Care-Coach-Lead

For years, we've witnessed that one of the defining factors for treating your gym like a real business instead of a hobby, was making the transition from part-time to full-time coaches on your team. But the right part-timers can be a massive asset to any gym business, when the aspirations, buy-in, and availability of the part-time coach is in alignment with the needs of the business. At its essence, part-timers can provide versatility and stability to a full-time team, serving as a utility player that can allow the rest of the staff to have a more stable schedule. For gym owners and managers, this can keep you from getting pulled back into the day-to-day, allowing you to work on your business instead of in the business. In today's episode, we break down the potential value of part-time coaches, and what to look for when bringing them on to your team.

If you want to improve your 1 rep max in a lift, most experienced lifters understand that you shouldn’t max out every day. Yet when it comes to developing well-rounded fitness, most people attack all of their workouts with the intensity of a 1 rep max every single day. This leads to them hitting walls with their conditioning and aerobic fitness, and plateauing their skills where bad habits become ingrained instead of improved. As coaches, we can all picture those clients who go out hot in every workout only to redline and crash, or still do the same 2-part swing on their toes to bar, or a massive donkey kick on their double unders. The problem is these athletes are trying to “compete” every single day. They aren't willing to sacrifice today's score for tomorrow's improvements. They don’t realize that there’s a difference between developing their fitness and showcasing their fitness. When we are constantly trying to compete and showcase our fitness, we’re never able to address the underlying deficiencies that are there. As coaches, it's our job to understand these nuances, so we can educate our clients to get the most out of their daily training. In today’s episode, we break down the difference between practice, training, and competing to help coaches map out a better plan for all of their clients to improve.

What if you could streamline your gym business to only the most important parts? What if you could intentionally downsize your gym in a way that allowed you to pay yourself more than you ever have, while restoring the work/life balance that excited you about owning a gym in the first place? If you've owned your gym for any length of time, you understand that it's extremely common to reach member or revenue milestones with your business, only to realize that there's little to no profit at the end of the month. For years, the common vanity metrics have been total revenue and total number of members.  Anything we could do to get more members or increase revenue was promoted as a great thing, even if it didn't equate to growing the bottom line. But there are other less-known vanity metrics like average client value, number of revenue streams, or even personal training revenue that can become distractions to a business if not approached with the right intentions. In today's episode, my good friend Chris Thorndike is back on the podcast to talk about how to streamline your gym around group fitness classes and nothing else. He breaks down in detail how he downsized his gym, staff, and programs by over 50% post-pandemic, while freeing up his time and growing his bottom line.

On the care-coach-lead youtube channel, we've posted several videos over the last few months discussing universal movement patterns and how they can make you a better technical coach. One example is how we look for a vertical forearm in most pushing and pulling exercises like push ups, dips, handstand push ups, burpees, and bent over rows. Another example is what we call knuckles around the bar, which shows up in many barbell pulling exercises like cleans, snatches, and deadlifts but also in bodyweight exercises like pull ups and toes to bar. By understanding the safety, efficiency, and transferability of these specific patterns we can become a more confident coach. In today's episode, we discuss what universal movement patterns are and how they can be used to make athletes of all types better at what they do.

We're looking for our next rockstar coach at FitTown Jupiter! Do you believe that coaching is your calling? Do you love learning every day and being part of a strong team? Do you love coaching both group classes and personal training? Do you want to make a great living helping others and transforming lives? In today's episode, we discuss what we look for in an ideal coach at FitTown, and how we set up coaches to thrive once they join our team. Whether you are already coaching in another part of the country, or are a gym owner that has realized that coaching is actually your true calling, email me at andrew@fittown.com if you are interested in joining our amazing team.

All scaling is not equal. When a client is in the middle of a workout, rarely are they happy about regressing an exercise to make it safer or to better achieve the stimulus for that day. It's usually not fun to take weight off the bar, switch from a barbell to dumbbells, or come off the pull up bar to perform ring rows. But one of the things that I've learned as a coach is its not the modification that's being delivered that matters, its how and why its delivered that makes it valuable or not. It's the difference between customizing a workout and scaling a workout. Customizing workouts = making valuable personalized modifications before class or prior to a workout based on individualized knowledge about the client's injury history, recent training, and goals. Scaling workouts = reactive modifications done during a workout to make an exercise more appropriate or safer for an individual. When we scale reactively, it can make us feel like we are at odds with our clients, instead of working towards a common goal. It turns one of the biggest values we can provide as coaches, custom modifications, into something that actually feels like a takeaway from the client's perspective. In today's episode we discuss the difference between proactive and reactive scaling, and all of the various attributes that we should take into consideration when determining whether to scale a client or not.

What if the people who needed your help most were already part of your gym? What if the people who were most willing to invest in themselves were already the ones who know, like, and trust you? What if you had an extra $100k in potential annual revenue for your gym that didn't require you to bring in a single new client? The PT Legends Dave and Scott are back on the podcast to discuss how to upgrade existing members to higher-touch, higher-ticket coaching. For group class facilities that already have a solid membership of people who love us, one of the things we overlook the most is the ability to help these people on a deeper level. In today's episode, Dave and Scott lay out a blueprint for ascending existing members who just show up for the workouts and community, to higher-ticket offerings that have the capacity to change their life and change their story for good.

Since the sale of CrossFit Inc. almost 2 years ago, there's been a noticeable increase in the tools, resources, and desire to help CrossFit affiliates succeed from a business perspective. This includes things like: Launching an affiliate network of brands and businesses to leverage the purchasing power of thousands of affiliates and save owners $$$ Creating an affiliate playbook that incorporates staff and business ideas, not just training methodology. Launching CrossFit Affiliate Programming, and recently announcing that this would be programmed separately from CrossFit.com programming Partnering with Best Hour of Their Day, the first time CrossFit has ever had an approved mentorship service for business support. In today's episode we discuss our thoughts on the recent changes CrossFit has made to their affiliate resources, and whether we believe CrossFit understands what affiliates need to succeed today and in the future.

We have a pretty thorough hiring process at our gym. Every candidate goes through multiple phone calls or in-person interviews, fills out questionnaires, spends time shadowing classes, meeting with our team, and immersing themselves in our community. We have had a few coaches throughout the years that have made it to the final stages of our hiring process, but we ultimately decided it wasn't a fit. In today's episode, we discuss what would keep a coach from getting hired at our facility, and what we look for in someone that is a no-brainer to add to our team.

Last month, my brother Tony and I got invited to attend the FitPro Growth Summit in Nashville, run by Tim Lyons. Tim opened the weekend with a powerful talk about the 19 Pitfalls that Fitness Businesses Need to Avoid if they want to be successful. Some of them that resonated most with us were: Focusing on more, instead of better Lack of balance between front-end revenue and offerings, and back-end revenue and offerings Low pricing, and margins too slim Falsely believing more leads will fix our problems Seeking silver bullets that will magically turn around our business In today's episode, we discuss the pitfalls that resonated with us most from Tim's talk. We touch on many of the mistakes we've made in the past, and where we still have lots of room for improvement in our business currently.

When I first started coaching, I was attending 2-3 certifications per year to develop my skills and help my clients on a deeper level. Some of those certifications would conclusively make me a better coach, and other certifications sometimes created more client issues, not less. The problem with most certifications I was attending, is that they were strictly focused on the technical aspects of specific modalities; kettlebells, olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, mobility, or pose running. Every certification was focused on what to coach, but very little focus was placed on how to coach it and create buy-in with the everyday person. So I would start nerding out on the nuances of a snatch or kettlebell swing, only to see everyone's eyes glazed over. I quickly realized that coaching has less to do with the knowledge you have, and more to do with how you can relate that knowledge to each client and group you are working with. In today's episode, we discuss how certain certifications could be making you a worse coach, and how you can formulate a mindset and framework that allows you to get value from. 

As coaches, we want our clients to feel comfortable enough with us to open up about their goals, their struggles, and what's missing from their lives. But in my experience, coaches can accomplish this in a positive way through a foundational relationship of trust, or they can accomplish this through negative means like gossip, complaining, and venting to their clients. So we may feel good about clients sharing their secrets with us, or confiding in us about the struggles they are going through, but a client opening up to us as a coach isn't always a positive sign. When we put out gossip, complaining, and negativity into the world, we often times will attract it in return. In today's episode, we'll help you distinguish between opening up and gossiping so you can be a more effective coach, teammate, and leader.  We'll help you recognize when you and others on your team are falling into these patterns, so you can address it and continue to level up your team.

One of our favorite exercises that we have all of our employees take on is building out their perfect day. It can teach someone a lot about themselves and where they thrive, and it allows us as a business to put them in roles that come effortlessly to them, creating a win-win scenario. But over years of running this exercise, we've also seen downsides to focusing too much attention on the perfect day. Often, coaches get so focused on their perfect day early in their careers that they become impatient.  They say no to opportunities that could help them grow, because they can't directly connect that opportunity to their perfect day. Or coaches become so focused on "work/life balance" that they are quick to judge themselves if they are feeling even a little off-balanced.  This begins a cycle of seeing work as an obligation, instead of something they love doing. In today's episode, we dive into some of the downsides of the perfect day exercise, and how you can use this exercise to help you thrive instead of making you susceptible to burnout.

Have you ever fallen prey to the idea of chasing passive income? You're rushing so hard to get to a point where you don't have to "trade time for money", that you don't even make enough money to support yourself or your family today. Most coaches falsely believe that the only way to ever make a living in the fitness industry is to be a gym owner, not a coach.   Meanwhile, many gym owners are making less per hour than their coaches are, even though their coaches may only be making $15-20 per class. The idea that trading time for money is inherently bad, is rooted in a society where most people hate what they do. But most coaches and gym owners love what they do, and would even do it for free in some cases. In today's episode, we dive into why in many cases it can be a great thing to trade time for money.  We talk about the importance of finding work that you love, increasing your value to others in that work, and how it's possible to make passive income outside of your day job.

What if you could generate $250k in revenue as an online coach, only to find out that this path wasn't for you? In 2020/2021, Drew Girton decided to hire out all of his responsibilities for his brick-and-mortar gym Pendulum Fitness in California, so he could move to Austin, Texas with his family to go all-in on online coaching.   Despite having massive success in terms of revenue and profit ($250k in about 12 months with almost no overhead), Drew found he hated the online coaching space. He wasn't able to deliver on the results that he could produce in-person, he burnt out his social media following, and lost friends and brick-and-mortar members in the process. Now he's back in California rebuilding his gym and community, with the added tools and experience he has gained from the online space.   In today's episode, Drew gives us an honest and behind-the-scenes look at what the online coaching space looks like, and how those skills can be leveraged in an in-person gym.  

Most coaches that pride themselves on being a great coach, would prefer not to believe that the clock or music can have a drastic impact on our ability to be effective coaches. Most of us see it as a necessary evil, not something that can make or break the results we are providing for our clients. But like it or not, the clock and music play a significant role in the level of enjoyment and engagement that you will get from your clients. The clock can help us start and finish on time, maximize the hour, help us manage larger classes, and notify the group on transitions between exercises or intervals. The music can add energy and fun to the room, signal the intensity we want to see from our athletes, or become a cue to pay attention and listen when the music is turned down. When used properly, the clock and music can actually make us a better and more effective coach. In this week's episode, we explore in detail how you can use the clock and music to enhance your class experience, and dedicate even more time and attention to your clients.

I was recently invited to be a part of a really interesting conversation about how personal trainers can level up, and make a lucrative career within a gym. It's pretty common to see a physical therapist or masseuse renting space out at a CrossFit box or microgym, but it seems to be more rare where a freelancing personal trainer will rent out space at those same gyms. In the rare cases where it does happen, those relationships usually end poorly if the personal trainer starts to achieve too much success that is then seen as a competing service. Where we've seen the most success, is personal trainers finding gyms that align with their values, and where they align with the brand of the gym.  When a trainer is invested in the core service of the gym they are a part of, and especially if they are a client themselves of that service, it creates alignment where all parties benefit from the partnership. The other important thing to note is that early on in this business relationship, the gym is providing most of the value in terms of marketing, training, and stable pay.  As a trainer develops and fills their book of business, they grow their value to the point that the opportunity cost of losing that coach is significant to the business. In this discussion, we dive into all aspects of the trainer-to-gym relationship, and how that relationship can and should evolve as value is created and shifted over time.

In a recent interview with Stuart Brauer of WTF Gym Talk, we discussed how our programming has evolved over the last decade, and if we made any significant changes since rebranding from CrossFit. The answer to that is yes, there have been lots of small changes that have been made, but we didn't do it with the goal of differentiating ourselves from CrossFit. All of the programming changes we have made over the years have been in an effort to create a better product that clients enjoy more, reduce injuries, and improve results. Some of those changes have taken us away from traditional CrossFit, but we're not trying to be different for different's sake. In this episode, we discuss a lot of the changes we have made to our programming over the last decade.  Those changes include things like adding more tempo work, incorporating functional bodybuilding, eliminating specific kipping movements, and varying levels of intensities instead of doing all high intensity all the time.

When you make the transition from a coach or staff member into a leadership position like head coach or owner, it can be difficult to now become the authority when you are not used to being the one in charge. Many new gym owners and managers struggle setting and upholding policies in this new role.  They don't want to be a hard-ass unnecessarily, but they also want to create the systems and structure for their team to thrive. One simple framework that has helped me become a better manager, is to think about policies in terms of agreements instead of meaningless corporate rules. Policies are often one-sided rules that benefit the business, but can feel like punishment for the employees.  Many are outdated, or never served an intentional purpose when they were initiated. Agreements, on the other hand, force us to understand the needs of all parties involved, and create a buy-in to achieving a specific objective or solving a problem. In today's episode, I dive further into this concept of policies vs agreements to help you become the most effective manager and leader you can be.

A long time listener of the podcast reached out for some quick advice before he opens his first gym later this summer, Gowanus Fitness in Brooklyn, NY. Instead of answering his questions 1-on-1, I thought it would be fun and valuable to bring him on the podcast and give him some feedback and coaching live for everyone to learn from. In today's episode, we dive into how to set up your memberships, pricing, and marketing in a way to fill your gym and be successful right from Day 1. We discuss when and where to use discounts, and how to set up founding member packages that bring clients into the gym, but don't overextend the business and crush the profit margin.