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Personal Trainers Meet the Needs of Savvy, Cost-Conscious Consumers

The 2009 IDEA Personal Training Programs & Equipment Trends report shows that training styles, equipment and choices have broadened to serve an ever-expanding, discriminating market.

 9 Survey Data
2009 IDEA Personal Training Programs & Equipment Trends
14  Training for Growth
Seasonal Change:
Autumn Color

Personal training is still king of the hill in the fitness industry. Whether in an entrepreneurial or a facility setting, trainers are steadily filling sessions as a growing variety of clients are inspired to fitness and wellness through personal training leadership.

Not all personal trainers offer all categories; trainers have tailored their services to match or attract a specific market share rather than stretch themselves over the vast range of specialty categories. This targeted approach may reflect the rigors of a tough economy, but niche specialization is nothing new among smart trainers.

There is strong growth potential along the continuum, which gives most trainers the luxury of choosing the clientele with whom they are passionate about working. Survey respondents customize their offerings to suit the wide array of clients’ ages, abilities and goals—from the apparently healthy and the highly athletic to those who need specialized training like postrehab and back pain prevention programs.

Generally speaking, the survey reveals that training methods focus on function by using a range of techniques, such as strength, balance and flexibility training. Overall, respondents report that they continue to use various types of equipment, both small and large, in order to meet their clients’ needs. However, most skilled professionals help clients meet goals with the use of small, portable equipment. These training tools (resistance tubing, stability balls, dumbbells, medicine balls, etc.) remain solidly in the top 10 pieces of equipment most frequently used.

Group personal training activities—such as boot camps, circuit training and social activity groups—are offered by approximately one-third of respondents and appear to be poised for growth.

Client retention is robust across the board. IDEA trainers report that 77% of their clients stay with the business 1 year or longer. A magnified look reveals even more impressive client loyalty: most clients stay with their trainer for more than 5 years (32%), while the remaining customers stay 1–2 years (21%), 2–3 years (15%), 3–4 years (12%) or 4–5 years (8%). Just 12% of clients stay with their trainer for less than 1 year.

Do these numbers reflect your experience? If not, diving into these trends may help you determine what’s missing in your mix. What are IDEA personal trainers doing to achieve this longevity among their customers?

Taking the Long View

According to the personal trainer members who completed the 2009 survey, training adults one-on-one remains the bread and butter of their business. The focus within sessions includes strength training, stretching, balance and functional resistance training.

These are the session options offered by over 50% of survey respondents:

98% personal training, adult,
one-on-one

97 strength training

96 stretching and/or flexibility

96 balance training

96 functional resistance training

89 flexibility/range of motion assessment

86 height and weight assessment

85 training for weight management

85 personal training, 2 clients share

84 balance assessment

81 cardiorespiratory interval training

79 body weight–only training

77 circumference measurements assessment

77 body composition assessment

77 resting heart rate assessment

76 cardiorespiratory circuit training

75 cardiorespiratory endurance training

73 muscular endurance assessment

72 back pain prevention

72 cardiorespiratory cross-training

72 plyometrics

71 senior-specific training

70 postrehab following injury

70 activity heart rate assessment

66 cardiorespiratory endurance assessment

65 speed, agility, quickness conditioning

65 personal training, youth, aged
18 or younger, one-on-one

61 exercise for chronic medical conditions (e.g., diabetes,
coronary heart disease)

60 nutrition coaching

60 personal training, outdoor sessions

59 blood pressure assessment

58 personal training, 3–5
clients share

57 nutrition assessment

54 online client reminders and information

54 sport-specific training

52 walking

How Is Personal Training Offered?

  • V One-on-one personal training has once again found itself topping the list of programs, with 98% of respondents reporting that they offer it to their clientele. A little over half (53%) believe one-on-one personal training is stable, while 33% believe there is still potential for growth in the industry.
    V Personal training in which 2 clients share a session is still very popular among IDEA trainers. This year, 85% offer it, a percentage that has held steady from 2008. When we look more closely at who is offering partner training, those trainers who work within their own homes (91%), in personal training studios (90%) and within clients’ homes (90%) are slightly more inclined to offer the service.
    V Personal training with 3–5 clients is offered by over half of the respondents (58%); this is up 9 percentage points from last year’s results. In addition, 46% of respondents believe this category will continue to grow. The increase is likely due to a combination of factors: (1) the increased popularity of boot camps and circuit training for small groups; (2) the economies of scale for both personal trainers and consumers; and (3) the social aspect of training in a group, which makes exercise more fun for many.

Michelle Reiter, MS, a fitness professional in Los Angeles, says, “These are exciting times. I believe we are experiencing a shift within our collective culture in taking responsibility for improving our health and wellness; therefore, the potential of our industry is growing evermore!

“Our clients are looking to us to provide direction and guidance in designing customized programs. I believe what makes a training program successful is not only the trainer’s knowledge and expertise, but also serving our clients to the best of our ability, being flexible and adding safety and fun to the workouts. I like to use Dr. Wayne Dyer’s quote, ‘How may I serve?’ as my motto for running my personal training business.”

According to the survey, only 5% of respondents’ clients are younger than 18 years; however, 65% of trainers offer one-on-one personal training for this age group, and 39% offer small-group activities for youth. Even with the constantly increasing numbers of overweight and obese youth, the growth potential in this population is seen as rather small (less than 30%).

Sabrena Merrill, owner of Fitness Logic in Lawrence, Kansas, observes that the majority of clients are middle-aged with adult-aged children. “There really is no ‘referral’ base to work with, because the kids are already out of the house,” she says. When examining this category in more depth, we see that 43% of personal trainers offer programming for teens (13–17 years of age), while only 23% offer programming for kids (12 years and younger). Merrill also feels that some parents do not view structured exercise programs as “safe” for children under 12 years. “I think some of them still operate under the assumption that preadolescents will stunt their growth if they participate in resistance training,” she says. “In addition, a significant percentage of parents are overweight or obese and do not place a high time commitment or financial priority on formal exercise. But by the time the kids reach the teen years, their opportunities have really opened up through school programs/sports and the whole family becomes more aware of the importance of physical fitness. It is at this time that they may begin to seek the help of a fitness professional.”

Focus Is on Function

Survey respondents report that their training sessions break out as follows: 53% of the time is spent on resistance training, while the remainder is spent on cardiorespiratory (23%) and flexibility training (18%), as well as other training methods (19%). Strength training (97%), functional resistance training (96%), balance training (96%) and stretching/flexibility (96%) are the most commonly used training methods.

Chuck Wolf, MS, director of Human Motion Associates in Orlando, Florida, has a good idea of why trainers are using such techniques so frequently. He says that to train functionally, a movement pattern must incorporate eccentric loading of the muscle prior to concentric unloading; be triplanar in nature; overcome gravity and ground reaction forces; and incorporate balance and flexibility. “Functional training benefits the client by integrating movements rather than isolating movements; helps promote mobility and stability; can enhance quality of life and daily movement patterns; and can improve overall health and well-being,” Wolf says. “From the trainer’s perspective, this approach creates myriad ways to design programs, provides time efficiency and significantly reduces burn out. It makes training—and our business—fun.”

The majority of the training session is devoted to resistance and flexibility training; the portion spent on cardiovascular training is just 23%. With heart disease being the number-one cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women, 23% is simply not enough, feels Jason Karp, PhD, exercise physiologist and director/coach of REVO2LT Running Team™ in San Diego. “Research has shown that low cardiovascular fitness is a strong predictor of death from cardiovascular disease and even of all-cause mortality, with the risk being comparable to the risk associated with other primary cardiovascular-disease risk factors, including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and cigarette smoking,” Karp says. “Cardiovascular endurance is arguably the most important component of health-related fitness because the functioning of the heart, lungs and circulatory system are so essential to overall health.”

Among cardiorespiratory training techniques, interval training (81%) is used slightly more than other methods, like cardiorespiratory endurance (75%), circuit (76%) or cross-training (72%).

The most common types of equipment used for cardiorespiratory training are treadmills (78%), followed by elliptical trainers (71%), upright cycles (63%), recumbent cycles (62%) and stair climbers (50%). Equipment that uses more upper-body musculature—such as indoor rowing machines (42%) and arm ergometers (20%)—are used by fewer than half of the respondents.

Benefits of Group Training

Despite all we hear about the economies and profitability of group training, fewer than half of respondents report that they train clients in such activities as small-group circuit training (48%); indoor small-group boot camps (38%); social activity groups (walking or running clubs, group trips, organized group activities) (31%); outdoor group activities (29%); and outdoor boot camps (26%). Although these activities do not rank very high, the majority of the IDEA trainers surveyed believe there is growth on the horizon.

Ayla Preszler, MS, personal trainer and group fitness director at Frog’s Fitness in Long Beach, California, finds that training in a group setting has many benefits for the personal trainer and for the participants involved: “I see four main benefits to group training: efficiency, cost-effectiveness, motivation/accountability and retention,” she says. “If the trainer takes the time up-front to assess each participant’s fitness level and goals, a well-designed workout should cater to most of the group’s needs. The trainer can then take time during the workout to work with each individual one-on-one to demonstrate modifications and progressions as necessary. The trainer is now designing one workout (with modifications and progressions) that can apply to many individuals.”

Ayla further pointed out that for the trainer, group training is a way to increase income while decreasing the hourly cost of a training session for participants. “Instead of training one client per hour, you are training 4, 5 or even 6 clients in an hour and can charge each person a ‘discounted price’ per hour, which will still hold a higher hourly rate overall for the trainer.”

Finally, Ayla has found that group training provides even greater motivation and accountability for participants than one-on-one training. “If someone does not feel like working out, they are no longer just canceling on the trainer; they are canceling on their workout buddies,” she points out. “I also encourage my clients to spur each other on during our workouts. Due to the cost-effectiveness and motivation/accountability that group training provides, I find that participants are eager to come back for more. Affordability does not tend to be a problem, and they have guaranteed workout buddies to share the challenge with. This leads to great retention both for the trainer and for the fitness center in which the trainer is working.”

Programs for Clients With
Medical Concerns

Faced with the realities of an aging population, personal trainers work more and more often with clientele who—for a variety of medical reasons—need specialized instruction. The vast majority of survey respondents have clients with special medical needs (83%), chronic injury (85%) or physical disabilities (54%). In order to assist these clients, trainers offer specialized programs, such as back pain prevention (72%), postrehab following injury (70%) and exercise for chronic medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, coronary heart disease) (61%). In addition, approximately half of the trainers surveyed believe that these types of special programs will continue to grow.

As Anthony Carey, MA, owner of Function First in San Diego, points out, “Nearly every trainer in the field is working with someone who is, was or will be classified as a special population. The prevalence in society of issues such as lower-back pain and cardiovascular disease makes it nearly impossible not to work with a client with medical concerns. And as the current medical model becomes more restrictive, greater numbers of people will be seeking help and guidance from the fitness community. Fitness professionals need to remain within our professional boundaries and within our level of education and experience. Working with special populations requires special preparation.”

 

Small, Portable Equipment
Remains on Top

Survey respondents reported using all types of equipment, with an emphasis on the smaller portable pieces. These are the 10 pieces of equipment most frequently available:

97% resistance tubing or bands

97 stability balls

95 barbells and/or dumbbells

93 balance equipment (BOSU® Balance Trainers, disks, wobble boards, balance boards)

90 medicine balls

85 foam rollers and small balls

81 steps and platforms

78 treadmills

75 weighted bars

71 elliptical trainers

Once again eight of the top 10 most frequently used pieces of equipment are small and transportable. “The growing trend of [using] small, portable pieces of training equipment offers both clients and trainers many benefits in addition to allowing us to train more functionally,” observes Fabio Comana, exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise. “However, we must always remember that functional training is not driven by the equipment we use, but by the results we seek. Consequently, while small, portable equipment can be very functional, it depends on how it is utilized. The added benefit of this portable equipment [is that it] allows trainers and clients to select appropriate training environments while not suffering the constraints of the past, [when] we were limited in what we could use outside of the gym. Much of the growth of in-home training can be attributed to the development of effective, small, portable pieces of equipment.”

Even though only two pieces of large equipment (treadmills and elliptical trainers) made the list, the majority of those surveyed use stationary items such as pulley equipment (67%), plate-loaded machines (63%), upright cycles (63%), recumbent cycles (62%), selectorized (pin-selected) machines (62%) and stair climbers (50%).

About the Survey

The percentage (%) shows the number of survey respondents who answered yes to a given survey question. All percentages have been rounded up at 0.5 and down at 0.4. Percentages do not necessarily total 100, because of multiple or missing responses.

IDEA personal trainer members who gave us permission to use their e-mail addresses were sent three e-mail invitations to link to a Web-based survey in February 2009. The 557 trainers who responded represent 77% personal trainers, 12% owners, 4% fitness directors, 1% personal training directors, 1% general managers and 3% other titles. There was an 8% response rate, with a 95% confidence level and a ±5% margin of error.

On average, the respondents work at two separate facilities. Forty-three percent offer personal training in clients’ homes, whereas 24% offer personal training in their own homes; otherwise, 20% work in fitness-only health clubs, 12% in multipurpose health clubs, 19% in personal training gyms, 9% in Pilates or yoga studios, 10% in parks or recreation programs, 7% in a YMCA/YWCA/
JCC, 6% in corporate fitness centers, 6% in group exercise studios and under
6% in other venues. Most of the respondents are self-employed (56%), while 31% are independent contractors and 26% are employees. A number of trainers (26%) earn additional revenue by selling products to their clientele. As for location, 24% work in suburbs, 33% in large cities, 36% in small cities or towns and 7% in rural areas. Most respondents live in the United States—35% in the West, 26% in the Northeast, 20% in
the North Central region and 19% in the South; 4% live in Canada.

Our trainers serve a predominantly female clientele (72%), with the most common age ranges being 35–44 years (24%), 45–54 years (32%) and 55–64 years (23%). Most clients are at an intermediate fitness level (48%) or beginner fitness level (40%), while only 19% are advanced. While 97% of trainers have clients that are apparently healthy, they also train individuals with special medical needs (83%), chronic injury (85%) or physical disabilities (54%). Amateur athletes (64%) are also a common clientele for trainers, while professional athletes (14%) are clients less frequently. Almost half of all trainers work with children and teens (aged 18 years or younger) (49%), whereas 25% of trainers work with women only.

The average cost of a training session is $56 (median $55). Most clients pay for their training sessions either as a package (63%) or as individual sessions (51%); just 14% pay for sessions with a monthly membership fee, and 5% pay with an annual membership fee.

The mean (average) is found by adding together all the numbers and dividing by the number of responses. Very large numbers and very small numbers can create a wide range, which may make an average less representative of most of the people.

The median is the midpoint, meaning 50% of respondents answered above that number and 50% answered below it. A median is useful because it helps eliminate the distortion that an average can cause.

The “health clubs” category in the charts includes multipurpose and fitness-only health clubs and YMCA/YWCA/JCC facilities. n

Supplement to September 2009 IDEA Fitness JournalIDEA Trainer Success
Editor in Chief Sandy Todd Webster
Managing Editor Katherine Watson
Production Editor Margie Rogers
Contributing Editor Alexandra Williams
Design Patera
Publisher and CEO Peter Davis
Executive Director Kathie Davis

IDEA Health & Fitness
Association
10455 Pacific Center Court
San Diego, California 92121-4339
Phone: (858) 535-8979 or (800) 999-idea
Fax: (858) 535-8234
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ideafit.com

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Association. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed in the USA.
For a complete directory of IDEA staff
or information on article selection and submission, see the “Your Membership”
section in IDEA Fitness Journal.

IDEA’s Mission Statement
IDEA and its members are passionately committed to improving the health and fitness of all people. We are focused
on delivering compelling member value by imparting knowledge, credibility, inspiration, marketability, and personal
and professional growth opportunities.

IDEA’s Purpose
To Inspire the World to Fitness®

Core Values
‰ We believe that ethics come first;
fairness and integrity guide all of
our decisions and relationships.
‰ We have a passion for providing
fitness information and education.
‰ Our decisions are guided by the
professional needs of our members. September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

Training by Facility Type

How Is Personal Training Offered?

Personal Personal
Personal Training in Training in
All Health Training Trainers’ Clients’
Respondents Clubs Gyms Homes Homes
n (number) 528 218 105 131 239
personal training, adult, one-on-one 98% 100% 100% 99% 100%
personal training, 2 clients share 85 89 90 91 90
personal training, 3–5 clients share 58 59 61 60 60
personal training, outdoor sessions 60 65 58 73 72
personal training, youth, aged 18 or
  younger, one-on-one 65 74 75 64 67
personal training, youth, aged 18 years
  or younger, small-group 39 46 47 40 37
% of respondents offering the activity.

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

Methods Used in Training Sessions

Focus Is on Function

Personal Personal
Personal Training in Training in
All Health Training Trainers’ Clients’
Respondents Clubs Gyms Homes Homes
n 528 218 105 131 239
Resistance Training
strength training 97% 99% 100% 99% 99%
functional resistance training 96 98 100 96 98
body weight–only training 79 87 83 84 82
plyometrics 72 79 83 75 77
very slow strength training 38 43 43 43 36
Olympic-style lifting 17 20 21 19 16
Cardiorespiratory Training
cardiorespiratory interval training 81% 89% 85% 88% 87%
cardiorespiratory circuit training 76 84 81 82 82
cardiorespiratory endurance training 75 83 79 79 78
cardiorespiratory cross-training 72 78 81 78 76
Flexibility Training
stretching and/or flexibility 96% 97% 98% 99% 98%
Other Training
balance training 96% 97% 97% 99% 98%
speed, agility and quickness conditioning 65 73 76 70 68
% of respondents offering the activity.

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

Working With Groups: Is It Time to Grow?

Benefits of Group Training

Personal Personal
Personal Training in Training in
All Health Training Trainers’ Clients’
Respondents Clubs Gyms Homes Homes
n 528 218 105 131 239
boot camp classes, outdoor 26 31 25 33 29
group activities, outdoor 29 32 26 37 32
small-group boot camps, indoor 38 41 42 47 40
small-group circuit training, indoor 48 54 57 52 50
social activity groups (walking or
  running clubs, group trips, organized
  group activities) 31 32 29 37 30
% of respondents offering the activity.

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

Training Special Populations

Programs for Clients With Medical Concerns

Personal Personal
Personal Training in Training in
All Health Training Trainers’ Clients’
Respondents Clubs Gyms Homes Homes
n 528 218 105 131 239
back pain prevention 72% 72% 72% 75% 73%
exercise for chronic medical conditions
  (e.g., diabetes, coronary heart disease) 61 65 62 59 61
postrehab following injury 70 69 77 67 70
% of respondents offering the activity.

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. © 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

2009 IDEA Personal Training Programs
& Equipment Trends

Business profile of
Idea Personal trainers

Average Number of Sessions per Week
38% 1–9 sessions
30 10–19
13 20–29
 6 30–49
 3 50 or more
10 no response

15 median number of sessions per week
10 median number of clients per week

19 mean number of sessions per week
15 mean number of clients per week
Length of Personal Training Sessions
26% 30 minutes
11 45 minutes
86 60 minutes
 5 90 minutes

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success Personal Training Programs

Yes, my company offers this
program, and I think it is:
Offer Growing Stable Declining
Current Programs and Future Projections

Basic Training
personal training, adult, one-on-one 98% 33% 53% 13%
personal training, 2 clients share 58 46 39 4
personal training, 3–5 clients share 85 39 48 6
personal training, youth, aged 18 or younger, one-on-one 65 25 45 15
personal training, youth, aged 18 years or
  younger, small-group 39 29 45 13
personal training, outdoor sessions 60 50 42 4
small-group boot camps, indoor 38 54 36 4
small-group circuit training, indoor 48 n/a n/a n/a
Fitness Assessments
activity heart rate 70% 21% 66% 4%
balance 84 49 42 2
blood pressure 59 18 70 1
body composition 77 26 62 6
cardiorespiratory endurance 66 19 70 3
circumference measurements 77 22 65 7
flexibility, range of motion 89 35 54 2
height, weight 86 12 74 6
muscular endurance 73 21 67 4
muscular strength 79 21 68 3
resting heart rate 77 16 72 3
skill-related components (agility, speed,
  coordination, power, reaction time, etc.) 41 38 49 5
Additional Services
boot camp classes, outdoor 26% 64% 32% 3%
clinics on special topics 40 51 37 5
group activities, outdoor 29 55 39 2
lifestyle coaching 45 62 33 0
meditation 21 61 28 5
nutrition assessment 57 50 40 5
nutrition coaching 60 52 40 3
online client reminders and information 54 56 29 2
online training programs 17 n/a n/a n/a
social activity groups (walking or running clubs,
  group trips, organized group activities) 31 59 36 1

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer SuccessPersonal Training Programs

Yes, my company offers this
program, and I think it is:
Offer Growing Stable Declining
Current Programs and Future Projections, cont’d

Program Design
balance training 96% 60% 36% 1%
body weight–only training 79 53 43 2
cardiorespiratory circuit training 76 39 54 2
cardiorespiratory cross-training 72 37 57 1
cardiorespiratory endurance training 75 28 65 2
cardiorespiratory interval training 81 47 49 1
functional resistance training 96 60 35 1
Gyrotonic® or Gyrokinesis® exercise 2 27 46 18
mind-body fusion 10 63 26 2
Olympic-style lifting 17 16 49 26
Pilates 36 44 49 3
Pilates and yoga fusion 23 45 42 4
Pilates or yoga training, one-on-one 39 43 44 8
plyometrics 72 34 51 6
speed, agility, quickness conditioning 65 42 48 5
strength training 97 37 59 2
stretching and/or flexibility 96 48 47 2
tai chi 9 33 57 5
very slow strength training 38 20 49 17
yoga 33 46 44 5
Client Goals
back pain prevention 72% 55% 38% 2%
exercise for chronic medical conditions
  (e.g., diabetes, coronary heart disease) 61 58 36 2
kids’ programming, 12 years and younger 23 47 40 11
postrehab following injury 70 49 44 2
pre/postnatal training 44 33 57 5
senior-specific training 71 65 29 3
sports clinics 14 51 41 3
sport-specific training 54 39 48 6
teens’ programming, 13–17 years 43 42 39 11
training for weight management 85 50 44 1
walking 52 42 48 3
water fitness 23 44 39 13

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success Personal Training Equipment

Yes, my company offers this
equipment, and I think it is:
Offer Growing Stable Declining
Current Equipment and Future Projections

Portable or Specialized
balance equipment (BOSU® Balance Trainers, disks,
  wobble boards, balance boards) 93% 58% 37% 2%
barbells and/or dumbbells 95 24 70 2
boxing equipment 32 42 47 7
computer training programs, interactive (exergaming) 7 53 33 3
computer workout tracking 15 52 35 3
foam rollers and small balls 85 57 37 2
Gravity trainers 12 50 33 6
Gyrotonic equipment 2 0 78 11
medicine balls 90 46 51 1
nutrition analysis software 17 44 38 9
Pilates equipment 31 42 48 3
resistance tubing or bands 97 35 57 4
stability balls 97 46 50 1
steps and platforms 81 11 68 11
suspension training apparatus (TRX, Inkaflexx, etc.) 31 63 32 0
water fitness equipment 22 28 51 9
yoga mats and equipment 65 30 61 1
Gym Basics
arm ergometers 20% 22% 53% 14%
child-sized machines 2 30 40 10
computerized strength machines 7 41 38 7
cycles, recumbent 62 20 69 6
cycles, upright 63 14 72 9
elliptical trainers 71 39 56 1
indoor rowing machines 42 18 57 20
plate-loaded machines 63 10 71 12
pneumatic machines 7 28 48 14
pulley equipment 67 24 65 3
selectorized (pin-selected) machines 62 11 69 10
stair climbers 50 15 57 23
treadmills 78 26 66 2
weighted bars 75 25 65 5

© 2009 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success

Projected to Grow the Most—Programs

The 10 programs predicted to grow by the most respondents are quite diverse, ranging from mind-body activities to technology. In addition, programs that are offered by the majority of trainers (over 70%) and the minority of trainers (under 35%) both find their way onto the top-10 list of programs predicted to grow.
And I
I Offer Believe
This It Will
Service

  • Grow
  • senior-specific training 71% 65%
    boot camp classes, outdoor 26 64
    mind-body fusion 10 63
    lifestyle coaching 45 62
    meditation 21 61
    balance training 96 60
    functional resistance training 96 60
    social activity groups
       (walking or running clubs,
    group trips, organized
    group activities) 31 59
    exercise for chronic medical
       conditions (e.g., diabetes,
    coronary heart disease) 61 58
    online client reminders
      and information 54 56
  • % of respondents offering the program.
  • % of those offering the program who think it will grow.Projected to Grow the Most—EQUIPMENT

    Most of the equipment that is expected to grow is small and easily portable. Four of the 10 pieces of equipment are offered by the majority of the trainers, while the remaining pieces of equipment are offered by fewer
    than 35% of the trainers.
    And I
    My Company Believe
    Has This Usage Will
    Equipment

  • Grow
  • suspension training apparatus
      (TRX, Inkaflexx, etc.) 31% 63%
    balance (BOSU Balance Trainers,
       disks, wobble boards,
    balance boards) 93 58
    foam rollers and small balls 85 57
    computer training programs,
    interactive (exergaming) 7 53
    computer workout tracking 15 52
    gravity trainers 12 50
    stability balls 97 46
    medicine balls 90 46
    nutrition analysis software 17 44
    boxing equipment 32 42
    Pilates equipment 31 42
  • % of respondents offering the equipment.
  • % of those offering the equipment who think it will grow.

September 2009 IDEA Trainer Success


Jan Schroeder, PhD

Jan Schroeder, PhD, is a professor and past chair of the department of kinesiology at Long Beach State University. She coordinates and teaches in the fitness and integrated training undergraduate program and has written 60+ articles on exercise physiology/fitness. She is also a certified group exercise instructor who teaches weekly in the private sector. Schroeder is the recipient of the 2021 IDEA Fitness Leader of the Year Award.

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