The Hitchhikers Guide to
Fit For Life Physiotherapy

This year we are excited to be celebrating 15 years of Fit For Life Physiotherapy!

Milestones like this bring up excitment for the future and a  opportunity for  reflection on what has gotten us to where we are.

The idea for Fit For Life was born late in 2008 when owners Miriam Mulkewich and Lesley Hughes met at a course for Physiotherapists about osteoporosis. 

Lesley likes to joke that she picked up Miriam hitchhiking her way home from the course. What actually happened was Lesley drove past Miriam while she was walking home from the course, and offered to drive her the rest of the way.  To their surprise, they lived in the same neighbourhood, and their friendship grew from there.

They met at a transitional point in both of their lives.  Miriam was seeing clients out of the Fitness Firm part time and with her 3 young children getting older she was ready to pursue a dream of a bigger clinic and providing physiotherapy and pilates based classes to help people to move well and get the most out of life.

Lesley was coming up to the end of her 2nd maternity leave and  had been working at St Joseph’s Hospital and providing home care physiotherapy in Hamilton.

Both were ready for a new adventure, and felt their differing backgrounds and experiences in physiotherapy would complement one another and fill a gap in the physiotherapy services in Burlington and growing community in Aldershot. 


By January of 2009 Miriam and Lesley decided their next step would be to open a clinic! 

The learning curve was steep - Physiotherapists don’t get much education on business in school, but Miriam and Lesley were up to the task and spent the winter months doing the background work needed to bring their dream to life!

After looking at a number of locations, Miriam and Lesley landed in a small space in the plaza at the corner of Plains Rd and Howard Rd. They spent the summer renovating and getting the space ready, and officially cut the ribbon at their grand opening in September of 2009! 

In the beginning it was just Miriam and Lesley doing everything - seeing clients, taking payments, answering the phones, doing the bookkeeping, cleaning the clinic… They were a two woman show, each wearing many hats.

Soon after opening, Wayne Lee began offering massage therapy services.  A yoga instructor and personal trainer/pilates instructor soon joined the team and alongside Miriam,  offered yoga and pilates classes.  Within the year the massage team began to grow and in 2011 the physiotherapy team was growing and hasn’t stopped since. 

By 2013 the clinic was bursting at the seams and it was time to find more space. In May 2014 the clinic relocated to the current location, in the then new building at 18 Plains Rd West. 

Since then, Miriam and Lesley have brought together an amazing team of administrators and experienced clinicians - Physiotherapists, Massage Therapists, Osteopaths, a Kinesiologist/Yoga Therapist and a Dietitian, as well as clinics offered by a Sports Medicine doctor and a Certified Pedorthist.

Through all of the growth and evolution, one thing has remained the same: a team that is focused on helping you to MOVE WELL, LIVE WELL and BE WELL.