Talent for Training

Seven years ago, AUDREY SALZMAN decided it was time to reinvent herself. After working in education for 22 years and spending some time in real estate and law offices, she relocated to Leland from the Chicago area in search of a fresh start. Salzman knew she wanted to use the skills she’d gained from her previous roles while also doing something completely different – a mission she’s accomplished as a personal trainer at Fitness Forward Training, a studio she recently opened in Leland where she helps clients work out safely and effectively.

“I had a major health scare and started working out to get myself better, and everyone kept telling me, ‘You should be a personal trainer,’” she says. “Then I moved here and I thought, why not? I’m teaching people how to exercise correctly and appropriately so that they don’t hurt themselves. As an educator, I want to help make a difference and help people feel better about themselves.”

Salzman’s journey to opening her own fitness studio kicked off when she first landed in North Carolina seven years ago and managed a Curves Fitness. Working at Curves gave Salzman the itch to coach people on how to work out properly. Eventually, she got certified through the American Council on Exercise and started offering personal training at various fitness facilities in the area before coming to the conclusion she wanted to open her own studio.

“At that point, when I was the manager of another facility, I decided to branch out on my own,” she says. “I knew that my philosophy was going to be ‘move better, feel better.’ Then I found my space in Leland, and I was so excited to be able to provide for my community where I was living.”

Fitness Forward Training isn’t like most gym memberships. It offers individual, partner, and small group personal training services and classes. It also offers personalized training programs to fit clients’ needs. At the end of the day, Salzman knew she wanted her gym to focus on safety and technique, which is best administered in smaller, individualized classes.

“I fully stocked everything in this studio and want people to feel when they come in here, you’re never going to get the same workout, but we are always going to provide functional mobility exercises for you,” Salzman says. “Work your muscles in different ways. Don’t let you plateau. Get stronger, fitter, and get a good mindset and positivity about how you feel with your body.”

Some of the training classes that Fitness Forward Training provides include Strong and Fit, a full-body circuit style training workout that focuses on building strength and endurance; Fitness Forward Barre, a low-impact, full-body workout that focuses on small movements to strengthen and tone the body; Hustle Forward, which is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT); and boxing. Offerings change each week so clients never get bored repeating the same workout.

“We really have something for everyone,” Salzman says. “We meet with them, we see what their needs are, and then we prescribe the program that we feel would best suit them to get them to where they are looking to be. We look at that goal, we take 20 steps backwards, and then we help them to reach that goal through different programs that we offer.”

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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