This reaction often follows the suggestion to make clients more self-sufficient and hence, less dependent on a coach. Yes, if clients can do more by themselves, maybe they will need you less. On the other hand, if, as a result of increased knowledge, your client has less “trivial” questions, you will have more time for other tasks. In turn, you could devote the additional time to providing higher-value services to that client and growing your business. 

Henry Torano has been involved in fitness since he was a teenager, and although at the time he never thought coaching would be his career, he eventually opened a CrossFit facility and is now, at the age of 40, is the owner of OPEX San Juan, in Puerto Rico.

“What I think you want to pay attention to is you want to understand what your trade-offs are in both. So, if I’m going to take out a loan, I probably am going to try to have a loan that doesn’t change in interest rate. Now, obviously, there are some exotic products where you can have ARMS adjustable rates. That’s generally in a mortgage. But, you can also have rates that might change in a business loan.

The biggest obstacle any gym owner faces is economic longevity. Without a plan for continued income growth and scalability, your business will inevitably fail.

Coaching is a profession. Unfortunately, it isn’t treated or paid in a manner that conveys that fact. This is largely due to the cultural stigma surrounding the profession and the proliferation of gym owners who don’t understand the value of loyal coaches.

Not only is the fitness industry incredibly competitive, it’s also very filled with hundreds of different competitors. The only way to combat this and rise to the top is to develop a unique service. But to sell a unique service you need to determine what makes you unique you first need to understand that you are competing with hundreds of other gyms!  Funny how that works.

“My mom didn’t have the best lifestyle, and I thought about all the people I have lost in my life because of drugs and alcohol, and it spurred me on to want to help people. I had just gotten into lockdown and I was like, ‘You need to do something,’” Sara said.

One of the main reasons fitness coaches—be it group class coaches or personal trainers—leave the industry is because they quickly realize that it’s next to impossible to earn a professional wage. Or at least, not without burning out in the process.

Professional coach is undoubtedly a buzzword that has caught on in a big way. But what exactly does it mean to be a professional? Does it just mean you’re able to make a professional wage?

This blog was written by OPEX Ambassador and CCP Coach, Brandon Wilton, from South Bend, Indiana. Brandon is the Founder and CEO of CrossFit South Bend, where he empowers and guides his community to lasting success in their fitness and health journey. Follow Brandon on Instagram here.

But if you’re a small gym owner, January isn’t always the best time for attracting those long-term minded clients we value so much. And contrary to what many small gym owners have tried, running a 6-week transformation challenge is probably the worst thing you can do, not just for the business and the coach, but also for the client.

He also has three on-floor coaches he’s currently developing to become OPEX Coach Certificate Program (CCP) coaches. One of them is currently going through the CCP and will soon be starting to build his own book of clients, El Fateh explained.

Eric was kind enough to highlight me on his show within his Elite Insiders Business Group. He wanted to talk about what coaches and trainers need to know in order to grow a quality remote coaching business. Let’s just say that we spit some truth! I hope you enjoy the read and the video.

There are a multitude of education options for aspiring fitness trainers. Personal trainer courses can take you anywhere from two days to two years to complete. We help you answer the question, “which is the best personal trainer certificate?” in this write-up, but that’s not what this blog is about.

But time and time again, the story goes like this: Five years into the gym game, the gym owner is overworked and burnt out and is barely able to make a profit. Not only that, he can’t seem to retain his clients or his coaches because neither party is getting what they need: The client needs a professional coach and an individualized fitness program and the coach needs job fulfillment and a professional wage.

If you knew nothing about what a deadlift was and your only guidance to learning how to do one was to read about it in a textbook, you might be able to pick up the basic idea of the movement, but it would probably be tough to become a deadlift master.

One of the biggest mistakes we see coaches make is focusing on the short-term only. Writing quality programs isn’t just about today’s workout—you have to be able to see the future and understand how training today will equal results a year from now. You have to first zoom out and consider where the program you’re writing sits inside of a long-term plan. 

If you want to become an engineer, you know it’s going to take four years of college or university and thousands of dollars. Same if it’s a doctor you’re striving to be, although in that case, it’s closer to seven years.

Remember, we’ve discussed this in the past that you can’t just hire somebody who’s not going to serve a direct purpose. You need to make sure you first get the right person for the right role. Let’s assume it’s a coach, you need to know what you need them for.

First, let’s talk about weight lifting and why it is the best method for weight loss. When we say weight lifting we are referring to resistance training: performing muscle contractions with resistance.