The number of specialties within personal training certifications is exploding. From adaptive special needs to sleep recovery, the range of human conditions now addressed by the fitness industry is stunning. For ambitious gym owners this evolution in specialty training programs creates the perfect opportunity to build a very profitable niche business. By selectively choosing to encourage your trainers to continue their education within specific categories, gym owners can sculpt and introduce their gym to a completely new set of members. Whether you wish to pursue individuals recovering from health conditions or pivot to holistic remedies or youth athletics, the specialties are out [...]
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Ah, history … it repeats itself. If you’re old enough to remember Gold’s Gym before it turned into an aerobics studio, then you’ll appreciate the irony in the American College of Sports Medicine’s “Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2023” results. It originally published in the January/February 2023 edition of the ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal. Now in its 17th year of publication, the Worldwide Survey identifies 42 top-rated trends gleaned from past World Survey lists and emerging trends. Selecting the trends are editors representing corporate, clinical, community, commercial and academia. The list is then sent by Survey Monkey to more than 125,000 individuals involved [...]
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What your fitness business should do in 2022. At first glance you might think that I've already covered this topic for the year. But this is a little different; it's intended to be a straightforward list of resolutions for the New Year. I want to make this a post about looking forward and in the last post on making plans there was a lot of content that I left out simply because there was too much good stuff for one post to cover. So, this is a list of what a fitness business should resolve to do in the New [...]
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Keeping members comfortable makes exercise easier! If you are an owner or operator of a gym facility, I am sure you get daily, if not hourly, requests to turn the temperature down/up or to set the music at a higher/lower volume. It can be difficult to balance all of your member requests and it will be impossible to make all your members happy. The best thing to do is to follow recommended guidelines so that way to can ensure your member base that you are following the rules to ensure their health and safety. Educate members on appropriate gym clothing [...]
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Continuing Trends in 2018 One thing is sure about the summer of 2018; fitness businesses aren't going to disappear anytime soon. While it's technically possible to do all of your workouts from home, that is not the choice that people are making this year. What's hot in mid-2018 is the human connection. The word of the season appears to be "continuation" as wearables continue to lurk in the background, HIIT continues to grow in popularity, and group classes continue to fill the need for social engagement in the lives of many. Meanwhile, the spread of IoT connected equipment may influence [...]
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Fitness Trends For 2016 It's about time once again to review the trends that are in the ascendant and what has changed in the last year or two in the fitness industry. Fortunately, we don't have to guess or dig too deeply. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) produces a survey of the top twenty trending issues in the minds of fitness professionals. If you haven't done so already, you really should view the results of this year's survey at this ACSM link. We have looked at trends before, and it's a fascinating pastime to watch how the market [...]
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It never hurts to look back at the predictions of the past and look at where the trends are leading at the present moment. I recently posted about the latest trends that were published by the American College Of Sports Medicine (ACSM). So I figured it might be appropriate to go back and look at how things are coming up from the view of the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). Long time readers of this blog will remember that I posted an article about their trends for 2013. Now that we are through 2014 effectively it seems like [...]
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OK so it is about time to start looking at the trends for fitness in 2015 and the ACSM has released their most recent survey of club owners. There were not a lot of surprises but there are some interesting conclusions from that report and some other things that come up elsewhere that are really worth taking a look at. The trends for High Intensity Interval Training, bodyweight training and an increasing demand for trainer professionalism all seem to be holding course and continuing onward. It's like there is no real change from last year but that is sometime how [...]
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You can't say too much about certain things in this business and one of them is certification. Also beyond that, or perhaps before it, you want to consider which professional organization is the right one. There are plenty of good organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), which provide relevant and effective qualifications. You should be pursuing advanced certification on an ongoing basis and encouraging your staff to do the same. In the competitive fitness and gym management industry you have to keep moving along just to keep up. Rather than taking up a lot of space [...]
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Dirty Work Continued... As a business owner there's a plethora of rules regulations and certifications that you have to navigate through. Of course, on top of that, gym ownership comes with its own specific headaches. When you own a business of any description you quickly find out that there are all kinds of tasks that seem to have been designed to distract you from your purpose and the mission of your enterprise. As always, I try to avoid the controversies and politics of ownership but we all have to deal with them. So, my discussion point here is how to [...]
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You can never have too much information about where the market trends are heading. One really insightful source that I'd like to discuss is the eighth annual American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM) Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2014. To get the most out of it I recommend that you read the entire survey report yourself. Every year for the last eight years, the ACSM has commissioned a worldwide poll of fitness industry professionals. There are some really interesting issues that turn up in this survey. One of the best things about it is that it attempts to distinguish [...]
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I believe that one of the keys to a happy life, a life well lived is developing an attitude of gratitude for the things that make life worthwhile and rewarding. I think it was Tony Robbins, whom I first heard say that, it's stuck with me ever since. In celebration of the arrival of the holiday season I would like to share my list of things for which I am truly grateful, and that I am giving thanks for this year. My List of Gratitude 1. First, I am very thankful for a career that helps people and promotes health. [...]
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Getting your certification as a personal trainer can propel you into a new and satisfying career. But before you launch your website, start your Twitter feed, and begin to look for clients, there is something you need to do first. Pass your certification exam. Okay, so that may seem as easy as doing 50 one-armed pushups. Which exam should you take? ACE? ISSA? NASM? AFAA? ACSM? Or one of the many other accredited personal trainer certification exams? What should you know before you take the exam? What's the exam like? Where should you start? A Beginner's Guide to Personal Trainer [...]
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