Thursday, June 22, 2006

WHO WE WANT AS CUSTOMERS AND TRAINERS

The opening of the new box is well on the way. Equipment is being ordered, schedules are being tested and people are inquiring about working for me.

One very popular instructor contacted me about working for me. She looked at the standards and felt she could not complete half of the physical requirements. She suggested that personality and charisma should have a higher status for my staff. The following is my response. It outline the basic philisophical differenct between what we do and what everyone else does.

Please keep in mind that I very much like and respect her and hope she come along to our way of thinking since we will not compromise our standards.

Dear A:

Interesting comments. I really need to clarify my position on training.

My observations of "group exercise" is that it is almost entirely driven by charismatic instructors (80% personality, 20% content) and it lacks quality content. The focus is on personality and beats per minute and resembles country line dancing resulting in a common theme of easy adaptation to the programming and therefore limited results. Another issue is how few men participate in the group classes. I was recalled for 7 months. I observed that all the women who were doing the typical aerobics, (Step, body sculpt and yoga) nothing changed for them. They were having fun dancing around to the same sorority music after 7 seven months with no visible results. (Asses the same size with no appreciable change in "body tone.")

It leads me to some conclusions:
1. Most fitness consumers are not really interested in results (Why would they be a part of programs that fail miserably?)
2. The typical fitness consumer does not value their fitness (Why would they accept lack of results? The entitlement attitude that they should get everything included in their membership for $40 per month when dinner and drinks is $200 for an evening)
3. Generally consumers who are uneducated are willing to accept inferior products (Does this need comment?)

So, do I pander to fads? Do I hire people because they are popular? Absolutely not. In fact, the more popular the would-be instructors are, the less likely I would be interested in working with them. When I started Boot Camp, people would say: It is too hard. I don't like his music. They do too many squats. Squats are bad for your knees, etc and so forth. I decided to lead and provide people with a results-oriented option. You have some buy-in because you have copied elements and brought them to Liberty without being compensated for it.

The key difference is leadership. What we do is harder than any other class around. We added CrossFit to the mix because it is unparalleled in results. Not because it is popular and not because it was in Vogue magazine and I hope it never is, but because it gets results. We provide people leadership in fitness. Most of the training we do is retro back to the days when people moved there bodies in functional ways and got tired doing it. College teams do stadium runs because they know it gets their players in shape enough to prepare their season.

Let me define the Hyperfit USA Customer:

1. People who are results driven. Period, end of story.
2. People who can recognize the value of their fitness and health.
3. People who can tell the difference between a part-time and professional instructor.
4. People who can value the above points and pay a premium price for exceptional instruction.

How big is this market? I don't care. We have created a market of serious people who want serious results who expend real efforts. It did not exist in Ann Arbor until we started over four years ago. The market is now growing and everyone is calling what they do as Boot Camp or Elite Fitness or High Intensity Training and it resembles body building supersets or station-based interval training. I wish I had not called my class Boot Camp. It causes so much confusion in the mind of the customer. When I hear "I do Boot Camp at..." it make me cringe that people would lump me into that group.

People pay premium prices for premium service. It costs a lot to travel and seek the best training available. Our customers understand that they have the option to go to the Washtenaw County Rec Center for less then $150 per year. You will also note that the instructors who teach there also teach at all the fitness clubs in the area. What we provide is expert training in areas that they need and cannot get on their own or from a selectorized machine or the young kid in the personal trainer polo shirt.

This leads me to the "Charismatic Instructor." If the consumer is educated, then charisma is not so much a concern. They come for the coaching and expertise. You can't be a piece of wood but by no means to you need to be Billy Blanks. The ideal shift is now 70% content and 30% personality) How is this achieved? Training, training and training. The instructors must constantly achieve perfect execution of all exercise and be able to communicate those skills to the clients. The instructors must have a real commitment to excellence and constant study. Showing the customer a glimpses of what they can become and supporting them at every step of the way is really what matters. It also matters that you have something good to teach.

The main issue with charismatic instructors is that they are lacking in content and variety. Their programming is limited based on their format. Our format is that there is no format. Everything is variable to the point of randomness. The idea of a popularity contest is exactly what I want to breed out of my staff. It would be nearly impossible to have a purely content driven class but it is not impossible. We are going to get as close as humanly possible.

Let's face it, if "traditional" group exercise worked, then the military would adopt it and use it to train their people to prepare them for the greatest contest know to man: War.

I reissue a challenge: If you can show me fitter people, show us. We will train with them.

Are you still interested in working for me? :)


Doug

15 comments:

ec said...

i like the response doug.

ive been finding how challenging it is to get people just to come check us out - even "athletes". how did result based fitness programs become so unpopular?

anyway - perhaps youll come to boston in october?

Doug Chapman said...

EC,

Thanks - I was on a rate and ran with it.

Boston in October is possible, if Neal will have me?

Doug

Doug Chapman said...

Thanks Jerry.

I hope all is well in PA.

Doug

ec said...

neal would def be stoked if you came out.

Raymee said...

Wow Doug, you may have just single-handedly offended every charismatic group fitness instructor in cyberspace. I sure would be willing to bet that a nice little chunk of your CrossFit clientele have been referred by popular instructors such as my good friend A... CrossFit thrives on the graduates of our 20% content, results lackin' boot scootin' boogie. Hey man, how about a shout out to the gals with the big personalities who send their own people your way? As fitness professionals, we do realize that a client who limits him or herself to taking group fit classes as the only mode of training is probably not going to come out of it two months later with a six pack. But believe it or not, the folks you have quoted as "not really interested in results" may not necessarily be interested in the six pack. Results are relative to the goal, and the goal of a Charismatic Group Fitness Instructor is to provide a FUN, SAFE, and (oh my god) sometimes even CHALLENGING workout experience. Our students leave feeling happy, invigorated, and with a sense of accomplishment. We define that as delivering results. Thank you for acknowleging that your market is a small, elite percentage of the population. You have a unique product and an elite niche. I respect what you do for the men and women (even kids) who want what you define as "results", but please do not disparage those of us who deliver the many many other benefits of group fitness.

Doug Chapman said...

Rayme,

Thanks for posting. I thought very few actually read my rantings.

Offence is not my intention. My goal was, is and will continue to be to differentiate what Hyperfit USA does from the rest of the industry. The weakness of a business model that relies on the personality is apparent. For instance, what happens to most classes when the instructor is gone? Attendance diminishes.

I took the first 12 days of this month off from my classes. (I was very worried about diminishing attendance.) There was a modest decrease due to weather but for the most part, attendance did not suffer. The comments from my participants was what great workouts they did.

Another instance of the reverse is when our good friend stopped teaching at #*$*%&#*, her classes disappeared. The next instructor taught the same format, but no one came to the classes. So, were people going to class for the workout or the personality?

What are the results given and how are they measured? We do not focus on the appearance of fitness, but in actual human output. A "six pack" is not what we are doing. It is a byproduct but is not the measure of effectiveness. We teach people to move better. We time, measure and rank EVERY workout. We judge the workout based on the output of the participants. In my opinion, this is the greatest contribution of CrossFit to our training. It provides an OBJECTIVE standard to evaluate performance.

Take a close look at the photos on the blog. You will not find supermen and women. You will find a lot of really normal people doing extraordinary workouts.

We are severely limited at the current facility. A lot of the training we have been unable to do.

I do apologize if you found my letter disparaging. I think of an exercise continuum. On one side is a couch, the other is sports. Where someone falls on the scale is a matter of choice.

Until you drink the Kool-Aid, you will never know. You have an open invitation.

Please read the post about CrossFit standards.

Doug Chapman said...

Rayme,

Thanks for posting. I thought very few actually read my rantings.

Offence is not my intention. My goal was, is and will continue to be to differentiate what Hyperfit USA does from the rest of the industry. The weakness of a business model that relies on the personality is apparent. For instance, what happens to most classes when the instructor is gone? Attendance diminishes.

I took the first 12 days of this month off from my classes. (I was very worried about diminishing attendance.) There was a modest decrease due to weather but for the most part, attendance did not suffer. The comments from my participants was what great workouts they did.

Another instance of the reverse is when our good friend stopped teaching at #*$*%&#*, her classes disappeared. The next instructor taught the same format, but no one came to the classes. So, were people going to class for the workout or the personality?

What are the results given and how are they measured? We do not focus on the appearance of fitness, but in actual human output. A "six pack" is not what we are doing. It is a byproduct but is not the measure of effectiveness. We teach people to move better. We time, measure and rank EVERY workout. We judge the workout based on the output of the participants. In my opinion, this is the greatest contribution of CrossFit to our training. It provides an OBJECTIVE standard to evaluate performance.

Take a close look at the photos on the blog. You will not find supermen and women. You will find a lot of really normal people doing extraordinary workouts.

We are severely limited at the current facility. A lot of the training we have been unable to do.

I do apologize if you found my letter disparaging. I think of an exercise continuum. On one side is a couch, the other is sports. Where someone falls on the scale is a matter of choice.

Until you drink the Kool-Aid, you will never know. You have an open invitation.

Doug Chapman said...

First, posters should use their names. Integrity would require a name. Since I liked your critism, I will answer it.

Second: I don't remove posts. Part of the system is to be open to critism. The harder we scrutize our actions, the better product in the end.

On your points.

1. Generalizations are bad. Concur. I observed the behaviors. Is is science? Did I observe all classes? No. Have I seen enough to make some generalizations, yup.
2. Do not concur. I have the highest standards of performance and execution for my clientele. Please note in my class today, I had former NHL player training next to a cardiac patient. The point is scaleability.
3. If you read the note to Rayme and the email I sent both of them today, then it will become a lot clearer. Basically, why were are different.
4. Concur (50%). Part time does not lead to non-professional. Think of it like this: Do you want to go to the doctor who moonlights from his day job as an accountant? Can a part time professional be as good as a full time?
5. Concur - Partially: There have been a few referrals, however, 90% of the people have been referred from people within the classes.
6. Do not concur. We include in our programming all ten elements of fitness which is all inclusive. The curve of what is included is
7. Funny. It was called HissyFit the other day. I thought that was funny too. I will take it under consideration. How about just changing the name to "what you can't get at Globo Gym?"

Final point: Yes. As a matter of integrity, yup. Maybe it could have been posted in a different format. Maybe it was a bad call. If I were to remove it, I would be a coward and make me someone who's opinion can be changed on a whim. Then I would stand for nothing. So it stays.

This post servers another, less clear goal. There have been some accusations that I am recruiting people way from @#$$%%@. I want it to be very clear that the standards are hope we operate are not subject to populartiy contest typical in the gym industry.

Please review the physical standards we are requiring of our instructors. Albeit, the standard are relatively low, they are still standards.

ec said...

doug can answer on his own - but this comment struck me.

"Do you expect for a generally unfit person who is perhaps starting to work out for the first time in their lives, to show visible signs of body/fat ratio improvement, higher cardio vascular endurance, and muscle tone increases in seven months of working out 2 maybe 3 hours a week? If you do, you have some biology to read up on."

following the crossfit/hyperfit regime - i would say yes. their results are unmatched. "results" being power output of particpants (force*distance/time), not a six pack. increasing power, which is the best individual metric of relative performance, is the goal. i would estimate an individual's power output across weeks of certain group ex classes is relatively static in comparison to that in weeks of crossfit/hyperfit. the body/fat, cardio endurance, improved muscle tone, come with increased power.

his open invitation stands.

David said...

Doug, you are really taking far too narrow a view of fitness and you are doing a disservice to others.

I don't doubt that people see results from your class. But if you limit the definition of results to "what you get from Boot Camp" then you're just talking in circles.

For example: I could be completely wrong about this, but I am pretty confident that if you set foot in a Step class you would be stumbling around for most of the hour like you had some traumatic head injury. But if you devoted yourself to it and put in the effort required, your coordination would improve. You would see results.

Same thing with Yoga. An inflexible person doesn't take yoga to improve their bench press. But after a time, the person's flexibility would improve. They would see results.

Note: those are two aspects of fitness that, as far as I can see, get virtually no attention in your class -- Coordination and Flexibility.

To see results in your class, or any class, you need to put in a lot of effort. You are correct that just keeping in your workout comfort zone will produce no results. That applies to your class also. Believe it or not, people do occasionally go on cruise control in your class too (I have seen it). I think you are way off in suggesting that your class is for people who want results and other classes are for those who don't care.

With respect to "A", and your standard requirements for an instructor, again, I think you are being too narrow-minded.

First, I have been taking Boot Camp classes since you were using a fake ID. Your implication that you developed something that "A" took with her is a little over the top. Every Boot Camp class I have ever taken (including yours) has had two major components -- plyometric/explosiveness drills and usable strength training. There is nothing *new* here.

Second, I have taken many Boot Camp classes from "A" and, although they are of a different flavor, they are at least as challenging as yours (crudely put, I define a challenging Boot Camp class as one that makes me feel like I am going to throw up). "A" has a lot to offer in the Boot Camp format and if your rigid standards are depriving your students of that experience, you should rethink them.

Doug Chapman said...

This is the most fun I have had in a while.

We have had a lot of hits on the blog today. It didn’t start out as a “publicity stunt” but it is a great idea.

I will have press release done about the Hyperfit USA Instructor Challenge. A really cool way of doing it would be for each instructor to put their best workout into a hopper and have the event randomly drawn out. Each workout should be performance driven and measurable as to time or scoring method. 10 events scored 10 for 1st, 9 for second and so forth. High score wins.

It is pretty cool that all these "interested" are offended I place physical standards for my prospective staff as well as classes that are based on content vs personality. I didn’t know my opinions would case such drama in our local small town market. Cool. How many of you had been on this blog before today?

Notice, I post my workouts out here in the public forum. Do any of you? (CrossFitters accepted) Do you normally post your opinions in the public space of cyberspace?

The challenge for my staff is still out there:

10 Pull Ups
2 minute rest
10 Ring Dips
2 minute rest
Hand stand (No time)
2 minute rest
100% Body weight back squats
2 minute rest
2 mile run in less than 16:00

August 5th, 2006 1200: Who measures up? Any takers? Anyone, Bueller?

David: Fake ID: That was a long time ago!  Please drop into one of my classes and try it. There is a lot of coordination and flexibility. There is no question “A” is one of the best instructors out there. My position has always been: She is worth A LOT more than what typical group exercise instructors are paid.

Bob: EC has a great point, I await your answer.

Raymee said...

A highly entertaining Monday morning/afternoon indeed. Doug, although I have yet to partake in a snort of your Kool Aide (still looking forward to it actually) Clay and I have been referring our members to your website since our gym on the east side opened in February. And as of 11:25 PM last night, I have apparently marketed your blogspot pretty effectively as well. Aside from ring dips, pull-ups, and six packs (all very hot, yeah baby) my only point was, hey man where is the love? Let's respect our fellow group ex'ers regardless of whether or not we necessarily agree with their methods. Personally, the only measurement I take of my students is the size of their smiles as they walk out the door.. we all go home happy and feeling great! There is a market for that "result".. this I can assure. Ladies and gentlement, can we support each other in a public forum rather than rip on each other and compete for Last Group Fitness Instructor Standing? Lest we all forget to play not simply to win, but for the love of the game. The winning shall follow.

Doug Chapman said...

Gibbs!

Wow, that was nicer than normal. You have grown into a humanitarian. How nice.

FYI - I may be in San Diego in mid July and will be another week in SOCAL for training in August. I would love to catch up over a pint or 12. Only if you can make sure I make it home safe and we don't cross the boarder.

I will drop you a line when I have travel docs in hand.

PS: That warrant for you is taken of...

David said...

I have taken your class. I was speaking from my experience.

Thanks for the invitation to sign up for your class again, but considering the way you treated Andrea, and assuming your infantile buddy Erik is typical of the participants, I think I'll pass.

Doug Chapman said...

Andrea,

First, I should have changed the format to requirements. I apologize for that. (As I did earlier)

There have been some accusations that I am trying to steal instructors from various places. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I am discouraging people from applying unless they are certain, absolutely certain; they are willing to commit to the level of output required. I have had several instructors who have showed interest in training with us. None of which have showed up to trainer training. That was part of the fight club reference about getting on the porch.

The standards stand. This is not new news to you. We have talked about this at length. There are none of the standards you could not reach within a few weeks/months of training. If you would be willing to make that commitment, you could do it. It would be very hard to instruct someone on doing a clean or a thruster unless you can do it yourself. No amount of alphabet soup gives someone the ability to properly do a hang clean or sumo dead lift high pull. They have to be able to do it.

It was in poor taste that I posted my personal email to you. I should have recrafted it and posted it the same way I posted the physical standards. I failed sugar coating as well as spelling, what can I say? I am a knuckle dragger.

It was interesting to get all the arguments and posts. Quite a heated debate. Entertaining.

Since I have the attention of the local instructors: How about if your compensations was directly tied to your performance? If no one comes, you don’t get paid. Or if you had $1k each year in funding for continuing education? Or if you agree to teach x number of classes per month, then you can bring in as many personal training clients as you like and it is on your balance sheet as a contractor? Those are ideas I have been kicking around. Can you be as helpful as you have been critical?

At least we people know where my blog is.

Doug