After 20 years, it’s time to say goodbye

This is my last article.

After 36 years as a personal trainer and 20 years as a business owner here in Bluffton, I’ve decided it’s time to retire from the health and fitness profession and close the doors to CannonFit, formerly known as Shaping Concepts.

Looking back, I don’t remember the workouts nearly as much as I remember the people.

I think about my very first paid client Marjorie Wood. I think about my first client at Shaping Concepts, Peña, who brought me a plant that stayed with me until just last year.

It’s funny how something so small can become a reminder of where everything began.

I opened Shaping Concepts when US 278 was still a two-lane road. Our first studio was in Plantation Park, where T-Mobile sits today. Every workout came with the smell of Domino’s Pizza, Dairy Queen, and Kobe drifting through the doors.

Back then, we somehow fit seven trainers into a 1,200-square-foot studio. It was loud, crowded, and a whole lot of fun.

Over the years we hosted the “Get Sexy Boot Camp,” participated in the Bluffton Christmas Parade, and participated in Heart Walks and spoke at many events.

After ten years, Shaping Concepts became CannonFit. We moved to Sheridan Park, survived more floods than I care to remember, and eventually expanded into a 3,800-square-foot facility. That’s where I started the Push-Ups & Pizza Podcast, which later became the Live Inspired Podcast. During COVID, I sent individualized workouts to every client so they could continue training at home. Around that same time, I wrote my first health and fitness book and later had the privilege of co-authoring a second.
But those aren’t the things I’ll remember most. I’ll remember the people.

I’ve often joked that I knew “a little bit about everything and a lot about nothing.” I never wanted to be known for just one specialty. If someone needed help, I wanted CannonFit to be the place they felt comfortable walking into.

More so, I wanted it to feel like family.

From day one, my goal was to greet every client by name as they walked through the door -just like the old TV show Cheers. Twenty years later, I still do exactly that.

To every person who trusted me, whether for six months or twenty years, thank you.

One client who represents what CannonFit has meant to me is Nancy Yocco. Nancy was one of my very first clients at Shaping Concepts, and she still trains with me 20 years later. Relationships like that are what made this business so special.

When I look back now, I realize CannonFit was never really about fitness.It was about community, and relationships.

It was about friendships, encouragement, laughter, and helping people believe they could do more than they thought possible.

That’s what I’ll miss the most.

But while one chapter closes, another begins.

For the past 26 years, I’ve had the privilege of coaching at Hilton Head High School, Bluffton High School, and May River High School. Today, I’m honored to begin a new journey as the Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach at Savannah State University.

I’ve always believed that if you discover your passion, that’s what you should do for a living. Now I have the opportunity to live my own advice.

To everyone who walked through the doors of Shaping Concepts or CannonFit, thank you for trusting me, encouraging me, and allowing me to be a small part of your lives. Bluffton has been home for two incredible decades, and I will always be grateful for every workout, every conversation, every laugh, and every friendship.

This isn’t just the end of a business.

It’s the end of one of the greatest chapters of my life. Thank you, Bluffton.

Chad Cannon is now a retired health & fitness coach, success coach, and owner of the CannonFit Transformation Center in Bluffton. Now the Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach at Savannah State University. Chad would love to hear from you at chad.cannonfit@gmail.com