Webinar Overview & Objectives
Departments across the United States and Canada rely on Peer Fitness Trainers (PFT) to implement various components of their wellness and fitness programs. The exact roles undertaken by PFTs can vary from department to department depending on, among other things, program objectives, available resources, and support from union and administrative leaders.
A common thread, however, is that PFTs are most often part of a team of other peer trainers in their department. How do peer fitness trainers organize themselves to tackle a given program objective? Do PFT teams need a designated leader, and if so, who is best suited for the role? What sort of processes, systems and tools do teams rely on to implement their program’s activities?
In this webinar, the F2T Team will sit down with two F2T instructors, Luke Pedersen, and Michael Phillips, to answer these, and other questions related to PFT teams. The objective of this webinar is to provide participants a practical, boots on the ground perspective on the operations of PFT teams from fellow peers on the forefront of implementation in their department.
The webinar will be hosted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, at 11:00 AM, ET, and run approximately 1 hour.
Register Now
Upon registering you should receive a confirmation email that includes the webinar details and a calendar invitation. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 1 business day of registering, please contact us at info@fittothrive.ca.
Featured Panelists
Luke Pedersen
Luke serves as a Captain Training Officer with Waterloo Fire Rescue and is a Master Instructor for the IAFF Fit to Thrive program. He is Vice President of the Waterloo Professional Fire Fighters Association (Local 791), Co-Chair of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, and Health and Wellness Coordinator for Waterloo Fire Rescue. He also serves on the OPFFA Health & Safety/Ontario Fire Service Section 21 Advisory Committee and the NFPA 1580 Technical Committee.
Luke’s work focuses on advancing firefighter health, performance, and organizational systems that support long-term operational readiness and career longevity. He brings 25 years of experience in sport, exercise, and injury prevention. Since 2001, he has worked as a performance and injury-prevention specialist across rehabilitation, health, and high-performance environments. Since 2008, he has collaborated with researchers from the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto to develop firefighter wellness and fitness programming aligned with occupational demands.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources and Labour Relations and is completing an MBA focused on Organizational Behaviour, Change Management, Business Analytics, and Performance Management. His academic work is centred on the responsible application of organizational and analytical principles to strengthen firefighter health, performance, and longevity through well-designed wellness and fitness systems.
Michael Phillips
Mike is a member of Indianapolis Professional Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 416, and currently serves as a Captain for the Wayne Township Fire Department in Indiana who is assigned to the Battalion 80 Executive Officer position on A Shift. He has also worked as a backstepper assigned to a Ladder Company, the department’s Peer Fitness Coordinator, the Lieutenant on a HAZMAT Engine, and acted for almost a year as the department’s Health and Safety Chief where he was responsible for managing the departments Safety Officers, Tactical Support Unit, Peer Fitness Trainers (PFT), and Peer Support Team. Additionally, Mike serves as a Rescue Specialist with Indiana Task Force 1, which allows him to deploy nationwide for structure collapses, hurricanes, and other disasters. Rescue Specialists are trained to locate, stabilize, and extricate victims from collapsed structures, high-angle environments, and water related disasters.
He has been with his department for 16 years. Mike became a certified PFT in 2012, and joined the instructor cadre in 2014. In his role as an instructor, he has delivered multiple in-person and virtual courses to departments across the United States and Canada. Being able to make an impact in the pursuit of fire fighter wellness beyond his station and department is something that Mike relishes most about serving in this role.
In 2013, Mike assumed the role of PFT Coordinator for his department. In this role, Mike was responsible for managing all of the PFTs in his department as well as designing and implementing physical training and wellness systems for recruit classes. His biggest passion is working with recruits, especially helping them establish resilient movement habits. In Mike’s opinion, there is something powerful about wrapping up a 20-week academy and having a new recruit who is about to hit the street come up to him and say “this is the best physically I have ever felt in my life”. Mike has also been an ACE Certified Health Coach since 2019, and actively engages in professional development for his own betterment, along with that of the team of professionals he manages.
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