Business of Group Fitness
Fitness Equipment for a Better Club or Studio
Whether you’re the owner of a large gym, a small-studio entrepreneur, a mobile personal trainer, or a yoga or Pilates specialist, a basic tenet of keeping your edge sharp with clients is to shake things up frequently enough that they (and you!) don’t get bored. Certainly, that means changing your programming regularly, but it also means looking at your equipment with fresh eyes and considering some new tools for experimentation—all while being judicious about your budget.
Ignite Your Passion and Watch Your Career Thrive
The most powerful industry event in the world, IDEA® World Convention, lands in Anaheim, California, June 26–30.
The Instructor-or-Influencer Challenge: Social Media and Fitness Instructors
Exceptional group fitness instructors are influential. But is their influence an outcome of great instruction or its origin? When group fitness pros apply for a job, practical teaching skills and knowledge of exercise and movement top the list of “must-haves,” so what about social media influence? Is it relevant? It’s becoming more commonplace to judge group fitness candidates on their social media presence, but should this be the case?
Ignite Your Passion and Watch Your Career Thrive at the 2019 IDEA® World Convention
You’re a forward-thinking, highly skilled professional who works tirelessly to Inspire the World to Fitness®. After hustling for clients, teaching countless classes and paying bills, the question is, what do you do for yourself to make sure the passion that drove you to become a fitness leader continues to burn bright?
Question Of The Month
Like the milkman used to do, more and more retailers will deliver groceries to your doorstep. According to data analytics company Nielsen, 70% of American consumers will do some of their grocery shopping online in the next 5–7 years. How is this shift in food-purchasing behavior going to influence eating habits?
Hashtag-Worthy Foods
In the age of Instagrammable food shots and food “influencers,” people increasingly turn to social media for advice on what to eat. And it turns out we still can’t get enough of avocado toast and that South American grain. A social media analysis from the food and nutritional consultancy New Nutrition Business showed that—in a list of 20 items marketed as healthy—avocado, almonds, blueberries, quinoa and kale garnered the most social media activity between 2017 and 2018.
Body Image And Social Media
A recent study provides more evidence that body image suffers when young women view photos of attractive peers on social media.
BlogHer: Through My Lens
Health. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? What about when someone says, “I’m living a healthy lifestyle?” What does that mean to you? What does it mean to the world? Today, when celery cleanses and keto diets are all the rage, it appears the meaning of health is directly related to one’s waistline. However, “health,” as defined by the World Health Organization, is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO 2019).
3 Keys to Profitable Growth Strategies for Advanced Fitness Business Owners
The most successful fitness professionals and business owners reach a point where their time and energy are MAXED OUT!
There’s simply no more capacity to continue growing their business. There aren’t enough hours in the day.
So even though they want more out of their fitness business, they don’t have the capacity or capability to continue increasing total client numbers.
Older Adult Fitness & Your Business
The aging of the global population is single-handedly forcing and inspiring change in many ways—both obvious and subtle. The continued growth of the older population for the next 30+ years will influence the fitness industry in ways that we probably can’t even imagine yet. To help you prepare for this growth, here are some noteworthy aging trends (counting down from least to most important from a business standpoint) that could affect you over the next 5–10 years.
Trend #5: Brain Fitness Comes of Age
A Dynamic HIIT Workout With Sand Bells
More flexible and variable than dumbbells or kettlebells, sand bells are sand-filled disks that can be lifted, slammed, tossed, curled, or flipped like a heavy pancake. The following playful workout mixes high-intensity cardio and strength training with two levels of progression, creating a user-friendly class for any participant.
Sand Bell HIIT Details
FORMAT: strength and cardio conditioning
TOTAL TIME: 55 minutes
Succeed in the Business of Fitness
Learn the strategies to develop a club or studio that inspires, thrives and affords you the personal and professional life you’ve always wanted at the IDEA World Club & Studio Summit.
Heading into its fourth year, this Summit—on how to succeed in the business of fitness—has become its own conference thriving inside IDEA World. There seem to be events popping up all over the country for people who run clubs and studios.
Why You Need a Client Avatar
Remember the days when all you had to do to usher in a rush of new clients was run a Facebook campaign or a Groupon® offer? Those days are long gone. The market is becoming saturated, and fitness facilities are popping up on every corner, each wanting a piece of the pie. Also, consumers are becoming more educated about fitness; they’re more cautious about where they spend their hard-earned exercise dollars—and for good reason!
How to Keep Attendees in Class
If you’ve been teaching group fitness classes for any length of time, you’ve likely experienced the dreaded student walkout. It’s the end of class—and time to stretch—and a portion of the class members start putting away equipment and heading for the door. Participants in certain classes are guiltier than others (cycling instructors, are you nodding in agreement?).
Although your program director knows this happens all the time, frequency does not make it okay.
Build a Better Club or Studio
Whether you’re the owner of a large gym, a small-studio entrepreneur, a mobile personal trainer, or a yoga or Pilates specialist, a basic tenet of keeping your edge sharp with clients is to shake things up frequently enough that they (and you!) don’t get bored. Certainly, that means changing your programming regularly, but it also means looking at your equipment with fresh eyes and considering some new tools for experimentation—all while being judicious about your budget.
The Nutrition–Fitness Hybrid: Bending the Model
What are consumers looking for when they come to your gym or studio? Sure, they want great workouts and access to the latest equipment in a welcoming, fun environment. But above all, they really want to attain their health and fitness goals.
Question of the Month
What is the leading trend in your fitness facility? Are wearables, group fitness and HIIT programs the leading fitness activities among your clients?
Share the top fitness activities in your facility and why you think they are successful.
We want to hear from you! Email executive editor Joy Keller, jkeller@ideafit.com.
Wearables Lead 2019 Fitness Trends
Wearable technology—like fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors and GPS trackers—are the top fitness trend for 2019, according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s 13th annual survey among industry professionals.
How to Grow Your Group Exercise Team
It’s time to build your group exercise bench. Where do you start? Here are some tips from Shannon Fable, 2013 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year and senior vice president of learning and product development for FIT4MOM®. Fable recommends that program directors focus on the following three areas:
The Value of Plain Language
Many web articles and other written resources promoting physical activity are too difficult for the average U.S. adult to understand, per findings by Oregon State University researchers in Corvallis, Oregon.
