Train at home

Published 11:00 am Monday, June 7, 2010

A certified personal trainer is working to make as many people feel good about themselves as possible.

Jennifer Modderman lives in Hollandale and has her own business called Fitness Prescription. She does in-home personal training for clients all around Freeborn County. She does yoga and cardio classes, as well as helping people with specialized needs.

“Basically it’s what people need and what their goals are,” Modderman said.

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She goes to the client’s home and brings what they will need to train and exercise that day. She brings free weights, exercise mats, kickboxing equipment and anything else for that day’s events.

Modderman said her service is for people who don’t want to go to a fitness club or gym to work out. She can help them by making a fitness plan and meeting with them a few times a week or each month to keep them on track. Working with people trying to lose weight is more intensive.

“We could meet anywhere from two to three times a week,” Modderman said.

In the summer she is mostly busy with one-on-one classes, and she does yoga classes in her home all year. The yoga class starts at a beginner stage and increases intensity to intermediate and finally advanced throughout the year. She also tries to do larger classes for the community, which are usually in the winter because people can’t get outside. These community classes are usually a cardio class. She’s quite busy juggling clients and classes.

“There’s only one of me, and I’m only able to do so much,” Modderman said.

Modderman got her education at Pennsylvania State University, which is where she got her certified personal training credentials, and she is certified by the National Council on Strength and Fitness. She used to work at a fitness center and built her clientele that way.

“Starting my own business is risky, but our world is not getting any healthier,” Modderman said.

She explained that her goal is to help clients be disease-free and live healthily. This sometimes means clients must lose weight, but for other clients it’s helping to lower blood pressure and make healthy choices. Some clients just want to be able to climb stairs or lift grandchildren, while others want to lose weight.

“My focal point is exercise and helping them reach goals because a lot of people need motivation,” Modderman said.

A typical session with Modderman would include strength training and toning muscles. Then she would help the client outline times during the week when they would be able to run, jog or walk to keep working on their goals.

“Everyone’s goals and aspirations are different,” Modderman said. “You have to work with people and get to know who they are.”

She said her favorite thing is to see people succeed and meet their goals. Her main goal is to get people to feel good about themselves.

“It’s not about being skinny; it’s about being healthy,” Modderman said.

Modderman can be reached at (507) 440-6440 or by e-mail at jenmodderman@yahoo.com. One session with her starts at $35. If clients buy more sessions at a time each session is cheaper depending on how many are purchased. She said she tries to help guide all clients to eventually lead a healthier lifestyle.

“Life is about the choices we make,” Modderman said. “It’s amazing when you get to work with people and made a difference in their lives.”