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Tammy
Petersen
Founder and
Managing Partner
Tammy Petersen is the Founder and Managing Partner for the American Academy of Health and Fitness. She has written two books on older adult fitness and designed corresponding training programs. Her manual, SrFit, is used nationwide as the textbook for a college based course for personal trainers who wish to work with older adults. SrFit is also the basis for an advanced training home study course that qualifies for up to 20 contact hours of CEU credit with the major personal trainer certification organizations and 24 hours with the athletic training Board of Certification. Tammy’s educational background includes Bachelor of Science degrees in marketing and economics from Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas. She holds a Master of Science in Education in the area of health and fitness, with an emphasis in geriatrics, from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Her professional associations include serving as an adjunct faculty member of the National Exercise and Sports Trainer's Association (NESTA), an American Council on Exercise (ACE) faculty member, and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). She is an author for Personal Training on the Net. Additionally, her articles have appeared in IHRSA’s Club Business for Entrepreneurs, Personal Fitness Professional and Club Industry’s Fitness Business Pro. She also volunteers her expertise in the area of developing billing codes for insurance reimbursement for ABC Coding Solutions (formerly Alternative Link).
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My husband is
an Internist and Geriatrician. Unhappy with partners that did not share
his passion for working with seniors, he started his own practice and
now he also manages the practices of five other providers who strictly
serve the geriatric population. Working with him over the years as the
group’s Executive Director, I was responsible for everything
from credentialing with insurance companies, to billing, to working
with patients in a customer service role and at the clinic. I also
attended conferences like the American Medical Directors Association
with my husband and spent time in skilled nursing facilities. This gave
me experience and contacts in many areas.
Prior to the
opening of my husband’s geriatric practice, and before taking
a break to raise three children, I was employed as a credit and fraud
analyst for Mobil Oil. And later I worked as a manager for DST, a large
company that provided financial and management services for the
majority of mutual funds and annuities in the United States. After
deciding to become an around the clock mom, I worked on a volunteer
basis to raise awareness of the need for retirement and assisted living
facilities in addition to our community’s long-term care
facility. Beverly Enterprises, one of the nation’s largest
nursing home corporations, enlisted my help in construction of a BBOP
(Beverly Business Opportunity Plan). Statistical market analysis of
surrounding communities, along with surveys of local businesses,
resulted in a 300-page document that guided development of a proposal
to corporate officers. That proposal suggested expansion of the
existing nursing home campus to include an assisted living facility,
daycare center and fitness center.
This project
made me realize what a need there was for people to rally for our
seniors (and, as fate would have it, this is also when my husband
realized he needed an executive director!). I was extremely busy for a
few years, but I went back to school to get the education that I needed
to meet my goal of making a difference in the lives of seniors. I feel
that I now have a background and perspective that allows for a unique
opportunity to design programs that can help bring about the cultural
changes we so desperately need for seniors at all levels of health and
independence. I also believe that I can use much of this same
experience to build a bridge between the medical and fitness industries
that will benefit all age groups. So I decided to put my knowledge to
work and founded the American Academy of Health and Fitness.
The missions
of AAHF are: (1) Through correspondence course, workshops and website,
provide advanced training and education for Certified Personal Trainers
who are serious about ensuring safe and effective programs for the
older adult. (2) Link the fitness and medical communities’
proactive health efforts via a lifestyle change program for
physicians’ patients. And, (3) Provide easily accessible,
relevant on-line training for Certified Nurses Assistances/Aides that
focuses on increasing the functionality of nursing home residents.
I also want to
help insure that the job of personal training grows into a true allied
health profession and I would like my website and consequently the
American Academy of Health and Fitness, to be the "portal" of senior
fitness for the personal trainer. Personal trainers will find the AAHF
to be a valuable resource that provides access to training programs,
tools from other industry experts, industry news, and links to an
extensive list of resources. My dream is for personal trainers to
associate my name with senior fitness like they do Phil
Kaplan’s for successful business or Wayne
Westcott’s with strength training—and to deserve
that distinction.

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