I was adding some thoughts I have had on a book I’ve been reading, “Practical Programming for strength training” by Rippetoe and Kilgore.  In the current section there is much talk about explosive or near explosive (fast) training utilization as it better utilizes the full neuropathways to active more muscle into action.

Makes sense as with speed you end up in a get ‘er done mode.  No screwing around so full use of all appropriate neuro innervasions is going to happen.  For athletes this is essential and for all others a safe but similar action is beneficial as part of your periodization.

Below is a blog post from Functional Path Training, which had this little line that matched my above mentioned book reading.  “Certainly force is part of the equation, but very slow heavy overloaded movements serve to dull the nervous system and interfere with the high speed coordination demanded in performance.”…………… Therefore I share. 

Resistance

“The difference in Extraordinary and Ordinary is just that little Extra.”

Rob King (@robkingfitness) and I were apparently at the same Perform Better 1 day workshop several months back.  Today, while strolling through the internet jungle I came across a blog post from Rob where he mentions one of the highlights of that day.

I gladly reference you over to Rob’s blog to have a look and grab a little extraordinary enthusiasm originally delivered to both of us via Martin Rooney (martinrooney1).

Knowing that a client has the ability to unravel a perfectly designed exercise program with only a few poor consumption decisions on their own time has left many a fitness professional frustrated… and I’m sure a few just plain pissed.

Clients as well as the majority of the population love to search out and buy into the latest greatest diet fad creating an often uphill battle with the topic of nutrition.

Because of this, I have for years been on the lookout for a scientifically based, sensible dietary tool that could be used to assist the client without taking myself out of my scope of practice.

That solution has been found, used by us locally, and with a little negotiation I am very happy to be able to provide this same opportunity to other trainers…

You already know the truth:
Real success for your clients comes from just a few basic elements.

• complete balanced nutrition
• at the correct level of calories
• from real healthful foods.

Our company FIT Launch has entered an excellent collaboration with Vitabot. I’ll get to details in a moment, but through that partnership you have an opportunity to utilize their technology (under your own brand) at a better price than through any other source.

The Vitabot system works with you like your own private nutritionist to help you create completely balanced diets using your favorite foods, evaluate (grade) client diet’s, print shopping lists, track assessment data, and/or offer access directly to the client.

As a Fitness Professional you can view all details on utilizing this program and the benefits of doing so on the FPT Vitabot page……..  If you are nervous about the relatively small investment to get your own program started you might also consider purchasing your own account and then when you receive a diet log from one of your clients, simply plug it into your account to gain valuable information you can pass on to you client.  The system evaluates the program for you and offers appropriate suggestions.

Check out one of the ways we are offering this program to our clients through our Diet Grader program.  There are many great reasons you should be offering something similar to your clients as well (you don’t have to build a specific website for it… don’t even need one at all)

This type of program will be a bonus to your client and make you look like a hero as their likelihood of goal obtainment will go through the roof.

It can also be a stand alone tool, similar to the primary option we have at Diet Grader. This makes it excellent for group fitness and mind/body instructors to offer for the benefit of their students…. Coaches & Athletes, its not only built to handle weight loss. It is a very versitle tool that is great for the fitness professional and client.

Ever been to a fitness workshop or wandered a conference expo and been amazed by some of the toys and movements that have become so popular in our industry?

How about this, have you ever been humbled by said toys or movements? Meaning, you try, you look like an absolute idiot because you don’t know what your doing?

I have! Better yet, I’ve gone in thinking I was strong and centered but come out feeling foolish and ridiculous because I can’t figure out how to engage this or that, while I swing from the apparatus or stand on the toy.

Of course, if you are a like-minded fitness pro you will keep practicing the activity because you bought the damn thing that made a fool out of you, and will have it down within a week to 10 days. It’s that learning curve that gets us at first, but once we understand the technical side of things we can usually master the skill. Well, most of the time anyways.

Yes, I’ve been humbled, embarrassed, shocked and amazed by some of the things my body does and does not do when it is called upon. Let’s just think for a moment how our clients and class participants feel when we introduce things to them for the first time. Put yourself in the shoes of a beginning exerciser who comes to a unstable core training class for the first time- poor dears! They are still wondering how to stand or sit on the object and now you want them to engage their core and perform a one-legged push-up. Are we crazy?

I think at times we can be a little crazy. We are creative and we love a challenge because that’s what we encourage others to do, but we often forget that not everybody is up for the circus fitness trick that we are trying to teach or train. I see this a lot more in group exercise classes than I do in personal training sessions, unless it is a boot camp session taught by a trainer.

It often frustrates me because these participants feel defeated and lost in the activity. “I can’t keep up with that!” “How do you expect me to do that?” are comments I hear.

They want to perform and they should be able to do something, but the fit pro is lost in excitement of their super, cool one-legged balance drill. Personally, sometimes it seems like they are showing off (showcasing) their skills rather than teaching their group properly, which is one of the reasons participants may feel lost in translation. Professionally speaking this is not acceptable behavior for a certified fitness pro!

As a fellow fitness presenter I understand the need to show progressions and cool tricks on toys. Reason being is we want to show the versatility and level of difficulty of exercise progression.

I don’t expect everyone to walk out of my sessions with the idea they are doing to teach every challenging thing the next day, rather I want them to see where it can go and hopefully open up their minds to the vast challenge and creative pulse that feeds their individual style.

We need to remember first and foremost we are professionals. We educate, train, motivate and model exercises that fit into our group or individual training sessions. We are not performers who encourage a “keep up with me” attitude or try to showcase our ability to do the most amazing human tricks on earth. Save that for your advanced clients, classes or for your You Tube videos.

Be enthusiastic, compassionate and show modifications and/or break-down complex movements into smaller bits people can handle.

Who knows, maybe with good teaching and training tactics they will be performing those humbling circus tricks with gusto. Then you can stand proud and bang on your chest in response to their super human strength and ability.

Amy

The following table contains the heading points for the three articles. Column one is the list from Todd Durkin’s article “Top 10 Ways to Drive Revenue in a Downtrodden Economy”.  Column two is from Tom Terwilliger’s article “Your Business and the Economic Slowdown”. The third and
final column “The Scary Times Success Manual” is the list by Dan Sullivan.

Each offer some great advice for the fitness professional, not just the personal trainer. Below the table I’ve taken the opportunity in
combining these principles row by row.

This is a very important time to be positive and proactive in your fitness business. There are many things you can do to not only maintain, but also expand your training business, even during tough economic times.

Row 1 – Don’t devalue yourself. During tough economic times you will see many reduce the service or product fees they charge. This ultimately reduces the perceived value of your product or service. Instead provide add on services as bonuses. These do not have to take extremes in added time or expense, but can easily increase the value of your offering.

Row 2 – It’s all about amp-ing up your message. Marketing is simply building relationships and your job during times like these is to strengthen existing bonds and to actively pursue new ones. Writing new health & fitness articles is a great example of providing more to your existing relationships inexpensively and functions greatly for marketing when published to the public via the internet or print.

Row 3 – Establishing services that are economical for the participant can also be lucrative for you. Take the growing “bootcamp” model as an example. Providing training to groups will lower the cost to the participant/client and also allow you an opportunity to make even more revenue for your time invested. These are nothing more than session camps and can be provided under any format. Take a look into bootcamp training and adapt it to fit your expertise. These programs are in demand and growing for very good reason.

Row 4 – This row seems to echo row 3. Look to group opportunities, related offerings, add on products,  membership (continuity) options, inside and outside the club setting, etc.  Now is not the time to sit back and hunker down like so many are. It is a great time for looking outside the box for new solutions and opportunities.

Row 5 – This time we look more internally. Take the time t0 review your marketing plan. Is it efficient and effective? Does it take advantage of on-line and off-line options? Are the terms for whatever setting you use the best you can find? Are there other billing options you could provide such as credit cards, automatic recurring billing, or paypal that would benefit your customers? When is the last time you looked to optimize your website or mailing materials?

Row 6 – Retaining your current customers is key at this time. How else can you improve upon their experience? Daily look at what you can do beyond what your client would expect. Your genuine interest in their health should shine through and will direct your actions. One idea we have ran before is offering a wellness class for all our personal training, bootcamp, and yoga program clients to attend. We simply offered it for free, as a bonus, and as a surprise to say thank you and let the law of reciprocity handle the rest.

Row 7 – Lets see… follow-up = customer service essential. Start small group training = already mentioned and still a great option to be investigated for any fitness pro. “Who you can be”… Here it is suggested that you concentrate on what you can control – YOU. Become self-directed, self-managed, and self-motivated. Today’s example is the economy. You cannot directly control it or how it effects your clients. What you can control are your actions/re-actions, customer service, product and service offering mix,
your specialty skills, and marketing avenues.

Row 8 – This mix is looking a bit tough to combine, but each are important elements suggested by the authors.
Networking - This investment of your time is worth far more than you can imagine. Todd suggested the partnership with local professionals, but I want to suggest you also take advantage of online  fitness industry networks and utilizing partners and JV. Many opportunities present themselves through networking as well as chances to learn from each other.
Passive Income – When times are economically a bit tougher you’ll have a huge advantage if you have passive income options available to you. These can be small or large financial quantities that add to your bottom line without taking up significant time on your part. Think a paid newsletter, or adding product sales to your services.  Having an online presence can open a world of affiliate opportunities or without you can affiliate through a “tell a friend” program. Your Fitness Pro Travel program offers you one easy affiliate option, but there are many more (ie. commission junction and click bank)
Your Responses – This is one item you can control. Things happen, good and bad that you rarely have direct control of. You can control how you respond though. Focusing on controllable items rather than the uncontrollable will reduce your stress and anxiety and allow you to progressively develop your response plan.

Row 9 – This is all about keeping your motivation during difficult times. It is important that you take steps to keep your engines fired up.  Look at the resources immediately available to you that allow you to make daily progress.  Simple small steps will build your confidence and momentum as you lay the ground work for larger program achievements. Learning new things will similarly build confidence, encourage networking, and offer momentum when the general business climate is struggling. There are many fitness workshop event calendars available to you online that present many learning options including our at Fitness Pro Travel.

Row 10 – Give back. Make a positive difference to others, without expectation, and it will come back to you. The internet marketing folks I have followed speak of “raising the free line”. Giving as much as they can before ever asking for a sale or action from the prospect.  They are relying on the law of reciprocity. When you give, people tend to like you more. When they like you more, they are more likely participate in your offerings. Stated another way, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

The economy is not being overly helpful in keeping your business running strong, but multiple fitness industry evaluators continue to forecast growth for 2009 and 2010. You want to be active and progressive in how you view your fitness business to take advantage of the industry growth rather than fearful and stagnant during the economic slowdown.

Visit sites like Fit Pro Biz and sign up for fitness professional networks like Fitness Pro Travel. And, do sign in for the fitness business news and notice mailing list found in the right column to stay on the front edge.

I hope this summary of these three articles offers at least one item that resonates for you.  What do you think of the ideas provided by these industry leaders? What are you doing that’s not mentioned that’s making a difference for you?