My reply
I never got a reply to this message unfortunately.... I think he understood that it was a lose/lose conversation..... there was no way he was going to be able to logically explain the "rights" in this situation....
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John-
I sincerely appreciate the time you took in your response and I completely understand your point of view. Actually, while I was typing my first email, I was certain that my message wouldn't change anything. You are in this first and foremost as a businessman. It's required. If you aren't, the business could fold and what good does that do anyone! At least you are getting many, many people off of their asses to get in shape.
So again, I really do understand.
It's just unfortunate in my mind that there is this huge disconnect between the general public and free weight strength training. And the only reason this disconnect exists is due to the ignorance of the masses. I don't hold it against them. Unless you are a serious athlete who has been exposed to "real" training or you are someone who likes to read and get your hands on the "real" information (not this Barnes and Nobles bullshit), there is no exposure to free weight strength training.
You have the most important weapon in ones training arsenal being over-looked by members and even by owners due to negative connotations, associations, and the like.
From my position, although drastically different than your business plan, it's the trainer’s job to educate the client and make the informed decision. No other training modality is going to give you what free weight strength training offers. If more people knew these benefits, I think many gyms would change.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I came across a weight loss web forum with upwards of 15,000 members. When I first came on the scene, the average population was exactly that of your gym.... middle aged women.
Such poor tactics and philosophies were being passed around and everyone was buying them. Things like starvation dieting, high rep training for "toning," free weights make you bulky, carbs are bad, etc, etc, etc.... these were all commonplace sadly.
I came on the scene about 1 year ago and things have drastically changed. I'It's something I do in my free time and it feels good to reach out to so many people and educate them. I know that alone has a lot more middle-aged women squatting and even deadlifting in gyms across the country, whom otherwise wouldn’t have stepped foot in the free weight room.
If you're ever interested, and I'm sure you are a busy guy, feel free to swing by the forum. It's an open community found at:
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/index.php
And here is one of the “threads” that gets passed around by many members of the forum to new people looking for advice. It’s simply a collection of “posts” by various experts on various topics. You can see that many of them are mine, just in case you ever want to look more into my philosophies.
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/topic/11337-words-wisdom.html
This experience has opened my eyes to the web and it’s possibilities though. I’m currently working with my partner in designing and creating a website. It will be loaded with free educational material, references, links, etc…. but the backbone of it will be online personal training. This is something that certainly isn’t for everyone. I’ve always been a fan of the hands on approach. Get your hands dirty and get down to business. But it’s apparent that this doesn’t always work in clubs today when you have things happening like the minimization of critical free weight components.
My partner is one of the head trainers at Hatfield Athletic Club. We will either integrate the online training with their gym, as an added service to members who want a unique, guided experience of how to train and eat or we will keep it solo as a separate entity.
It’s in the early stages but I’ve got some friend’s who’ve transitioned to the web for training services and they’ve done well with it, financially and in terms of success with their clients. It’s an interesting concept. With electronic communication I find you are able to take your time and really “reach out” to the client and educate them before they step foot in the gym.
I've trained people out of my home before as well as a few clubs in the area. I've always put the education of my client as the primary M.O. in the beginning. Certainly, especially women, come to me with a boatload of fallacious reasoning floating around their mind as to what, why, and how they want to exercise.
A majority of the time though, I'm able to coax them into trying something out of their "norm" and, as I'm sure you know what real strength training offers, it pays off for the client.
However, I'm also a financial adviser and I've never had to rely on training as my primary source of income. It's simply my passion. Don't let the fact that it's not my full time job fool you though. I haven't met too many full time trainers with more knowledge than me, sadly. However, b/c it was never the "job" putting food in my mouth so to speak, I never had to worry about a client not buying into my advice and walking away. Plus, I could take the extra time to really educate the client, which I understand isn't exactly feasible in a health club type setting where the M.O. is to move as many clients through the door as possible. The gym survives due to number of members. I get that.
Competitors could have been great. It sounds like you know Mike. In my opinion, which you can take for what it's worth, he isn't the greatest person to have running a gym. Yes, he provided the "real" equipment and weights required to build impressive physiques. But he did nothing to bring members in the door. You are right, you need a healthy mixture of aerobic based training and strength based training if you are ever going to entice enough people to join your gym. A combination of Mike's gym and your own would be excellent in my opinion.
I’ve often times thrown the idea of opening my own gym. Ideally, and I understand this may be wishful thinking, but I’d designate a secluded area of the gym as the “dungeon” type of setting where the so-called “meatheads” could train away from the average crowd. At the same time though, I’d also have a separate free weight area designated for the average member. Yes, I think it’s that critical.
In my opinion, there are many different types of high-quality members. One of them being a person such as myself. When I pick a gym, I'm dedicated to it until they close or change. I was at Competitors for 9+ years and I'm only 26. I'd consider someone such as myself as an "asset-member" due to my knowledge and "stage presence." You have guys like me that aren't juiceheads and are serious strength athletes. They are polite and respectful. They take time to help others around them. Yet, they are strong and need the right equipment.
By eliminating this "breed" of member in most of the gyms I see around here, not only do I see it as a diservice to them... but I also view it as a mistake for the gym.
When I trialed your gym, I had a medium day in bench press, in terms of intensity. I worked my way up to a working set of 285. Your members were impressed and it seemed obvious that they don't see that kind of stuff very often. I received multiple comments and it was obvious that my lifting lit a flare under the other member's butts to train harder. And hell, I'm not even that strong!!
Again, I think having that right breed of strength athlete as part of any gym's membership is important.
Valhalla offers everything I've mentioned, except for the secluded “meathead” room. Besides being newer and more spacious than your facility, it's very similar. The only difference is, they've found a way to incorporate all the important equipment and space required to really strength train along with a wide array of aerobic equipment and classes. And because of this, they seem to have a healthy mixture of populations who utilize their facility.
You've been in this industry a lot longer than me, I'm sure. It saddens me that gyms have resorted to minimizing their emphasis on strength training simply b/c of the "meathead" draw and connotation.
I honestly don’t expect any replies. It’s just nice to communicate with another passionate professional, hence my lengthy emails.
I wish you continued success with your business and honestly, I wouldn’t have a problem recommending people to your facility.
-Steve