Fall can be a profitable time of year to get business starting back again! When summer comes around, clients take the time to enjoy vacations and pleasant weather at the expense of structured exercise. Fall is a great time to run special promotions and training packages to get clients back into the swing of working out.
If your clients have taken a good chunk of time off during the summer, then chances are they may be looking to invest in training on a budget. Focus on offering affordable training packages. Although discounted private training is a common promotion, partner and group training options will be a lot more wallet-friendly. If you don’t offer partner and group training, consider adding it to your portfolio of services. For pricing partner and group training, a general guideline to follow would be time and a half for partner training and double-time for group training. For example, if you typically charge $50/hour for private training, partner training pricing would be $75/hour split between two clients, while group training would be $100/hour shared among three or more participants.
If you all ready offer these semi-private training services, consider running a themed or goal-oriented workshop series. Fall can be a great time to exercise outdoors. An outdoor boot camp at a local park or as part of a weekend series of short hikes are a couple workshops you can run to attract outdoor-oriented exercisers. Workshops can also be structured around fitness goals shared among group members. Circuit training with bouts of high intensity exercises, free weight instruction, and functional training for winter sports are workshop ideas designed for fat loss, strength, and sports-specific goals.
Deciding what specific workshop series to use will depend on your specific clientele. Review PAR-Q’s and ask your clients to refresh your memory on their goals and activities of interest in order to determine what themed workshop to run. Also consider what training environments or tools are readily available to you—is there a park local to you and/or clients, do you have portable equipment to increase variety for outdoor training sessions? What space constraints at your facility should you keep in mind to determine how many clients you can accommodate for small group training? Try to strike a balance between planning ahead and being creative with workshops, and your clients will be more than happy to work with you in a budget-friendly, but effective exercise setting.
Filed under: Exercise Tips, For Clients and Devoted Exercisers, Seasonal Exercise
So you’re having trouble exercising before and after work? Why not try to include something during work? Your lunch-break may be a good time to get some exercise on your way to pick up some fuel. For this mid-day workout, you’ll have to get outside on a mild, sunny day. You’ll take a break from work, loosen up, get some fresh air, and relax a little bit.
Be sure to set aside 20-30 minutes for a power-walk or moderate stroll. Start easy for 5 minutes for a warm-up, and then try a couple static stretches for your calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps, and hip flexors. Your legs will be thankful after hours of sitting at your desk, tight from immobility. Once you’ve stretched out, walk for another 15-20 minutes and repeat the same stretches you did for your warm-up. Depending on your fitness level, this may be a good active recovery session or cardio routine. Try it a couple times a week, throw it into your current exercise program as it relates to your goals, or do it whenever you can take a short break from work, and you’ll find yourself improving your flexibility and maybe even cardiovascular fitness!
Filed under: Exercise Tips, For Clients and Devoted Exercisers, Seasonal Exercise
Summer can be a great time to pick up an outdoor sport. Whether you’re a long-time athlete or a newbie to all sports, participating in a recreational past-time can be a good, healthy change of pace from traditional exercise. Local fitness and athletic centers often offer lessons and opportunities to compete in individual and team sports. But oftentimes the most convenient place to inquire about an outdoor team sports is at work.
Many companies have a softball team open to every employee, regardless of athletic experience. Signing up can provide you with a chance to socialize with other employees while getting in a light workout. Yes, as much fun as a sport can be and as demanding as many sports are, softball is not among the most physically strenuous ones. But with a good warm-up and quick cool-down, a softball game can be a good active recovery day where you can focus on improving flexibility, coordination, and maybe even speed and quickness.
To get in a warm-up before a game, you’ll want to get to the field at least 10 minutes before you’re scheduled to play. Jog a few laps around the diamond to warm up your core temperature and before you try any stretches. Once you’ve warmed-up, be sure to do some a couple sets of 10 reps for each of the following dynamic flexibility exercises: leg swings, standing twists, and forward lunges. The following pictures of leg swings are provided by Personal Training on the Net, a resource for personal trainers. Here’s how you complete a standing twist or rotation: stand tall with feet about hip-width apart. Extend your arms in front of you about shoulder height with you palms touching each other. From here, activate your abdominals and focus on engaging your core and hip muscles to twist your torso, left hip and knee to the right–almost as if you were swinging a baseball bat! Return to the start position, standing tall, with arms extended straight ahead. Repeat on the other side for a total of 10 reps.
These prep exercises should warm up muscle groups you can expect to use during the game. Enjoy playing, and once your time on the field is over, be sure to do some static stretches for your legs and shoulders.
Filed under: Exercise Tips, For Clients and Devoted Exercisers, Seasonal Exercise
It’s hard to keep your focus on exercise and healthy choices when you’re ready to kick back and enjoy the summer. Luckily enough, working out in the summer doesn’t have to be as burdensome as it was when you made those New Year’s Resolutions. In fact, summer may be the best and most convenient time of year to get some exercise relevant to your active lifestyle.
Filed under: Exercise Tips, For Clients and Devoted Exercisers, Seasonal Exercise
For new exercisers, squats are a great way to strengthen and shape your lower body, and they’re generally a safe, efficient exercise for everyone. To do a squat, start by standing tall with your feet hip-width apart. Be sure to squeeze your abs and dig your heels into the ground so that most of your weight is resting on your heels as you bend at the waist and knees to lower your butt towards the ground. If you’re trying this exercise for the first time, do not drop past the point where your knees bend past 90 degrees. Stay within a pain-free, yet challenging range of motion where you feel your legs working with limited stress placed on any joints.
Filed under: Exercise Tips, For Clients and Devoted Exercisers, Seasonal Exercise
Since exercise is something we’ll have to do regularly to be in great shape and lengthen our lives, it would be a good idea to make it at least somewhat enjoyable. How do you make working out fun? As a trainer here in New England, one thing I notice every spring, as soon as the thermostat hits the 50s and the snow has cleared, the last place many sporadic gym-goers want to be is indoors exercising. After hibernating for three months, most of us are ready to enjoy mild and pleasant weather. It’s a good thing the outdoors provides a great exercise environment while relieving the symptoms of cabin and cubicle fevers.
