Skip to content

April Durrett

April Durrett

Article Archive

A New Business Model: Partner & Small-Group Training

September 30, 2007

Fitness trend watchers, take note: there’s a creative business model sweeping the personal trainer market, and it’s called partner and group training. At Body By Design personal training studio in Cairo, Egypt, partner and group training now form a major part of the business. “I have been fully booked since I started freelance personal training 8 years ago,” explains Body By Design owner Anna L…

Read More

Conquering a Negative Mood

June 30, 2007

You wake up to the sound of an annoying alarm, you’re dead tired, and you just plain feel out of sorts. Ugh! How do you go out into the world—or even get out of bed!—and motivate your clients to improve their health and well-being when you are feeling so blah?
Fitness professionals, like everyone else, are subject to getting up on the “wrong side of the bed…

Read More

The Friendship Challenge

March 31, 2007

Remember your college days? You may have been blessed with a close group of buddies straight out of the TV series Friends. Do you look around now, however, and notice that you don’t have as many friends as you used to or as you’d like? The bad news is that friends may come and go throughout your life. The good news is that by making a focused effort, you can gain new fr…

Read More

Working With Celebrities

March 31, 2006

Accompanying a famous actor to a red-carpet movie premiere. Jetting around the world to cities in a style you’ve only dreamed of experiencing. Mingling with Fortune 500 executives. These benefits are just some of the reasons that training celebrities can seem like the ultima…

Read More

Fitness Through Franchising

February 28, 2006

Imagine wanting to help women take charge of their health. Imagine wanting to do so through an innovative gym format. Now imagine doing so when you are only 22! That’s exac…

Read More

Rev Up Your Own Workout

February 28, 2006

You’re constantly fine-tuning and progressing your clients’ workouts, but are you so focused on helping others that you sometimes forget to keep your own workouts exciting? Get inspired by what your colleagues are doing to modify their exercise programs.

d…

Read More

Getting to the Heart of Fitness

January 31, 2006

Subject: Lisa Brisse
Company: State of the Heart Fitness (co-founded by Brisse and Nora Wallace Walsh), based out of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Santa Monica, California

Types of Clientele. “We serve a diverse group of clients ranging from children to the elderly, from cancer patients to ‘hard core’ LA executives, and everyone in between,…

Read More

Earning an Online Exercise Degree

December 31, 2005

Troy Stewart Huggett, a self-employed personal trainer, wanted to obtain a master’s degree in physical education. However, he faced a stumbling block: Running his own business, Troy Huggett’s Fitness Pros LLC in Battle Creek, Michigan, meant a hectic work schedule that didn’t leave him much time to attend on-site classes. The solution? He enrolled in and earned an online…

Read More

Keeping in Touch With Colleagues

December 31, 2005

Most professionals understand the importance of networking, but what good is it if you lose track of the valuable contacts you make throughout your career?

Kathy Conant of Brookfield, Connecticut, believes that staying connected with other fitness professionals is crucial. &ldq…

Read More

Mixing Innovation and Outstanding Service

December 31, 2005

Subject: Dave Parise
Company: Results Plus, Hamden, Connecticut

Types of Clientele. The majority of the company’s clients are in their 40s–70s. “When you market to an upscale demographic as we have, it is much easier to maintain those clients, as long as you provide the level of service they are used to,” Parise says.
Booking Sessi…

Read More

Reclaiming Joy in Your Life

October 31, 2005

Are your weeks filled with all work and no play? Do you find yourself being serious all of the time? Are you seeking new approaches for finding joy?
Learn how other fitness professionals add fun back into their lives when they realize they’re stuck in a rut. Try their ideas—or let them inspire you to come up with your own.
Spending Quiet …

Read More

Circuit Training for Groups

October 31, 2005

Subject: Shawna Kaminski
Company: Kaminski Fitness Consulting, Calgary, Alberta
Types of Clientele. Kaminski has a variety of clients ranging in age from 12 to 70. The majority of them are women aged 30–50.
Offering Small-Group Workouts. Kaminski specializes in conducting circuit training classes. Why? “Most people would …

Read More

Blazing New Trails in Fitness

September 30, 2005

Talk to William Malmskog, and his enthusiasm for life leaps out at you. Although he’s weathered his share of challenges, his joyous energy and passion for helping …

Read More