Has anyone done the p90x, Insanity or Jillian Michaels BodyShred certification?
Some of the answers you get that would be on the no side will come from a philosophical perspective, which I think Sue and Harris articulated well. I am kind of in that camp… I think a style has to be very unique, but also has to have the test of time. I also like to put things together from a lot of different sources, with me as the one who uses what I think is useful at the time and in the way it makes sense to me. I find some of the prepackaged systems kill some of that creativity.
It sounds from your response you are thinking of this from a somewhat different perspective… not whether such trainings are inherently valuable, but will they, to paraphrase Whoopi Goldberg in ‘Sister Act’ put more butts in the seats. A conversation can be had on that level, apart from the larger question of whether these things are good or bad for the industry.
I think you want to do a cost benefit analysis. What does the training cost per teacher? Who is paying for it? It sounds like you have someone who wants to go, so perhaps she is paying for it herself, so you are just paying for you. That would give you two teachers who can teach the format. Are there additional costs after the ‘certification’? e.g. do you have to pay to renew, do you have to buy their music or routines, do you require any outlay for new equipment? What are the costs to market the class? Then, what is the average per head payment for class participation. When you say you are at 60 %, do you mean per class? How many of this new style per week do you plan to offer? And will they take the place of old poorly performing classes? Will they go in prime spots to see if you can up the 60%? So you figure how many more you may get, and what they will bring in, and see how many weeks it would take best case scenario to pay for the training.
Of course, the other question is, what if you put all this energy into promoting it and the other teacher gets a job in Alaska and moves? Will you be able to get other teachers? Even if she does not, she may want to take a vacation….do you have available subs?
Suppose after spending a few weeks trying the new thing you have a handful who love it, but the majority are looking for the next new thing? Some people are like that, and if you mix it up by teaching different things without the expense of the branded workouts you spare a lot of expense.
It is probably also good to take a hard look at what is working at other places in your area, and maybe even do a survey of your membership, to see what they are interested in trying. One of my studio owners was really interested in someone who wanted to put on a workshoop in a, well, unusual, area, but when she asked students they were politely uninterested. Always nice to see what people actually want.
As a studio owner you do have the luxury of bringing in other people. One solution would be to have a monthly ‘try it’ class….. find people who do different things and give them the floor…. you avoid the expense of training, give people new things to try, and if people clamor for more, you have an indication it might work to spend on the training for yourself.
Good luck in whatever you decide
I’m with Susan on this one. Why do you want to teach someone else’s program/idea? Be creative, rely on your assessments and be a leader not a follower. I will never teach any of the programs you have mentioned for many reasons. In fact through out the years I have gotten clients who’ve tried the above programs and they saw no results. I hope this helps.
No nor will I
I don’t want to make any of them richer!
I think as I have posted many times, it’s too bad that we have these “sub” certifications.
Obviously it’s a great money maker.
Teaching someone else’s workout is not my idea of a creative, inspiring,unique class.
I gauge my classes by who is in attendance- not by a “routine” that I have paid someone to teach!
Also, do any of the above have a Nationally recognized certification?