Fitness Formula Clubs’ goal has always been to be a world-class and industry-leading health club and training center. According to Chris Navin, the head endurance coach for the company, KORR has helped the facility reach this goal.
Here, Navin explained further benefits of KORR, VO2 Max testing and more.
CS: How were you introduced to KORR, and why did you decide to partner with them?
CN: I first heard about KORR’s CardioCoach systems from a fellow triathlon coach while attending a USA Triathlon (USAT) Level 2 Coaching education seminar at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. After evaluating a few other competitors, we determined KORR was the perfect fit for Chicago’s Fitness Formula Clubs (FFC) as a highly accurate, reliable, cost-effective and easy-to-use, medical-grade system that provided us with excellent reports for both RMR and VO2 Max testing.
Their systems checked off all the boxes on our list, giving us a fantastic way to produce consistent results, get detailed raw data and provide flexibility with testing protocols, such that we could even use the system to pioneer more advanced testing services beyond standard RMR and VO2 Max tests. The testing is something we utilize on a regular basis, especially for FFC’s TriMonster program.
CS: What are the benefits to your business as a result of this partnership?
CN: The key benefits to our business have encompassed a number of different areas including:
- Recognition: The CardioCoach system has enabled FFC to differentiate ourselves from our competitors and even achieve national recognition as one of the top USA Triathlon (USAT) Performance Training Centers in the country!
- New Services: It has created an additional revenue stream for the club and facilitated new ways for our members to get more involved, ask questions and ultimately train smarter.
- Marketing: It has provided plenty of high-quality marketing graphics, materials, videos, etc. to help us communicate information and grow demand effectively.
- New Memberships: By offering testing services to non-members, we have brought new prospects into the club, who have ultimately joined as members.
- Retention and Goal Setting: For the performance-oriented members and athletes in our TriMonster Triathlon Marathon Training Programs, we now offer free VO2 Max testing as an annual fitness checkup to keep them motivated and on track to continue to measure progress, set goals and stick to their training routines. We see greater retention with more committed athletes and goal-oriented members as a result.
- Quality and Innovation: We like to see partners that continue to innovate — KORR’s CardioCoach system isn’t just a way to create great reports, but it’s also a complete platform (with phone apps) that acts as a more practical way to turn test results into interactive metabolic profiles. It creates practical and actionable ways to use the test information in a medium that is current with today’s industry trends. It’s actually usable.
CS: What are the benefits to your members as a result of this partnership?
CN: Our current members and advanced performance-oriented athletes love the test results as a way to enable them to train and race “smarter” — allowing the every-day person to enjoy a premium “professional athlete” experience. Whether they want to learn how to dial in their race fueling plan for an Ironman event or are simply trying to learn how to avoid bonking during a marathon by pacing smarter, we consistently see our members getting practical and effective use from their report data. Our new members and beginners also enjoy learning how to set heart rate zones, create benchmarks, evaluate progress and accelerate their weight loss and body composition goals, even if they are brand new to fitness.
CS: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with KORR in any way?
CN: Yes, KORR’s customer service and flexibility has been great. They’ve always been quick and easy to get in touch with and they have also surprised us on a number of occasions with great new marketing materials and information. Even several years after we first met with them, when we were ready to grow and experiment with offering new advanced testing services, they shipped us a brand-new unit so we could complete our own evaluations before completing our second product purchase. They are always flexible and quick to respond to questions — and they actually talk us through the goals we are trying to achieve. They are able to consistently offer us practical guidance to help us be creative and innovate our service offerings with current industry and market trends in line with our strategic vision on becoming a club that stands apart from others.
CS: What else can you tell other club owners about the benefits of working with KORR and offering VO2 Max testing?
CN: Don’t just offer VO2 to offer VO2. Make sure you have a strategic plan to market and develop demand with the right tools and people. You need to have at least one (or more) experienced staff member who lives and breathes metabolic testing: heart-rate based endurance coaches, registered dietitians, etc. These are the key people who will be your drivers and champions. VO2 Max testing can be a fantastic value-add service, but the key is to both find the right product to deliver consistent accuracy and the right people to drive it. KORR easily exceeded our expectations by providing great equipment with a strong customer support team behind it — without question the best way to get started. They are a highly respected and reliable brand that provides the “complete package” with marketing materials, good software, training manuals, videos, customer support, etc. Fitness Formula Clubs’ goal has always been to be a world-class and industry-leading health club and training center, and KORR has definitely helped us get and stay there.
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