Archive for the ‘personal training’ Category
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
We live in an unhealthy society today where the majority of us sit in front of computer all day and we feed ourselves to excess usually with foods that are filled with saturated fats, sugars and too much salt. The result is unhealthy habits that are leading to our rising obesity statistics and illnesses related to America’s new found lifestyle. Then on top of these horrible habits Americans are getting lazy. Now don’t get me wrong personal training and Illuminate Gym are built on building ‘liability’ into people’s pursuit of fitness. After all, 80% of all people who buy simple gym memberships will not return to the gym within 4 months.
Either way the point is with horrible eating habits and a lack of motivation for fitness it shouldn’t be a suprise that we could see the first generation who will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. That’s a scary statistic to think about isn’t it? The point is that people need to start focusing on what they put in their bodies on a daily basis and also they need to get out of that chair they have grown so accustomed to sitting in and get active! It doesn’t matter what you do, but you have to make time to burn the calories your consuming and make sure you’re not taking in too many calories. It’s a very easy thing to take care of ourselves, yet for some reason we make it very hard for ourselves to take that step to ensure we have a healthy future. Instead we make investments for a healthy financial future, yet we don’t plan for a healthy future???? That doesn’t make any sense at all does it??
It’s time to get out there and start working out for a better future and start looking at the food you are eating and not just tasting it. Have a healthy day and check us out at www.illuminategym.com!
Tags: diet, fat, fit, Fitness, gym, gym membership, health, healthy, Nutrition, personal trainer, personal training, salt, sugars, unhealthy, www.illuminategym.com
Posted in Fitness, Nutrition, personal training | 3 Comments »
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
As personal trainers we always hear women say one key thing, ‘I don’t want to build too much muscle while working out.’ This is a common concern of many clients who are interested in hiring a personal trainer and you can almost see it in their faces as they walk into the gym and they see weight equipment…. All of sudden their eyes open and they start to have visions of them walking on a stage in a string bikini looking like a professional bodybuilder. ‘I don’t want to build too much muscle… I don’t want to look like a man… I don’t want my arms to get bigger…’ starts racing through these women’s minds.
If you are a person who is thinking about hiring a personal trainer don’t be concerned about building muscle. Many people have no idea how hard it truly is to build muscle. Now there is some truth that some of us have more of a genetic disposition to build muscle. However, it’s still a tough for a woman, or anyone for that matter, to build a substantial amount of muscle tissue. You see the issue is that our society has been jaded by the use of steroids. Steroids have actually changed our perception of what the human body is really capable of achieving either through muscle growth or human performance. Many women and men have seen photographs of bodybuilders and athletes who have changed their body’s chemistry to obtain muscle mass and they are convinced that they could look like that by training with a personal trainer twice a week.
The honest truth is to build a substantial amount of muscle you need to make sure you are eating enough calories and the right sort of calories to gain muscle. To lose weight you obviously need to eat less calories than you consume on a daily basis and to build muscle you have to eat more calories than you are burning. That being said a ‘bodybuilder’ must make sure that he/she is getting enough calories from fat, carbohydrates, and of course protein. Then it just takes a lot of hard work and some help with some genetics. Some people struggle for years just to gain 5 pounds of muscle.
The other side of this argument is what the heck is so bad about gaining muscle? Did you know that muscle burns 10 calories a day by just living in your body? That’s right. You see fat is not a living tissue, it’s merely storage, but muscle on the other hand is a living tissue that burns calories every day. So in my mind gaining muscle is actually a good thing because the more you have the more efficient and thermogenic your body becomes. And don’t worry about gaining bulky muscles ladies. It’s really hard to do. Thanks so much for reading and have a healthy day!
www.illuminategym.com/franchises.php
Tags: bodybuilder, bodybuilding, calorie, calories, diet, eating, fat, Fitness, gym, gyms, health, healthy, muscle, muscles, personal trainer, personal trainers, personal training, steroids, work out, workout
Posted in Nutrition, personal training | 5 Comments »
Friday, August 20th, 2010
I was 22 years old and I had worked extremely hard to become a successful personal trainer, but I wanted more. I arrived at work every single day at 4:30 AM (to prepare for my 5 AM session) and I wasn’t out of the gym until 8 PM, and though I loved my job I came to important realization as a personal trainer that changed my career course forever. The realization because I wanted to earn more money, but there was only one of me and so many hours in the day. I also started to understand that though I loved personal training I couldn’t keep working 15 hour days 6 days a week forever. I started to wonder, had I already reached my full earning potential in the personal training profession? Had my career reached the pinnacle of the fitness industry at 22? ‘Maybe it’s time to find a new profession,’ I thought to myself, but every time I looked into a new career I just couldn’t imagine leaving the fitness industry.
Then one day I voiced my concerns to one of my long time clients as we measured her body fat. She then looked at me and said, ‘David why don’t you open your own gym? I mean I don’t even like this gym. I just come here because I like you and my personal training with you is getting me results.’ That’s exactly when I started thinking about opening my own fitness facility which would cater to individuals interested in working with personal trainers just like me. That’s the day that Illuminate Gym became a reality for me. I knew that many other personal trainers had tried to open personal training gyms in the past and failed, but what I have learned is being a great personal trainer is not enough for a personal training gym to succeed. It took me a long time to perfect my model, but something I found out about myself is I’m actually a business man first and a personal trainer second. It’s the combination of business sense and fitness passion that makes for a successful entrepreneur in the fitness industry and if you are missing one these two attributes then I’m not sure opening your own fitness facility is really the answer for you. However, if you do have these two important attributes then maybe it’s time you put your leadership skills to the test and open your own fitness facility!
If you are considering your own fitness facility the one piece of advice I would give you is the make or break for an entrepreneur starts with all the pieces of owning a business you haven’t considered such as, the lease you are going to sign, the insurance you are going to carry, your marketing efforts to get people into the gym, development of your brand, and how to support and develop the people that work for you. As I said before being a great personal trainer isn’t enough to be a good fitness entrepreneur. In fact, it’s just a small piece of the journey to success. It’s important that you understand the early development of your personal training gym or fitness facility is the most important and fragile part of your business development. In other words, the worst thing you can possibly do is to rush to get your doors open as quickly as possible. I have watched personal trainers rush into opening their own personal training studios multiple times and most of them end up out of business very quickly. I had a personal trainer who once worked with me who had all the potential in the world and one day he came to me to let me know he wanted to open his own fitness facility.
‘Great, let’s put it together and build a business,’ I said because he knew I had just started offering franchise opportunities for Illuminate Gym. His eyes dropped and I could tell he had other plans.
‘I think I want to do this on my own David,’ he said.
‘That’s fine. Get yourself an attorney to take a look at your lease and make sure you have enough money behind you to market and to support your business while you get back on your feet,’ I told him.
‘I think I’ll be fine I already met the landlord and I think I have some good ideas to get some new clients,’ he explained.
That day he walked out of my office and within weeks he had opened his small facility in a small office building with no exposure and of course without proper legal representation the landlord had taken advantage of the young personal trainer. Within a year both he and his business was gone even though he was a great personal trainer. The point is if you’re a personal trainer looking to start your own business regardless if it’s a ‘one-man-shop’ or a full scale gym you need to educate yourself and take your time. I personally would recommend looking into a fitness franchise or aligning yourself with someone who understands retail business. Either way personal trainers need to make sure they do their due diligence before opening up to the public to ensure they give themselves their best opportunity for success. Business can sometimes cloud our view of the fitness industry and I think you should always remember that personal trainers do what they do because we want to change people’s lives for the better and because of this the fitness industry can be the most rewarding industry in the world.
Tags: business, business model, clients, entrepreneurs, fitness business, fitness facility, fitness franchise, fitness industry, franchise, franchise advice, franchises, gym, illuminate gym, lease landlord, personal trainer, personal trainers, personal training
Posted in illuminate gym the franchise, personal training | 19 Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Two clients at Illuminate Gym in Denver, Colorado are currently in the fight of their lives with Cancer but they have both made the choice to fight back with fitness. One of these clients has already beaten Cancer once, but this time she is fighting even harder by keeping her body healthy and lean before her chemotherapy treatments begin. The other customer has already gotten into the mind set that he will beat Cancer and he refuses to live a life without fitness. Both of these customers have made it very clear the Illuminate Gym helps them stay fit both physically and mentally because our personal trainers are committed to not letting our customers quit. We won’t quit on them and in turn, we ask them to not to quit on their fitness or their futures. These two customers of Illuminate Gym are extremely brave and though they’re letting Illuminate Gym help in the fight against Cancer we believe everyone needs to fight for a healthier future with fitness. Over 30% of the adult population in the United States is obese and these people are all at risk for diabetes, heart disease and other ailments that could lead to an early death. Fitness is an investment you have to make in your future and Illuminate Gym offers personal training at a very affordable rate to keep you focused on reaching your fitness goals and ensuring their is a healthy future in front of you. Thanks so much for reading the blog at www.illuminategym.com. Have a healthy day!
Tags: Cancer, clients, Colorado, Denver, Fitness, gym, health, illuminate gym, personal trainer, personal trainers, personal training, www.illuminategym.com
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
So the question on every one’s mind is how do I stay fit? And what is fit to you? Is being fit looking a certain way? Is being fit avoiding the health concerns that usually follow obesity and poor eating habits? Whatever fitness is for you it’s important that you stay focused on making it a priority no matter what life throws your way. As time as evolved humans have become much more dependant on technology and their minds rather than their bodies. Because of this change in lifestyle we have become a much more sedentary species that has sacrificed a lot to become more ’sophisticated’ and ‘complex’. Today manual labor continues to shrink and our ability to find food around every corner is so simple that we’re becoming fat. It’s important no matter what your lifestyle consists of that you make sure that you are active for at least 20 minutes a day and also watch your diet as closely as possible because you don’t want to be another obesity statistic.
Today Illuminate Gym is committed through personal training and diet guidelines to help our customers live healthier and more fit lives. If you or someone you know needs help with your fitness before you cross a line of no-return please find a fitness/nutrition professional who can help you conquer your fitness goals or you can contact us here at Illuminate Gym at www.illuminategym.com. Thanks so much for reading and have a healthy day!
Tags: eating habits, fit, Fitness, goals, gym, health, illuminate gym, Nutrition, personal trainers, personal training, www.illuminategym.com
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Sunday, October 25th, 2009
A personal trainer at illuminate gym had an interesting question come his way this week from a perspective client. The gym floor looked great to the client but he just wasn’t sure how ‘High Oxygen Training’ would fit into his bodybuilding aspirations. The personal trainer told me that the bodybuilder said that our brand of personal training sounded like circuit training. I then proceeded to tell the trainer about how ‘High Oxygen Training’ came to fruition. When I was a young personal training I had heard of ‘SMRT’ Training which was referred to as ‘Speed Modified Resistance Training’. Early on in my career I felt the same as this bodybuilder who walked into illuminate gym. Speed training seemed to be developed and geared for people who were overweight. After all, bodybuilders must be in the gym for hours at a time right?
Then what occurred to me was I started working at a small gym that was geared toward bodybuilders and they also did a form of speed training. “I thought this form of personal training for people trying to lose weight?” Then one of my mentors and former bodybuilders put me through a speed training workout and after I was done with this near impossible workout I realized the power of speed training. After working at this bodybuilding gym for 5 years and perfecting my own version of speed personal training ‘High Oxygen Training’ was born.
So I told this concerned personal trainer to let this aspiring bodybuilder to know a few things about bodybuilding on the surface. Number one it’s absolutely false to think that bodybuilders spend hours upon hours training in the weight room. In fact, it is quite the contrary because bodybuilding is about having focused and efficient workouts that maximize their ability to grow more muscle mass or to maintain the mass they already have. In fact, bodybuilders who are wanting to grow more need to focus on where their calories are being burned and they also need to make sure they consume enough calories to ensure that they are able to grow muscle. I guess what I am trying to say is that ‘High Oxygen Training’ is a wonderful form of personal training for a aspiring bodybuilder.
At illuminate gym the core of our future franchise growth is with the results of our clientele and with ‘High Oxygen Training’. ‘High Oxygen Training’ is one of the most efficient and focused forms of training there is when it comes to resistance training regardless of your fitness goals. If you are interested in hearing more about ‘High Oxygen Training’ or our exciting franchise opportunities here at illuminate gym please give us a call or check us out at www.illuminategym.com. Thanks for reading and have a healthy day.
Tags: bodybuilder, bodybuilders, calories, diet, fitness franchise, fitness franchises, franchise, franchises, gym, High Oxygen Training, illuminate gym, resitance training, speed training, weight room
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Monday, October 19th, 2009
Some of the other fitness franchises out there who put their emphasis on personal training don’t believe that personal trainers should become franchise owners. In fact, they are looking for people who are business savvy rather than fitness professionals. Now at illuminate gym we concede that being a personal trainer is not enough to be a successful business owner because it takes so much more than just knowing fitness and how to get results for your clients. However, we also do not discount the business abilities of personal trainers. In fact, when I first opened the original illuminate gym I was just a personal trainer with a vision of a boutique gym that would cater to the fitness needs of a community in an affordable way. So for me to turn around as many other fitness franchises have and say that a personal trainer cannot run a fitness franchise or personal trainers can’t be successful illuminate gym owners would be ridiculous.
That being said we also don’t believe that you absolutely have to be a personal trainer or a fitness professional to be a successful illuminate gym franchisee. This is true because we offer training on not only our business practices at illuminate gym but also training on our proprietary ‘High Oxygen Training’ (Our brand of personal training). We just feel that with our easy to run business model that personal trainers can continue to grow their clientele while they help other personal trainers do the same. At illuminate gym we just don’t feel that it’s right to keep other fitness professionals from our franchise opportunity because at the end of the day they will make our model more successful as they can bring their own philosophies to help both illuminate gym and ‘High Oxygen Training’ grow into so much more. If you have any interest in hearing more about our exciting franchise opportunities or ‘High Oxygen Training’ then go to www.illuminategym.com and fill out a contact form. Thanks for reading and have a healthy day!
Tags: business, Fitness, fitness franchise, fitness professional, franchise owners, franchisee, franchiser, gym, illuminate gym, personal trainer, personal training
Posted in illuminate gym the franchise, personal training | No Comments »
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
The question on all of our perspective and future franchisees minds are… ‘What makes a great personal trainer?’ It’s the best question a franchisee could ask at illuminate gym because having great personal trainers is on of the keys to owning and operating a successful boutique gym. At the original illuminate gym I started I was always very fortunate to have wonderful personal trainers who always seemed to push our business and success forward. So after hearing this question for the second time late this week from perspective franchisees I began to think it may be worth it to share it over our blog here at www.illuminategym.com.
First of all every personal trainer a person should ever work with should have a nationally recognized certification like such as, ISSA, ACE or CSCS. The reason this certification is so important is not necessarily about workout combinations. It’s actually more about keeping clients from getting injured during their workout regimens and also knowing how to train clients with specific needs or pre-existing injuries.
Secondly, and as important as having a nationally recognized certification is finding a personal trainer who communicates and listens well with their clients. I personally have known some very educated personal trainers who don’t communicate well with their clients which ends up hurting their business in the long run because the client doesn’t feel as if their time with their personal trainer is all about them and their needs. Every great personal trainer I have ever known has always been personable and more importantly listened to the needs of their clients.
Lastly, a personal trainer should be creative and able to keep the interest of their clients by offering creative workout regimens for their clients. You have to remember that many clients seek out a personal trainer because they don’t know what their doing in the gym however, other people hire a personal trainer because they don’t enjoy working out and they need the liability of having a personal trainer to keep them coming to the gym. If a client doesn’t like to workout then a good personal trainer will show them more than just results they will also show them creative workouts that will keep their interest in the gym.
So here at illuminate gym these are the 3 things we look for in a great personal trainer. Let’s recap below…
3 Characteristics of a Great Personal Trainer
1. Educated
2. Personable and a good communicator
3. Creative with their workout combinations
I hope this blog helps you in your search for a good personal trainer and look for an illuminate gym in your neighborhood soon. Have a healthy day and if you would like to hear about our franchise opportunities check out our website at www.illuminategym.com and fill out a franchise application.
Tags: ACE, certification, CSCS, fitness franchise, franchise, franchise application, gym, illuminate gym, ISSA, personal trainer, personal trainers, personal training, personal training certificate
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Thursday, October 1st, 2009
On Monday a football player at the University of Southern California had his Larynx crushed by a barbell weighing 270 pounds in Los Angeles. Stefon Johnson was rushed to an emergency room at the California Hospital Medical Center where his mother worked for an emergency surgery lasting 7 hours. The young man is doing much better and the operating physician says his muscular neck helped keep his airway opened after the 270 pounds came crashing down on his Larynx. Doctors say the Stefon Johnson will be able to return to playing football at some point which we are happy to hear. The USC athletic director is reporting that there was an assistant strength and conditioning coach who was spotting Johnson during the lift???? Really??? They should check the credentials of this Strength and Conditioning Coach because at illuminate gym we’re just not sure how this could have happened.
At illuminate gym our personal trainers and future franchisees are all trained on how to properly spot a client you are working with to ensure this type of accident does not happen. Earlier today I had a meeting with a group of personal trainers at the illuminate gym’s Denver location and we spoke about the incident at the University of Southern California and used as a reminder of how we should always spot our clients on complex and dangerous movements on the gym floor. There is no reason that a personal trainer of a Strength and Conditioning Coach should not have their hands in a ‘full spot’ position when a client or athlete is lifting 270 pounds. I’m sure that Stefon Johnson is an extremely strong young man as he is a top level collegiate football player. However, 270 pounds is a significant amount of weight that should never be taken lightly because even if a person can lift a lot more than 270 pounds a muscle pull or strain could occur leaving the client/athlete with no choice but to drop the weight. Now at illuminate gym we have no idea what happened in the USC weight room on Monday but you have to make sure 270 pounds doesn’t fall on someone could it could result in death. USC and Stefon Johnson are very lucky that he had such a muscular neck.
Tags: football, franchise, illuminate gym, personal trainer, personal training, Stefon Johnson, Strength and Conditioning Coach, University of Southern California, USC, weight room
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Sunday, September 27th, 2009
A lot of our competitors in the fitness franchise world and our perspective franchisees want to know what’s up with this ‘High Oxygen Training’? High Oxygen Training is more of a fitness philosophy within the craft of personal training that gets serious results and helps personal trainers keep their workouts efficient for their clients.
The basic principles behind illuminate gym’s brand of personal training is we want to cut the rest time within workouts so we get our clients’ bodies in an aerobic state. Weight training has always been thought of as an anaerobic movement and now with ‘High Oxygen Training’ we have changed the face of weight lifting forever. This type of training helps our future franchisees with branding their personal training to the community rather than just calling their training ‘personal training’ like every other fitness franchise or personal training franchise around. In fact, I opened the original illuminate gym a few blocks away from a well known personal training franchise and our results were staggering. Today I’m not even sure how this particular fitness franchise is keeping their doors open because every time I drive by I see a dark gym floor with no one inside. I think at illuminate gym we can credit some of our success to our brand of fitness and how we present it to the surrounding community.
I do want you to know that our personal training methods or ‘High Oxygen Training’ can be done by any competent personal trainer (who should be certified) with a little training from us here at illuminate gym. We also offer on the phone training and testing via the Internet for all new personal trainers who are hired by an illuminate gym owner to ensure that our clients are getting the best ‘High Oxygen Training’ we have to offer. If you have any other questions about ‘High Oxygen Training’ or owning an illuminate gym franchise please give us a call at 1-877-427-2615 or fill out our contact us form at www.illuminategym.com. Have a healthy day!
Tags: fitness franchise, gym franchise, High Oxygen Training, personal trainer, personal trainers, personal training, personal training franchise, personal training gym
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