101 Tips, Tricks and Ideas: 21-34

Community

How to Build Community

6 tips for creating a tight-knit club culture.

Idea 21: Charity Events

Last year, Orangetheory Fitness hosted the first ever Guns & Hoses event at the Orangetheory Fitness Central Fort Lauderdale Studio. Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLDP) officers competed against Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue (FLFR) members to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

The Stephen Siller Tunnels to Towers Foundation was established by the Siller Family in honor of Stephen Siller, a New York City firefighter who lost his life on September 11, 2001.

“These types of events allow us to learn more about our community and how our studio and workout impact those who attend daily,” said Erica Botbol, the regional operations manager for Orangetheory Fitness. “We are always asking members to bring their friends and family. By doing this we are gaining exposure, but also allowing a larger platform for the community to get involved with us, and vice versa.”

Idea 22: Fitness Challenges

To increase member engagement, help people achieve their fitness goals and expose more gym-goers to the benefits of personal training, Retro Fitness launched an annual personal training campaign with a $10,000 incentive. During the “RetroResults” challenge, Retro Fitness personal training clients have 90 days to transform their body. “It is a win for us because in order to be a part of the competition, they had to be personal training clients, so we did see an increase in personal training revenue,” said Michael Urti, the vice president of personal training at Retro Fitness. “It was a win for club owners and trainers because they also had additional revenue coming in. Then it was a win for the members because it created some financial incentive to commit and stay on track toward their fitness goals.”

Idea 23: Social Events

Uplift Studio in New York City is more than just a fitness facility. The studio strives to positively affect all aspects of members’ lives, even beyond health and wellness. To do so, Uplift hosts a wide variety of events such as workshops, retreats and day trips.

“We have such an amazing community that comes here to workout, why wouldn’t we try to offer more value in other areas of their lives?” asked Leanne Shear, the co-founder of Uplift Studio. “For example, we have had a dating coach do a workshop so the women come, do a workout and then we gather around with healthy snacks and she did a workshop on dating. We also had a three-part career series, which was wildly successful and we are going to continue for sure.”

Idea 24: Bring the Family

Star Hill Athletic Club in Tolland, Connecticut, offers a little something for everyone in the family. The facility features an indoor swimming pool, three turf fields, two full-sized hardwood courts, a batting cage, an indoor walking/jogging track and a fitness center featuring cardio equipment and free-weights.

“The concept behind the gym was to provide a spectrum of amenities that could work within the health and wellness industry, but at the same time make it a family-oriented facility,” said Mike Smida, the owner and general manager of Star Hill Family Athletic Club. “The goal was to provide a place for families to come and exercise together.”

Idea 25: Social Media

Newtown Athletic Club uses social media to connect members. “We created a group exercise Facebook group,” said Linda Mitchell, director of PR relations and community partners. “People really started chatting about all the different classes we offer and even posted videos. Teachers were not shy about inviting folks to their classes and promoting themselves. Members check in to see who is going to class and cheer each other on when they have successes. This group concept can be applied to anything and is a tremendous concept within Facebook itself.”

Idea 26: Reach the Local Community

For the second year in a row, Anytime Fitness will be hosting a nationwide campaign this spring called Free Workout Saturdays. Each of the four Saturdays in May, Anytime Fitness staff and personal trainers will offer free workouts — for both members and non members — at outdoor parks located near the gyms. “We really want to provide a great opportunity, not only for members, but our communities as well,” said Heather Rudolph, the campaign manager for Free Workout Saturdays. “Our gyms are very involved with the communities that they are located in, so we really want to be the gym that is all about getting people to a healthier place inside and outside of the gym.”

Education

Tip 27: Book Recommendation

Fitness pros around the U.S. are discussing Michelle Segar’s book, “No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness.” Read it for insight on why some of your members just can’t seem to get their health and fitness under control.

Idea 28: Cirulli’s Video Watch List

To expand your mind, Joe Cirulli, the founder of Gainesville Health and Fitness, suggested watching the following videos.

The Men Who Built America. “This is an incredible series on the History Channel that showed how American Business made us the greatest country in the world. It starts with Cornelius Vanderbilt, then John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford. I watched it with my entire leadership team and they were glued to it.”

Also, American Genius. “It showed how some of our greatest innovators were challenged and how they dealt with those challenges.”

Idea 29: New Certification: Kettlebell Training

Baseline certifications like personal training, health coaching, yoga and more are essential, but expanding upon that knowledge with specialty certifications can give you a leg up on the competition. Kettlebells are a portable, durable and fun piece of equipment that can be used in a variety of ways to achieve a full-body workout. Therefore, having a trainer pursue a kettlebell certification might be the perfect way to add a fun, new workout format within your gym. Trainers and instructors can pursue Kettlebell Specialty Certifications through NETA, StrongFirst, CardioPump and various other corporations.

Idea 30: Investing in Education

There are various components that go into the success of a fitness program, one of the most important being the instructors. Members want instructors and trainers that are credible and possess an extensive amount of knowledge. In order to ensure instructors and trainers stay on top of the latest trends and skills, Midtown Athletic Club supports expanded educational opportunities.

“From the educational side, we have Midtown University, which is an educational platform that we enroll all of our coaches in when they are hired here,” said Hayley Hollander, the fitness director at Midtown Athletic Club. “We offer educational workshops, and on top of that we also have our professional development account. We pay for 66 percent of any education that they get.”

Tip 31: ACE the Test

American Council on Exercise has launched an all-new group fitness instructor certification study experience. The improved study experience provides ACE certified instructors with the latest exercise science, as well as proven engagement and motivation strategies, so they can lead safe, healthy and engaging group fitness experiences.

“We designed our all-new ACE Group Fitness Instructor study experience to offer instructors the absolute best educational experience available,” said ACE’s chief science officer, Cedric Bryant, Ph.D. “By empowering instructors to lead participants of all fitness levels with the most effective strategies for delivering memorable and safe movement experiences, we can ensure that group fitness continues to serve as a critical component in everyone’s efforts to achieve lifelong health.”

Employee Engagement

3 Leaders on Team Building

A manager’s perspective on engaging those that work for you.

Idea 32: Better Together

“We combine cross-functional departments to work together toward an end goal, which helps foster teamwork,” said Janine Williams, the vice president of human resources at Leisure Sports. “Furthermore, we encourage our employees to establish friendships with other employees throughout the organization by providing them with opportunities to spend time together in recreational and social settings. Once they view the organization as their family, they are willing to help their coworkers in whatever manner needed.”

Idea 33: All in the Family

Our trainers do an excellent job of welcoming new colleagues and bringing them into the Pura Vida family,” said Allison Westfahl, the personal training director at Pura Vida Fitness & Spa in Denver, Colorado. “They workout together, hangout together on the weekends and most importantly, they support each other in athletic endeavors. In terms of club activities, we have a social once a month, typically off site, which gets our members interacting with employees in a very casual atmosphere.”

Tip 34: In Tune

“I like to focus on having the team be in-tune, rather than aligned,” said Mark De Gorter, COO of Workout Anytime. “When you are aligned with strategy, that suggests everything is regimented. But we think here that being in-tune with the vision and the strategy is a little different in terms of passion and commitment. If they are in-tuned with the vision, it goes a little deeper than just getting them lined up with the direction. It is not a command-and-control type of environment, instead it is meritocracy based on empowerment in a performance-based culture.”

Click here to read Tips, Tricks and Ideas 35-41.