The End of Dumb Strength?

As we have recently entered the 21st century I often ask myself, has the weight stack gone by way of the horse and buggy?  Looking back on the previous century and observing the development and maturity of the Olympic barbell and the selectorized weight stack machine one could make a good argument that gravity based training devices may be headed for the museum sitting right alongside the analog black & white television set, the record player  and the Polaroid  camera.  All of which were good inventions who’s time had come and gone.

With all of the advances in computer technology over the past 30 years I do believe the age of ‘Power Electronics’ has arrived. I can remember back in the early 1980’s when the Ariel 4000, Powercize and Arthur Jones of Nautilus fame experimented with the rudimentary versions of computerized strength training equipment. Only to come to the hard reality that the current state of computer technology was not quite up to the job.

All of these pioneers knew deep down inside that this is where the future of strength training was headed. Real time graphical interface, detailed historical recording of each and every training session, the inclusion of safe eccentric loading on each and every repetition as well as speed of movement control.

These features are now here and available to everyone from the elite professional athlete to the average ‘Joe’ on the street. From rehabilitation and Physical Therapy to Active Aging Centers across the country. The future of computerized fitness is ‘now’. So as this new technology matures before our eyes I now ask myself, where will the state of the art in strength training lie at the turn of the next century? I think at this point we can only imagine where it will take us since the pace of technology accelerates with time. I’m sure that our children's children will look back on our Nautilus and Cybex machines just as we now look back at our forefathers trusty muskets and flintlock rifles as relics of a bygone age.

Setting Goals is a Recipe for Failure!

I think there are some important points made in this video.  People often ask me what I think about the latest training programs, videos or trends.  My filter for the general population is, can it be sustained.  There are a lot of programs that offer a "new you" in 90 days or less.  The fact is, sticking to a rigid diet and training schedule, you will see changes to your body.  Is that the goal though?  At day 45 are you counting down the days to the "finish line"?  If so, then the program has failed you.  It does not fit your lifestyle nor does it feed your desire to stay active and healthy.  

Robby MacDonell - Are goals bad for forming habits? from David Reeves on Vimeo.

An 'Ode to the Trailblazers - Find Your Master Blacksmith

An ‘Ode to the Trailblazers - Find Your Master Blacksmith

Do all your credentials, degrees and letters at the end of your name identify you as a leading authority in your craft? 

Recently I had the opportunity to have a round table discussion with some of the leaders in strength and conditioning from the NFL, college, high school and private training sector.   Each person had over 20 years of experience.  They are sought after to put on seminars,  clinics and write for many industry publications. 

The question came up about what you look for in a young coach:

A decorated CSCS, USAW,SCCC, Exercise Science Degree, NASM, etc. or, a blank slate with good work ethic and passion to learn?  You can guess what the overwhelming response was. 

When this country had more highly skilled craftsmen, our ancestors would send their children to spend decades as an apprentice to learn the trade.  An apprentice blacksmith, for example, had to learn the craft, intricacies and details from a master blacksmith.  This mentor-ship allowed the apprentice to gain valuable experience that had been handed down for generations and, ultimately, the apprentice became the master blacksmith ready to train the next generation. 

To me, this is what is lost today.  Too many coaches and trainers feel they are entitled to the top positions in the field due to how many degrees or certifications they have.  When I ask them about certain aspects of training they can spout out all kinds of textbook answers and people that are doing this and that.  When I ask them what they have learned from their experiences with it, it becomes awkwardly silent.  They have no answer because they have No Experience!

I have been in the iron game for 34 years now; a strength and conditioning coach for 23 years, a sports coach for 20 years and I continue to learn new things every day.  An example of this is what Exerbotics has done in developing a technology that allows for Eccentric training to be done properly in a safe and efficient manor.  Wow!  What will this do for building strength 3 times faster, impact sports performance, medical rehab and wellness, and more.  Science and innovation has given us a cutting edge tool and our willingness to use it will unlock the next chapter of true human ability.

When I meet with people like  Joe “Big House” Kenn, Mike Clark, Ethan Banning, Ryan Capretta, Dr. Jim Bell, Dr. Tom Allen (and so many others) they begin to answer my questions with…”What I have found is…” 

When you hear those trigger words, it means that what you are about to hear has come from  their lifelong experience.  Those lessons are invaluable to a young coach learning his/her craft.  Foundational knowledge through a degree or certification programs is a good start but the number of certifications and degrees will never take the place of getting in the trenches and experiencing the knowledge you are striving for.

Seek out mentors and take advantage of opportunities to work with the “master blacksmiths”.  Make sure you take advantage of your opportunities to sit around the table and learn.  And, above all, thank them for the path they have paved for us all.

When Results Matter - Fitness Center Management with a Medical Fitness Approach

It has been my experience over the past 30 years that, in general, the Fitness Industry is always willing to take a prospective member’s money yet they don’t seem to give much regard to delivering tangible benefits from either their  products or services. This lack of concern for customer service and client results reflects negatively on  the Fitness Industry. Having spent the last 20 years in Medical Fitness, which stresses tangible results as well as superior customer service, it makes me question how the general health and fitness companies stay in business.

When I was Executive Director of University Hospitals of Cleveland’s 121 Fitness Center, my goal was to create an atmosphere that oozed quality customer service at a very reasonable cost. For 15 years we led the NE Ohio area as well as the Midwest in quality fitness programing. We have awards to prove that we had the best equipment, programing options, instruction, facility maintenance and cleanliness. As a result our financial success put us in the top 96% of all health and fitness centers in the US for over a decade.

Why is it that only Medical based health and fitness centers seem to have any pride or sense of obligation to provide high quality products and services to their customers (members)? Why is it the health and fitness industry is alright with billing customer’s credit cards monthly and hope that they never come in and use the facility?

My personal feeling is that the Fitness Industry in general has been able to get anyway with this “let the buyer beware” business model-attitude for so long that it has become ingrained in their collective thinking. “Why spend the money on quality programing and service when they will just quit anyway”...Conversely, the Medical Fitness community has proven that if you offer a quality product at a reasonable price they will not only come, but will stay...During my tenure at 121 Fitness I was always looking out on the horizon for new programs and equipment that enabled legitimate improvement to physical fitness. That said, we avoided fads and gimmicks. We were the first fitness club in the Cleveland area to offer Group Cycling (Spinning) to our members and ‘at no additional charge’. The program was a hit from day one and 20 years later it is still the most successful group cycling program in NE Ohio.

In addition, we were the only fitness center in the greater Cleveland area to employ a full-time equipment maintenance technician.  Other club owners would always ask me in amazement “isn’t that expensive?”  I would always answer, “Expensive? How much is it costing you in member fallout because 20% of your equipment is constantly down and takes weeks or months to repair.” Rarely if ever did you see an ‘out of order’ sign at 121. Our average downtime for repair was measured in Hours not Days or Weeks. This commitment to excellence extended to building maintenance as well as housekeeping where we employed two full-time cleaning crews during business hours and an after hours janitor to ‘sanitize’ the wet areas 7 days per week. We were well known as the cleanest, best maintained facility in the Industry. And won many awards for our efforts.

While most facilities put all their efforts into recruiting ‘new’ members I put mine into ‘retaining’ my existing members and used a ‘member referral’ program to replace my attrition. Happy well serviced members are your best sales force and I was happy to say I had 5,000 motivated sales people selling my facility...As the late Steven Jobs put it so beautifully .... “I put all of my waking efforts into providing my customers the absolute best products and customer service that was humanly possible. As a result, I never once worried about the bottom line or stock price. It all just fell right into place”...Now, if  the fitness industry just followed that one mantra, it would be a whole different industry than it is today...

To learn more about this topic, please consider attending the Webinar “Positioning Medical Fitness in the Current Health Club Environment” hosted by Cary Wing on February 29th.  Details can be found here.



Harry Safford is a 30 year veteran of the Health & Fitness Industry with the last 20 years spent in medical fitness. He is currently the Executive Director of Business Development at Exerbotics where he is still deeply committed to offering the absolute best solutions and service.

Exerbotics Road Trip - Week 1

  

Well, it has been an adventurous week as we set out in our F-250 and 31' RV Exhibit Trailer.  As men, we love adventure, we are susceptible to a mishap here and there and we always welcome a MacGyver Moment!  Our tour launched from Rochester, MN and we saw our first repair shop before we did our first Demo!  As you can see, SOME of our drivers are being baptized by fire!  Learning to drive a Super Duty pick-up and a 31' 5th Wheel is a little different than a Corvette, right Harry?  

Fortunately this only took us out for a few hours and, although scuffed a little (we call this "broke in" in Oklahoma) we were back on the road.  The next incident wasn't quite as funny or exciting and, I'll admit, did get my blood pressure up a little.  Apparently you need to be careful about your turn radius when hauling a 5th wheel trailer without a long bed pick-up!

Now fully "broke in" (a little more than we would prefer), we were ready to start showing what Exerbotics is good at (Since we have already demonstrated that we aren't that good at driving...yet).  Our tour around OH was successful beyond our wildest expectations.  We met with some of the elite thinkers and doers in athletics, medical, fitness and wellness.  It goes without saying that they all saw the future this week and are ready to incorporate Exerbotics into their business model to give them a competitive advantage and the latest in training technology.  

After a couple more MacGyver episodes involving dead batteries, an electrical short in the tail lights and some other mis-adventures, we are headed to Florida to install three machines at Bodez by Tasso.  Tasso Kiriakes has a progressive vision and Exerbotics is excited to help drive his business to the future.  We look forward to following up with this story next month to report on his program and it's success in attracting new clients and retaining existing clients.  If you are in the Ormond Beach / Daytona Beach area, come by and see us.  Friday and Saturday would be great!

More tails from the road coming soon! If you would like a demo to come visit you,  check out our EVENTS CALENDAR or send us a note at sales@exerbotics.com.  Also, come visit us at Athletic Business in Orlando.  

1,625 Miles in and headed for more!  Clay driving somewhere in South Carolina on 10/19

Update on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 9:40AM by Exerbotics, LLC

Bodez by Tasso staff is getting familiar with their new Exerbotics machines.  This is the FIRST Exerbotics facility in Florida.  Congratulations Tasso & staff.  Training in your facility will never be the same and the value you will provide to your clients in training efficiency and statistical data will be unmatched.