As autumn looms into view, the change in season is often marked by a change in strategy, as club owners and managers begin to prepare their clubs for the coming year. While getting ready for 2011, many decisions will be paramount to assess a positive business plan, and ensuring growth and development in all areas of your facility. In addition to new equipment, personnel development, and promoting current services, revising your Group Exercise schedule can be a powerful tool to help retain members, attract new members, and service your clients.

“Group Exercise programs provide attention, retention and referrals. We are the heart and soul of the club and we motivate by numbers. It’s never been more important than right now to make good decisions with programming,” said Deborah Puskarich, Group Exercise Director for the Cooper Fitness Center at Craig Ranch, McKinney, TX.

Trends in Group Exercise are somewhat easy to identify, explained Puskarich. “Vast audiences are attracted [to programming trends], because they appeal and cater to a variety of different fitness levels. The first thing I do is ask myself: How many populations does this program accommodate?” Working these fitness trends into a great schedule takes some work, but offers great results.

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Take me out to the ball game... with Les Mills! A Les Mills baseball-themed launch had Newtone Health & Fitness members and employees showing team spirit like never before.

The adrenaline—and the popcorn machine—were overflowing on April 17th when Newtone Health & Fitness in Lafayette, Indiana held their baseball-themed launch for their seven Les Mills classes.

Brandon Fleming, Group Fitness Manager, and his entire team outdid themselves with their creativity in designing and executing the event.

All the employees and many of the members wore baseball attire—each class a different “team,” and rooted each other on. They brought in a popcorn machine for people to have something fun to munch on between the back-to-back, packed classes. Baseball tickets were raffled off in every class. The National Anthem boomed out of the speakers before each class and baseball themed music was playing all day. And, after track #7 in the BODYPUMP®, they had a ‘7th inning stretch’ and sang ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’.

“It was really great to see the members joining in, wearing baseball hats, shirts, eye black and jerseys and getting into the event as much as the instructors,” said Fleming. “By giving the event a theme, it allowed everyone to really get involved and have fun with it. There truly was great team spirit flowing all day long.” To add to the team spirit, during the BodyPump® class, one instructor was devoted to circulating the room and helping members and participants with one-on-one training on form and technique.

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There is nothing like a good re-launch event to refuel the passion for the programs you teach! The events provide a great opportunity to get members excited about group fitness and attract new members to your club. They also create a feeling of community and build member loyalty.

So what can you do to make your club’s event even more amazing? Follow the steps below to become a re-launch rock star!

Step 1 – Get Everyone Involved

Have all employees think about what role they can play at the re-launch. Get the team together and brainstorm ideas for your event. Talk to local businesses about sponsoring with freebies or prizes for participants. Consider a bring-a-friend promotion. Create a theme. Make it a fundraiser for a local hospital and get the hospital involved.

Step 2 – Be a Rock Star: Prepare and Practice

Set time aside to practice with your team before the event. Decide who would be best to introduce the class and who will teach what track. For a truly professional performance, also think about how to position yourselves on the stage. Perhaps one person can show modifications and options, and another instructor can coach participants on the floor, giving members and potential members hands-on attention.

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Bold moves made over the last 12 months aimed to reinvest in and improve the group fitness operation at Family Fitness in Lake Jackson, Texas, have delivered amazing results. Overall, group fitness cost-per-head (CPH) has decreased from $1.80 to $0.84 in just 12 months. Male participation in group fitness has increased from roughly 10% to an incredible 60% at peak times in both BODYPUMP® and RPM®, and is strong at 20% even in morning timeslots.

With a full room of 49 bars, BODYPUMP® classes are at 90% capacity and have a low cost-per-head (CPH) of $0.72. The RPM® studio has 42 bikes and enjoys 80% capacity in each class while CPH is $0.94.

How has this been made possible? Kay Aplin, the founder and owner of Family Fitness, sets aside a group fitness budget that prioritizes investment in her instructor team, paying for 50% of instructor training and offering $5 per class more to Les Mills instructors. Instructors also receive a minimum wage pay of $7.25 per hour for re-launch preparation. They are paid $20-$30 for team-teaching during and after re-launch events, and have hotel costs and event entry fees for one LES MILLS® quarterly paid for each year.

The investment in staffing and programs continues to pay dividends. With only two Les Mills programs on offer, BODYPUMP® and RPM®, 45% of the group fitness timetable of 39 classes per week is dedicated to Les Mills programs. Family Fitness’ former indoor cycle program drew 145 weekly attendees, yet per Program Director Kari Chupp "lacked consistency, quality control and safety." It was replaced almost completely by RPM®. Cycling now boasts a newly designed RPM® studio with logos, decor, spot-lighting, stage and sound, and only offers one free-style cycle class weekly. Weekly cycling attendances stand at 240 today.

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Instructors, are you taking the time to really understand each track, how it works and how to teach it so that it's fresh and effective for your class?

It takes a bit of work, but it's worth it! We've broken down the learning process for you below. As you review the booklet for each track, keep in mind the following:
  1. TRACK FOCUS -This tells you the most important thing you should focus on when teaching in this track. It is UNIQUE for every track.
  2. LOOK AT THE INTENSITY FACTOR – This gives you a road map of the choreography and highlights where the BURN that we love so much comes from.
  3. TRACK INTRODUCTION – This will stop you from saying too much and remind you of the important information, e.g.: weight selection! If you say only what we suggest, your transitions will stay under 45 seconds!
  4. COACHING – Understand the best way to coach the track to give your members the most effective workout. Our expert DVD presenters, who obsess about getting the coaching perfect, will help you with this. Learn to better setup cues, motivate, how to set a specific intention for each set, compulsory cues and what to look out for in the room.
  5. CHOREOGRAPHY – This covers the things to look out for – how many sets. The sequencing, exercises and repetitions.
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