We are thrilled to kick off our Trainer Appreciation Month by highlighting trainers we admire who make a dramatic difference in their clients’ lives.  We spoke to Erik Fredrickson, the founder and president of Prana Fit, Inc., a personal training and fitness consulting company in East Hampton, NY. In addition to creating fitness programs for his clients, Erik enjoys presenting workshops, designing gyms, and has consulted and managed for health clubs around the United States. Practicing fitness professionally for over 18 years, he has experience in personal training, holistic health, nutrition and a BA in psychology.

Erik explains that the introduction of functional training has had a big impact on his career. “When I first started working as a personal trainer bodybuilding was very popular and functional training had not really entered the picture yet,” explains Erik. “In the 90's there weren't many stability balls or ‘functional trainer’ type machines in the gyms I worked in. I feel like my training took a quantum leap in its evolution when I opened a studio near Albany, NY in 2001. We used resistance tubes, dumbbells, stability balls, BOSU's and our workouts incorporated many movements people did in everyday life but with much higher fat burning. When the functional training movement began I feel my growth both as a trainer and my business really accelerated because people started taking notice that their workouts could do more than just burn fat; they could begin doing the things they want to do with less discomfort and greater ability.”

Erik utilizes the adjustable cable machines and particularly likes the Cybex Arc Trainers “because they are easy on the knees.” One of the routines Erik likes to do with clients involves a cycle of two cable exercises back-to-back and then a 5 minute cardio burst on the Cybex Arc Trainer.  He repeats the cycle of 2 resistance with 1 cardio exercise a few times using different exercises each time to keep the tempo at a high pace and new exercises to avoid boredom. He begins and ends the workouts with a warmup and cool down involving dynamic and isolated stretching to help strengthen what is weak and stretch what is tight.

“Working in fitness is the only career I've ever had and I still love the look on people's faces when they achieve something special for themselves,” explains Erik. “My vision is for all to experience better health, abundant energy, and balance in life.”