The Group Fitness Director

How good is your Group Fitness Director? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the director on site with regularity and involved in the club operation at large?

2. Does the director have a working station where you may find him/her regularly?

3. Is the director in the facility other than when they teach their classes?

4. Is the director easy to get in touch with?

5. Is the director well versed in all the classes offered?

6. Does the director teach exclusively at the facility?

7. Does the director provide monthly statistic reports?

8. Is the group fitness schedule professional looking and up to date?

9. Does the director hold meetings regularly?

10. Does the director have a great relationship with all of their instructors?

11. Does the director go above and beyond in treating their instructors like gold? (see last weeks blog)

12. Do all the instructors love the director?

If the answer is yes to the above questions, then the director is on the right track. However, I would bet that there may be some no’s to these answers. To our embarrassment there have not been a lot of guidelines for group fitness directors — hence, bad habits and lack of understanding and willingness to progress forward by both director and management.

In many of my blogs I keep on discussing competition and how fierce it is out there. A strong group fitness department begins with the director. A great director can differentiate their group fitness department from all other competition by one thing: “Doing it better!”

Take a good hard look at your department. Answer the aforementioned questions and identify your weaknesses. Then put a plan of action together to get better and make a difference. Become the club where everyone knows their group fitness is the best. Remember, your group fitness director may not be “full time” but they are “full on.” Redirect your thought process and treat your group fitness department just like all other departments. It’s about selling group fitness and tracking its success daily, weekly, monthly and annually.

Lori Lowell is the President of Group Fitness Solutions, LLC, and owns 8 Fitness Facilities in Virginia and Wisconsin. Contact her at lori@groupfitnesssolutions.com.