6 min
At long last the health and fitness industry seems to finally be making a turnaround. After lengthy COVID-19 related shutdowns and clients wary of returning to in-person training, what we have long hoped for is becoming a reality: people are returning to gyms and health clubs.
Gym giant Planet Fitness just posted a 241% increase in revenue from 2020 , and hope is on the horizon for smaller boutique fitness studios as well.
The fact is that people still want to work out, to focus on their health and appearance, but now, post-COVID and the rather quick digitization of fitness, they now want it fast and completely tailored to their life and personal goals.
The shift consumers have gone through in the past year and a half has had a huge impact on their expectations within the realm of health and fitness. Clients no longer want to schedule their day around their workout - they want something hyper-personalized that fits into their daily life.
Many gyms and personal trainers alike still design exercise programming using paper training plans, old-school clipboards or binders to deliver workouts to their clients. Some then “digitize” these pen-to-paper plans by painstakingly adding everything into an Excel spreadsheet to map out client progress.
But what if we told you there was an easier, faster and more client and trainer-friendly solution? There is: digital training plans, by using a training plan software .
Customers Have Higher Expectations
While we celebrate the return of in-person and on-site training, we have to acknowledge the fact that the expectations of gym-goers have irrevocably changed. The consumer is more empowered than ever and if we want to support them in their health and fitness journey as well as keep them coming through the doors of our gyms and health clubs, it is crucial to get on board with a streamlined set of services.
As a personal trainer or gym owner, you want to spend your time making sure your clients are on the right track to reach their goals and give them the personal attention they desire and deserve. You want to do your job: training and supporting your clients.
One way to get back to doing what you love is to stop wasting precious time writing out and then meticulously digitizing paper training plans, and instead look to the future with digital training plans.
The Member Experience
It cannot be overstated how much the member experience comes into play with the return to onsite training. Research shows that your returning gym members are expecting more and more personalized experiences and services. In fact, some 63% of consumers expect personalization as a standard of service.
They want personalized communications, amenities, and, of course, exercise programming. This means that cookie-cutter training plans and run-of-the-mill spreadsheets are not going to cut it for your clients.
61% of the people surveyed in the above research felt they were treated like case numbers rather than people. As a gym owner or fitness trainer, this means we’ve got to get away from seeing our clients and members as another name on a roster and put the personal back in personal training.
Your members want to be treated as individuals, and if they don’t find this experience at your gym, they will most definitely look for it at another. Both client acquisition and retention is going to hinge heavily on hyper-personalizing the experiences and services you provide- and a digital fitness plan is just one way to do so.
Personalized training plans could not be easier with thousands of exercises available to create the perfect plan for your clients based on their individual goals and personal needs.
Show your training clients their progress from a multitude of angles with detailed achievements, hundreds of available metrics to display and spot trends at a glance. Your digital training plan dashboard gives you access to graphics complete with statistics, detailed progress tracking, and over 250 measurement metrics to truly personalize the member experience.
Fitness Technology to Help Your Gym Thrive
So we understand that consumer demands and expectations have changed and that people want fitness services that accommodate their schedules – not the other way around. Fitness technology is the answer to push your business forward. Digital fitness plans provide clients with additional value and flexibility they are looking for outside the gym.
For trainers, they are easy to create, simple to edit or duplicate and can be seamlessly sent straight to clients’ smartphone or computer. With an ever-growing exercise database of 4500+ movements and a drag and drop setup, designing fitness and training plans is simple, user-friendly and time-saving.
Case in point: Virtuagym Success Story Akasha London . The simple and straight-forward Virtuagym system has allowed Aksaha to simplify and integrate almost every detail of their business- not just digital training plans, saving hours of time each week. What it comes down to is that fewer hours spent on performing menial tasks means more time that can be spent on growing your business and increasing your bottom line.
With Virtuagym’s platform, you can automate things like client acquisition and retention , managing booking and scheduling classes, email marketing, membership management, and renewal billing, financial reporting, client coaching, and more.
Ready to Say Goodbye to Paper Training Plans?
Moving on from pen and paper plans doesn’t mean opening up a clunky Excel spreadsheet. With Virtuagym’s workout editor, you can create and assign professional training plans in minutes. Save a base workout to personalize for clients with similar goals, as duplicating a training plan is easy and simple.
The plans can be accessed on any computer, on your branded fitness app, or even as branded print-outs. Digital training plans work for every kind of business, from independent personal trainers to boutique studios all the way to big box gym chains. With new exercises being added to the database and new features to use, we strive for constant innovation to make sure the Virtuagym app keeps working hard for you.
Getting more clients into your gym means having a seamless user experience. It may start with digital training plans, but it certainly doesn’t have to end there. Hybrid business models give gyms and personal trainers the opportunity to find new streams of revenue. They help create a cohesive online and offline experience for clients. Digital training plans are the future of personal training, as they follow the clear path of the overall digitization of our industry.
They’re easier and more comprehensive than any Excel spreadsheet or Google sheet could ever be, and they are always accessible through your Virtuagym app or online portal. They are easy to edit and with a clear overview of plans and progress, both trainers and clients benefit. So, out with the old and in with the new: get rid of the paperweights and offer your clients an easy-to-use modern solution to reach their fitness goals- wherever they need.
