Familiarity gets people through the door. A little variety can show them what else they're capable of.

I talked about it at the beginning of the summer but I wanted to swing back round to cover this again as we move into September. 

Now you know that I LOVE brands, I think things that are Googleable are the easiest to get new people into. Especially because I focus on dance fitness and resistance training… most people will google something fun… and then hang about for the resistance fun. 

The thing with brands is you have to teach what the brand is so you don’t dilute it… or get in trouble for breaching your license agreement. That’s the best thing about brands tbh… our participants know what they are getting before they get there. They’ve heard of it, they might have seen videos or they might have tried it somewhere else. This is important… we want them to feel that connection with something before they get there and feel comfortable from the off. 

But then maybe we want to bring in ‘specials’ or ‘one-offs’ to encourage them to try something new and a bit different… I’m kind of assuming you’re interested in freestyle otherwise you wouldn’t be on this mailing list!

This is one of the things I really love. I’ve funnelled people into doing more classes by introducing things that bridge the gap between branded dance fitness and resistance training. So I brought in an 80s Aerobics class about a year ago. It’s a once a month thing and apart from once during the heatwave it has sold out every time. Everyone comes… from both of my very different dance fitness classes. This has been ace because for some people that means they’ve come twice in a week which don’t normally. Then about 3 months ago a slid a 90s 50/50 class for a once a month special. The idea is we do a combination we have done in the 80s class (so they know what they are getting) and then I do 17 minutes of old school LBT floorwork with no equipment. 

The reason it’s floorwork is to prevent fear around squats and lunges being an issue in their attendance. It’s also no equipment because that reduces another fear that I know they have. It also gives me an opportunity to show them that resistance isn’t so scary after all. Turns out it worked a treat and the people who tried it for the first time last time have all booked on again this month. I haven’t mentioned anything about other resistance classes again since they last attended… I’m just letting them get their head around the fact that maybe they’ll be ok in a resistance session. I’ve got 3 more resistance classes (as well as 90s 50/50) coming up in September that are either bodyweight or banded only classes… so after this session I’m going to drop the first one into conversation and see what happens. I’m not going to force anyone obviously, they get my weekly emails talking about resistance training, but I am going to invite them to come so they know I think they are ready for it. 

They may come, they might not, but I know they’ll book in for the next 50/50 session because they feel comfortable with that now. And that’s great. 

My dream, and my purpose within fitness, is to deliver fun and effective dance fitness classes… and to help my class find their feet with resistance training. I want them all to become confident within a fitness space and feel comfortable to walk into someone else’s class and be able to modify or adapt the workout if needed to suit their own body. As someone with scoliosis I know how important it is to feel confident to say no to a certain exercise or to be able to adapt something myself without having to wait for the instructor to come over. I want that for them too. So if I am ever helping someone else and haven’t quite made it round to them, they can start with something they feel confident with and then I can give extra assistance where needed. 

I want them to be able to leave me if they want to. I want them to be able to join a gym. Or maybe decide they want to try power lifting. Or even go to their friend’s class with them when they are away with work. I want them to come to my classes because they choose to, not because they don’t have the confidence to go anywhere else. 

Throwing in the occasional special uplifts your geek squad as well… it gives them a different way of using their brains, of seeing choreography or skills develop. Maybe it gives them a different genre of music to listen to. There’s so many elements of excitement to teaching something off-timetable that I just can’t get enough of it which is why most of my classes rotate over the month. 

Anyway, we all do things in our own way but I REALLY want us as group exercise instructors to be able to create a pathway for people to move forward on their fitness journey… and one of the ways we can do that is by throwing in a special. Showing them a different way of looking at fitness and being pleasantly surprised that actually they are OK in that space as well :) 

If you need help putting together a special you know where we are…. Our Fitness Library was put together exactly for this reason… so you can go rogue and do your own thing with a bit of back up… and you can cancel anytime from inside your own dashboard. Partly because it’s easier for you and partly so I can do less admin and mostly making up choreo, teaching my classes and PTing my clients.. If I'm completely honest lol!  

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