Fitness Optionality in a Post-Vaccine Society: 3 Ways to Support Your Clients

Since the COVID vaccines have arrived, the fitness industry, like any other consumer industry, started ramping up again.

Of course, fitness didn’t go anywhere during the pandemic (even if you spent a bit more time on the couch than usual). Online fitness surged in popularity. Fitness apps exploded. Trainerize got acquired by ABC Fitness, which is growing like crazy. Consumers adopted at-home fitness trends and asked for more!

Here’s what I was up to for my fitness routine in December 2020:

“Here’s my example: I’ve adopted Peloton spin classes, my wife’s HIIT classes, and brisk outdoor activities with friends (#PandemicSocializing) this year. My trainer has embraced this optionality and built these activities into my training routine. If I get a little off track in my eating habits, I just hop on my Peloton for a light ride to make up for it! It’s helping me develop a consistently active and healthy lifestyle. And when gyms reopen in Vancouver, a couple of visits a week will get thrown on the calendar!”

Today, the regulations are changing every week, at different stages all around the world. In Vancouver, all fitness is open — with a vaccine requirement. Health regulations around the world are lifting and being put in place all at once.

Some businesses are reopened. Classpass reactivated their memberships in North America after an 18-month pause, and Mindbody is ripe with promotions for memberships.

While people head back to gyms, people are still working out at home — and disruptors are working on building that out. At Trainerize, we have new video and communication features rolling out monthly.

I’ve noticed that Peloton is running steep discounts on their bikes — I saw an ad offering $600 off! And for the first time, one of their trainers is a contestant in the new season of Dancing with the Stars — ABC is owned by Disney, one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. If they’re signing on talent from Peloton, that’s a sign of just how huge Peloton’s online community is.

So things are fluctuating, not necessarily regressing back to anything. And what should fitness professionals expect? I think to start, they should expect their members and clients to want to shake things up too.

Defining Fitness Optionality

The term I’ve coined for this is optionality — the quality of being available to be chosen but not obligatory. The idea is that fitness consumers want to have a cohesive, but diverse, fitness experience… and want a trainer to help them pull it all together into a constructive program. Trainers and studios can demonstrate their value by embracing the diverse fitness ecosystem, becoming a part of it, and helping clients make sense of it all.

Enjoying a mix of fitness is flexible. It’s convenient. It’s based on what you want to do — not what you need to do. But the risk is working hard without reaching your goals. That’s where your trainer steps in — that expert who can pull it all together and make sense of it and keep you on the right track.

Options for Optionality

As the industry continues to reopen, optionality is as important as ever, and both fitness studios and personal trainers need to think about how to support their clients in building an effective and exciting fitness routine.

OPTION 1: Hybrid training

For businesses during the pandemic, embracing optionality might have meant diversifying their own product offering to include some on-demand video workouts or 1:1 video call sessions. Which, for the record, a ton of them have done. I’d call this a move to hybrid training — a mix of online and in person training, based on consumer demand.

OPTION 2: Fitness consulting

Or maybe, embracing optionality was clients tracking their spin classes on their Apple Watch App, which trainers could then measure against their fitness goals. This is more of a consultation service — trainers training their clients themselves, but also supporting their various athletic endeavours with analysis, tracking and strategy.

OPTION 3: Shift to 360° coaching

Another example? Expanding to nutrition and habit coaching. This shows your clients that you see wellness holistically — in a 360° approach. Both are severely under-served, and providing this trifecta of coaching helps you become indispensable for your clients wellbeing.

As we face the new world of fitness, all of these options are better for you, and better for your clients: they’re flexible, affordable, motivating, and exciting. Which is what today’s fitness consumer wants.

Optionality Post-Vaccine

As the world continues to shift, being agile is the key — and embracing optionality is one surefire way to do so.

Why not lead the way? As new digital fitness enthusiasts start to demand more diverse services, gyms and trainers can (and should) be the ones to provide these services… and it starts, by embracing optionality — giving choice to their customers.