learning is the day I stop being good at this, so I just don't stop.
Ready to actually start?
If you've read this far, something here is probably resonating. Either you've been where I've been, or you're tired of doing this alone, or you're ready to stop guessing. Apply for coaching and let's talk. I personally review every application, if I'm the right fit, I'll tell you. If I'm not, I'll point you to someone who is.