CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 8/3/17

Hey, hey, hey it’s Friday.

I’m excited because Lisa and I are hosting our Strong Body-Strong Mind workshop here in Boston tomorrow and we’re expecting 30 fitness pros to attend and get their nerd on discussing things like the Transtheorhetical Model of Change, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, how to build competency & autonomy, and, you know, deadlifts.1

Because I’m a big jerk and always wait till the last minute to get things done, I’ve still got a few things to tweak on my presentation and need to hightail it out of here to get that done.2

Have a splendid weekend everyone.

Copyright: vimvertigo / 123RF Stock Photo

CHECK THIS STUFF OUT FIRST

1) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando

Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.

I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.

You can go HERE for more details and to sign up.

HEADS UP: We’ve also added Boston into the mix later this year. Not Burlington Boston or Beverly Boston, two cities that are lovely, but not that close to Boston.

No, this is IN Boston…in the heart of the city Boston, at AMP Fitness.

If you’re super excited and want to sign-up early you can go HERE.

2) Lisa on the Lift the Bar Podcast

Lisa was invited onto the Life the Bar Podcast recently discussing what she discusses best…the psychology behind personal training.

You can download on iTunes HERE.

Or, if you prefer, the direct link is HERE.

3) Women’s Health Asked How I Train

Women’s Health reached out and asked me what my workout would look like if I only had 30 minutes to train.

Easy: Wu-Tang, inject caffeine directly into my left ventricle, grab a barbell and lift it off the ground repeatedly, repeat.

Kidding. HERE’s what I really said.

Stuff to Read

Scapular Upward Rotation – Julie Read

I couldn’t use an actual image from Julie’s post because it’s a PDF and I want to encourage you to check it out for yourself. She’s very talented and has an uncanny ability to draw awesome pics of anatomy peppered with witty commentary.

For those who are more visual learners this is for you.

Science is Self Correcting: The Case of the Hip Thrust and Its Effects On Speed – Bret Contreras

What a treat to see someone of Bret’s stature and expertise to write something so honest and transparent.

Sabotaging Your Sales Pitch: 4 Mistakes to Avoid – Pete Dupuis

This one resonated with me, especially now that I’m out on my own and oftentimes have people stop by unannounced or randomly and I may need to “temper” my sales pitch.

Pete nails this one, as usual.

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Instagram

Things got serious towards the end of this workout. As you can see….💪

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Categoriesbusiness fitness business

3 Steps to Fail-Proof Your Gym

A few weeks ago I received a text from my good friend (and former business partner) Pete Dupuis. He and I are both obsessed with Jason Bourne, so the first part of the message contained some sort of arbitrary reference to David Webb. We’re cool like that. The second part, though, asked if I’d interested in him writing a blog post on why me leaving Cressey Sports Performance and opening CORE was a good idea.

Apparently it was a topic that popped into his head during a 3AM, sleep-deprived haze as he was attending to his newborn son. Creative juices can strike at any moment I guess. This is good news given my wife and I are expecting at the end of January.

Anyways, I said “of course,” and what follows is, well, pretty freakin awesome. I’ve always said that gym ownership is NOT for everyone and that industry peeps need to erase the notion from their mind that the only way to “make it” is to sign a lease.

I fought the idea of gym ownership for as long as I could, until I couldn’t any longer. Until it made sense. 

Enjoy.

3-steps-to-fail-proof-your-gym

Opening a Gym? Do These 3 Things First

Just over a year ago Tony Gentilcore made the difficult decision to walk away from Cressey Sports Performance. After more than 8 years of coaching, learning, and business development, it was time to step out from behind the CSP curtain and let the Gentilcore brand loose on the local fitness community.

Tony made the right move; I’m proud of him.

Here we are just a year later, and he’s flipped his world upside down…in a good way. In the past 12 months, he’s presented on multiple continents, recorded a fitness product alongside Dean Somerset, conceived his first child3, and gone from independent contractor to full-blown fitness facility owner.

I want to show you why Tony’s decision to open his own gym (one that thousands of people fail at each year) is extremely likely to succeed. Here are three important things he did in advance of pulling the trigger on this venture to ensure that he see a return on his investment:

1) Tony Accrued TONS of Career Capital

In a field where the barrier to entry is essentially the internet access you need to secure an online fitness certification, Tony has taken an increasingly rare route to “expert” status; he actually set foot on a gym floor for thousands of hours and earned the title.

Coming out of college, he worked split shifts in a corporate fitness setting and would eventually transition to a commercial gym personal training role for multiple years before helping to launch Cressey Sports Performance (CSP).

Tony then proceeded to accumulate more than 10,000 hours of time functioning as a strength coach here at CSP (actually closer to 12,000 – I did the math). When you add up the time spent coaching in all three settings, it is safe to say that he piled up something in the vicinity of 20,000 hours on “a” gym floor prior to announcing the birth of “CORE” to the fitness world. That’s more than 830 entire days of lessons learned, people.

tg-coaching

In more than a decade of build up to CORE, Tony experienced multiple training models, learned to sell effectively in each, and identified his ideal business model and coaching format. He’s also been an employee, an employer, and an influencer in the development of a recognizable fitness brand.

Now I want you to stop and think about all of the gyms you are aware of. Can you name a single founder of one of these businesses with more relevant experience than Tony going in to the launch?

Don’t waste too much time trying to identify someone; this person doesn’t exist.

2) He Accumulated Good Will from Industry Influencers

Gyms that could be fantastic fail every day because of extensive competition. It’s nearly impossible to find a desirable location for your gym that is not already overflowing with competitive exercise alternatives. The unique advantage that Tony possessed coming in to this process wasn’t his funny blogs or his ability to instruct the perfect Turkish getup – it was his network.

tg-cheeky

On the day that he formally announced his departure from CSP on his Facebook page, Tony accumulated 644 “likes” and more than 100 comments wishing him luck and positively reinforcing the move. If you work your way through the comment section, you’ll quickly realize that it reads like the “who’s who” of our little fitness bubble.

The good will didn’t stop there; he went on to record more than a half dozen podcasts discussing his next step and ultimately saw his message reach the far ends of the online fitness community. People were talking. Everyone was talking. Leads started rolling in in the form of emails, and messages on Facebook and Twitter. He wasn’t opening the doors to his business at the same starting line as his competition. Tony was working with a stacked deck.

The lesson here isn’t that you need to spend your time and energy attempting to convince people to share your message on the internet. Instead, it is that you should spend more time making friends than you do accumulating enemies. You’ll be hard-pressed to find somebody who dislikes Tony in this field.

You can’t just ask for a spot on a popular podcast like The Fitcast simply because you need to announce your new business venture. Instead, focus on earning that trust and fostering relationships over time so that when the moment comes for you to take a professional jump the way that Tony did, the most influential people in our field are lining up to ask how they can help.

3) He Didn’t Overreach

Aspiring gym owners aren’t always effective at separating the difference between wants and needs. Sure, you want a 10,000 square foot gym outfitted with $100K in Keiser equipment, but do you need it to be profitable and happy?

Instead of dreaming up his perfect space and building accordingly, Tony started by outlining his perfect lifestyle and began constructing a business model and gym that allowed him to maintain it.

core-white

While most are asking themselves how many power racks and platforms they can cram in to a unit, Tony was wondering how much square footage he’d need to be able to coach clients 20-ish hours per week while leaving enough time to publish 100+ blogs annually and also be a present father in the very near future.

Being a new gym owner doesn’t mean that you have to work 7-days per week in year one. Tony assumed responsibility for an 800 square foot space, negotiated a tenant-friendly lease agreement, and identified a pair of likeminded coaches who were willing to pay their share of the rent in an independent contracting format. He was hardly stretching himself thin.

Tony “took the leap,” but in doing so, manipulated the risk to maximize an efficient journey to the inevitable success he set himself up for leading up to his move.

About the Author

Pete Dupuis is the Vice President and business director of Cressey Sports Performance, one of the premier training facilities in North America. He also learned how to deadlift from Tony Gentilcore back in 2006. True story.

He writes a very successful website targeting the “fitness business” crowd HERE and you can also follow his shenanigans on Twitter HERE.

Categoriesbusiness coaching fitness business

“Real” Fitness Business Talk With Pete Dupuis

This past weekend I attended The Fitness Summit in Kansas City, MO. It was my third year in a row not only attending, but speaking as well. It’s easily one of my favorite events each year.

Not only for the huge honor of being invited to speak, but also for the people. It’s truly more of a “lets get together and hang out4” thing than it is a formal fitness event.

The FItness Summit 2016

Ladies and Gentlemen: your 2016 Fitness Summit speaker panel.

I’ll spare everyone the words of adoration and brown-nosing (you can read that on my Facebook page), but suffice it to say: if you’re a fitness professional or just someone who enjoys watching Bret Contreras and Spencer Nadolsky’s man-crush for one another grow by the second lifting heavy things, than you owe it to yourself to attend.

As we boarded the plane early Thursday morning, Pete Dupuis (Cressey Sports Performance’s business director and fellow presentee) had a brilliant idea. If we were going to be stuck on a plane for 3+ hours, why not produce some blog content?

We decided to jot down a few fitness-business related questions for one another and then do a laptop exchange.

Note to Pete (after the fact): fingers crossed you didn’t click the icon labeled “Tony’s Titillating Tickle Fights” on my desktop.

If so: you’re welcome.

If not: shoot me a PM.

You can check out what I wrote for his website HERE.

And you can check out what Pete had to say below.

Enjoy!

TG – You have an MBA from one of the most prestigious business schools in the US – Babson College – which I know has served you well as an entrepreneur. Yet, I have heard you say several times that “business” is every bit as much about common sense and “feel” as anything else. Explain.

PD – I’ve been asked the question “was your MBA worth it” on more than one occasion in recent weeks.

I should probably start my answer by mentioning that I didn’t go back to school in 2006 with the intention of accumulating the skills necessary to run a profitable fitness facility. In fact, Eric was living and coaching in Connecticut when I enrolled, and I didn’t even know who Tony Gentilcore was at the time.

The idea of owning a fitness business was about as likely as me pursuing my dream job as the starting goalkeeper for the US Men’s National Soccer Team.

I had hit a point in my young career where it was becoming clear that my ceiling as a Marketing Manager in a publicly traded company was considerably lower than what I had in mind for my professional future. The economy (and job market) weren’t exactly thriving in 2007, so I decided pursuing an MBA at that moment in time was what made sense for me.

There were some skills acquired during my undergraduate and graduate level business school courses that have been immensely valuable, and others that have been filed away in the “stuff I’ll never apply” folder in the back of my mind.

One of the most useful learning experiences I covered would be the Introduction to the Microsoft Office Suite course that delved into the minutia of each application. I’d imagine that for a couple hundred bucks, anyone could enroll in a similar course at a local community college and suddenly become a rock star at writing macros in Excel.

As you’ve mentioned, I like to say that 99% of operating a profitable and efficient fitness facility is application of common sense. Don’t spend more than you collect, and you’re in business for as long as you can tolerate the entrepreneurial grind.

Lastly, and arguably most importantly, I’d encourage all fitness professionals to continuously embrace and develop the art of networking. If there’s one thing you fine-tune during an MBA program, it is the skill of professional small talk.

TG – One of the things that CSP has done very well, and prides itself on, is allowing the opportunity or “window” for the staff and coaches to use the CSP brand to build their own brand.

Can you explain why it behooves other small (fitness) businesses to follow suite? Personally, I think it’s a huge mistake when I hear stories of gyms telling their coaches/trainers that they can’t start their own website or generate other revenue streams.

PD – As it turns out, the answer to this question makes up just about 50% of my presentation content for this weekend’s event, titled “Empowering Your Fitness Team.” Here’s a look at the three big takeaways:

For starters, when your employees have the autonomy to explore the development of their own brand and identity within this industry, they are more likely to coach as the most authentic version of themselves on the training floor of your gym. I want my employees to influence the personality of my brand, and not the other way around.

The second reason that I encourage my team to pursue personal brand development is that it allows employees to increase earning potential through writing opportunities, speaking engagements, etc.

If I can assist an employee in increasing earning potential without it impacting the bottom line of my business, I’m going to do it.

Lastly, CSP coaches who successfully establish their own business within our business are more likely to think entrepreneurially as it relates to the growth and development of your gym. They also carry a little more credibility in the eyes of a new client who happens to remember having seen their name in the pages of an issue of Men’s Health or in a guest post on Eric Cressey’s website.

TG – How much does CSP miss Tony’s Techno Thursdays?

PD – About a 6 on a 100-point scale.

TG – I know it’s generic to ask, but it’s still a relevant question for any person contemplating opening their own facility: what are the TOP 3 things to consider/ask one’s self on the topic?

PD – These are the 3 questions I’d ask myself if considering starting a gym from scratch today:

Q1. Do I have something unique to offer?

Is my training model going to introduce something new to the existing set of gym options in my immediate area, or am I simply recreating the offerings of my future competition? If I’m not unique, I’m selling a commodity product. Commodity products compete on price, and that’s a horrible place to be as a gym owner.

Q2. Have I identified “my ten” and run it by them? I recently stumbled upon a fantastic blog post from Seth Godin titled “First, Ten.”

Godin explains that the best way to determine whether an idea or project is worthy of further pursuit is to run it by your ten most trusted confidants, and see if they bother to tell someone else about it.

If they decide to spread your message organically, you’ve got something solid on your hands.

Otherwise, you toss it in the trash and move on to the next endeavor. So, the question becomes: Did “your ten” bother telling friends you were thinking about opening a gym?

Q3. Have I fully come to terms with the realities of owning my own business?

TG – Can you elaborate on why you feel offering FREE consultations is not a wise choice for fitness professionals?

PD – Absolutely. Check this piece out.

TG – Trainers/coaches/gym owners think that getting their names in national publications is the key to success, when in fact it’s LOCAL exposure that pays the bills. What are some hard hitting strategies you’d suggest to anyone looking to increase both their local exposure and lead generation?

I’m sad to say that I didn’t embrace Facebook advertising until just recently. It is quickly becoming an efficient and affordable tool for us. I can’t think of a more effective way to allocate our advertising dollars in a targeted manner, so investing in Facebook ads would be my first piece of advice to those looking to spend toward the pursuit of lead generation.

We’ve managed to minimize our marketing investment over the years by instead focusing on helping our brand to grow organically within our general area.

This happens quickly when you demonstrate how much you care first, and how much you know later.

We attend baseball games. We show up to watch our clients play a gig with their garage band. We make ourselves visible in the community outside of our facility. There’s a whole big world of potential clients outside the walls of your little fitness playground, and sometimes you need to leave your comfort zone and have actual conversations with people.

CategoriesUncategorized

Business Q and A with TG at 30,000 Feet

Pete Dupuis and I flew down to Kansas City this morning for this weekend’s The Fitness Summit. We had a 3+ hour flight, and to help pass the time we had a tickle fight exchanged lap tops and asked one another business-related questions.

Pete just posted MY half of the party over his blog like five minutes ago.

You should check it out.

HERE

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 10/30/15

I kid you not, as I type these words I am sitting in my apartment waiting for the delivery guys from Sleepy’s to drop off the new mattress Lisa and I bought the other night.

Not that any of you reading are in any way interested in mine and Lisa’s sleep quality5, but she’s had the same mattress for about a decade (and we’ve been together for six years), so it was time to upgrade.

We walked to the local Sleepy’s down the street from our apartment and spent a good two hours test driving a few mattresses6 and narrowed it down to the one that’s supposed to be arriving between 8-12PM today (or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first).

We’re totally going to be asleep at like 6 tonight. Can’t wait!

A few things before I get to this week’s list of stuff to read:

Last weekend marked my official “start date” for my new solo venture.7 I’m sub-leasing space from Run Strong Studio in Brookline, MA (Boston) and training people out of there. Here’s a little flavor for what it looks like:

A little flavor for what the new studio space looks like. Meeting clients for first time this AM. Hope they like 90s hip hop.

A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Rebecca – the woman who owns the studio – has been awesome. She’s a doctor who trains people on the side (mostly runners) in a rehab setting. When we met for the first time in person I saw she had a copy of Gray Cook’s Movement on her desk and she also dropped a few Mike Boyle and PRI references. I knew right away she was eating at the cool kids table.

Since our first meeting to now she’s allowed me to “vomit” strength and conditioning and bring in a bunch of equipment into her space. The result is what you see above.

It’s nothing fancy pants, but it’s perfect for what I’m looking to do: coach people, write awesome programs, and make them into badasses.

The first week has gone well and I’ve already had several people perform their initial assessment and are primed to get after it. If you’re in Boston and want to check things out for yourself you can go HERE.

ALSO

As a reminder: Dean Somerset and I will be in Los Angeles (Anaheim) at CrossFit 714 for our Complete Shoulder and Hip Workshop the weekend of November 14th.

 

That’s in two weeks, yo. For more information you can go HERE.

[Cue obligatory “this is why Tony & Dean are the awesome” testimonial here]

“Being cynical of the workshop frenzy in our industry has made me extremely picky with how I spend my time and money with my educational efforts. Tony and Dean presented our group with simple and concise information that will be easy to implement into my business’ daily operations.

The assessments and corrective strategies that I learned this weekend will be very useful in any size setting which translates to me being able to spend more time growing my business while delivering an effective product. If you value your time and the quality of your work, this is a must-attend event.”

5 Pitfalls (and Fixes!) for the Barbell Back Squat – Jennifer Blake (via JenSinkler.com)

We like to get overly technical when it comes to the big lifts, often to the detriment of looking past other commonly made mistakes.

This was an excellent watch from Jennifer and I recommend you watch it too.

Scientists Just Found That Red Meat Causes Cancer…Or Did They? – Kamal Patel (Examine.com)

It’s articles like this as to why I consider Examine.com one of my GO TO resources for un-biased nutrition and supplementation information.

They rock.

Last week (another) major story broke reminding everyone that red-meat is going to kill us all. It happens every year, it’s nothing new, really, it’s not, and the mainstream media latches onto it and apocalizes (<– Yep, I just made up a word) it.

RUN EVERYONE. BACON IS GOING TO KILL YOU. AHHHHH……….

Deep breaths, relax, and read this.

We Waited 7 Years to Open a 2nd Location…Here’s Why – Pete Dupuis

Cressey Sports Performance business director, Pete Dupuis, explains why we waited seven years before pulling the trigger and opening a second location.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/5/15

 

Physical Preparation 101 – Mike Robertson

The best coaches are the most efficient coaches. They’re able to assess their athletes/clients and “streamline” the program writing process.

It doesn’t have to be like rocket science or solving long division.

TODAY (6/5) is the last day to purchase this fantastic resource at a significant discount ($100 off the regular price), and learn from one of the best coaches I know.

In addition, there is a 2-pay option, so that’s something to consider for those who are a bit more price sensitive.

That said, I can pretty much guarantee PP 101 will pay for itself 10x over from all the things you’ll learn, not to mention be able to immediately apply on Day #1.

This is not a cost, it’s an investment…….in yourself.

Todd Bumgardner’s New Site – Todd Bumgardner

I’ve featured many of Todd’s articles on this site in the past, so for some of you he’s nothing new. He’s the awesome.

But for the many of you who are new to the site, Todd’s someone whom I respect a ton and he’s someone I feel you should be listening to and reading.

I mean, he’s bald, he likes to lift heavy things, what’s not to like?

He just made his brand spankin new site live and it’s the shiz. I encourage you to check it out and bookmark it, cause you’re going to learn.

Pete Dupuis’ New Site – Pete Dupuis

Cressey Sports Performance’s business director and Vice President, Pete Dupuis, has finally stepped into the 21st century and started his own website.

You won’t find articles on the best set/rep schemes or how to measure glenohumeral internal rotation deficit or anything of that nature here.

What you will find is real advice and logic on how to run a fitness business, sans the cheesy buzz words (TOP SECRETS!!!!) that many internet gurus like to use.

If you’re a current business owner or an aspiring one, I’d bookmark Pete’s site too if I were you.

CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Holiday Weekend Edition

I’ve sequestered myself in academic quarantine for the better portion of the week getting my presentation ready for next weekend’s Spinal Health and Core Training seminar up in Edmonton (Canada) alongside the likes of Rick Kaselj, Dean Somerset, and Dr. Jeff Cubos.  Unfortunately, Megatron had a scheduling conflict.

I’m pretty excited – and maybe a teeny tiny bit nervous (I’m hyperventilating into a brown paper bag as I write this) – to have the opportunity to speak on some of the ways we go about handling spinal issues and core training with our athletes and general population clients at Cressey Performance.

My presentation is tentatively called Addressing the Core:  From Assessment to Badass. It’s either that or Your Back Hates You:  Here’s Why.  I don’t know, I’m still working with a few things, but I’m definitely leaning towards the former.

For those curious, in a nutshell I’m approaching this as a massive brain dump and plan on discussing everything from breathing patterns to squat and deadlift progressions (and a few things in between).  Hell I might even throw in a shadow puppet show for good measure.

Nevertheless, between now and next Friday I’m going to try my best to stay on top of putting up some blogs, but don’t hate me if I end up slacking in that department.  Like I said, I’m in academic quarantine mode, and I’m pretty much counting on doing nothing but reading, writing, and working on this presentation between now and then.

Oh look, Baywatch is on!!!!!

10 Hidden Expenses in Opening Your Own Strength and Conditioning Facility – Pete Dupuis

Pistol Pete makes his literary debut and goes into depth on what some of the “hidden” costs entailed when we started Cressey Performance.  Some are old, some are new……either way, it hopefully helps sheds some light to those contemplating opening their own facility.

The Truth About Cleansing and Fasting – Brad Pillon

With intermittent fasting all the rage right now, I felt this was a concise (and well researched) explanation by Brad on the merits of fasting and why those colon cleanse products that taste like sandpaper dipped in cancer are pretty much a waste of time (and money).

While I’m far from an expert on the topic, I will say that I have been toying with the concept here and there and think there’s a lot of validity to it.

For those looking for a bit more information on fasting and how to implement it into your schedule, check out John Romaniello’s Fat Loss Forever.

High School Strength Coaches: Don’t Make This Mistake – The Angry Coach

Don’t train high school kids like they’re adults

That’s the quote that summarizes this article, and I couldn’t agree more.

Many coaches (I did it too, back in the day) are quick to revert to smoke and mirrors when it comes to training their younger athletes, either for the “cool” factor or to try to impress the parents.  Look ma!  Chains!!!!!!!!!!

Listen, teaching a young athlete how to perform a proper lunge or push-up is going to be way more beneficial to his or her athletic performance than those silly agility ladders.  Above all, while focusing on strength should be paramount in terms of priorities (seriously, put those speed cones away), I’d also make the argument that taking the time to actually COACH your athletes ranks even higher.

I can’t even tell how many times I’ve had a high school kid walk into the facility boasting about his 405 lb squat, only to get STAPLED by 185 lbs because I forced him to actually squat to depth.

In any case, this was an awesome piece and I highly encourage you to check it out, and more importantly, forward it to your local high school strength coach.