Tanya Slusser and Mark Nutting were awarded Personal Fitness Professional (PFP) Trainer of the Year honors last week at the 2015 Club Industry Show. The award winners were chosen by PFP magazine and its sponsors.
Slusser received the Trailblazer Award. She is the lead specialist and master trainer at Project Walk, an organization that helps people with paralysis recovery. Nutting received the Legacy Award and has been in the fitness industry for 35 years in a variety of roles.
Slusser began her career at The Claremont Club, where she was first introduced to clients with spinal cord injuries. She discovered working with those clients was a passion and obtained her spinal cord injury recovery certification from Project Walk.
"Tanya continues to have life-changing impact on improving the quality of life for her clients living with spinal cord injuries, including her client Augie Nieto, fitness industry icon who lives with ALS," PFP Magazine Editor Lindsay Vastola said.
Slusser is also an advocate of the Be Perfect Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness for the spinal cord injury population.
"I just wanted to say thank you to Club Industry and PFP," Slusser said. "I'm excited to contribute to the future of the industry in helping to merge the medical field with the fitness field – to use exercise as medicine."
Nutting believes in the fitness industry's ability to change the health and wellness of the country, Vastola said. Nutting has held several state and regional positions with government organizations, including liaison to the Maine Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports, Health and Wellness.
"Mark is a sought-after industry speaker, a respected leader and innovator for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and soon-to-be published author," Vastola said.
Nutting and and his wife, Heather (also a fitness professional), recently moved to Pennsylvania from Maine and opened the Jiva Fitness studio.
"We should always be trailblazing, we should always be seeking to leave our legacy," Nutting told the crowd at the Club Industry Show. "It's an ongoing process both the trailblazing and legacy concept. I want to thank PFP for the award, and I want to challenge all of you to think about that: 'What can I do to trailblaze? What can I do to leave a legacy?'"