DR MARK VELLA

Educator. Author. Movement anatomy specialist.
Over 30 years of teaching the people who teach movement.

Where it started

Mark came to anatomy and physiology the same way many movement professionals do. Not through a medical degree, but through a deep interest in how the body moves and what that means for the people who teach movement every day.

What he found was a gap. Anatomy education was either too academic to be useful or too simplified to be meaningful. Neither version served the Pilates instructor, the yoga teacher, the personal trainer trying to do right by their clients.

So he built something different. In 2018, Movement Anatomy launched with a case-based learning model built specifically for movement professionals. Practical, applied, and designed to be immediately usable. The first of its kind.
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Qualifications and experience

Mark holds qualifications across neuromuscular bodywork, personal training, and lifestyle medicine. He is a registered naturopath with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa, and Managing Director of Sapientt Human Capital & Performance.

He has taught across disciplines including Pilates, yoga, exercise science, sports coaching, personal training, and functional movement.

The Movement Anatomy Book Series

Mark is the author of the Movement Anatomy book series, which has sold close to 300,000 copies and been translated into nine languages. Movement professionals and educators worldwide use the books and have earned recognition from both academics and practitioners in the fitness and health industries.

He has also designed and authored more than 30 wellness programmes, qualifications, and books across his career.

The Movement Anatomy Book Series

Mark is the author of the Movement Anatomy book series, which has sold close to 300,000 copies and been translated into nine languages. Movement professionals and educators worldwide use the books and have earned recognition from both academics and practitioners in the fitness and health industries.


He has also designed and authored more than 30 wellness programmes, qualifications, and books across his career.
Anatomy for Strength and Fitness Training
(2006, 2008)
Anatomy for Strength and Fitness Training for Women
(2008)
New Anatomy Strength and Fitness Training
(2018)

Beyond the qualifications.

Mark lives and works in Cape Town. He is a former competitor in orienteering and adventure racing, and still runs half marathons. Movement, in every sense of the word, is a central part of his life.

That personal relationship with movement is part of what makes his teaching different. He is not teaching from a textbook. He is teaching from nearly 40 years of genuine interest in and engagement with the subject.

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When you study with Movement Anatomy, you study with Mark.

Mark created every lesson in every Movement Anatomy course. He teaches it, refines it, and updates it. When the course changes, he changes it. When students have questions, he is involved.

There is no team of content writers behind the scenes. No licensed curriculum with his name on the cover. Just 30 years of expertise, taught directly.

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