HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING PEOPLE FOR?

I started in the fitness business in 1981 as a group fitness instructor.  It was the very beginning of the aerobic industry so I have watched it evolve over the years from Jane Fonda to Cross Fit. I became a personal trainer in the early 1990’s when more women began going to the gym and lifting weights. It was a natural transition to teach aerobics classes that concentrated on cardio-respiratory endurance then train my clients one-on-one for muscular strength and endurance with free weights and isokinetic machines.

 

WHAT TYPES OF TRAINING DO YOU SPECIALIZE IN?

I feel most comfortable working with women ages 45-65.  My focus is on the often forgotten skill related components of fitness: balance, stabilization and coordination.  I use alternative methods to achieve results: stability balls, foam rollers, lateral slide trainers and the eccentric contractions of ballet. All of my workouts incorporate all three planes of the body in functional movement patterns. Progression is slow and methodical with no impact on the joints. 

 

WHAT CERTIFICATIONS DO YOU HAVE?

I was a New York City Ballet Workout instructor for ten years until they discontinued the program in 2011. Now I am Balletone certified which blends ballet, yoga, fitness and Pilates only standing and barefoot. My fitness certifications are AFAA Group Fitness and Step Instructor, Exercise Safety Association STAR Trainer in SAFE Primary, Personal Trainer, Integrated Fitness Counselor, Step, Kickboxing, Yoga Fitness Leader, Master Fitness Choreographer, Pilates Core Mat Instructor, Lateral Slide Trainer, and Nutrition Specialist. I recently completed a Foam Roller Home Study program through NETA. 

 

WHY DO YOU LOVE FITNESS/ PERSONAL TRAINING?

I love fitness because it has made me the person I am today: confident, strong, energetic, outgoing, balanced in mind, body and spirit. I have always loved to dance so, in the beginning, it gave me the opportunity to choreograph and exercise to music to stay fit. Then it became a passion and a career. There is nothing like being able to share my love of movement with my clients. Every day I hope to motivate and inspire them as a positive role model.

 

HOW HAS FITNESS CHANGED YOUR LIFE?

I didn’t grow up in this area so when I moved here in 1980, I didn’t really know anyone. Signing up for that first fitness class through Saratoga Springs Continuing Ed allowed me to make long-lasting friendships and feel part of a new “family” of women who loved to work out. I guess we were the pioneers of fitness back then. As the industry changed, I changed with it.  It was transformative and those times were very exciting for women breaking into a male dominated industry. I felt invincible, strong, empowered – leg warmers, head bands and all!

 

WHY SHOULD SOMEONE GET PERSONAL TRAINING?

My “real job” is an Academic Intervention Math Specialist at Saratoga High School.  In other words, I analyze, remediate, encourage, positively reinforce, modify, and design individualized programs for my students so they achieve short term and long term goals toward success. My role as a personal trainer and group fitness professional is exactly the same process. There is a saying, “She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.” A fitness professional can use his or her expertise to educate and motivate with a program that is unique and custom-made especially for you. It is one pair of eyes just on you, watching your every move, providing immediate feedback with YOUR well-being in mind; 100% undivided attention that can take you to the next level of fitness as you evolve through life’s phases.