Personal training sales are pretty easy in my business.

Yep, you read that right! Personal training sales are easy, mostly because we do an incredible job of eliminating the risk of buying. Not to mention we are pretty good at what we do!

I am have the great pleasure of still being able to own a fitness business that actually sells training! I may not be in the trenches, I don’t perform sales consults or actually run any training. My amazing team of coaches does that for us. They are better at it than me, but what I do bring to the table is a perspective on how to improve each aspect and system within our business to optimize our results.

Recently we started to get a bit bold. We put ourselves out there as the best in our market and we started implementing not just a money back guarantee, but a 200% money back guarantee!

The funny part about most people’s “money back guarantee” is the stipulations that come with it. They require the clients to attend a certain number of sessions, eat a certain way or follow certain unreasonable guidelines that no one would ever ask for their money back.

We simply tell them that if they aren’t happy with the results they get or the service we provide that we will give them double their money back. No questions asked. Simply hand them a check for the money and move on.

Guess how many we have had ask for their money back? 

ZERO!

We stopped creating policies and stipulations for the 1% of people out there that might try to take advantage of us and we put in place policies that will help our great clients see that we are the best. I am sure the day will come where we will have to honor that guarantee, I am not naïve enough to think it won’t happen.  When it does we will do as promised and hold up our end of the bargain.

If we truly didn’t go above and beyond to give that client an amazing experience we don’t deserve the money. If they are just taking advantage of our business that is one them, karma can be an unpleasant thing for people like that.

We sell quite a bit of personal training at Force Fitness. Our best recorded month was $59,000 in NEW sales. Not FEOs or Challenges, actual new membership agreements signed.

The reason that we have a 75% close rate in our Success Sessions, the first in person meeting, with a new potential client is directly related to two things. First, we build and establish a relationship with the person. We are there to help them find a solution. Nothing more, nothing less. It is our job to help them as best we possibly can during our time with a client. It is evident from the time they first contact us that we care about their success. Second, we absolve them of all risk.

In any front end offer we run there is a 200% money back guarantee. Along with that we also offer a great incentive to become a Force Fitness client on your first day and offer a 30 day period where they can choose to end that agreement with us.

If in the first 30 days of working with us we can’t show them that we are the solution for their fitness needs we will tear up the contract right in front of them. Again, no questions asked.

So, let me run this scenario by you….

You can get your first month at 50% of the regular rate and then pay 11 months at the regular rate. If any point in time during your first 30 days you decide that we aren’t a good fit for you or you aren’t happy with our service simply let me know and we will tear up the contract you signed and give you double your investment back to you. No questions asked. We know we are the best fit for you and that we can help you reach your goal. All we need from you is a commitment to your own success.

What would stop you from signing up that day? Especially if we created a deadline for you of 24 hours to make your decision.

There is no risk for you! If you love it then you can stay and get great results while taking advantage of our incentives. If you hate it or we can show you results then you get paid to train with us for 30 days.  Either way the client wins.

Improving your personal training sales isn’t rocket science, but you do have to be bold enough and confident enough in your service to offer a guarantee that removes the risk of buying from the client.

This doesn’t work for someone that runs a bad business or if you aren’t willing to actually pony up the cash if someone asks for it. So think about your business! Are you good enough at what you do that you can make these offers? If yes, start making them and watch your conversion rates increase immediately. If no, get better at what you do so that you can provide these offers.

This one personal training sales tip will drastically improve your ability to convert leads into clients.  The biggest trick to getting this to work is not just putting it on your website or having it written down, but to verbally explain the guarantee to the potential client. Give them your word that you will hold up your end of the deal.

Being the first in your market to implement this personal training sales tip will not only improve your business and conversion rates but it will get those that buy talking. The guarantee is bold enough that it will your clients talking and telling their friends that they have nothing to lose.

When performed correctly, the barbell clean variations are the best-looking movements in the gym.  A well-executed clean resembles many sport situations and is hands-down one of the best ways to improve overall athletic power, speed and explosive strength.  Snapping the hips into a nasty dunk in basketball, soaring above the net before a violent volleyball spike, or loading and exploding into a powerful football tackle are all events that clean variations resemble.

Unfortunately, I see so many young athletes performing lifts that just look un-athletic and sloppy. My goal is for everyone that I work with to move safely and efficiently, which will result in bigger lifts and healthier lifters over time. When an athlete “muscles-up” a heavy bar in a tight and stressful looking motion, he/she is risking injury and failing to develop any real explosive power.  Far too often the clean and its variations are over-prescribed and under-coached in the high school strength program. Fortunately, the clean can be easily corrected with some great coaching and practice.

The clean is all about timing, coordination, and applying then instantly receiving/decelerating force.  It can be one of the most difficult movements to perfect, but can easily be improved with just a few adjustments and some practice. 

Remember, the clean variations should LOOK and FEEL athletic and graceful!  Developing a better eye for the clean variations will make you a better coach; developing a better feel for the lifts will make you a better athlete.  These are some things that I always look for while coaching athletes or lifting on my own.

1) Start position is crucial. 

A clean that doesn’t begin in an athletic and balanced start position is doomed before the bar even moves. 

Most of our athletes will either work from the above-knee or mid-thigh "hang" position. This position is universal in athletics and I know the athlete will see success from this position quickly. 

The athlete should begin with a tight grip and then turn the knuckles down before lowering into the start position.  When the grip begins to slip the athlete no longer has full control of the bar; this makes for a sloppy lift.  There’s no shame in putting the bar down to reset!

Here’s a sloppy, loose grip

Here’s a firm grip with knuckles wrapped under. Notice the difference in shoulder positions.

This "turning down" of the knuckles ensures a solid grip and also places the shoulder in the correct position for an efficient clean.

The bar should never appear to be sliding down the fingers.  The athlete should feel connected to the bar (emotionally and physically), this is impossible when the grip is compromised.  The shoulder and scapula are heavily influenced by the grip, so tightening up will make for a much prettier clean.

Bonus Tip: USE CHALK! A lot of chalk.

Note:  I don’t always force our athletes to use a "hook grip" if they are not actually Olympic Lifters, but it is very good habit to get into if you or your athlete plan on hitting some heavy weights down the road.

It may be a bit uncomfortable for the thumbs at first, but the hands will adapt to it after just a few sessions.   

Wrap the thumbs under the bar

Wrap your fingers over the thumb
Simply wrap the thumb UNDER the bar, then wrap your fingers AROUND the bar and thumb. 

Once the grip is there, the athlete should begin with the knees "unlocked" or "soft" and hinge at the hips WITHOUT pushing the knees forward or squatting. The body should resemble a > symbol, not an inverted capital L.  In other words, push the butt WAY BACK.

Figure 1 Poor start, knees forward

Poor start, "Inverted Letter L"

Good start, hips pushed back with weight balanced. "> Symbol"
It is also important for the athlete to keep the bar in tight to body.  When the bar just dangles in the start position the athlete is again disconnected from the bar (I usually see this happen along with the slipping grip).   

2) It’s all about the hip drive. 

The "power" in the power clean comes from the "snapping" of the hip extending. 

An error I often see is the athlete dipping the knees under the bar and attempting to scoop the weights up in a very quad/knee-dominant (thigh muscles working instead of backside muscles) motion. 

Poor hip drive, note the "knee scoop"
Athletes often defer to this pattern when a weight is just too heavy.  Sometimes the best correction an athlete or coach can make is lowering the load on the bar.  The muscles on the front of the thighs just don’t have the leverage or strength to move the bar like the back-side muscles in the clean.  

Good hip drive, end position
When an athlete is struggling with the hip-drive, I like to have them "jump through the heels" to get a feel for the motion.  The extension at the ankle should happen at the very last moment, after the hips and knees fully extend.  The feet should be like the last crack of a whip, snapping at the very end of the movement.

I will also cue the athlete to keep the toes “nailed to the floor” and not to stomp on the catch.  There is a difference between a solid, firm catch and intentionally “donkey stomping” the feet.  Keeping the toes “nailed to the floor” will not only make the hip drive much more efficient and powerful, but also put the athlete in a better spot to receive the bar in a smooth and athletic-looking fashion.  Although the toes will actually leave the ground, the clean is about a powerful triple-extension (hips, knees, ankles), not a jump. This cue is very helpful for the athlete that habitually receives the bar in a “knees forward” position (more on this coming up).

Coaching a powerful hip drive isn’t always an easy task.  Take some time and practice the clean pull and clean high-pull.  The athlete should be able to feel when the hips are “snapping” correctly, and the motor-learning process may take some time.  However, once an athlete "gets it", the bar will begin to fly up into the catch position and appear effortless. 

Always remember, if it LOOKS smooth and athletic, it probably is.  And vice versa.

3) The "catch"…isn’t really a catch all. 

The term "catch" is misleading when it comes to the clean.  If I were to throw you a barbell, you would instinctively grab it with your hands, right? 

With the clean catch, I want athletes to ignore that instinct.  Sometimes this can take some real practice and repetition! 

If you are working on your clean at Force Fitness or have some Olympic lifting experience, you already know that "flipping" the bar up in a motion that resembles a reverse-curl is not correct.  

This style of catch doesn’t look athletic or smooth! It also can be stressful (even painful) for the athlete’s wrist and shoulder joints.

Poor "catch" position, catching the bar with the hands
Throughout the initial motion from the start to the high-pull, the elbows should be relaxed with the hands firmly gripping the bar. While the bar approaches the highest point of the high-pull (also the "lightest" point, as gravity has yet to pull the bar back to earth), the hands should relax and the elbows should quickly punch forward, wrapping under the bar in a fast and aggressive motion.

Instead of catching the bar with a "death-grip", the athlete must learn relax the hands and "catch" the bar on the meat of the shoulders with the fingers supporting the bar only.

Good "catch" position, hands relaxed with elbows high

Again, "catch" is misleading here.  The athlete should gracefully meet the bar and wrap the elbows under it at the bar’s lightest and highest point. 

The bar should never slam down on the shoulders. Your reflexes probably won’t let that happen, so just trust it!  And remember, it’s always ok to put the bar down and reset after a rep! 

An athletic-looking clean is an explosive and efficient movement that demands coordination and balance.  The timing of contracting and relaxing is important in sport and reinforced through proper clean technique.      

Use these tips the next time you chalk up and instantly improve your clean technique!

A post on how to market a personal training business by Pat Rigsby

If you’re reading this blog – you’re different.

You’re not the run of the mill trainer, coach or fitness business owner that’s cool with settling for mediocrity.

Or at least you shouldn’t be.

So when people ask me how to market a personal training business, I start there.

Don’t be like everyone else.

Become a category of one.

Ask yourself this:

What do you want to be the…

• Best in your City
• Best in your State
• Best in the Country
• Best in the World

..at doing?

If you can clearly answer any of those, that’s the foundation of how to market a personal training business.

Is that thinking too big for you? If so, why?

Someone is going to be the best.

Why not you?

I never did get that way of thinking. The acceptance of being average. Being like everyone else. I’m not any smarter, more athletic or clearly any better looking than the next guy – but I never thought that meant I should settle for achieving ordinary things.

Back when I was a college baseball coach, the program I took over had never achieved any degree of success. Honestly thought, it never really crossed my mind that we wouldn’t be nationally competitive – even though there was no real evidence to prove that was even possible.

I just knew that if I was going to coach then we were going to be very, very good. I’d do what it took to get there.

The coach who followed me was the opposite. He’d actually been a much better player than I’d been and had a better baseball ‘pedigree’. But he was happy just being a baseball coach. He just liked being on the field and doing things like throwing batting practice.

So basically he was happy to be a baseball coach. I was only happy to be a baseball coach if I could be one of the best in the country.

The result: in the same number of years the team won almost twice as often when I coached.

So are you comfortable just being a ‘trainer’?

Or do you want to be the best?

Commit to being the best at serving a certain market or delivering a particular service and ‘how to market a personal training business’ becomes very, very easy.

Really – it can be as simple as doing these 3 things: 

1. Be Somewhere – To quote marketing guru Dan Kennedy, “You Can’t Do Business Sitting On Your Ass.”

You need to be out in front of people where opportunities can happen.
Be visible by…

• Doing public speaking
• Going to networking events
• Sending media releases
• Writing for local publications

Once you know who you can be the best in your market at serving, then go where those people are. Speak to the groups they belong to. Attend the events they attend. Write in the places they’re reading.

You have to get out there.

2. Do Something – Everyone has ideas. Everyone has talents. Few act on them.

Many of the successful fitness entrepreneurs I know are there primarily because they took action.

Not because they were more talented or had a better idea.

They just made something happen.

In fact, more often than not a bad decision is better than no decision because it leads to action. It is easier to correct the course once you’re actually started than it is to get started in the first place.

A good rule of thumb when it comes to how to market a personal training business is this: do at least one thing a day to bring in new business, even if you don’t need any new business.

3. Ask – If you want something, you’ve got to ask.

If you want more clients, you have to ask for the sale.

If you want more leads, you have to ask for referrals or introductions.

When you meet someone that can help your business – ask for something.

Successful people like to be asked for their ideas, opinions and advices, help and influence.

When it comes to how to market a personal training business – it’s often as simple as asking the clients that you already love training to introduce you to more people like them. Simple and straightforward.

Identify what you can be the best at doing or who you can be the best at serving. Figure that out then focus on the 3 things you need to be doing every day… being somewhere, doing something and asking.  Do those and you’re almost assured of business growth. 

Dedicated to Your Success,

Pat

Bootcamps are popping up on every corner, at least that seems to be the case over the past year or so. With the popularity of group training and the high leverage training environment it seems like every trainer is opening up their own fitness bootcamp. The big problem with the new found popularity is the saturation of the market, but more importantly the price wars that are taking place.

When you start competing on price it is a race to the bottom. A fast one at that! You cannot compete on price and run a sustainable business. It might be possible in the big box gyms, but for a small fitness business it is unreasonable.

So, how do you compete with these low price bootcamps?

Running a great fitness bootcamp is the first step. When discussing how to run a fitness bootcamp it is important to remember that everything you do in your programs matters. It stars with your position in the market and it flows all the way through the experience your clients have in your workouts.

Learning how to run a fitness bootcamp is important, but you can’t settle for running any fitness bootcamp. Your bootcamp must be incredible!

The first step in learning how to run a fitness bootcamp is establishing your unique position in the marketing. Some people might call this your USP or your elevator speech.  However, it is more than that! It is all about figuring out who you serve and how you serve them better than anyone else in your market.

When you run a fitness bootcamp you can’t make your claim to fame your results. Every trainer in the world claims that they get great results. You have to sell people on more than results. You can make your position in the market about getting specific results for specific people.  It could be that you get people in the best shape of their life, that you help people turn back the clock 20 years, or that you make fitness fun.

The next step understanding how to run a fitness bootcamp you can be proud of is by providing your clients more than just a workout. In your fitness bootcamps you must have accountability, progressions and some form of individual coaching. Smart Group Training has altered how to run a fitness bootcamp for most of the industry. They have figured out how to bring assessments, corrective exercise and individual programming into a large group setting.

Even if you don’t know how to run a fitness bootcamp with Smart Group Training it is important that you have some form or assessment, goal setting and individualized approach to your training. Your clients can go anywhere to get a workout, even those low cost places, but they come to you for a great coaching experience.

Providing accountability might not seem like it fits with how to run a fitness bootcamp. Heck, shouldn’t running a bootcamp be all about programming and workouts?

No way! Clients don’t come to you just for a workout, they can get that anywhere. Online programs, DVDs, magazines, and the guy down the street in fatigues and a whistle yelling at people to run their laps faster all provide a workout. You should pride yourself in having a program that holds people accountable.

When you are trying to figure out how to run a fitness bootcamp make sure that you have an accountability system.  Calling your clients when they miss a session, meeting with them to help with nutrition, and giving them some personal attention outside of the sessions is a great way to hold them accountable. Make sure you know what each of your clients wants to achieve and set them up with a plan to get there.

Finally, when you are learning how to run a fitness bootcamp, actually how to run a GREAT fitness bootcamp you need to have systems. Systems make your business work, with or without you. The key work in there is without!

Most fitness professionals are self-employed, they own a job not a business. Make sure that you are not one of them. Put in place systems for training, lead generation, client follow up, selling and client management.

Systems are nothing more than a set of actions that deliver the intended results. There is a simple formula for creating a system: Do, Document, Delegate. There are actually a few other steps in there but those are the key factors. First, you perform the task and get it dialed in to get the results you want. Once you have the actions in place you document the task by writing down the steps. Now that it is documented you can work to train someone else to do the task if needed.

When you have created your unique position in the market, created a unique experience with your programs and created your systems you will finally know how to run a fitness bootcamp. But, not just any fitness bootcamp- a GREAT fitness bootcamp.

So what makes a great group training system?

A few years back, Jared Woolever and myself set a goal to create the most individualized large group personal training program possible. We knew that the gap between our personal training and our group personal training was way too big, and we set out to close that gap.

There are many different ways to train clients in groups, but we feel that some things should remain constant for group personal training to really be successful.

Here are some of the most basic elements of a quality group personal training program.

Movement Screening

If you are not assessing you are guessing.  Screening your clients is MUST if you want to take your group personal training to the next level.   We have figured out multiple ways to use the Functional Movement Screen with large groups of clients, and it can be very easy.  There is no excuse to not go the extra mile here.  This is the foundation of the difference in program design between bootcamps and group personal training.

Corrective Exercise for Major Limitations

If you are doing screens, this gives you a great opportunity to zero in on each client’s weakest link in their basic movements and incorporate corrective exercise.  It’s been shown that focusing on one movement correction in the proper sequence can significantly improve movement quality very quickly.  This improves the client’s ability to be able to perform higher-level exercises correctly, which increases results, and keeps your clients injury free!

Red Lighting Movement Patterns

Sometimes doing certain exercises can cause more harm than good.  With an FMS screen you know exactly what movements you can train hard and which movements you should hold back on, or apply corrective strategy.   It’s imperative to have a system that allows you to know which movements should be “red lighted”. This allows your clients to correct movement issues or do a low level progression during the movements that are red lighted for them, and train hard on the movements that they are cleared to train. This is a phenomenal way to set you group training apart from the rest of the pack, and let you clients know that you care.

Multiple Progressions for Multiple Client Needs

People are different and have different needs. That is why it’s so important to have multiple progressions for each exercise. This way you can match up the progression with your client’s fitness level and movement capabilities. They key to great programming is having REgressions and not just PROgressions. Remember, the lowest level regression of an exercise is often another name for a corrective exercise.

Active Recovery Periods

You have to have periods of lower intensity to get the most out of the periods of higher intensity. You just can’t go hard all of the time. That is why it’s so vital to program active recovery periods into your group personal training program. This is a good time to go over correctives, do some low level core training, yoga, and any other fun stuff that doesn’t tax the system too hard.

Six to Twelve Months of Pre Written Workouts

It’s not a plan if it’s not written out. Making up workouts as you go and doing random workouts is not a program design. We plan out the entire year with alternating periods of power/strength, muscular endurance/conditioning, and active recovery. Each workout is planned out already and each progression is written down. We use three workouts for each four week phase and have ten different phases for a year. Those ten phases along with active recovery after each eight week period make up an entire year of program design. We also filmed each exercise so our trainers can watch the videos if they have any questions.

This plan is what makes our group personal training systems so much better than anything we have ever seen. The key is just making sure you have an organized system.

Recently we have put together the EXACT system that we are using in our gyms into a resource that you can use. We’ve included red lights based on screening, progressions and regressions, corrective exercises bases on screening, active recovery periods, videos of each exercise, and more. If you would like more information on SGT 365, check it out below!

http://smartgrouptraining365.com/

Building a loyal client base is one of the best things that you can do to grow your fitness business. Creating a loyal client base will help bulletproof your business from a bad economy, competition and price wars. Take a look at businesses across several industries that have loyal fans and how they have grown in the past several years. Brands like Apple, Disney, Starbucks and others that create raving fans out of their customers.

One strategy for growing your fan base is to reward personal training loyalty. The acknowledgement of a rewards system is a powerful tool in creating loyalty with your clients. A loyal client is less likely to shop pricing, take a look at competition or quit your program when things get a little tight financially.

So, what can you implementing your business immediately to reward personal training loyalty?

Rewarding Personal Training Loyalty Tip #1

Fitness business owners often associate the size of a reward with the satisfaction of the client getting the reward. The truth is most people simple want to be acknowledged and thanked for their loyalty. Most of them are not after a big reward or looking to get paid to send your referrals or provide you with a connection. 

So, the first thing that you can implement immediately is to put in place an acknowledgement system. Adding in a small reward of $10-100 for each circumstance is a great incentive, but the acknowledgement and appreciation is what will drive them and other clients to do more of what you are rewarding.

A referral rewards system is a great start. A client that refers is a loyal client. If they are willing to vouch for your business and recommend it to a friend or family then they should be considered a loyal fan.

Set up a system where you consistently reward and acknowledge those that refer during your sessions, in your newsletters and on your blog. You can even thank them and tag them in pictures using social media.

Not only does this make the referring client feel good about referring a friend but it builds a culture of referrals in your program.

Rewarding Personal Training Loyalty Tip #2

Along the same lines of acknowledgement and appreciation you can create special offers or programs for your most loyal clients. If you know your clients well you know who spends the most money with you or who has been with you the longest. Using a client management system is an easy way to find your “big spenders” and reward them for their loyalty.

Sending these clients a free gift or getting a joint venture partner to donate a special offer to only these clients is a great way to show your appreciation. Very few other businesses go out of their way to reward and show their appreciation for their loyal customers.

Investing a few hundred dollars on gifts for your best clients and most loyal fans will pay off big dividends in the long run. The gifts won’t be the deciding factor in them staying with you or leaving for the cheaper competition, but the fact they know they are appreciated sure will.

Rewarding Personal Training Loyalty Tip #3

Holding a few events a year for your clients is a great way to build and reward loyalty. These can be as simple as a bar-b-que in the park that you put together or as fancy as a catered event that has a red carpet feel to it. Find a way to include something that fits in your budget and put on a few per year.

Some ideas for your events include summer bar-b-ques, client night out, happy hour at a local bar, holiday parties, or large yearly events.  The magic isn’t in what the event is but more in what kind of experience you provide. Building a community will help in building a more loyal and larger fan base.

If you need to find a way to reward personal training loyalty put one of these three tips and strategies in place right away and start building your fitness community. 

Recently I’ve been talking about the death of bootcamp workout businesses.

Death is probably the wrong word.

If you own a bootcamp workout business – you need to simply evolve.

With that in mind I wanted to give you some tips on the evolution of your buisness.

1. Instead of being a ‘bootcamp workout business‘ you need to be a solution business. People rarely come to you for workouts. They want solutions. They want you to solve their problems when it comes to weight loss, self image, health, etc. It all starts with you thinking differently about what you are.

2. Be sure to have the right definition of what you actually are. Don’t narrowly define yourself as just a bootcamp. What’s the real benefit the client wants? If you think of yourself as ‘only’ a bootcamp, now that the market is changing you will get left behind.

It’s kind of like railroads at turn of the century. They saw themselves as being in the railroad business, NOT the transportation business. So when other transportation options became more popular they almost were driven out of business.

So maybe you’re in the Fat Loss business. Maybe it’s the Lifestyle Improvement business. How you get people where they want is simply the vehicle – and you should always be looking to improve the vehicle.

3. The fastest way to grow your bootcamp workout business is to ACTIVELY PURSUE your ideal clients. It makes sense, but almost nobody does it.

4. Success Habits happen through repetition, NOT all at once. If you do something like call members of your network on Monday, don’t skip Tuesday and Wednesday – then make a few more calls Thursday.

It will never happen on Thursday.

Better to make 2 calls a day every day and be consistent instead of 10 calls once a week.

5. Every week you should be spending at least 15 minutes just brainstorming how to make your business better. Write down what you come up with. If you can get 2% better each week, you’re 104% better in a year.

6. The question that you ALWAYS have to ask is “Am I getting the MOST impact out of EVERYTHING I do?”

7. Write down the 3 highest compliments you’d like to hear from each client… then figure out what you can do to start GETTING those compliments from every client.

8. You need to put a HUGE value on EVERY lead that comes in to your business. Every lead that comes in needs to be followed up with at least 3 more times. Phone calls, personal emails, cards – If you aren’t following up you’re THROWING AWAY a TON of business.

9. Lifetime value of a client is a HUGE concept. That’s why event the leads you get from Deal of the Day type sites like Groupon and Living Social can be so powerful. Maybe you break even for the first short term offer, but if you keep the clients for 6, 12 or maybe even 18 months – these can be a business changer. But you can’t treat them like "Groupons" – you need to retreat them like your best clients.

10. We all do it in sports, but rarely in sales – are you training for your fitness sales presentation? If you’re not practicing every week you’re leaving money on the table.

11. A member is somebody who joins a program or facility to gain access to a service or certain resources. A client, on the other hand, is somebody who is under the care, guidance and protection of an expert in the field. Treat your people as clients.

12. Remember, you’re the expert. It’s your bootcamp workout business. You know much better than your client what you can offer them, what they need if they’re going to reach their goals. If you just take their money and give them whatever they want, without educating them as to what they need to do or invest in to reach their goals, you’re not living up to your end of the bargain.

Even if the things you recommend are things you don’t offer (yet), it’s your job to educate them and make sure they’re getting it, so they can reach their goals.

13. Multitasking is terrible for productivity. Try to do 5 things at once and you’ll do none of them well. Use my 25 minute time block strategy and focus on one thing for each block.

Pick out a couple and take action on them. They’re just a handful of the steps that you can take to help your bootcamp workout business evolve – but they’ll pay off, guaranteed.

I’ll start off by saying that this post will likely offend some people. Oh well – sometimes that’s the risk of clarity.

There’s not a week that goes by that some fitness professional that I speak with over the phone or face to face let’s the quest for perfection (as if it’s actually attainable) get in the way of success.

It could be a fitness pro having their ‘ideal’ facility in mind so they are unwilling to look at anything smaller or less ‘perfect.’

It might be someone unwilling to train people in groups of 3 because it’s not as personal as 1 on 1.

Just today it was someone unwilling to offer up any nutritional suggestions to their clients that weren’t ‘perfect’ choices.

The problem with this dream of perfection is that it’s pretty well disconnected from present reality.

If you’re looking for 15,000 square ft. in a great area with high ceilings, enough parking and awesome visibility…but you have a budget of $2500 a month…that’s not realistic at the present time.

If you’re a one person operation and want to train people 1 on 1 setting but you want to help as many people as possible, leverage your time well and be really profitable…then unless you’ve invented a 36 hour day…that’s not realistic.

If you have a bunch of clients who are 28%+ bodyfat and are eating fast food everyday then getting them all to magically embrace grilled chicken and steamed broccoli is not realistic at the present time.

See – we often get caught up in what we think would be ideal and let it get us in the way of forward progress today.

A few years ago we did a product with Alwyn Cosgrove and we were discussing nutrition and in a sarcastically amusing way that only he can educate he said that most fitness pros had it all wrong when it came to trying to get their clients to eat better. If they’re eating a Big Mac, large fries and a large coke – then instead of trying to do the impossible of switching them immediately to grilled salmon and steamed vegetables, we should probably first try to get them to move to a chicken sandwich, small fries and a small coke.

Progress.

Kind of like exercise progressions, right? I’m guessing you’re not starting every client at the toughest progression or telling them to get out are you?

I can remember a few years back when bootcamps became popular – I can think of four very prominent fitness business owners that all suggested that bootcamps were not very good solutions compared to the type of training they were offering…at first.

Within a year or two – ALL FOUR of them were offering bootcamps.

Why?

Because they figured out that while maybe it wasn’t as high quality as semi-private – they were still helping people move toward their goals…and they were likely better equipped to turn out a quality bootcamp than most of the people that had been running them.

Was it perfect…no, but it was better than not helping that segment of the market.

I see it all the time with people wanting to get into facilities…but guess what? No one I know ever gets their dream facility as their first facility.

We’ve had to acknowledge this when it comes to business coaching (this might offend you)…

…in a PERFECT world we certainly wouldn’t be trying to talk people into spending at least a couple hours per week on marketing…and a few hours a month working ON their business. We wouldn’t have to set minimums for leads or front end offers or things like that. The fitness pros we coach would LOVE to do this stuff and they’d be ultra motivated to work hard on it every day.

Not reality.

So we adapted and we focus on making you better. And each step that you take moving toward your goals is a victory that we can build on.

Maybe that gets us to perfect one day – but I doubt it. Either way I’m 100% sure that it will yield better results than setting the first step as ‘ideal’ and hoping everyone would make that leap.

If that was the case I have the feeling that this post would be read by me and me alone.

So when your coaching your clients or trying to find a new space or marketing or finding a new way to deliver your services, ask yourself this question and this alone:

“Will this make (me / my client) better than (I am / they are) right now?”

If they answer is ‘YES’ then the solution doesn’t have to be ideal or perfect for you to pursue it. I’m not saying it will be right…but it’s worth exploring.

Because we get to work with a lot of fitness professionals and even among the most successful ones:

• I don’t know any that have clients that all eat clean.
• I only know a few that have what they’d consider their ‘ideal’ facility. Maybe like 3…and none of those 3 are in their first location.
• I know zero that market and operate perfectly.

So start focusing on ‘better’ and not perfection. Meet your situation where it’s at and try to incrementally improve it. Just taking that approach will make every facet of your training and your business better…guaranteed.

I’ve seen the fitness industry from every angle imaginable: As a trainer, researcher, writer, editor, and author. I’ve interviewed scientists and doctors, trainers and nutritionists, teachers and scholars. And if there’s one thing I can say, it’s this: we have a serious information breakdown. The right information isn’t getting in the hands of the masses.

So the question is why? Why can’t we get through if we have so many smart people banging the drums of progress and reason?

The answer is people are married to bad concepts. And divorce is not an easy option, even when it’s to long-held beliefs.

We are plagued by misinformation; paralyzed by myths and restrictive approaches the hurt our attempts to make people healthier. To empower anyone to believe and accept that they can live a better life—regardless of whom you are, where you’re from, or your level of fitness—you have to break down strongly held beliefs that have taught people otherwise.

We live in a world where being “healthy” is viewed as a painful and arduous sacrifice because people have been taught that “diet” is a four-letter word, and exercise is only for people who are already fit or have endless free time to spend in the gym.

You see these barriers everywhere. Examples include:

• People misunderstanding weight training (It’s great for men and women and won’t automatically make you bulky)
• Fears of certain foods (Egg yolks and red meat, anyone?)
• Misconceptions of how often you need to eat (It’s really up to you and dependent on goals)
• Lies about when you need to eat (Time your meals in a way that works for your schedule, not by some dogmatic approach; so eat breakfast if you want, or push it back if you don’t)
• Myths about the foods you do eat (Carbs are not the devil, you can eat lots of protein, and fat won’t make you fat)

I could go on…and on…and on.

So I’ll admit it: I’m frustrated. Even when I’ve created my best content—the information that hit at the deepest level of sophistication—it didn’t make a big difference and shift behaviors of the people who needed it the most. Some of my content was even embraced by the fitness savvy and respected professionals. I’ll admit that it felt good having the respect and admiration of the best and brightest minds.

But I also felt like I was not accomplishing what I wanted. Yes, people who love fitness received (and need) great information. But it’s the people who don’t love fitness and are confused that need it more.

What’s more, the people who love fitness—and those that create the cutting-edge theories and concepts that need to be spread—need a better and bigger platform. They need to be heard, and not by the same crowd. Fitness experts that are only able to grab the attention of fitness enthusiasts will not fix the system. It perpetuates it. That is, the smart are getting smarter. The fitness rich are getting richer.

And the fitness poor—they continued to grow and suffer. And the sad reality is, the fitness poor is the majority. They are the one’s falling prey to the same old myths.

What’s worse, the myths perpetuated by the mainstream are growing stronger. It’s confirmation bias at it’s finest. Get enough people saying something for a long enough time that it becomes an undeniable truth—even if it’s not—and it also becomes difficult to reject.

In many ways, the fitness industry has the answers that can help, but they fall on deaf ears.

Learning from Roc-a-fella: Blaze the Path so Others Can Follow

I had two choices: Accept this as reality. Say—“Ok. Screw it. I’ll focus on the fitness crowd, those who ‘get it’ and make sure they get the best high-level information possible.”

Or, I could dream big. I could envision a world where we make changes, debunk myths, and take on the machine that is mainstream health info and all the misinformation that paralyzes people and prevents them from moving forward.

• The idea that there’s only one fitness approach that leads to a better body and better health. (False)
• The concept that you need to follow some super strict diet to see results (False)
• The belief that you have to work hours (and hours…and hours) in the gym to shred fat or burn muscle (False)
• Or even the idea that hormones—and your entire body—are only influenced by pharmaceuticals and drugs (Yep, still false)

I’m a dreamer. So I took a page from a man who knows a thing or two about changing big industries: Jay-Z.

Today, people know Jay-Z as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. He’s launched a record label, clothing lines, is now representing athletes and is estimated to be worth more than $400 million.

But decades ago? Jay-Z was an underground hip-hop legend, but relatively unknown by anyone in the mainstream. He was part of the vocal minority.  Even worse, he was in a music industry that did not respect—or accept—what he did. (Don’t forget, the Grammy’s didn’t even recognize rap/hip-hop until recently.)

Hip-hop might have always remained in the shadows, and continued to be perceived as music of thugs and violence—rather than an art, a style, and a skill—if not for a few bold thinkers. After all, hip-hop was around for decades without ever being accepted by the mainstream or even perceived as music.

Jay-Z took a chance. He went “pop” with his lyrics and the response within the hip-hop community was ugly. They called him mainstream and a sellout.

But you know what? He opened the door for everyone else. And those who followed his lead and saw him as an ally—rather than the enemy—were able to spread their art and their craft to a larger audience. Today, all ages, genders, colors, and personalities accept hip-hop as music. 

This is why I joined with John Romaniello to write, Man 2.0: Engineering the Alpha. It’s our variation of pop fitness with a legitimate foundation. We wrote the book the way we did because someone had to open the doors to the mainstream. We decided, “You know what, not everyone will love it but we need to do this. We need to take on the machine and write a general fitness book that blew up the myths for the majority of people. Because if we don’t, maybe no one else will.”

Does the book answer every question and every problem in the fitness industry? Of course not. If you tried to do that you’d write a book that no one that needs it would read it. Maybe it’d gain critical acclaim but it’d be another redwood dropping in an empty forest. It wouldn’t make a sound. And our health situation needs more noise.

This book includes theories from many minds—such as intermittent fasting gurus Brad Pilon and Martin Berkhan, nutritionists like Alan Aragon and Mike Roussell, fitness leaders like Alwyn Cosgrove, Jason Ferruggia, and Charles Staley.

We pay homage to them all, synthesize their ideas in our own ways (which we tested on more than 300 men in the book), and even acknowledge them for their ideas. It’s a nod back and a step forward all in one. A way to filter the minority into the mainstream and shift awareness.

We wrote our book in a different way because the current way wasn’t working, and I wasn’t going to waste another day seeing people make the same mistakes over and over again.

We needed to make people aware of the myths and do it in a way that the majority could understand and accept. We needed to help them troubleshoot their diet. And emphasize the extreme importance of sleep. With the hope being that the general messages—the lessons and the anti-dogmatic approach—would open people up to the fitness world that they previously rejected.

The First Step: Who’s Coming with Us?

Engineering the Alpha isn’t the final word in fitness. But it does pave the way for the majority to learn what the fitness savvy has been spreading for years. It’s our chance to make a difference by doing it differently.

Is there something in the book for the fitness savvy? Of course. We packed in 16 weeks of workouts and diets that does one thing—get results. And isn’t that what people want? Whether you agree 100% with the philosophy or not, results are the name of the game. That’s why we shared the program—because it works. And it works with people who are 20 or those who are 50. It worked for those with 10 pounds to lose and those that wanted to drop 100. They might also learn a thing or two from the various studies we crammed into the book.

We have a long way to go to fight obesity, spread more knowledge, and open people’s eyes to the brilliance that exists hidden in fitness and nutrition. But that can only happen once we tear down the sacred cow of the industry—and that is the crap and misinformation that has blocked the majority of people from even listening to new ideas. Until you clean out the old, the new doesn’t have a place to live.

How do you change that? You write a book—a mainstream book—that makes these concepts an acceptable part of culture rather than something laughed off by a bunch of no-names. Then you can dig into deeper detail. Then you can let the leaders step to the forefront. And then you can change how we view the fitness industry and how many people we can help.

This book is our call to action. It’s a call to people who have been misinformed. But it’s also a call to those in the industry to band together. After all, we need to come together as an industry if change will really happen.

We are all trying to help people, change lives, and make a difference. Those that can see the bigger picture will hopefully realize that the window is now open. People will see the fitness industry in a new way and be receptive to new (and old) ideas that were previously shunned.

Now is the time to change the game. It might not have been what you expected a breakthrough to sound like, but it is finally some noise in the mainstream. Now let’s take advantage, and let the right people be heard.

Adam

Adam Bornstein is the co-author of Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha. He is the former Editorial Director of LIVESTRONG.COM, the former fitness editor of Men’s Health, and the founder of Born Fitness, LLC.

Pat here – if you haven’t already picked up your copy of Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha, it’s a must have for about a dozen different reason – so grab it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Man-2-0-Engineering-Alpha-Muscle/

If you’re starting a fitness business there are some things that you should consider non-negotiables. Here are 6 of those things,

Must #1: Get Educated

Successfully starting a fitness business is a challenge and the quickest way to achieve success is to model those who have successfully been there before them.  Smart fitness business owners don’t reinvent the wheel, instead they leverage their time by learning of the experience of others.

There is a world of knowledge out there in the form of blogs, workshops, mentorships, products, coaching programs and even franchises like Fitness Revolution. That you can use to fast track your learning process.

But remember – in today’s internet age, you must be able to decipher ordinary information from extraordinary information. Invest in the very best information you can get your hands on. Make the most from ever minute of your time, because your time is a limited resource.

• For example – the difference between an ordinary marketing strategy and a really good one could be the difference between a $40,000 a year business and a $250,000 per year business.  And knowing that strategy is simply having the right knowledge and information.

My advice to you – study those who’ve been successful and who share the same values that you do.  You’ll likely accelerate your progress by several hundred percent.

Must #2 - Focus On Your Strengths and Manage Your Weaknesses

When you’re starting a fitness business you can’t do and be everything. Focus on your strengths and systematically find solutions through hiring staff or service providers to do the things that you shouldn’t be doing.  Another way of putting this is that you need to be doing the $75 per hour tasks – not the $7.50 ones.

And when you say: "But I can’t afford to." the truth is that you can’t afford not to.

You need to spend your time focusing on the important things, which brings us on to our next point…

Must #3 -  Grow Your Business

If marketing is not one of your strengths, make it one.  Find a path to reaching the prospects you want to be your clients and go get them.

Without prospects there are no clients. Without clients there is no revenue.  Without revenue there is no profit.  Without profit there is no business.

So go get clients.

Marketing is easier that most make it.  Figure out what makes you unique and why your prospects should choose you over everyone else.  Go find those people.  Let them know what you figured out.  Rinse and repeat.  That’s marketing.

Must #4 Create a Business – Not Just a Job

When you’re starting a fitness business you need to focus on creating a real business, not just a job. The sad fact and one of the key reasons most businesses fail is that they are started by technicians who don’t develop systems to operate their business and either avoid the things they don’t like to do, have no real process for doing those things well or get overwhelmed by the many hats a business owner can wear.

This isn’t suggesting that you’re creating the fictitious 4 Hour Workweek – rather a business that you own instead of one that owns you.

Must #5 Work On Yourself

When you’re starting a fitness business it’s the beginning of your education – not just the sharing of your existing expertise.

That means studying business skills.  Studying to be a better trainer.  Studying to be a better communicator.  Studying to be a better version of yourself. The best business owners are always working to get better and you should be doing the same.

Must #6 – Get Started

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"

The number of fitness pros that say they’re going to start a business outnumbers the ones who actually are starting a fitness business 10 to 1.  So if you’re really serious about starting a fitness business – arm yourself with some knowledge (see Must #1) and get started.

The bottom line is if you want to get anywhere in business, you must get started. After all getting started is a job half done. You must get past the obstacles that have held you back and start moving toward your goals.,,or choose different goals.  No in between.

Obviously there is a LOT more to starting a fitness business – but consider these six ‘musts’ a foundation for your future business success.