Women who need to shape up quickly for their wedding days now have a fitness guru they can call. Alex Senkow, 27, started Defining Eve in 2003 to fill a void she saw in the fitness world: Women wanted to work out in their homes, or with other women with similar goals.

“There was a real gap in the fitness market for women,” she says. “Initially it was a mobile company. It was literally me driving around in a Mini-Cooper, going to people’s homes.” Most often, Senkow was hired by brides-to-be who wanted to tone-up for the big day.

So, when she and a partner opened a studio last September, they specifically designed a workout program called Bridal Boot Camp. Their clients love to get together with others going through the same stresses.

“They are so completely driven. They have a lot on the go.”

Defining Eve is Canada’s first women’s personal training studio.Having grown rapidly in scope and popularity, the company currently employs 17 people, including 12 personal trainers and two massage therapists.

Senkow didn’t plan on a career in fitness, readily admitting that she wasn’t athletic growing up. When she was 21, she was working with some seniors who appeared to be in better shape than she was. So she started to bike into work, but that wasn’t enough to see the healthy results she wanted. Her new-found commitment to training, exercising and learning led her to certification in a personal fitness diploma from NAIT.

The mother of a one-year-old baby girl, Senkow also understands the need for pre- and post-natal fitness. This prompted her to develop a class for mothers and mothers-to-be. Also high in demand are ski and snowboard conditioning classes and a specialized Pilates program.

This goal-oriented trainer is pursuing some other avenues to get fitness to the female masses. She is currently writing her first book on fitness training, and is working on a quarterly Defining Eve magazine. The first issue features an interview with Olympian Lori-Ann Muenzer.

Next in her sights is an expansion of the studio… then another location—and, eventually… the world?