Inside the Club: A Recap of Small Group Training

I don’t want you to think I’m continuing on the same path as the CrossFit blogs a few weeks ago, but considering we’re closing in on 2014, I’d like to continue a recap of trends found in 2013. Small Group Training has been one of those trends, but I don’t believe it was a 2013 trend … possibly a 2011 or 2012 trend, but not 2013.

Small Group Training, or SGT as it has been discussed in our editorials, was something we wrote about in November 2010 when we put Larry Gurney, the founder of The Rush Fitness Complex, on the cover. Gurney discussed the club’s Ring of Fire, which is essentially a SGT program held in the center of the club.

That was way back in 2010 — long before SGT became a 2013 trend. We’ve also touched on boot camp classes prior to 2013. In my mind, boot camp classes are just a slightly different type of SGT.

SGT, however, is great for the club, its trainers and members alike. It allows the club to market training at a lower rate per session for its members, bringing more members into the club, allows trainers to train more people and generate more revenue per hour, but also allows the individual member to pay much less than they would for a personal training session — a true Win-Win-Win scenario.

SGT has opened the world of training to more people than ever before. Prior to SGT, I believe training was perceived as something for people of a higher financial disposition. However, with the development of SGT programs, everyone can get a little training, helping them to improve their workouts and results.

So, what you might find in “trends” for 2013, truly aren’t trends of the year, but are actually trends from previous years coming to the forefront. Maybe I see it like this because I’m so close to the product, but regardless, whether they are trends or not, clubs are capitalizing and seem to be enjoying these “trends” very much.

Tyler Montgomery is the editor of Club Solutions Magazine. Contact him at tyler@clubsolutionsmagazine.com.