Megan Senger
Article Archive
Business owners attempting to entice overweight clients should hold size-sensitivity training for their entire staff, says weight management expert Rochelle Rice. Indeed, size-friendly facilities are often a good fit for fitness professionals who have experienced significant weight loss first hand. “But there are also trainers, no matter the size, who have the compassion, knowledge and expertise to work with the fuller body,” Rice adds.
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The fitness industry is, by its own admission, good at “getting fit people fitter.” But with marketing materials rife with lithe, blond 20-somethings in revealing, brand-name yoga gear, it’s not surprising that people who are overweight and deconditioned find it hard to buy into the very fitness services that could help them shed pounds for good.
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In 2011, longtime industry veterans George Schaffer and Todd Levine were the owners of a 5-year-old, 25,000-square-foot, full-service Gold’s Gym in Webster, New York. It was packed full of weight machines. It had a booming membership base. The business was a success.
Yet in 2012, they decided to reinvent the wheel.
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In 2009 ACOG reaffirmed its 2002 Committee Opinion on exercise during pregnancy. These guidelines remain current as
of this writing. The position paper can be found on the ACOG website (www.acog.org) and should be read in full by any fitness professional who works with expectant clients. Here is a paraphrased summary of its key points.
A woman’s body will change more in 9 months of pregnancy than a man’s will in his lifetime—and she needs an exercise program to match the transformation. So says maternal exercise expert Farel Hruska, national fitness director of FIT4MOM® (formerly Stroller Strides®) in San Diego. “The biomechanics of motherhood are unique and specific,” Hruska explains. “A mom-to-be will need to master strength, agility, balance, speed, acceleration, deceleration, directional change and rotation . . . all with load that increases every day.”
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SGT enables trainers to work with three or up to a dozen clients at a time, making more money and delivering better results. But it may be difficult for newly minted trainers to know how to create exercise plans for a group of clients who work out simultaneously.
To succeed in this area, you must consider participant numbers, available space and equipment, and the degree of personalization you aim to deliver, says Fabio Comana, MA, MS, the San Diego–based director of continuing education for the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
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Carrying a clipboard or an e-device around the gym and industriously noting client progress at every exercise stop is fine when you’re training clients one-on-one.
But in small-group training—that is, when you’re coaching from three to a dozen customers in the same workout session—your time and attention are at an absolute premium. You won’t have hours to agonize over exercise ideas for every trainee. And that clipboard will stand between you and successful small-group exercise delivery.
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It’s Friday night in tiny Willits, California (population: 4,888.) There’s no Walmart®; there are no chain stores. As usual, this small town is quiet. Yet, at Studio Joy, owner Maddy Avena’s Zumba® class is about to be packed and jamming. Why? Avena doesn’t just teach fitness classes; she delivers fitness experiences. By combining technical studio…
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It’s Friday night in tiny Willits, California (population: 4,888.) There’s no Walmart®; there are no chain stores. As usual, this small town is quiet. Yet, at Studio Joy, owner Maddy Avena’s Zumba® class is about to be packed and jamming.
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You’ve heard the buzz about small-group training (SGT): more money in less time. You may also have heard that SGT business growth relies—heavily—on referrals from satisfied trainees. Both statements are true only when you deliver a fantastic fitness experience.
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How can two full-time personal trainers with six part-time colleagues generate annual gross revenues in excess of $850,000?
Just ask studio owner Frank Nash.
Frank Nash Training Systems in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a 5,500-square-foot facility that specializes almost exclusively in small-group training. SGT is a training system that allows up to a dozen clients to work with a personal trainer during a shared workout session. It’s also the subject of an ongoing IDEA Trainer Success series.
As a fitness pro you may have already hit the mark with a personal training studio or an exercise class. Now, you’d love to take your business model to the next level. The big question: Is creating a franchised fitness brand your best next move? With the last decade’s surge in brand-based programming, more and…
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Thirty years ago, Fred Hoffman, MEd, 2007 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year, taught with a light heart and a heavy bag of vinyl records. “I brought a stack of albums with me to class,” he recalls. “I changed the music after each song, [switching] the LP each time. There was no such thing as mixed music!”
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You’ve heard the buzz about small-group training (SGT): more money in less time. And you may also have heard that SGT business growth relies—heavily—on referrals from satisfied trainees. So what do current one-on-one and boot camp leaders need to do in order to create amazing client experiences? This fifth article in our series on SGT will explore how to frame your program to ensure success for you and your clients.
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Marketing is the process of reaching out to potential new customers. Done right, it’s a systematized, targeted and reusable way to gather fresh sales leads. But marketing small-group training—the profitable new industry trend wherein one trainer works with three to 10 clients at a time—has its own special considerations.
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Marketing is the process of reaching out to new, potential customers. Done right, it’s a systematized, targeted and reusable way to gather fresh sales leads. But marketing small-group training (SGT)—the profitable new industry trend wherein one trainer works with three to 10 clients at a time—has its own special considerations.
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Monetary benefits aside, not every personal trainer should create a small group-centered program. Perhaps your instructional strengths lie with the dynamics of large boot camps, or with one-on-one training. Plus, some clients with complex biomechanical or medical needs require a level of personal attention that is best met in one-on-one sessions.
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Fitness is an exciting industry filled with passionate people. Yet personal training itself is frequently a dollars-for-hours trade with inherent income limits and a high rate of burnout.
The solution? Convert to a small group–dominant business model, where one trainer works with up to a dozen clients at the same time (see www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/small-group-secrets-the-start-up-plan).
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Small-group training—workouts for groups of three to 10 clients (www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/small group-secrets-the-start-up-plan)—is a trend that’s changing the face of our industry.
Why? Profit margins are much better with small group, says Mike Bates, MBA, owner of Refine Fitness Studio in Windsor, Ontario. “If your goal is to make money, you should do as much [small-group training] as you can, as long as it fits with your training philosophy.”
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Three years ago, Hayley Hollander was an in-demand personal trainer with a jam-packed schedule, a waiting list and a problem: Like many experienced trainers, she’d maxed out her hours and hit the wall.
“I was reaching burn-out, training 55–70 hours a week, and making just around $100,000 a year. But I was literally killing myself to make that kind of money,” recalls Hollander, who charged, on average, $57 per one-on-one session.
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