How to set up an outdoor group exercise session in London
Group exercise is and will always be a popular way to train, creating community, pushing each other and enjoying training in a social environment are just some of the benefits. London is an area where this type of training can be utilised by personal trainers to promote their business and build a strong reputation. With 8 royal parks in London available for you to hire and become a licenced operator to train groups and 1 to1 clients it is a great opportunity to market your brand of training. Hyde Park, Regent Park, Bushy Park and Greenwich Park are available for yearly hire ranging from £680-£1500 dependant on the park. This will give you the opportunity to carry out group training for 30 clients. People always want to train with others, friends, family, gym partner and the benefit of group training is that you can take a group of 5-8 clients and within 2/3 weeks this can grow to 20+. As the popularity of the session grows and clients invite friends and they then invite there friends the session will grow. An hour outdoor session in London can earn £10 per person, so if you have 20 people attending that will make £200 for an hours work.
The steps to building a successful group session
Firstly you will need to research the area, find out what else is going on? What is the competition? How can you offer something different? Understanding the busy parks and areas and finding gaps in times of training sessions is beneficial starting off. Is there a need for a 2pm bootcamp on a Thursday because there isn’t one at the moment? Ask these questions and work out a time and location for your group session and work out your target market. Design a plan for the business, not a week by week plan but a yearly plan. Set some SMART goals for the short, medium and long term. How many people do you want to be attending after the first month and how will you achieve this. Setting up 4 group sessions in 4 different areas with 20+ clients could be a solid target for 6 months. Yearly target you may want 8 sessions a week with 30 clients over 8 venues. Be positive in your approach form the start then work out how you are going to achieve this. Invest in marketing, let people know what you are doing, run taster sessions, flyer the area, set up a website or facebook page, invite and link in with local businesses. Go on the radio give advice on training and then sell your sessions time dates how to book on. Build links in the community, talk to people and give them the benefits of your training. Equipment you don’t need to start with state of the art equipment, start with the basics then reinvest into new equipment as you start to increase the group size and as the profit of the sessions begins to grow.
Building a friendly and competitive training environment
Retaining customers is the aim of any business, getting to know your clients, being approachable and sociable is crucial to building a successful session. Showing your customers that you have their best interests at heart and that they matter is a brilliant way to move forward in your business. Reward your clients if they bring friends and refer people, this could be anything from a free session to a t-shirt or water bottle. This is a great way for people to bring a friend and get involved within the community of fitness enthusiasts you will create. If clients feel encouraged and supported in that hour and leave with a smile on their faces, have a laugh and build new friendships they will keep returning. It’s really important to be successful in group training to promote this environment.
How to get qualified to run group exercise sessions
To train clients you will need to be a Level 3 qualified Personal Trainer, this can be achieved through Diverse Trainers for the price of £999 this can be achieved in our London training centres. This qualification will give you both the theoretical knowledge and practical experience to effectively design sessions for individuals but also group session. To find out more about this contact us today on 01772 281088 / 020 7887 2258.
