Alloy Takes a Systemized Approach to Group Training

IMAGE COURTESY OF GOLD'S GYM

Planning and maintaining successful group training programs can be challenging. With engaging and systemized training programs, Alloy has provided a solution and helped deliver results to countless health club members. Here, Don Murphy, a Gold’s Gym franchisee in New York, shares his experience working with Alloy and how it’s enhanced his training team’s performance:

CS: Why did you decide to partner with Alloy? What problem were you looking to solve?

DM: We decided to partner with Alloy after seeing and understanding the systemized approach to group training taken by Rick Mayo and his team. We had tried a variety of “trainer freestyle” training programs in the past where we’d have a qualified trainer oversee program design for a given program. While some of the programs were successful, there was no sustainability or longevity associated with them. This was largely due to not having a unified team of trainers who could deliver the group workouts in a similar qualitative fashion. When the superstar trainer left or moved on to something else, the program died. It’s one thing to have a superstar trainer who can spend time on program design and consistent quality in the delivery. However, when that trainer is sick, on vacation or worse yet, leaves you, you’re sunk. Alloy ensures this doesn’t happen by certifying your team of trainers to deliver a great experience with training programs geared for long term sustainability and suited for all fitness levels. All the workouts are pre-designed, tested and tweaked in live class settings three months in advance of being passed on to our gym team. Better yet, the workouts change every week, ensuring they’re always fresh, new, and exciting for both the members who participate and the trainers who coach them. It provides a consistently high quality group training experience that yields excellent results.

CS: How has Alloy benefitted your training business?

DM: Prior to Alloy, we had one-off programs here and there that would provide a quick financial boost of a couple thousand dollars or so, depending on the program. However, it wasn’t consistent. Alloy has enabled us to grow a group training EFT draft of roughly $12,000 per month. We expect this to grow even more as we change some things in our new member on-boarding program in the near future.

CS: What do your trainers like about the Alloy certification?

DM: The Alloy certification was a great team builder for our trainers, in addition to providing a wealth of knowledge and education on how to effectively train members in groups, versus one-on-one. It’s great for anyone with a passion for training small and large groups, but not wanting to spend too many unpaid hours on program design. In fact, the program design is so innovative and effective, many of our trainers use the exercises and workouts when training their clients outside of Alloy.

CS: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with Alloy in any way?

DM: There’s a number of things. I love how Rick and his team are very accessible to the Alloy coaches in our club through the Facebook group. It’s like a giant coaching family where answers and feedback are easy to obtain. The team at Alloy is also very receptive and responsive to feedback. It’s not like some giant company where you’re never going to reach the decision-makers. As Rick has scaled and grown the Alloy business, he’s done a good job keeping his personal touch intact, along with the rest of the elite trainers who are behind the scenes, ensuring world-class delivery of the programs. They also have a marketing library of material for club owners to attract members to their Alloy program. This includes a fantastic launch campaign to start with a big spike of participants. While the team at Alloy is excellent at program design for group training, they also provide great business consulting on how to launch and grow the program for the long term. Another thing to note is the willingness of Alloy to allow clubs to brand the program as their own. They’re fine with being the “engine,” letting clubs label their training programs whatever they want.

CS: Why should other clubs consider partnering with Alloy?

DM: Here’s the analogy that I like to use: Alloy has done for group training what Les Mills did for group exercise. They systemized it, and removed a lot of common headaches seen when trying to run a big club and build systemized programming at the same time. Effectively, they’ve enabled big clubs like ours to implement a boutique style group training business within the four walls of the gym. It’s done through the following:

1. World-class group training programs — and personal training workouts — that are ever-changing, exciting and results-driven for all fitness levels.
2. Initial on-site certification of your trainer team to deliver the Alloy programs while continuing to support them through ongoing education and interaction with their team.
3. Marketing resources, business and sales consulting for club owners and managers to understand how to launch, grow and sustain a successful group training program.
4. The creation of a sub-culture in the gym, where members and trainers bond, interact and train in an exciting atmosphere, and become lifers in the gym. We actually have a Facebook group called Alloy Nation Newburgh that has daily posts, videos and camaraderie between the members and coaches in our gym. It’s even led to Friday happy hours during the summer. Hats off to Alloy!