People/Profiles
Losing Weight With Online Training
Training from a distance. Jennifer Trimmier, personal trainer and owner of Strong Body San Antonio, enjoyed success as a mobile trainer, meeting clients at their homes or training locations of choice. After word spread about those successes, more people began to take notice.
Training for a Cause
Helping herself to help another.Many individuals seek guidance from a personal trainer in the hope of achieving a goal such as losing weight, improving energy level or building self-esteem. Steffani wanted all of those things, but she also had another person in mind when she decided to work with Mark Krug, owner of ProXercise in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her 19-year-old son, Josh, has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. He weighs about 100 pounds; moving him in and out of his wheelchair posed quite a challenge for Steffani.
From Physical Therapy to Weight Loss
Taking control. Ethel, a physical therapy client at Tallasee Health and Rehabilitation, was referred to Lenela Glass-Godwin, an aqua fitness instructor at the facility.
Making Strides With Gait Dysfunction
Client:Carol Ann
Personal Trainer: Eric Taylor, owner, Taylor Made Training
Location: St. Simons Island, Georgia
Origin. At age 67, Carol Ann knew she needed help. She longed to improve her health and fitness, but a dysfunction in her gait produced a significant roadblock. She’d made little progress with physical therapists and doctors, so she decided to try a new approach: personal training.
“I met with Carol Ann about 6 months ago,” explains Eric Taylor, owner of Taylor Made Training. “She was very nervous and apprehensive for two reasons: One, she had been to physical therapists and doctors and had not had much success; two, she had never had a trainer before.”
The Heavyweight Champion
Client: Sandy
Personal Trainer: Julie Stubblefield, owner, SparkFit
Location: Mechanicsville, Virginia
Maria Beall
“My passion is driven from wanting to help people get fit without getting lost in the fads,” says business owner and health fitness specialist Maria Beall. She was once a size 14 and now fits into a size 2. She uses her personal story to encourage clients to care about their health and not give up on their goals. “I believe that health and fitness can happen at any size.”
Gary Collins
“I aspire to teach health and wellness in a simple, straightforward way,” says New American Nutrition owner and master level personal trainer Gary Collins. “My goal is to reach over a million people during my career and change their lives.”
Maurie Cofman
“It’s never too late to start an exercise program,” explains advanced health and fitness specialist Maurie Cofman. “I want to educate consumers to acquire a healthy lifestyle so that they can make informed decisions about their fitness goals and eating habits.”
Dimitris Kandris
Personal trainer and group fitness instructor Dimitris Kandris has been involved in the fitness industry for 28 years. Through it all he has stayed enthusiastic about his passion. “I love presenting to the world my love of fitness,” Dimitris says. Aside from presenting, he attends charity events and helps children and older adults stay active.
One Last Ski Season
Client Success Story: Wanting one last season of hard skiing, George elected to work with a personal trainer and skip double knee replacement surgery.
2013 IDEA Award Recipients
?Exercise can be hard. Sedentary people are often worried that the intensity will be too much, while longtime exercisers may need to revamp their motivation from time to time. For both populations, the passion, innovation and skill of veteran fitness pros are crucial.
Nancy Korf
“In an age when many trainers seem to be specializing, my success comes from my ability to teach multilevel classes,” says personal trainer and group fitness instructor Nancy Korf. “Everyone is welcome and respected in my classes.” She teaches both large- and small-group sessions, which have enhanced her access to clients because she can cross-promote herself.
Geneviève Nedder
“My background as a performer, combined with many years of rehabilitation, gives me a broad perspective on movement,” says Geneviève Nedder, founder of Body Fundamentals Inc. She was first introduced to Pilates as a way to relieve neck and back pain—the result of a car accident—and to avoid surgery. During her recovery, Geneviève developed a passion for Pilates.
Robert LoFaso
Robert LoFaso inspires others every day by promoting a healthy lifestyle that includes good eating and exercise habits. He says that the best part of being a group fitness instructor is watching his clients transform by choosing better lifestyles and surpassing their fitness goals. When teaching classes, Robert always puts safety at the forefront.
Janis McDonald
“My lifetime mission has been to help people feel better,” says personal trainer and wellness coach Janis McDonald. She taught her first exercise class in 1972 and has been helping people get active ever since. Janis now works with people aged 60 and older to help them adjust their lifestyles as their bodies change.
Attitude Is Everything
Facing limitations. Greg first encountered Brent Richardson, owner of Look Fit Naked, some years ago at an Equinox gym in Newport Beach, California. Greg, who had been working with another personal trainer at the time, quickly took notice of Richardson. “Brent was extremely focused,” Greg recalls. “His clients were always engaged, and—despite the strain of the training sessions—they always appeared to give it their all. More important, they were clearly getting results, as was evidenced by their continual transformation.”
Michael Siler
“I believe that fitness is a journey, not a destination,” says Michael Siler, managing director of KinetiCore Fitness. “I focus on inspiring the present journey, one person at a time.” He does this by helping others discover the value in sustainable solutions and lifelong wellness. “I believe that we should all find personal victory in each moment spent living life well, and that exercise and nutrition should not be isolated incidences of an attempt at being healthy but rather critical elements of a life being lived well,” Michael says.
Marla Brackman
“By working at the forefront, it is my hope to prevent the early onset of many medical conditions,” says Marla Brackman, personal trainer and health coach, on her decision to choose a career in personal training over one in physical therapy. She focuses on learning a client’s passions and applying those to her programs. “By striving to create a fun and effective exercise program that reaches beyond the gym doors, I can connect exercise to the client’s ability to [follow his or her passion],” Marla says.
Julie Kaminski
“If you are as happy and healthy as possible, the natural outcome is a feeling of flourishing and the quiet confidence that you can handle the world with an authentic ‘I love life’ attitude,” Julie Kaminski believes. Julie, a certified Wellcoach, works with clients to improve all aspects of their lives, including their home environment. She combines counseling, coaching, training and teaching to bring her clients the most knowledge and help she can offer. She enjoys seeing clients’ “light-bulb” moments when things click, and they walk away with something they can use forever.
Jocelyn Martin
Jocelyn Martin works as a personal trainer and a health coach at Kadena Air Base. “Most of my clients are moms who bring their children along with them,” she says. Jocelyn modifies her sessions around the moms’ busy schedules and their children’s moods—just “like what moms encounter in real life.” She teaches her clients about proper nutrition and exercise for both themselves and their families.