Group Fitness Real Talk

We talk about diversity in fitness a lot, and that applies to culture, ethnicity, body shape, and age. But it also relates to disabilities and physical limitations, too. Today’s podcast guest is Laura Ellis, a SH1FT Instructor. As you're going to hear, Laura was diagnosed with scoliosis at 11 years of age, and she’s been dealing with her back problems ever since. But that hasn't stopped...

This week on Group Fitness Real Talk, I'm back chatting with Richard Playfair, founder of SweatLife Films, for Part 2 of "How to Nail Teaching Virtually in 2022". In case you missed it, go back and listen to Part 1, where we talked about the marketing and business elements of running a digital fitness business as an Instructor.  Today, we delve into the technical side of things. Ric...

Back in 2020, Richard Playfair, SH1FT Fitness Video Producer and owner of Sweatlife Films, came on the podcast to share his expertise on creating a better virtual class. ⁠Things have changed a lot since then, so now he’s back to give some updated insights on some of the business and marketing aspects of being a digital fitness instructor in the current industry. ⁠ In this week’s episode, Richard g...

Today on the podcast, I'm talking about something that I get asked about a lot, which is how to set your prices for inflation. Today’s guest, Ollie Bailey from Gymcatch, is an expert on the subject. Gymcatch is a personal assistant app that helps fitness professionals manage bookings, fill classes and offer a great customer experience so they can focus on doing what they do best, teaching fit...

Today on the Group Fitness Real Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Sam Rider for another Reality Bites episode. This new series is essentially a bite-sized discussion on one topic of concern to Group Fitness Instructors. We talk about the best time to workout, the best way to workout, the myths surrounding those topics, and the role of fake news in the fitness industry. Enjoy! Links and Referenc...

What's the tea on warm ups and cool downs? Love them? Hate them? How should it be done? On today’s episode of the Group Fitness Real Talk podcast, we’re starting a new segment, Reality Bites. It’s essentially going to be a bite-sized episode where we talk with a Group Fitness expert about one topic of concern to Instructors. I’ll set a timer for 10 minutes, set the topic, and then we’ll discu...

Today on the podcast,  I'm chatting with a good friend and co-founder of one of my favorite gyms in London, Dave Thomas from The Foundry. Dave has a wealth of knowledge on all things fitness, but today we're not here to talk about his gym. Instead, I wanted to get Dave on the podcast to talk about the future, and more specifically about something that we have all seen pop up across socia...

For the final episode of 2021, I am reviewing the three key predictions I made at the beginning of the year to see how they turned out. Now, if you are paying attention to what’s happening in the world right now, you will be aware that in the last couple of weeks, things have gotten a lot more grim. It looked like things were pretty good during summer and we were hopeful that COVID was over. But n...

Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of a 70-year old looking to stay active? If you have, you might realise that more and more older people looking to keep fit feel like there is nowhere they truly belong. The gym is intimidating for all ages, but this is an age group that didn't grow up with the gym as an option. Online fitness brands are targeted towards young, fit people and most optio...

Music is such an important part of teaching Group Fitness. It should be fun, inspiring and help people lose themselves in a class. But when COVID hit, all of the music that was once suitable for teaching classes became unusable online and music suddenly became a very confusing and stressful part of teaching Group Fitness.  Many instructors didn’t understand the rules -  and rightfully so - music i...

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably tried a number of different products and supplements over the years to help you deliver the best possible class. Pre-workouts, a certain amount of protein within a particular window after exercise - or just a hit of caffeine before class.  My guest this week is Babak Brazell, the founder of Level Out, a nootropics company with a particular focus on the f...

Today on the podcast, I'm sharing a snackable, shorter episode dealing with one specific question that keeps coming up again and again and that is this: “How can I get participants to improve what they're doing? How can I give feedback in a way which actually lands with those people in my class that need it, and encourages them to improve on the things that they're doing to allow th...

Imagine you’re one of the leading Group Fitness instructors on the planet, you’re sitting at the doctor’s office and they tell you that you will never teach GX again.  That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest, Lisa Osborne. If you’re a Les Mills Instructor, you’ll likely be very familiar with Lisa. For those of you that don’t know Lisa, do a quick google of “Lisa Osborne Les Mills” and you’ll...

On this week’s solo episode, I'm talking about a topic that I get asked frequently by instructors. It's something that the Group Fitness industry, and also the wider community, now understand to be an important role of a Group Fitness Instructor, and that's creating community and building connection with clients and in classes. Group Fitness Instructors now assume the role of helpin...

What makes a world class fitness instructor? That's the million dollar question. Becoming a world class instructor doesn't just happen by luck and there isn't one key trait that makes an instructor world class, as every single instructor has a different style. While there's no one-size-fits-all approach to Group Fitness instructing, there are absolutely common things that every...

As anyone that has been involved in fitness for a long time will know, September is a key month for the fitness industry, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. Instructors are coming back from their summer holidays, and it's a little bit like January in that they're refreshing their approach to fitness. September also presents an opportunity, particularly this year when the rest of th...

I'm so excited to welcome Kirsten Potenz to today’s podcast. Kirsten is someone that I really admire in the Fitness industry. She is the creator and founder of the Group Fitness format, Pound. Now, if you haven't heard of Pound, be sure to check them out in the show notes. Pound is unlike anything else in the industry, and you need to see it to fully appreciate it.  As you're going...

Today on the podcast, Will is talking to Jeffrey Scott. Jeffrey is Vice President of Fitness, Nutrition, & Results at Beachbody, which for those of you who follow the news will know, has just gone public in very spectacular fashion. As you'll hear, Jeffrey has worked with everyone: Reebok, Les Mills, 24-Hour Fitness, Equinox, and now Beachbody. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge on...

We have heard a lot about China in the last 18 months...but not a lot about what's happening there in the fitness industry. Today on the show, I'm talking to Matt Thraxton. Matt has been at the top of the Les Mills world for a long time and in the view of many, is one of the best Body Pump presenters there is. He has spent time working in the USA, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and most...

Have you ever felt like you don’t fit into a certain fitness ‘image’? Or have you struggled to find a place in fitness that really makes you feel great about yourself?  Today on the show, I'm talking to good friend, Laura Hoggins. If you’re in the UK, you may know “Laura Biceps” already. She’s built a name for herself in the fitness industry by being authentically her. Laura has inspired a ne...

As live Group Fitness comes back and we all start to breathe a sigh of relief, many of us might be very keen to ditch the online workouts we’ve been forced into over the past year. But if today’s guest is proof of anything, it’s that there’s so much value in having an online presence and it’s important to think long and hard about your long term strategy and goals when it comes to teaching Group F...

Welcome back to the new season of Group Fitness Real Talk! This season is going to be filled with a lot of hope and excitement for the future. There is still a long way to go in our collective journey to recovering from the pandemic, but I’m feeling really optimistic about the future and I hope you are too.  In the first episode, we are getting the perspective of an area of the Industry that we ha...

Today on the podcast we are tackling the million dollar question of how to re-discover your passion and happiness in life and to help me answer this, I’m excited to welcome back Sacha Coburn to the show. Sacha first appeared in episode 7 of the podcast but she is such a wealth of knowledge I just had to get her back on. In this episode, Sacha is going to help you to understand the four key areas o...

In a world with almost unlimited options for fitness, the one thing that you have to differentiate yourself is that you're unique.  We have been conditioned to work on our weaknesses, but by doing this we neglect the strengths that makes us special. We at SH1FT believe that every instructor has a superpower and by embracing it, you can become a better teacher. In this podcast, Will talks abou...

While we may not be zooming around in flying cars just yet, perhaps we can all agree that the future is here and technology is changing our lives at a faster rate than ever before. Whether you love or hate technology, there is no doubt that it has and will continue to have a big impact on the Group Fitness industry, so you don’t have to love it, but you do NEED to be across it.   In this podcast,...