Best Practices
Top Money Tips for Fit Pros
Money is often a dirty word among fitness professionals. Most get into the business to help others, but you can’t pay bills with good intentions, says Frank Pucher, owner of Fitness 121 Personal Training in Roseland, New Jersey, and author of Smart Money Moves: A Practical Approach for Earning, Growing & Protecting Your Money. He adds that the financial side of fitness should receive as much detailed attention as the programs you design.
A for Effort
client: Kent Denver School Students | personal trainer: Laura Bordeaux, strength and conditioning coach, Kent Denver School location: Englewood, Colorado
A complete course load. Think of it as core curriculum—literally. The Kent Denver School, a college-preparatory institution outside of Denver, offers a comprehensive educational experience that emphasizes both academics and sports. That’s where Laura Bordeaux comes in.
Stand Up to Aging
Getting up off the ground grows more difficult as we age. Muscles and bones weaken, coordination becomes less fluid, and simply doing chores around the house gets more challenging. Ground-to-standing (G2S) exercises address these changes. hile even performance athletes can benefit from G2S drills (see the sidebar “G2S Exercises Also Help Performance Athletes”), they’re supremely helpful for older exercisers who are at risk for broken hips and other threats to their mobility.
Corporate Fitness Evolves
Employers are looking for partners to provide experiences and solutions in social, emotional, financial, family and career growth and well-being,” says Grace DeSimone, national group fitness director with Plus One Health Management, an Optum company, in New York City. Companies are also embracing mindfulness, meditation and virtual solutions for telecommuting employees, according to DeSimone. All these changes represent an evolution from programs aimed primarily at improving physical health and controlling healthcare costs.
9 Simple Ways to Keep Your Clients
The success of your business relies solely on your ability to attract and keep clients. Use these tips to enhance the client-trainer relationship so that you can focus more on providing quality service to your current clients and less on finding new ones.
How to Compete Against Discount Clubs
You’ve worked long and hard to get your fitness facility off the ground, and while you’re doing okay in your community, you’ve noticed some of your membership base trickling away. Upon further investigation, you realize that while you’ve had your nose to the grindstone, managing your facility and planning for growth, a discount club has opened up not far from you. Not only that, but a handful of specialty boutique studios have carved out some market share. Where do you fit in, and what can you do to keep your place?
7 Keys to Creating an Unforgettable Onboarding Experience
Do you want to strategically and consistently educate and motivate your new clients so they feel like they’re getting incredible results—and so you’re getting a steady flow of referrals and earning positive social proof? Are you ready to not just deliver but over-deliver? If your answer is yes, then one of your most important next moves is to create a step-by-step onboarding process.
Learn, Connect and Thrive at the IDEA® World Convention
Education is the foundation of the IDEA World Convention, but this fitness event offers plenty more than stellar instruction. For Jonathan Bernath, publicist-turned-personal-trainer, it’s where he discovered the “fitness family” that would guide him in his new career.
Special Benefits of Group Exercise
Group fitness instructors may also want to approach medical schools with an offer to provide exercise classes for medical students. To support a pitch, refer to a recent nonrandomized controlled study in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association; it found that, for medical students, group exercise can reduce stress and improve physical, mental and emotional quality of life more than training alone or not engaging in any exercise program.
Green Exercise: How It Benefits You
Here’s a look at what the latest findings tell us about why you may want to incorporate green exercise into your programs.
Simplicity Steers Success
client: Jennifer | personal trainer: John Parker | location: San Diego
Keeping it simple. Every day it seems there’s a new supplement, food plan or training program that purports to produce unparalleled results. But all of these choices can make it difficult for clients to make wise choices and remain consistent in their approach. That was the problem faced by Jennifer, a florist and part-time kickboxing instructor, and it’s why she reached out to San Diego–based personal trainer John Parker, CSCS.
How to Find Your Epic
The fitness industry is a rewarding and inspiring place to be. However, it’s not without its challenges, and getting ahead with passion alone can be difficult. The most successful fit pros know that to build an epic life and career, they must invest in education and learn from those who’ve been there and done it.
Question of the Month
With the American Heart Association’s recent recognition of meditation and mindfulness practices and with meditation studios appearing in Los Angeles and New York City, it’s clear that these activities are going mainstream. Are you or is your facility integrating this trend into programs? For example, are you offering yoga and meditation classes or meditation-only sessions?
Share your responses with executive editor Joy Keller at jkeller@ideafit.com.
Fitness Facility Membership by the Numbers
In 2016 America, traditional commercial health clubs—multipurpose, fitness-only and corporate facilities—served 32.2 million members, a 3% decline from 2015, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. Studios served another 18.2 million, a 15% improvement.
Nonprofit facility membership rose 6.9% from 2015 to more than 24 million. Collectively,
studio facilities claimed 40.7% of total membership.
Most Popular Club Activities
The three types of workout equipment used most often in health clubs in 2016 were treadmills, resistance machines and free weights, according to the IHRSA 2017 Health Club Consumer Report. Among group exercise and training programs, yoga topped the list, with 36% of members reporting participation. Stretching (24%) and calisthenics (23%) ranked second and third.
Do Rewards Encourage Gym Visits?
Researchers from Case Western University in Cleveland wanted to determine if providing gifts to new gym members would incite them to visit the gym on a regular basis. The scientists specifically chose new members, theorizing that this group’s motivation to go to the gym was high.
Sample Class: Kids’ Beach Boot Camp
Kids don't usually line up to do squats and lunges, but they'll happily walk like a crab or run faster than a wave! Trick your littlest clients (aged 3—12) into getting a great workout with this quick–moving format packed with cleverly themed exercises.
Kids' Beach Boot Camp Details Goal: to engage kids and keep them moving while they have fun and feel successful Total time: 55—60 minutes Equipment needed:
Creative Ideas That Inspire
H.I.I.P. Hype (High-Intensity Interval Painting) in New York challenges body, mind and creativity. Ninety–minute sessions begin with a warm-up followed by short intervals of high-intensity body-weight exercises interspersed with periods of painting. The energy participants generate while exercising helps them express themselves more freely when they paint, according to organizers. The last 15 minutes of class are reserved for a cool-down, as well as painting presentations. Mats and art materials are provided.
Fewer Repetitions Means Better Results?
Short-duration workouts have become popular over the past several years as the time-crunched seek out effective ways to exercise. Recent research adds more support for the benefits of fast workouts and indicates that less may even be more, provided you have appropriate equipment.
Gym Memberships Pay Off
Many people who want to join gyms are skeptical that it will actually help them reach their fitness goals. A new study from Iowa State University may assuage those doubts—and help gyms to convert more browsers into buyers. According to the research, published in PLOS ONE (2017; http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/jour
nal.pone.0170471), gym members tend to have significantly higher levels of strength and cardiorespiratory fitness and are generally more active than nonmembers.