I recently started my own fitness company called The Strength Standard. This all-remote endeavor is not just geared toward golfers but toward athletes from all sports and all walks of life. There’s the nurse with the unpredictable work schedule and the finance guy who spends more hours at the office than he should, both just looking for someone to help them with their fitness training.
I work with my clients' goals in mind, using an app called TrainHeroic to plan my programming and offer a golf-specific subscription-based program with new programming and video tutorials posted each month. There are also live communication features that create engagement between me and my clients. I’m currently posting my winter golf training programming for subscribers to follow.
Also employed by The Salus Group as a fitness trainer at Quaker Ridge Golf Club and The Apawamis Club, my schedule was filled with clients as the summer ended. And with fall upon us, we wind down these peak season efforts and transition to winter training programs.
This is the time when we can increase the intensity of our training because my clients are playing less golf and have more time to devote to fitness. We can add reps and sets and increase the weight implemented into the strength training process because clients aren’t thinking about playing golf the next day. We can push the issue a bit more at this time of year and do more intense strength work because they have more time to recover. Of course, we never overdo our efforts but keep all the qualities of our work focused on strength, power and mobility.
With members’ obligations being different during the winter, I’ll work with several individuals during the next few months who I don’t normally see during the golf season. We’ll perform an initial assessment and have a conversation about their needs and goals for the offseason and the new year.
Some of my clients request that I keep in close communication with their swing coach or PGA Professional, while others simply want to work on his or her fitness and implement their enhanced attributes on the course in the spring. Collaboration with our golf professionals is generally beneficial to the progress of our shared clients.
When my in-person one-on-one clients want to take part in my Strength Standard virtual training, I’ll communicate this to my boss at the Salus Group and transition them to the tips and programming that I’ve made available online. After all, we all want what’s best for our clients, and adding my online programming to the engagement we provide in person is just elevating the level of service. It makes us all look better. I’ve helped a lot of individuals in person over my career and want to expand my potential customer base and touch more people than ever, both one-on-one and through the online programming I’ve put together.
As winter’s end comes into view, I’ll implement programming templates that help transition our efforts from our offseason objectives to the hustle and bustle of the golf season, when we’ll take our foot off the gas a bit and settle into in-season mode to accomplish the many goals of our clients.
Brian Loomis is a Personal Trainer with The Salus Group, working at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, New York and The Apawamis Club in Rye, New York.
