Health Clubs/Fitness Facilities Articles

For a variety of reasons, as a group fitness director you need to meet with your instructors regularly. However, actually getting instructors to attend department meetings can be a daunting task. Ali Helms, fitness director at the Jewish Community Alliance in Jacksonville, Florida, offers tips for hosting a successful—and well-attended—department meeting:

Given the sheer number of people using sites like Facebook and services like Groupon, fitness professionals are investing their advertising dollars in spaces where they can influence local groups and social networks. With better research into consumer insight (thanks to profile pages), personal trainers can identify their audiences and target their digital ad campaigns more effectively.

Many personal trainers are promoted to manager or director solely on the basis of their success as a trainer and not necessarily because of their management skills. Now it’s your turn: you are the new personal training manager. You’re finding out how different being the manager is from working with clients on the floor.newsletter_teaser: This fourth installment looks at the “high turnover manager” and builds on the last three installments: the “invisible manager,” the “micromanager’’ and the “yes person.”

The previous three installments of this column have given you a bit to think about regarding your current communication situation. As the group fitness manager (GFM), you must balance multiple streams of input and output. You face daily communication challenges with instructors, club members and upper management. There’s no doubt you could be more productive if you spent time revamping protocols. However, it’s hard to find the time to set up those spiffy protocols when you have the weighty administrative tasks associated with being a manager. newsletter_teaser: You face daily communication challenges with instructors, club members and upper management. There’s no doubt you could be more productive if you spent time revamping protocols. However, it’s hard to find the time to set up those spiffy protocols when you have the weighty administrative tasks associated with being a manager.

For some clients who join a gym or hire a personal trainer, everything goes as planned, and their stories have happy endings. But other clients start discouraged or become discouraged. They may cancel their workouts or go through them half-heartedly, offering up more excuses than repetitions. They may fail to exercise on their own, and may let their gym memberships lapse. Discouragement is a vicious downward spiral, resulting in depression and plummeting self-esteem, not to mention ever-decreasing conditioning. So what can you do?newsletter_teaser: For some clients who join a gym or hire a personal trainer, everything goes as planned, and their stories have happy endings. But other clients start discouraged or become discouraged. They may cancel their workouts or go through them half-heartedly, offering up more excuses than repetitions. They may fail to exercise on their own, and may let their gym memberships lapse. Discouragement is a vicious downward spiral, resulting in depression and plummeting self-esteem, not to mention ever-decreasing conditioning. The discouraged client becomes a former client, and everyone loses, including you. So what can you do?

For small businesses, supporting local charities is the right thing to do, and it is smart business. In addition to creating goodwill and nurturing your reputation in the community, a marketing benefit—such as increased brand awareness—can often result from your support.

On any given day, you can find an outdoor fitness class operating at your local park. While this type of activity may be appealing to you and your clients, it can be challenging to get permission to use outdoor spaces. Many people in charge of venues such as parks require permits. What’s tricky is that outdoor fitness programming doesn’t often fit into the mold of common permits. Outdoor codes for many parks and recreation departments were written a long time ago, when codes applied to teams renting baseball or soccer fields. newsletter_teaser: On any given day, you can find an outdoor fitness class operating at your local park. While this type of activity may be appealing to you and your clients, it can be challenging to get permission to use outdoor spaces. Many people in charge of venues such as parks require permits. What’s tricky is that outdoor fitness programming doesn’t often fit into the mold of common permits. Outdoor codes for many parks and recreation departments were written a long time ago, when codes applied to teams renting baseball or soccer fields.

When it comes to selling personal training services, a common practice is to require payment for a series of sessions at the start of training. According to data from the 2010 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Trends report (IDEA Fitness Manager, July–August 2010), 69% of respondents “ask clients to pay for individual sessions/classes or packages of sessions/classes.” Troy Fontana, CEO of Freedom Fitness Unlimited in Sparks, Nevada, believes this method may soon be history.

Fitness/Program Directors average 43 hours a week when they are salaried, but only 26 hours per week when their jobs are compensated hourly, according to data from the 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report.

Fitness Floor Staff positions are typically entry level, and responsibilities include monitoring equipment, supplies and people in the facility. Among the facilities represented in the 2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report, 28% employ fitness floor staff. Most are employees (97%) who are paid by the hour (98%). They average 19.5 work hours per week, earning an average of $11.75 per hour. From 2006 to 2008, their hourly rate increased by just $0.25; from 2008 to 2010, there was a more significant increase of $1.50 per hour.