My name is Kerri Howell, a.k.a. FitPRMom. I’m a 40-something working mother from Upstate New York who works hard to balance work and family, along with fitness and nutrition, each and every day. A certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, I’m excited to share all that I’ve learned through my own personal journey, as well as my studies, to help men and women like me balance health and life, particularly those with full-time jobs and busy families! The “Fit” in FitPRMomLife I started lifting in college but rediscovered my passion for the gym life five years ago when symptoms of perimenopause, stress and an overall sense that I wasn’t my best self prompted me to start researching ways to gain weight and muscle safely. After spending 18 months or so on Lyzabeth Lopez’s workout programs and connecting with her online, I decided I wanted to learn more about why the muscle gain program Lopez programmed worked. I then achieved my certification in personal training from NASM, followed closely by my nutrition coaching certification. I later earned a Stronglifting certification from Bret Contreras’ BC Academy. The “PR” in FitPRMomLife My “day job” is chief communications and marketing officer at my alma mater, the State University of New York at Geneseo, where I’m responsible for managing all internal and external communications with students, faculty, staff, alumni, members of the community and other key stakeholders. After receiving my B.A. from SUNY Geneseo , I went on to earn an M.S. in communications management from Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where I served nearly 15 years as an adjunct professor in the public relations department. The “Mom” in FitPRMomLife I’m a mother to three children – Maria, 15, Lucia, 12, and Christopher, 8. They keep me on my toes! I love spending time with them, as well as my husband, a professional opera singer, and our menagerie of pets — Daisy, the dog; Grace, the cat; Clare and Steve, the kittens; and Stella, the Guinea pig.

My favorite client story

I am currently training my husband who decided on his 49th birthday this past August that he wanted to be "fit by 50." So far, a few months in, he has lost over 30 pounds and is slowly working to build new, healthier habits. His goal is to lose 100 pounds, which may or may not be realistic but he understands it's a long game. I am inspired by his goal, which he set as a one-year goal, showing he knows this is not something you can do overnight. He wants to truly be healthy and not just shed a bunch of pounds that will probably just come back!

My favorite exercise

I love the hip thrust because most people can easy learn and master it and they can get quite heavy! Our glutes are our largest muscles and we don't often train them as well as we should This exercise has many variations, which are fun to show to clients.

My favorite quote

"The right workout program for you is the one you are not currently doing."

My training experience

I have been training myself and supporting others informally since college in 1997, and have been officially certified since 2019.