Are you keen to create online fitness programs but unsure where to start? The last year has seen a huge shift towards online workouts and virtual training. Tools like Shopify and Podia make it easier than ever to sell online programs, courses, and downloads. So, how can you make the switch to digital sessions or improve your existing online programs?
In this article – our guest author explains exactly how to create online fitness programs that are fun and engaging for clients.
As personal trainers, our passion isn’t only derived from helping people accomplish ambitious fitness goals. It’s also driven by the experience we provide.
We strive to deliver unique workouts, that are challenging, fun, results-oriented and enable participants to forget the stresses of everyday life. It’s the combination of these factors that make personal training both unique and adventurous!
For the novice personal trainer or those that want to take their PT business to the next level, the question becomes how do we make our classes so fun that customers return to our classes and refer their friends?
Before we dive into how we can make out fitness sessions emotionally provocative, let’s first understand how to go about creating such a workout program. We’ll also look at why you need to deliver workouts that evoke positive emotions in clients.
How to Start Designing Your Online Fitness Program
As with any business, we need to understand who we are targeting and what their needs are. The more detailed your research is, the better…
Step 1: Conduct a High-Level Search
Arguably the easiest way to start is to research the fitness training industry at a high level via search engines like Google. You can…
- Get a quick glimpse of what personal trainers and fitness studios are posting about on their blogs
- Read interviews from high-profile trainers
- Identify key trends in virtual training and much more
The idea is to gather as many relevant sources of information and pieces of content to give your program a direction.
Step 2: Find Key Surveys in the Fitness Space
Surveys are extremely useful in understanding your ideal customer base. There are thousands of fitness websites that can help you tap into the demands of your ideal customers, such as:
- The Health & Fitness Journal
- American College of Sports Medicine
- Technogym
- IBISWorld: Gym, Health & Fitness Clubs Industry in the US
In this step, we are researching what consumers are looking for in a training session. Questions you can answer are:
- What type of ambiance are gymgoers looking for?
- How are participants choosing their programs?
- What level of difficulty do gymgoers want in a workout?
Essentially, we want to understand their needs and then position our workout program to address those requirements.
Step 3: Create a Workout Program that Speaks to Your Audience
Once you’ve collected enough information on your ideal clients, the style of ambiance they are looking for in their sessions, type of workout, music etc., you can craft training programs and live sessions that will make you the next Kayla Itsines, Rachel Brathen, or Melissa Wood.
Create Online Fitness Programs
So, how do you make a workout fun and exciting, yet challenging?
Focus on Feel Good Workouts, less on Look Good
According to recent studies and surveys, there is a growing need for personal trainers to put emphasis on exercise routines that make clients feel-good rather than simply look-good. This is especially true for Gen Z generations.
Research from Les Mills Global Consumer Fitness Survey
A survey from Les Mills Global Consumer Fitness found that 54% of Gen Z say staying in shape (feeling good) is their primary reason to exercise. The study also revealed that a workout experience “that provides results and challenge” has a higher level of appeal for Gen Z.
Given this data, we can now craft an interesting workout that has a feel-good component but remains both challenging and results-oriented.
POPSUGAR Fitness, the #1 female lifestyle brand which powers the optimism of women around the world through playful content, illustrates beautifully what a feel-good, challenging and results-oriented workout embodies through its Hip Hop Fit Workout.
Popsugar delivers its feel-good factor through hip-hop (dance) and by bringing like-minded people together, giving members of the group-fitness program a challenging yet fun workout.
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Provide Community-Driven Workouts
Another study from Les Mills recently revealed that Millennials and Gen Z make up roughly 80% of health club members (pre-COVID-19). Furthermore, Les Mills also found that:
- 85% of all gym members also workout at home.
- Millennials and Gen Z account for 89% of total users of online or app-based workouts.
In addition, before the COVID-19 pandemic, visits to boutique gym studios had grown 121% over the last 5 years in the United States, implying that young gymgoers place significant value on the social aspects of exercise. Gen Z populations also tend to value social interactions while working out more than Millennials.
Given these findings, personal trainers should provide not just feel-good and challenging workouts, but promote a sense of community and belonging to both Gen Z and Millennial gymgoers, who represent the bulk of the market.
Why Group Training is Great for Community-Driven Workouts
Group training, whether HIIT, strength, or simply dance classes, bolsters that sense of community. Girls Just Wanna Box is a prime example of what community-driven workouts are all about, having been created to bring its members together!
And to add the cherry on the icing, group training sessions accelerate the likelihood of your workouts going viral on the web and social media apps (Instagram stories)!
Embrace Competition: Create Games
A study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that competition was far more effective in motivating people to exercise than friendly support.
In fact, in their experiments, they found that attendance rates in competitive training sessions were 90% higher than in their control groups (friendly and individual training).
Why? According to their findings: “In a competitive setting, each person’s activity raises the bar for everyone else… because competitive groups frame relationships in terms of goal-setting by the most active members”.
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How to create online fitness programs that are fun, challenging, results-oriented & challenging?
By leveraging games on our mobile Fit-Concierge app, we have developed a number of games for friends and even trainers to leverage in their own workouts to bolster competitiveness and engagement.
Roll the Dice
- Extremely fast-paced, participants are able to virtually throw 2 dices which dictate their upcoming exercises. The first dice provides the exercise type, while the second dice the repetitions.
- All users must complete the exercises to earn their points.
- The user with the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner and will be reflected in their user stat page.
No Rest for the Wicked
- This HIIT-based virtual game is designed to boost intensity and limit the resting periods (challenge).
- Each set of exercises will be on a timer located on each user’s screen; each user must complete the number of repetitions before the timer is up.
Whether you join the Fit-Concierge community or go about it on your own, it is essential that you make your workout programs fun, challenging, results-oriented, and competitive. All of this can be achieved with feel-good workouts, community-based training, and in competitive settings!
Author Bio – Peter Deacy
Peter has been a personal trainer for over 10 years and specializes in fully customized fitness programs, including meal plans and nutritional guidance. He created Malibu Fit Concierge to provide individuals with the highest quality in health and wellness services, tailored to each individual’s needs and goals.
Check out his blog, Facebook page, or Instagram.
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