Boosting Engagement: How To Feel Excited About Your Classes (Again)
Hello, and welcome back to
the group fitness experience.
My name is Kyle Wood and this
is the podcast for group fitness
trainers and personal trainers.
Who are looking to have
more autonomy, more freedom.
And looking to have more impact
on their local community.
And that's really what
we're going to talk.
About today.
Wow.
Um, What a couple of weeks.
Uh, if you're not on my email list,
which by the way, you should jump on it.
If you are, if you're not on the email
list and you're listening to this because
someone sent it to you or you found me.
Through the internet.
Um, had the bootcamp ideas.com.
Sign up for the 21 days
of bootcamp, email series.
Uh, and then you'll get
added to my newsletter.
I like everyone to go through
that 21 days series because.
It helps fill you in, on some of the
lingo and concepts that I talk about
so that you can just jump straight
in and you, you know, you you'll.
The newsletters will make more
sense and you'll get more out
of them from going through that.
So anyway.
That's an aside.
Today.
Uh, gave, okay, so I need to go back.
So let's take a step back and I apologize
if I cough or clear my throat today.
I've been sick.
I actually wanted to record this
last week and I've got the flu.
And it really just kicked my butt.
I thought.
Tomorrow I'll be better tomorrow.
I'll be better.
Uh, maybe tomorrow I'll be better.
And, and H day, like for a
while there, I got worse.
And, um, and then I got a date
eventually get better, but I
do still have a bit of a cough.
A bit of an upper
respiratory thing going on.
So I apologize.
But, um, I digress.
So the week before I got sick.
I sent an email out to.
To most of my newsletter list.
I didn't.
My, um, email software has a feature that.
Allows you to filter people
by when they signed up.
So anyone who hadn't, who
had only been on my list for.
Like less than three months.
I didn't include them in this
email series because I was like,
Uh, they don't really know me yet.
And, and this is a lot.
But basically I shared about my struggles
with my business, with bootcamp ideas
and just like what was going on and that.
Mental health wise.
I was, I was really struggling as well.
And it's one of the
things I miss the most.
About.
Training people face-to-face.
And I often think of this when trainers
come to me and they say, Hey, I want to.
Wanting to transition online
and I'm like, I don't.
No.
If you fully.
Understand.
What that means, you know, you're
going from a business where you're
predominantly interacting with people.
Face to face on a regular basis,
building relationships with them.
And now you want to go online.
Where are you going to be dealing with
algorithms and people's email inboxes.
It's very different and
it can be very isolating.
And that was one of the reasons
that I even created bootcamp.
It is in the first place.
Was that.
Even as a train, even though you've
got your clients, I felt isolated
from other trainers and I wanted to.
Reach out to them.
And make those connections.
And, um, so I've got actually.
Uh, an announcement about that, that.
At all.
We'll share later in.
Um, towards the end of
the podcast episode.
Um, But anyway, so I sent an email
just saying like what was going on
and the responses I'm S I apologize.
I've, haven't read your email.
I didn't do any emails last week because
I just couldn't look at a computer screen
and, um, Still catching up this week.
W the email responses I got from.
The Raiders was amazing.
Just people.
Just really sharing with
me their own struggles.
And what they were going through.
And it seems like at the moment,
The fitness industry is, is had it tough.
Like we had COVID we got.
Really restricted.
During COVID.
And then we came back for a little bit.
And then we had this sort of like
semi global financial crisis.
That's not quite a global financial
crisis, but definitely has people
like tightening their belts.
And.
Um, You know, my business's feeling
that because you're feeling that
because you are noticing that.
People aren't showing up
to classes as much that.
You know, perhaps the usual burst you
got we'd get during spring or autumn.
Wasn't there.
That normally was.
Um, and I just think in general,
like, My train is a tired, like, I can
definitely identify with that because.
I've been putting a lot
into this thing and.
Not getting a lot out of it.
And you you're feeling.
Worn out.
Uh, and, and I know this
is not everyone's case.
I know there's trainers listening to
this who things are going really well.
And, um, I don't want you
to feel bad about that.
Uh, but I do just want to acknowledge
for the trainers out there who.
Um, our struggling.
Or perhaps.
Perhaps, you know, things are
going well client-wise but like
mentally you are struggling your.
You feel like you're
just not able to show up.
In the same way or that.
Your clients are, and
it's a bit harder on you.
So I want to address that.
Cause I think.
COBie did this weird thing with us where.
It became normal to say, all
right, let's just soldier on.
Let's just get through this.
And, and that was a defense mechanism.
That a lot of us had.
That helped helped us get through.
Uh, a challenging period.
But I think.
Now we're having, we were approaching.
This problem of the financial
stuff is in the same way.
I just need to get through this.
And instead what I'd like to
invite you to do and what I'm.
Trying to do more of is.
To see this as a chance to come
up with creative solutions.
Because.
The reason that there's some fitness
businesses out there that are doing well.
And there's some that
aren't doing well, is that.
The clients who is still
attending sessions are the
ones who see the value in it.
So they're like, even though I
might be canceling my Netflix
subscription and getting less coffees
out, I'm going to spend money.
On.
Exercise.
Because I see the value.
In it.
And I think if you're feeling.
Burnt out.
And washed up.
It's going to be hard for you.
Right now.
Or I would say, I, you.
I use still showing clients the value
that they get from your sessions.
And are you doing it?
With like, A dancer.
Like big.
So I used to do musical theater.
So I'm thinking of like
that big, cheesy show grin.
That you that's permanently fixed to
your face, or you're doing it with
that big fake, a grin on your face.
Um,
Pretending everything is fine.
While actually.
You're not.
So.
Well, we're getting heavy into it here.
I don't want to, and I don't
want to leave you there.
So I want to talk a little bit about.
What my theme is for this
month and how I think.
Uh, it can help you.
Um, And I will say this.
I say, I heard this thing.
I was listening to another podcast.
Recently, and they're talking
about how, like a lot of marketing
out there these days is really.
Disempowering.
And it's really like.
Oh, everything's terrible, but you
know, you just buy my thing in.
And everything will be fine.
Um, and I've hate that marketing.
And I apologize if you've ever
gotten an email from me that.
Felt that way.
Um, Whereas it got me reflecting
about how I feel like.
When I started online and certainly
in the fitness industry, the people I
really looked up to where the people
who were empowering people and are even
remember someone saying to me once.
What.
If your goal.
Was to get your.
Like to have your clients fire you
because they didn't need you anymore.
Like what.
If, when you were training with someone,
instead of like always keeping a
little bit back, keeping a little bit
back, not educating them about how to
move their bodies, how to get fitter.
What if your goal was for them
after like three or four years
to be like, you know what.
I'm fine.
And, and, and off they go into the sunset.
You know, exercising regularly,
looking after themselves and, and
living a healthier lifestyle than
they did before they met you.
And I always thought I
was such a cool concept.
Because it goes against our nature
and atria is like, oh, well I
want to hold on to that client.
But really like, when you think
about like that, it shifts you
into a mindset of like, oh, I'm
actually going to empower my clients.
And I'm not going to empower them in a way
where, like I become a drug for them and
they need me to always be empowering them,
but I'm going to genuinely empower them.
And the funny thing is that like, When
you have that attitude comment stick
around because they see the value, uh,
because you're giving them so much value.
So.
That was a little Assad.
I keep getting distracted.
Before I start talking about
who I'm going to talk about.
So we're about 10 minutes in.
So I'm going to maybe share with you.
We're going to talk about next.
So, you know, whether you
want to keep listening or not.
So.
Um, I'm going to, I want to tell you
guys back right now and share with
you a bit about my first bootcamp.
Um, because I did something with that.
That didn't quite work.
Um, and I think maybe that's that.
You might be able to identify
with that with, with what's
happening with you right now.
If you're struggling for.
Class sizes.
And then I want to talk to
you a bit about like, A simple
way that you could fix that.
Um, so, and then that'll wrap up
the podcast and then I'll mention.
Um, that thing that I was
going to talk about as well.
So, um, So it might at first boot camp.
Um,
I never thought I'd be
a group fitness trainer.
Like I don't, I still don't
attend group fitness classes.
I actually.
I hate.
Being at participant, um,
in group fitness classes.
And now, since I've learned about human
design, I looked at my human design.
It makes a lot of sense because
I'm definitely someone who like.
Would rather lead.
Then be led.
Um, And, and I'm very like competitive.
And not in a healthy way.
It's probably so I could work on.
Yeah.
Um, You know, As I like always
preferred, like I liked team sports.
I like sort of sharing.
The load with everyone, but, um, yeah,
having an instructor at the front.
So, so I always thought I
would be a personal trainer.
Yeah in gyms.
Doing sessions, getting people jacked.
That was like, that was my dream.
And then.
As I studied to be on personal trainer and
sort of learnt about especially bootcamps.
I was like, wow, this is such a great way.
To like leverage my time and make some
money because the overheads are very low.
If you're running bootcamps
in a park, you don't need.
Uh, you know, you didn't have the
overheads of, of a facility either way
you're paying someone rent or where you're
having to like lease a space yourself.
Um, And.
Like it's, it's, it's
fairly cost-effective.
So instead of someone, you know,
only be able to afford to see you
once a week for personal training,
they can come see you like.
Multiple times a week.
For group fitness.
Um, or if there's someone who
wouldn't normally be able to
afford personal training, now
they can, they can come along.
So I got really excited
about this idea of.
Of group fitness and running
group fitness classes.
Um, but.
Maybe to my advantage.
I had really never participated
in a group fitness class before.
So I had no idea.
Um, how.
Like had to structure one or create one.
So I would, my original structures
were, um, Like we do like a
warmup, you know, with like a bow.
Like, like, uh, cones out with like
a square and kind of doing the old,
like run across joke across jug.
You know, back and then do like,
but kicks across and then back
kicks back and then do high knees
across and then high knees back.
And just very like generic do some side
sidesteps, sidestep back the other way.
Um, just that very like
generic kind of warmup.
Uh, and then we would go into.
Uh, some kind of drill that would
usually involve like, Exercises in
one spot and then they've got to
like run somewhere and run back.
And then we would do like a
circle, like a six station circuit
with like different exercises.
And that would, that would be the workout.
And basically the workout was the same.
I would just change the
exercises each week.
And, um, I like.
Read a lot of blogs about
marketing and stuff.
And the thing that worked for me
actually really well back then, Was,
um, I've made flyers that had the,
you know, the little tear tags at the
bottom of them where you could like
tear off the person's information.
And I, I.
Gorilla.
You know, went out at night
and stuck them to the posts.
Of the shops near where I lived
and yeah, like random people call
me and sign up for my bootcamp.
Um, And it was great.
Uh, good.
See.
How this could work to start with.
I just ran two sessions a week.
And I could see.
That this could be viable for me.
And it was, it was easier to get.
Group fitness clients.
And it was PT clients like
PT clients where we're tough.
I don't know if it was the higher price
point or what, but it was much easier.
So, um, so I ran this in the park.
I did like a Saturday morning
and a Wednesday afternoon.
Um, Weird random.
I was just like, this seems good.
So I'll do these times, but
there was, there was like no
strategy to N to any of that.
It was, this was really, I was
just working out as I went along.
Uh, and the good thing was, I like a lit.
A ton from it.
Um, But it wasn't sustainable.
I couldn't.
Um, I couldn't keep, I wasn't
keeping in and getting enough new
people coming into the sessions.
To counteract the attrition that
naturally started happening.
And I've spoken about this
before and eventually.
We had a little break over
Christmas and I lost those clients.
And I just couldn't build them back.
Build it back up again.
And.
Uh, yeah, it's talked about
this many times over the years
and there are lots of factors.
That went into why those
people didn't come back.
And yeah, if you follow me for a while,
you've probably heard me harp on about it.
But with this month theme,
I want to focus just on.
On one thing.
So I want to share with you
something that I did different later
when I started my head, another
crack at starting a bootcamp.
Um, And it's something you can
do at the moment, and it will
help you boost engagement.
So like get people really
buying into your sessions.
So they're not just turning up.
And exercising, but they
really like, ah, I can't wait.
It's going to help you add a
ton of variety to your session.
So that's important too.
I know that's something that I still get
emails from trainers who are like, ah,
just feeling a bit stale with my sessions.
Dude, if you are feeling
stale with your sessions.
That's going to come through.
In the way that you run your sessions.
Your clients are going to pick up on that.
And.
Like that's going to impact new
people coming or their attendance
or their like, just desire to spend.
More time exercising with you.
People in general, don't enjoy.
Cause I don't, I've been sick
and I knew I had to do a workout
today and I was dreading it.
I was just like, ah, I just do not.
Want to exercise today.
Um, like, um, I'm still
tired from being sick.
I, you know, and guess what I did the
workout and I feel awesome afterwards.
Okay.
So.
We need to make sure that our
clients are feeling awesome.
And the other thing that
this is going to do.
Is, it's going to encourage word
of mouth referrals of people
are enjoying what you're doing.
If it's feeling fresh
and new and exciting.
They're going to want to talk about
it and they're going to wonder.
Involve the people.
So, what am I talking about?
I'm talking about.
The very first part of your workout
and talking about the warmup.
That's what we're focusing on.
That's this whole month of June.
It's going to be focusing on.
Warmups.
Uh, I put this out to.
One of our Facebook groups recently.
And I said, Hey, this is what
I'm thinking of doing for June.
It seems like this would
be a good place to start.
And the feedback was, yes.
I'm really struggling to come with
good warmup ideas at the moment.
Any help would be appreciated.
And.
Over the years.
Like.
Having fun warmups.
Yes.
We had our fallback warmups,
but having fun warmups.
I was one of the things.
If you think about the 80 20 rule,
which is like, 80% of your results
comes from 20% of your effort.
The, or.
80% of your client's enjoyment
comes from 20% of the workout
is something that, that.
That shows up.
So the Walmart is really that place where
you can get people like in the mood.
And, um, actually Netflix
found this funny thing.
Uh, when they, when they were
back researching their algorithms.
And this is back when you could write.
Movies, which have now gotten rid of.
And what they found is that.
The person people would write a movie,
not based on the movie, they just watched.
But based on how much they enjoyed
the movie that they watched.
Before that.
So by that, I mean, it's like
say they've watched Rocky two.
And they give it five stars.
They're not actually really
giving five stars, Rocky too.
They're giving five stars.
To Rocky one, which they watch beforehand.
It's this weird thing they noticed.
And that's when they started really
pushing like recommendations.
When you get to the end.
Of the thing and the recommendations.
Are really high.
Uh, sorry.
They, you know, they're pushing
on you like the next thing.
Uh, and that's when
they really realize are.
What we recommend people next is
important, but it's also just important
to get them watching something.
Again, it's if they've had a good
experience or they've had a good
experience watching something,
we want to get them watching
something as quickly as possible.
Because they're more likely to enjoy it.
Having just enjoyed the thing before.
And I don't know, maybe it's like
having a good, you know, good.
When you go to see a comedian and
you have a good, like, um, opener.
And that's the, that's the purpose of
the fee that the person who's opened,
the opening act is to come out on stage.
Sort of like get everyone laughing
and then the actual comedian
comes out and everyone's already
warmed up and having a good time
and everything's already funnier.
Uh, your warmups the same.
It's that?
Leading the more people enjoy and
engage your warmup with your warmup,
the more they will enjoy and engage
with the rest of your workout.
So if you are having issues at the moment
with clients, engaging with your sessions,
One of the simplest things you can do is.
Spend some more time on your wants
and that's why we're spending.
Like I said a whole month on this.
So next week, I'm going to be, we're
going to like deconstruct warmups
and I'm going to share with you.
Some of the biggest, like mistakes that
I see and then like how to fix them.
And then the following week,
we're going to start a challenge.
I'm going to actually share
with you some warm up ideas.
And I want you all listening
to this, to go out.
I use these wipes in your session and
then like report back on how they went and
I'm going to have to work out like some
giveaways or some prizes or something.
So if you actually show up and
participate in that, Um, you'll
have a chance to win something,
which is, which is a bit of fun.
So he, you went on both ends
because your sessions get better.
Attract more clients and you're
having more fun running your sessions.
And you have a chance to win something.
So that's pretty cool.
Isn't it?
Uh, Last oh, yes.
So earlier I mentioned that.
So one of the big things that came
out of my aim emails last week, When
I was talking about mental health.
And where I was at and trainers
was sharing where they were at.
Uh, was that we needed
something that's in between.
Like.
E if you're struggling.
And part of that is financial struggling.
And you can't afford to pay for help.
You need some way of getting support,
so you can get to that point.
Where you can then pay
for, for help and support.
So that's why I've put together.
Um, I've opened back up.
Our old Facebook group.
BCI ask.
So I'll include in.
Linked in the show notes below.
If you're not a member.
Go jumping on that Facebook group.
And when we do this challenge later
in the month, the Walmart challenge.
Um, that's where sort
of the participation.
Aspect is going to be, so that's where
you'll be able to like, report back.
On how things went in and
have a chance to win stuff.
But anyway, it's a great group.
It's been around for years already.
So there's like.
Um, Tons of help and support in there.
There's already trainers back in there
posting again, um, asking questions,
sharing ideas, things like that.
Uh, so I think, especially if you
enjoy this joining, listening to the
podcast, That's sort of a great place to
continue the conversation and interact
with each other, um, while you're
getting ready for that next stage.
Um, in your business.
And that's it for today's episode.
Uh, I'm going to wrap it up there.
I have a great week.
Thank you.
If you are one of the
people who emailed me.
A couple of weeks ago with very
kind supportive, encouraging words.
Thank you very much.
Um, I cannot tell you how much that
meant to me and how much it really
just like lit a fire in my belly.
Around wanting to continue.
To support.
This group of people and.
Really create tools and resources for you.
Two.
Just.
Help you get out of your own
way and find the success that
you desire in this industry.
So we'll leave it there and I'm
looking forward to coming back
next week to talk all that warmups.
And, until then have a great week.
Bye.
