HANNAH ALDERFER

From the moment I entered the world, I was a farmer’s daughter. Until I began my career as a personal trainer, I did not realize the impact such an upbringing would have upon my life. It has influenced nearly every facet of my life and furthermore my career as a certified personal trainer. The story of my family’s beyond-organic farm and dairy business is very much woven into the fabric of my life story and the decision I made to become involved in the fitness industry. Although fitness may seem vague, if at all, related to a beyond-organic, milk-producing family farm, there is indeed a strong correlation. The desire to educate people about the necessities of good health and the ways in which to live out healthful lifestyles has been instilled within me from a young age. It has also given me a sense of determination and hard work. I became involved in running at a young age and found that the same determination and perseverance a farmer embodies day in and day out is also lived out in the runner’s world. Running has become another part of my enthusiasm for exercise and health. This combination of an organic upbringing and athletics has helped lead me to where I am today.

 

I feel a calling to give aid to a world that is dying, in the majority, from incredibly preventable diseases…most of them attributable to poor diet and a lack of adequate exercise. As I work on improving physical bodies, my hope is to then guide people to the reason why caring for the body is so important. When people begin to feel better from the inside out, their whole life can change. Not many people have the opportunity in their lifetime to make major changes in the world – to reach the starving millions, to find the cure for a disease, or to rescue hundreds or thousands of people from a war-ravaged country… I have come to realize that my small part in working towards the goal of a healthier world may not mean much in light of the millions of people who need help, but it does mean something to the person I am training to live a more wholesome life. And it is for this reason that I am not discouraged. I believe there is a place for me to help in the redemptive and restorative acts of this earth, but I also must remember that helping people become healthier is not an end in itself. There is much need in our nation and world for preventative medicine; and by that, I mean exercise, nutrition, and other self-care. As a personal trainer, I hope to guide people to healthier, fuller lives. And give them hope. Even when it means just helping one person at a time.

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And so I will carry on the legacy of my farming roots as we envisioned a life that would bring us all back to a way of living “as nature intended” and share that with others by teaching about health, good nutrition, exercise, and wholesome living. I want people to experience the same joy from exercise as I do during a run. More than ever the apparent need for such instruction is nothing more than a calling for me to be the helping hands in a broken and hurting world; a world where people crave the knowledge of how to live well again, how to live again, as much as they do a simple glass of real, wholesome, and life-giving milk.