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Stronger Sundays

Dominate your fitness business with this weekly collection of strategies, tips, and tricks.
By trainers, for trainers.

03/29/2024

Quote of the week:

"I do a lot of stuff: two businesses, online coaching, music, books and articles, public speaking, research and self-education. [When I’m asked] where I get the time, my short answer is, I make the time. It never occurred to me not to. I never want to look back on my life and wonder ‘what if?’ I arrange my schedule and my life to make all my interests work."

                                                                                          - Melody Schoenfeld on Facebook
Watch for this newsletter from the Personal Trainer Development Center each Sunday.

In this issue:

  1. Secrets of 6-figure online trainers
  2. You have no excuse for writing crummy programs
  3. How to train a sedentary athlete
  4. A simple way to stop procrastinating
1. Secrets of 6-figure online trainers

Okay, "secrets" may not be the most accurate description of our latest article. You don’t have to join an exclusive mastermind group to learn the value of good communication skills, or why it’s important to get your paperwork in order before you’re open for business.

So we’ll just jump to our favorite quote about daily routines from online trainer Roxie Beckles:

"The way we’re taught is very masculine-energy-driven, she says. ‘Go go go! Never sleep! That’s good for people who like that energy. But I like balance. And I run my company with balance in mind."

When it’s your business, you can (and should) make your own rules.

Read all 10 tips here:

--> How Eight Online Trainers Earn Six-Figure Salaries

Go deeper: Are you contemplating a move to online training, or struggling to get traction with your online business? You really need this brand-new book from Jonathan Goodman and Alex Cartmill:

--> The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training

(Best part? It’s free. We just ask you to pay for shipping and handling. Also free: the ebook and audiobook.)
2. You have no excuse for writing crummy programs

The fitness industry has two big problems, says Matt Pack, owner of Primal Fit Miami Personal Transformation Center, in this Facebook post:

  1. Too many consumers think "fatigue, soreness, and sweat … are indicative of a quality workout session."
  2. Too many personal trainers think the same way, and give their clients "random ‘muscle-confusing’ workouts," chasing the illusion of training effects with no sense of how to achieve what the client wants.

"It’s easy to make someone tired, sweaty, and sore," he says. "But it’s a skill to customize a science-backed exercise program," one that accounts for the client’s current health and training status and helps them reach their goals.

To that end, Pack’s post includes a (relatively) simple breakdown of movement patterns, followed by a program template with sample exercise selection.  

Go deeper: In a 2018 PTDC article, Tony Gentilcore shared three big thoughts on program design:

  1. An assessment shouldn’t be sadistic.
  2. Each client deserves an individualized program.
  3. You should audit your own programs.

To that final point, Tony offered some tough love: "If you can look at a program you wrote five years ago and not throw up a little in your mouth, you’re doing it wrong."

Check it out here:

--> Three Ways to Write Better Training Programs
3. How to train a sedentary athlete

The champion is lean and wiry. His fitness program, according to a recent profile, includes "a five-mile run, an hour of tennis, half an hour of basketball, and at least an hour of swimming."

He burns an estimated 6,000 calories a day in competition, and might lose 10 to 12 pounds during a 10-day tournament.

If you just said to yourself, "Hey, that sounds like a chess grandmaster," you read the same ESPN article we did. And, like us, you were astounded by the physical demands of a sedentary sport.

Chances are, you’ll never be asked to train a chess wizard. But with the growth of competitive gaming, training console jockeys will soon grow into a lucrative niche.

Here’s what those potential future clients deal with:

"Grandmasters in competition are subjected to a constant torrent of mental stress. That stress, in turn, causes their heart rates to increase, which, in turn, forces their bodies to produce more energy to, in turn, produce more oxygen. … Meanwhile, players also eat less during tournaments, simply because they don't have the time or the appetite."

Add sleep loss to that equation, and you can see why elite cognitive athletes need just as much professional guidance as those who burn calories the traditional way.

Go deeper: According to this NPR report from 2016, at least one personal trainer already specializes in esports. And, given the high risk for overuse injuries, rehab specialists for gamers will soon be in demand.
4. A simple way to stop procrastinating - Jonathan Goodman

Procrastinators fill their time with menial tasks because they provide immediate rewards. The secret to beating procrastination is devising a system to reward you whenever you act on the important things.

Break down projects into small, manageable tasks.

For example, if you’re writing a book, break it into 500-word sections. Keep a stack of cue cards with notes on each section on one side of your computer. Every time you complete 500 words, flip that card face down on the other side.

This reward gives you a shot of the feel-good hormone dopamine, pulling you through the process. Your dream might require a lot of pain or sacrifice now to get the benefit later.

It might seem far in the distance. But as entrepreneur Victor Kiam (among many others) once said, "Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin." It stops us from doing what we love, not what we dread.

Full disclosure: I shared this tip for a Yahoo Finance article, but didn’t agree with many of the other experts who were quoted in it. I’m offering it here to save you from potentially counterproductive advice.


**Thanks for reading. What to do next**



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