Optimal Aging

Today we’re talking about a topic that is rarely discussed, either in society generally or in the fitness world specifically. But it’s one of the most important events in women’s lives, and it affects their lives across the board – including their fitness and healthy living habits. Which means you, as a fitness professional, male or female, regardless of age, need to know more about… MENOPAUSE.  I...

Today I’m going to answer a question I hear over and over again from gym and studio owners who indeed do want to grow their business by serving this large, lucrative and underserved segment. I’m asked this question all the time in my free Facebook group, in emails, in phone conversations, at conferences… So let me answer it for you once and for all here today. This is the question: Do I need to be...

A great story about Picasso goes something like this. The genius painter was at a Paris café when a fan approached and asked if Picasso could draw something on a napkin for her. He obliged and, when he returned the napkin, he said, “That will be 1 million Francs.” The woman was outraged. “How can you dare to ask for so much – it only took you 5 minutes to draw this!” Picasso replied, “No, my dear....

Here’s a story for every gym or studio owner who says he doesn’t have time to manage an email list or send out emails to prospects and clients on a regular basis.   For Paulo Andalaft of Fit Factor in Fort Lauderdale, one email he sent in 2017 has brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in ongoing revenue – and is still generating new referral clients right now.   That’s right. One email = hun...

Your members and prospects want to see people like them succeeding – they want to relate, to say, Hey, maybe I could do that. They want an ordinary person to help introduce them to fitness or to support what they’re already doing – and they want to know that your business sees their effort and appreciates their successes. And what you get out of it is an endless source of powerful, compelling cont...

If you’re in business these days, then you’re a writer – like it or not. So you better learn how to do it well. That’s the premise of a terrific writing how-to book called “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley.  This week’s episode of the podcast is taken from a group discussion I had with three fitness professionals serving the over-50 market. It started as a conversation about Ann’s book but quickly...

I’ve been on a mission lately to learn more about my prospects and clients – specifically what they want help with regarding their content and communications, so I can improve my offerings and grow my business.   A little market research, if you will – emphasis on “little.” I’ not talking about full-blown market research – just about actively soliciting and paying attention to feedback.    It’s be...

If you th`ink you don’t need content in your marketing, think again. You do – even if you regularly advertise on Facebook. You can’t rely on that. Content MUST be a part of your communications strategy in promoting your business and promoting yourself as the local go-to expert on fitness over 50. I get into all this on this weeks episode of the Optimal Aging Podcast by posing – and ultimately answ...

This not an overstatement: I would not be here today if it weren’t for the Functional Aging Institute’s Mastermind group. So, I want to encourage everyone to attend FAI’s Mastermind gathering Oct. 20-21 in Nashville, if you can. Obviously, travel is complicated and expensive, and we have to pick our trips wisely. (And don’t worry – there will be other opportunities to interact with FAI’s Mastermin...

We talk here every week about how fitness and health businesses can communicate their messages to the over-50 market. And one of the most fascinating topics we’ve ever covered is the connection between physical exercise and brain health. Despite tons of research solidifying the connection, most people probably still don’t know that they can lower their chances of cognitive decline and even dementi...

Have you ever had a near-death experience? I haven't. But Ricky Banks has. Ricky is a 57-year-old gym owner and bodybuilder near Atlanta. He's in spectacular physical condition and enjoys a healthy lifestyle. But earlier this year, Ricky was rushed to a hospital, where he spent a few days in a coma while doctors tried to stop severe stomach bleeding. They gave him 50-50 odds of surviving...

This week’s episode provides a rare triple threat. Three gym owners from three cities share their secrets for success in bringing fitness to people over 50, as we discuss the state of the art and business right now in the summer of 2022. If you want to know how to grow a successful gym or studio that caters to the “older” crowd, you couldn’t ask for three better experts than these. From Arlington,...

The Medfit Network has been promoting the idea that “fitness is medicine” for a long time. And now, the organization has launched MedFit Care to reduce the cost, a common barrier that too many people rely on to avoid taking care of themselves, and to involve doctors in prescribing medical fitness. MedFit and others have been working to marry healthcare and fitness, and now with MedFit Care, partic...

In these days of big box gyms, boutique proliferation and, you know, global pandemics, it’s worth celebrating anytime an independent, neighborhood gym makes it 20 years. And Urban Body Fitness here in Atlanta just hit that milestone. I’ve been going to Urban Body since it was called something else and owned by someone else — envisioned initially as a gym for gay men — mostly in their 30s, professi...

It’s been two generations since fitness became part of the broader culture, but still most of us don’t exercise regularly. We see evidence of fitness everywhere – from gyms and studios to home workout equipment, from wearables like Apple watches to “athleisure” clothing like Lululemon. Fitness today is a $100 billion industry worldwide, which means countless ordinary people exercise for the sake o...

In my business, Prime Fit Content, I help fitness professionals who want to reach the over-50 market. But is “over 50” actually a niche? I don’t think so. There are too many people over 50 to tie them all together in a sweeping generalization. In the United States alone, we’re talking 100 million people! And the populations are similar throughout the Western world, in countries like Canada, the Un...

Gil Chan and Gene Preudhomme are married New Yorkers, both lawyers by training, one retired and the other counting the days. Like a lot of people right around 60, they’re thinking about where they want to live in retirement. But this couple did more than just think about it. They created a podcast about their search, called Retire There with Gil and Gene. Each episode spotlights a retiree in a dif...

 Lawrence Kosick ’s dad wanted an Apple watch for his 90th birthday. Lawrence, in his 50s, worried he’d be stuck with teaching his father how to use the device — and that reaction bothered him. Lawrence ultimately decided his dad should have the watch, even if he, indeed, would have to set it up. And that moment helped lead Larence and partners to create Get Set Up, an online learning platform tha...

When I started writing in the fitness industry a few years ago, the Association of Fitness Studios was one of the first organizations I found. I went to its conference, met its leader, Josh Leve and his father, the later Chuck Leve, and made countless connections that have served me ever since. So many people in the industry can say the same thing about the organization, which has been rebranded a...

Did you know that two-thirds of workers over 50 and almost 80 percent of the self-employed don’t plan to retire at 65? That’s according to a study in December 2020, but only 1 in 5 said the pandemic had delayed their exit from the daily workforce.   But the same survey found just 62 percent of us are focused on staying healthy so we can keep working.   And look, if you’re going to keep working, or...

Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said, “We don’t quit playing because we grow older; we grow older because we quit playing.” But what does “fun” mean when we’re talking about fitness for people over 50? It might  mean perkiness among group fitness instructors for some folks. But I think it really means engagement – are you speaking to people in ways that are relevant? That indicate that you apprecia...

Natalia Karbasova is founder of the Fit Tech Summit and the Fit Tech Club, which helps promote knowledge about coming developments in fitness technology. She spoke with us right after this year’s FIBO Global Fitness Summit in Cologne, Germany. Natalia shares a lot of valuable information about exciting developments that should help people live better lives while also revitalizing the traditional f...

Mark Fisher didn’t set out to become a personal trainer or to run a successful gym in New York. He wanted to be an actor, and was making a pretty good go of things when he stumbled into  personal training – mostly for his actor friends at the start. But before long, things took off and he opened Mark Fisher Fitness near the theater district as a special place for folks who typically don’t like the...

Chris Cooper  is a veteran coach of fitness businesses. And he’s as much an evangelist for content as I am.   He says just 5 percent of the gyms he’s worked with consistently share content – through channels like Facebook, blogs, and email newsletters.   “Everybody has a platform. Everybody has amplifiers. Anybody can do it,” Chris says. “We’ve worked with over 2,000 gyms now, and I’d say that few...

I have been all about Virtual Reality fitness lately. I got my own headset at Christmas, and another one right away for my 85-year-old mother after she expressed interest in mine. (That's us on Christmas morning, above.) And I recently wrote an article for WebMD about the fitness applications of Virtual Reality, including the popular Supernatural apron the Oculus Quest 2 headset that has me a...