%20(2000%20x%202000%20px)%20(2).png)
The Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr. Ted Vickey
The Disruptive Fitness Podcast is a podcast for personal trainers who want to grow their business and work smarter, not harder, by using technology.
The guests will be my industry friends from my White House days, the people you need to know.
The Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr. Ted Vickey
Podcast 202: Ingrid Knight-Cohee on the Evolution of Fitness Tech and Group Ex
Ever wondered how technology can revolutionize group fitness scheduling or why hybrid fitness roles are on the rise? Join us on the Fitness Disruption Podcast as we sit down with Ingrid Knight-Kobe, Director of Fitness Programming at Fitness World Canada. Ingrid offers a wealth of knowledge on the contemporary challenges of group fitness, from ensuring classes are never canceled to adapting to post-pandemic demands. We uncover the significant role of data analytics in understanding demographic participation trends and consider the benefits of both in-person and online fitness classes in today’s evolving landscape.
Our conversation takes a deeper dive into post-COVID industry adaptations, including the noticeable decline in certified fitness instructors and the emergence of hybrid roles that blend personal training with group instruction. Ingrid also previews her upcoming sessions at the IDEA conference, including an exciting class designed to boost pickleball performance. Passion and dedication are the cornerstones of a successful fitness career, and Ingrid emphasizes the importance of these traits as we look towards future collaborations and episodes. Don’t miss her invaluable advice and our discussions on the future of fitness with technology at its helm.
Welcome to the Fitness Disruption Podcast with Dr Ted Vicki. From presidential push-ups to wearable wonders and award-winning academics, he's been called the most connected man in fitness. We will explore the intersection of fitness and technology, from cutting-edge apps to the latest in powerful prompts. This is your go-to source for staying ahead of the fitness tech curve. Spend just 30 minutes with us and we guarantee you'll learn something new, no matter if you're a new personal trainer or an established fitness brand. Ted and his guests have insights and tips for you to use today. Ready to be disruptive, it's time for the Fitness Disruption Podcast. Here's your host, dr Ted Vicki.
Speaker 2:Thanks, paul. Welcome to this week's podcast of the Fitness Disruption. I have someone special today with us Ingrid Knight-Kobe, from our friends up north in Canada. Let me tell you about Ingrid in case you don't know who she is. You will after this. At the helm of Fitness Programming for Fitness World Canada, ingrid oversees over 150 instructors and creates innovative class experiences for 90,000 members across 16 clubs. As the director of fitness classes, she has a bachelor's degree in human kinetics and a master's of science in exercise and health physiology, and regularly presents at global events and conferences like Idea World, ursa, which is now Health Fitness Association, and CanFit Pro. Ingrid is a thought leader and thought-after presenter with an expertise in fitness programming, management and leadership. Here's an interesting fact she was a former US national team member in Rhythmist Gymnastics. She parlayed her passion for competitive sport into educating and motivating others to live their best life through self-discovery, in pursuit of a transformative personal journey of health and wellness. Ingrid, thanks for being here. Thank you, thanks for being here.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2:I I can relate to your well, not really your rhythm gymnastics. I played water polo, oh okay. The pool with the synchronized swimmers, Ah, all right, I'm going to guess some similar movements when it comes to that.
Speaker 3:Definitely some similarities there. But yes, that was many moons ago and I'm not nearly as flexible as I once was, but still a beautiful sport to support and watch.
Speaker 2:Ingrid, you know I ask the question, one question to everyone that comes on the podcast, and that is you've been an industry for a long time. If there was one piece of fitness technology, any type of technology, that you would love to see the industry to allow us, as the fitness professionals, to have more time to work with our clients, what might it be?
Speaker 3:Oh, great question, and it is a topic that I think about a lot because I think there has to be a better way. For anyone in the realm of group fitness programming, you will relate to the fact that subbing and scheduling takes up way more time than it should. So I know there are a few platforms out there that are improving the process, but just due to the nature of our side of the industry a lot of part-time passion so folks have very convoluted schedules. Invariably there's travel, there's illness, there's injury and people need subs all the time. So this is a process that is very layered and gets very complicated and convoluted. So it would be great to have technology just kind of fix all of that and that would save a whole bunch of time and uh and frustration you.
Speaker 2:You hit the nail on the head with that. I think back to when I was at the white house and we had we had group exercise classes, and getting us up there is a lot more difficult because they have to go through security clearance, so it wasn't like we could just pick up the phone and say, hey, you're in town, come over and teach. It was a lot more involved with that. So for sure, uh, and we always had a policy never cancel a class as long as there was one person there. We had a class and I've been getting before. I'm not a very good step instructor, but I've taught step class. Then I realized I'm better off paying step instructors, so I would run them through the halls of the White House and that was our workout for the day. I've been down the stairs, oh my gosh. But you know we're since the pandemic and things that have happened, are you seeing a change in group exercise instruction? Are people coming back to be part of live or you know this, this Peloton craze of being able to do it online?
Speaker 3:What an interesting evolution. You know that keeps keeps transforming. I think what we're seeing is people definitely missed being. We're seeing almost full return to being. We're seeing almost full return to, you know, robust, full in-person live classes. But the convenience of having online options when you're traveling or when you're just too busy to get to the gym that's become the norm now as well. So I think the industry is getting to a place where, you know, the more options, the better meet people where they're at. So we're doing both right now at Fitness World we have our own app and we do provide online classes with, you know, a simulated live stream dropping every weekday at noon, and all of that content stays on our app. So it's on demand whenever people choose. But, of course, we have our in-person classes, ranging anywhere from 20 to 40 classes a week.
Speaker 2:Do you see a difference in the demographics? Are the ones taking the classes online tend to be the younger folks, or is it a combination of both?
Speaker 3:Well, this is another area where I would ask for technology to definitely help us out, because we know about the number of views, but digging into the data around exactly who is viewing that would be another layer of complexity that we don't have yet. But I would suspect that, yeah, we're. You know Gen Zs are? We always see them coming into our facilities with their device and they just prop up their their phone to to watch whatever you know, typically a YouTube video on a quick abs workout. They like um, short, sweet, uh workouts that are that are portable. So I would imagine that they are a significant portion of our online viewers, but I don't know for sure. I would like to dig into that. I got a guy you let me know. I don't know for sure.
Speaker 2:I'd like to dig into that. I got a guy you let me know. I'll introduce him to you. Okay, I'm in the industry over 30 years and one of my pet peeves is anybody can put up a shingle that says they're a personal trainer, a group exercise instructor, and you have this phase with a peloton of folks. We do great work. But I looked it up during COVID. I looked and only 10% of the instructors were certified to be a group exercise instructor. So you got these fitness influencers. And then you got folks like us that have been in the industry and kind of know what needs to be done when it comes to exercise. What are your thoughts on, on this influencer kind of phrase?
Speaker 3:well, you know it, and because of course, we want to spread the mantra. You know, and an influencer is in a position to to do that like, any movement is good movement, except when you don't know what you're doing and you're injuring people. That's not good, uh, but you know the industry that we built in terms of you know the certification process and the mentorship process. That all takes a lot of time, that I'm seeing this next generation. They're just not interested. It just takes too long and there's too many hoops to jump through. So I'd like to believe that there's a happy medium, that, without compromising standard, we can kind of speed up that certification process, make it a little more palatable, standard. We can kind of speed up that certification process, make it a little more palatable, so that we can get these influencers understanding the importance, you know, on every level, from professionalism to you know, risk management and to the value of certification and proper education.
Speaker 2:You know, just a couple of weeks ago, ace released that the new exams don't need to be proctored. Now what they've done is quite interesting. So they have the accredited certification which they've always had, but now that this entry-level certification what you're talking about it's open book but they're not going to be accredited. So I think that's that common ground that we're trying to find between the industry.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that was a very interesting move that I think a lot of us noticed. It's like wow, that's a big deal. But I think, you know, we have to recognize when we need to adapt and that's one adaptation that I think is going to help a lot of owners and operators continue to run full class schedules because really the other huge impact to the industry post-COVID is a lot of fitness instructors in particular. They just, you know it wasn't worthwhile to maintain their certification.
Speaker 2:They're literally in a financial hole by maintaining their certifications and not teaching as much I think the fitness industry is one of those industries that really is now maybe in the middle or the tail end of the effects of code, because, if you think about it, you get certified, you got two years and now, when it comes time for the renewal like you're talking about, some of those group exercise instructors and personal trainers, health coaches left, left the industry. So it's not until now, when it's time to renew, that we're finding out in the industry. Oh my gosh, we're losing 40% of what we had before related to COVID. So are you having problems finding new instructors and trainers? And what's happening up in Canada?
Speaker 3:Yep, I think it's a very common dilemma. I'm really trying to pull from our personal trainers. That is maybe one realm that benefited from COVID, because people had that moment to think of. Well, my, my usual job is gone. My passion is fitness. How can I kind of leverage that into a career, with personal training being much more viable for full-time hours than, of course, teaching fitness classes? So we're getting this kind of new generation of trainers and I'm trying to really emphasize the benefits of leveraging being a hybrid, both a trainer and a fitness class instructor. You know, put yourself in front of 20, 30 people at a time, market yourself in that platform, get energy from a crowd and build your client base that way. So I am. You know, right now I'm probably only at about 15% of my instructor team are also personal trainers. My goal is to get that up to 50%.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a great goal to have and I think it, like you said, it's going to allow those trainers that never thought about I could teach a group exercise class that they could actually do that.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think.
Speaker 2:Back to be a creator. For you, that sounds kind of fun. What else are you seeing when it comes to post COVID and anything that that has surprised you? When it comes to fitness, any lessons that we've learned? I think the one that I learned is the traditional model of personal training, where you trade time for money, is broken and can't sustain it because you either have to charge more or work more, and that's really not one of the two things I would suggest people do. So I think that there's having to redefine what exercise is. It's not going to a gym, it's walking your dog, it's gardening, it's doing all sorts of things. What do you?
Speaker 3:see. Well, yeah, I think that you know, this need for building community is, you know, has this heightened value, and we are kind of seeing that sweet spot between personal training and fitness classes is small group personal training. So that is another service that we offer, that we call the works, and we're seeing growth in that. So, you know, it's not quite as you know, there isn't that perception of, oh, I can't follow rhythm, I don't want to go to a class, but I do want a personalized, you know workout led by a personal trainer, but I do want a personalized workout led by a personal trainer. So that's kind of meeting both needs. So we are seeing some interesting growth in that realm.
Speaker 2:And does that give the trainer the opportunity to use some technologies? I've always thought a trainer, you do it for motivation, education, accountability. I would think there's a way that you can do that so you don't need that trainer with you changing your weight, stack or doing doing, but can they be accountable over the phone?
Speaker 3:I think there's a way to do it and that's kind of goes what you're talking about with being able to use technologies to allow trainers to do that yeah, well, I mean, in terms of, um, small group training, I mean that's I wouldn't say there's uh technology necessarily in in that realm, but in terms of building programming, yeah, there's all kinds of tools that our trainers are using. I believe we use TrainerEyes, as you know, a virtual option for sessions. So that's definitely, you know, I think, again, one of many options. And the client, the typical new member, they're looking for options.
Speaker 2:I know you're going to speak at Idea coming up. What is it that you're going to talk about in? You know days and times so people can watch it.
Speaker 3:Yes yes, oh, idea is, yeah, I think, just to preface all of that with you know how to kind of inspire the next generation of fitness professionals. I mean, idea is it? You know you're going to just see the latest and greatest of everything and get really inspired. So I encourage everyone to check it out. But my specific sessions are both happening on Friday, july 12.
Speaker 3:I'm doing an early morning workshop called Pickle Me Fit, which is actually a fitness class format or workout designed to build resiliency and reduce risk of injury. As it relates to pickleball, which, if you're probably familiar, it's been the world's fastest growing sport for a few years in a row. So I figured, if you can't beat them, join them. I'm not a pickleball pro by any stretch, but I do enjoy the game and we are seeing a lot of our members, you know, coming in saying that they want to get better at it and they don't. You know they don't want to get injured playing so. So this is just, you know, a sport specific workout using some fun tools. So that's the morning session, and then in the afternoon I've got more of a lecture style session called grow your classes, using the acronym-W from the performance coaching model. So we just apply that to the kind of realm of group fitness programming in terms of you know what are your goals, what's your reality, what are your opportunities or obstacles, and then what's your way forward.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. I'm going to speak on Friday. I'm going to. I speak on Friday. I'm going to sneak in to see yours. I might go to that pickleball fit one. That's quite interesting because my fear is I see these people running around and you know it's not, as I don't want to say it's as active as tennis is, but you know, I'm a former athlete.
Speaker 3:I'm going to dive on the ground and I don't know if I get back up. So, yeah, take your glass. Yeah, it's, uh, it's. It's a lot of fun, um, but yeah, it takes a great deal of, you know, speed, agility, quickness. We'll talk about those kinds of drills, um, but also there's a lot of interesting research around. You know how to train our bodies not to um co-contract, so that's when injury happens, right. So we've got the anterior chain, the posterior chain it's about opening up the anterior and activating the posterior to really get power out of your swing. So a lot of interesting stuff in there that we'll just, you know, infuse with a whole lot of fun. So, yeah, I hope you join me.
Speaker 2:I will definitely try. You know we try to keep these podcasts under 30 minutes. We find that's a great time. People can go out for the morning walk and kind of get a bit of education as they do it. My last question for you is what would you tell your younger self getting into the industry now? What advice would you give yourself to motivate you to stay in the industry?
Speaker 3:Oh, wow. I mean, I've been doing this for 33 years and honestly I've never wanted to do anything else. I've always been very motivated to. You know, once you kind of understand the impact that you have as a fitness pro to change lives, make lives healthier and happier and longer, you know kind of nothing else beats it in my opinion. So I would just tell my younger self you're on the right track. This is a fantastic industry to be in. Keep learning, keep doing the good work and understand and keep faith that what you're doing matters.
Speaker 2:I think you're absolutely right. I don't think any of us got in this industry to become rich. We did it because we wanted to help people, and you can have a great career by following that passion. So, ingrid, thanks for being here, thanks for sharing your knowledge, and I will see you in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3:Yes, see you soon in person. Fantastic, I can't wait Talk to you soon. Thanks a lot.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Subscribe, write us a review and spread the word. Got a topic you want us to cover or a guest you'd love to hear? Let us know. Stay tuned for our next podcast for more tips, tricks and trends. Be disruptive, stay innovative and, most importantly, keep making waves.