Fitness bootcamps can be a great way to leverage your own time and increase profit for your business. However, you must be prepared to deliver knockout workouts every time if you want a sustainable business that generates real results for your clients. Satisfied clients love to tell their friends and family how awesome they feel after their workouts. When you get it right, your clients can become a highly motivated sales force!
Here I present a formula to ensure that your outdoor fitness program stays fresh and attractive. There is an acronym I like to use that helps me to remember to include these essential ingredients. It's called SUPER-FUN and I use it to check that every workout is:
Safe
Unique
Profitable
Effective
Really simple
FUN!
Let's explore each aspect in more detail.
Safe
Safety has to be your number one priority. Injured clients are not good for business. Avoid homemade equipment - if you do not have the funds to invest in commercial fitness equipment, simply use your imagination and include bodyweight exercises. Employ one instructor for every 8 to 10 participants. Check the surface for holes and hazards, even if you are familiar with the park you are in. Remember to ask about any new injuries that may have appeared on your boot campers since their last workout.
Unique
Think of your sessions as an exercise experience rather than a workout. Successful boot camp owners know that variety is the number one reason that their clients remain loyal so use fresh, original drills. Be creative. Think virtuosity - do the ordinary extraordinarily well. In other words, don't over-complicate things. Commit to making every single session memorable. This might be as simple as pointing out a rainbow or stunning sunrise. Use features in the environment such as park benches, railings, stairs and hills. Educate your clients during stretch time with fitness or nutrition tips. Everyone should leave feeling exhilarated and ready to tell the world why they feel so great.
Profitable
Your workouts must be scalable and reusable. Design them for large groups even if you are only training 2 or 3 people on that day. Write them down as if someone else is going to run the session. Then gather all your favourite workouts together and use it as a field manual for yourself and assistant trainers as your business expands. Minimise the amount of equipment that you need by including circuit training or if you feel the need to add more variety, start with inexpensive items such as resistance bands, jump ropes and coloured marker cones. Learn how to use bodyweight effectively to build strength.
Effective
As your groups get larger, the variety of different fitness levels makes it difficult to ensure that everyone receives a challenging workout. It is vital that you are prepared to scale the workload for each person. For example, you could offer three versions of each exercise, a beginner, intermediate and advanced version. Time-based segments are a great way to keep everyone working at their limit too. Instead of sets and reps of exercises use AMRAP drills - As Many Rounds or Reps as Possible in a fixed time period. Make sure that everyone knows that they are making progress by conducting a benchmark session every six to twelve weeks. Recording and charting results will reveal if your sessions are actually working.
Really Simple
Remember that simple does not mean easy. Fancy and complicated routines don't work. Drills must be explained quickly and underway within seconds. Use short, executive commands and study ways to cue exercises with the minimal amount of words. Structure your workouts into a warm-up, one or two main drills, then a cool down and stretches. Stick to just one modality per session. For example, you may choose running, boxing, intervals, circuits or strength as the main theme. Another way is to have conditioning sessions that focus on a single energy pathway or strength sessions that develop skill in a single, functional movement.
Fun.
Be sure to enjoy yourself first! This is not being selfish. If you love what you do, people will be attracted to that and respond accordingly. Don't be afraid to be yourself. Use humour, give clients friendly or cheeky nick names, crack jokes and embrace your own natural style. Avoid using technical jargon and never, ever swear. Try to incorporate teamwork into your drills and encourage a little friendly competition. Children's PE games make brilliant warm-up drills.
If this sounds like a lot of time and effort to get right, it is! But if you really want to stand out as a great trainer and grow a remarkable business, use these tips and follow the SUPER-FUN formula. You will be well on your way to success.
It is hard work running a business and trying to put aside the time to plan and program fun, engaging workouts that challenge every single participant. You can save a lot of time by downloading Bootcamp Workout Ideas, a field manual of 50 complete workouts scaled for all fitness levels. Each workout is unique and categorised to make programming simple. Whether you are training groups of 30+ corporate teams or 2-3 private clients at a time - you can be sure that each individual will receive a memorable workout experience. It is full of fun, effective drills and includes insider tips from Australia's top military and civilian PTIs.
Visit www.bootcamp-workout-ideas.com to download 2 free workouts.
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