Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - 12

Journey to Success

By Lindsay Vastola

Leading

a movement
for moms, by moms
f you're not yet familiar with FIT4MOM,
you've probably heard of Stroller Strides, a
company respected as a leader and expert
in pre/postnatal fitness. You may have heard
Farel Hruska, the National Fitness Director
of FIT4MOM, speak at IDEA World, SCW
or Empower conferences or read her 2015 PFP
Trainer of the Year finalist profile. And chances
are good that you've come across a mom, family
or community impacted by Farel and FIT4MOM.
Farel Hruska is a mom, fitness professional and a
woman with a mission to create real, meaningful
change for families and communities beginning
with changing the lives of moms.

FITNESS IS PLAY
Farel's journey to success began in her childhood growing up in Hawaii where fitness for
her was purely play. She was an avid athlete
involved in canoeing, outrigger racing, open
swimming and a trained triathlete. She continued her athletics when she left for college, first
at Syracuse then Pepperdine.
Like so many of us, Farel's career aspirations
began outside of fitness. While in college, she
taught group fitness at local gyms, civic centers
and YMCAs but she thought she would be a
broadcast journalist and started her early career
in advertising and design. Out of her passion for
fitness and athletics, she always made time to
teach fitness alongside her career and was, not
surprisingly, presented with numerous opportunities; both those she sought out and those she was
given. Little did she know that her deep-seeded
love for fitness early on was nothing compared to
what it would become when she became a mom.

FITNESS IS AN OBLIGATION
Farel has three daughters; the first two are 19
months apart and the third born two and a half

| WWW.FIT-PRO.COM | MARCH-APRIL 2015

years later. She recalls a pivotal moment as a
young mom when she was overwhelmed by the
feeling that she had to do everything, do it all at
the same time and do it all perfectly. The feeling
of defeat was always inevitable. Farel was faced
with the question: "How do I live a life and mirror
a life to my three daughters?"
Her answer: "Fitness is no longer just a passion,
now it is an obligation." She likely did not realize
at the time the impact that this seemingly simple
realization would have on the lives of thousands.

FITNESS IS A CAREER
Farel's realization of fitness as obligation, gave her
the fire she needed to figure out how to make fitness her career. While motivated, she didn't know
how to do both fitness as a career and be a mom.
After a job transfer took her family to San Diego, she had the idea of starting a stroller fitness
company. She hit the ground running, only to be
faced with "no" after "no;" primarily due to the
unknown liability of a relatively "new" fitness concept... moms, strollers, babies...
As if the timing were meant to be, she found an
ad about a new start-up company, Stroller Strides,
now known nationally as FIT4MOM. She and the
owner, Lisa Drexen met, hit it off and began growing the business in San Diego. Thirteen years later,
Farel is now the National Fitness Director and is
responsible for program development, instructor
training certifications and supporting relationships
with FIT4MOM franchisees and instructors. She
takes great responsibility in programming and
teaching the specific biomechanics of motherhood
and how to deliver safe, effective fitness to moms
of all stages, from pre/postnatal to moms with
strollers. She also takes great responsibility in ensuring each mom, whether an instructor or client,
is happier and healthier so they inspire happier,
healthy children, families and communities.

Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015