{Health} Keep your New Year’s Resolution to get FOFit

FOFitness guru Margo Kamin says she’s “eliminated all excuses” for not working out. Her fitness sessions don’t require any equipment, or even a trip to the gym. She employs the use of resistance training, paired with video chat capabilities like Skype and FaceTime, to train her clients. Margo has clientele all over the U.S–some of which she’s never even met in person! Read on to find out more about her video chat training sessions and why video training sessions are the new secret weapon for getting FOFit.

Want to win a 30-minute video training session with Margo?  Enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: What are your trouble areas?

How did you first get into fitness?
I’ve been into fitness my entire life. I used to use fitness in an unhealthy way–in high school and college I was your textbook anorexic turned bulimic, and I would exercise on top of that to try and lose even more weight. I understand how it feels to be overweight, and I understand the struggles with addictions and the relationship that food can have with your emotions. I earned my Personal Training Certification from Cal State Hayward in 1991, and got my Group Training Certification from ACSM in 1992. Now, I’m able to help others incorporate fitness into their lives.

Where do you train your clients who don’t use video chat?
I have a studio in my house, or I would go to my clients’ houses. I’m not at a gym or a studio where you can walk in and come see me. My sessions are absolutely private, by appointment only, because I cater to women who are older and don’t want to go into a gym.

What gave you the idea to start offering video training sessions?
A few years ago I was watching television and I saw Skype and FaceTime technology on Oprah. I started offering video sessions to my current clients who were traveling and couldn’t make it to their sessions.

How do your clients who train exclusively online find you?
They usually come across my site through an online search for a personal trainer. Typically people will email me and ask to talk to me on the phone about hiring me as their trainer.  I’d say that more than 90% of them end up hiring me after we speak, and I explain more about the video training sessions and how they work.

How do they work?
Usually my clients are relatively familiar with Skype and FaceTime, but we do go through that. We always do a practice session first, which is complimentary, for about 5-10 minutes, and then we go over some basics. The next time I see them we get right to work.

What kind of equipment do your clients need?
You don’t have to have any equipment at all. I am very skilled at working out every body part using just you and gravity. You’d be surprised what you can do with a chair, or on the floor, or on a mat. I might have them grab water bottles or books for weights, or if they have a baby or toddler around I’ll have my clients put them on their laps and they will act as the resistance while my client is doing core work, or arm work, or chest presses. Your body and gravity is all you need.

Have you run into any technical glitches during your video training sessions?
During bad weather the internet connection can be a little bit choppy, or sometimes a screen will freeze but then come back, but that’s happened maybe twice out of hundreds of times. When it freezes, all you do is start the video chat over again.

Are there any limitations when training someone via video chat versus training them in person?
During video sessions I can’t reach out and adjust someone with my hands, but I’m very good at adjusting my clients orally. I can see them from head to toe, and I can see when they’re doing an exercise incorrectly. I also exercise along with them to demonstrate.

What is the most common problem that women over fifty ask you to address?
A lot of the postmenopausal women that come to me insist that they are gaining weight because they’re postmenopausal, but I’ve found that about 99% of the time that’s not true. It’s their lifestyle.  When women hit 40 they think that something’s going to change, and they do this preemptive strike and start eating differently and stop exercising, thinking that they’re going to go downhill anyway. It catches up with them–they get caught in a rut. They come to me and I teach them how to put themselves back on the list, and they start to eat better, to exercise, to feel better. I’ve eliminated all excuses. You don’t need equipment, you don’t need to leave your home–all you need to do is go to your computer and hit a button.

Enter to win a free 30-minute video training session with Margo by answering this question in the comments below: What are your trouble areas?

Two FOFs will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes December 27th, 2012 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.