Lost 2 pounds...now for a rant!

Alright, I have to use this opportunity to have a rant...

I am working with a group of women at the gym who have 12 weeks to get into their skinny jeans. I told them I would be measuring them every two weeks and then they would try on their skinny jeans every 3-4 weeks but I would only take the time to measure them if they bring their journal filled out 90% compliant to the nutrition rules I gave them. You see I have consistantly seen with my clients that if they are not 90% compliant their body will not change. Also if they are not following a plan at least 90% of the time then I don't know what is working and what isn't. So there is no point in measuring.

It is time. Tuesday is when we will check in and see how they did the first 2 weeks of their challenge. I am sure I will see the majority of these clients losing 2-4 pounds of fat after following the nutrition advice 90% of the time and writing down what they are doing and getting all of their workouts done. They are commited and focused and will see results.

Now for the rant...I have already heard that some of these women were at the gym last week(after 1 week) discussing how- "I haven't lost anything...nothing is happening...I need to just start starving myself. This isn't working to eat more..." This sounds like negative talk from people who have not fully bought in to my advice and are probably not following it from the beginning. They are looking for an excuse or something to blame for why they are not seeing results. If you want to lose fat, do what I tell you and it will work- guaranteed! But you have to commit.

I know for a fact that if they have not changed at all then they are not following what I told them to do 90% of the time. How do I know this? Because I have worked with enough clients and I have seen over and over again on then and on myself and KNOW that their bodies WILL CHANGE if they are following what I tell them to.

Proof- This week I started "dialing it in" myself because I have my photo shoot next week for my book. Now I am already working out regularly, eating probably 80-85% of the time compliant to my nutrition rules but this last week I stepped it up and added in some extra workouts and stuck to my nutrition 90% of the time and GUESS WHAT- AMAZING! I dropped 2 pounds! Now this wasn't a bloated 2 pounds, this was me already feeling pretty good and lean, probably about 19% body fat and dropping another 2 pounds to get closer to 18% body fat.

What did my week look like?

2 Strength Training workouts
2 Metabolic Workouts
1 Stairmill interval session(20 minutes)
1 Run around the block(30 minutes)
1 Day Off

90% compliant- my splurges included 1 night of Shepard's pie, 2 glasses of wine and dessert for my Grandma's Birthday and then another night with 2 glasses of wine for a friend's birthday. Yes, I enjoyed these splurges AND lost 2 pounds. Otherwise, my days were made up of - Eggs/Egg Whites and Spinach, Yoghurt & blueberries, Chicken breast, lettuce, oil and vinegar, Tuna and apples or a shake at the gym(usually Peanut Butter Peal) and for dinner Mahi Mahi, Steak or chicken and veggies and ofcourse one of our shakes at the gym after every workout- Hawaiian Harvest is my fav!

Now, I had heard about some of these clients complaining about not changing and I had already thought to myself- they are not following what I told them to do, maybe unconciously, and are looking for something to blame. I am looking forward to seeing their journals- Maybe they skipped a meal here or there or they rationalized that having wheat thins for their snack was allowed or trail mix maybe. Or they forgot about the potatoes or bread they decided to have with dinner this week. They may have thought they were 90% but were actually 70-80%.Whatever it was if they did not change this week, they were not 90% on the plan guaranteed.

Checking in with myself at the one week point of my "dial it in phase" after a couple splurges this week was evidence once again that there is no reason their bodies should not be changing.

Be honest with yourself, are you doing what it takes to change your body? If so stay positive, stay focused and watch out for any negative chit chat you have going on in your head. The mind and body are VERY connected and if you are thinking that- "This doesn't work. I am destined to be fat forever. I will never lose fat...." Guess what you are right!

Whether you think you can or think you can't- you are absolutley right!

55 Fitness Business Strategies for Success

Our new business book - "55 Fitness Business Strategies for Success" launched last weekend at the Perform Better Seminar in Los Angeles.We only had 50 copies available -- and we sold out.

The good news is that the book is available now and is on sale for the next seven days for $19.99.Pick it up here => 55 Fitness Business Strategies

Here is an excerpt from the book:
Strategy 31
Have a separate program design department.

Every program needs to be designed according to the same systemized philosophy.

You shouldn’t have one trainer who does functional training with her clients, and another trainer who does Olympic lifts and another trainer who does all power lifting or bodybuilding.

Decide on one philosophy and create a system to design all of the programs through that philosophy so every trainer is using a program that follows the same philosophy.

Every client should get the best that you have to offer- you decide what that is.

Initially as the owner, you may be designing all of the programs and as you hire trainers, you will design the programs that they will implement. You should have a standard evaluation that any of your trainers can take them through and then they turn this evaluation into the Program designer. We use The Functional Movement Screen developed by Gray Cook, along with a health history, goal assessment, range of motion test and flexibility test. This evaluation can be easily taught to a new fitness coach. The program designer should work off of a template - The key is to have a system.

Benefits:
* Allows you to hire trainers who may not know how to write a good program initially. Remember in the staffing chapter when we discussed hiring the people with the lowest skill? This is exactly what we are talking about. Hire someone who loves fitness, has good training skills and a great personality but may not know how to periodize a 16 week program to get 20-30 pounds of body fat off of somebody safely and effectively. Leave that to the Program Design Team.

* Again you have a business because what you do with your clients is successful- why would you want your clients to do anything different from what you would do with them?

* It creates a great environment for teamwork. The client knows they have someone writing their program and someone teaching it to them. They have a whole team working to get them the best results possible.

* If a trainer leaves or a program designer leaves, the client is not affected. Someone else takes over the same system and the client’s training does not miss a beat.

Pick up the newest book here => 55 Fitness Business Strategies On sale this week for only $19.99, this book will give you an insight into how we run Results Fitness.

"I just finished the new book. Great guide! Seriously, you two are making it so much easier for people to succeed, achieve results faster and feel less frustrations"--Rob Pilger

=> 55 Fitness Business Strategies

Today everything changes in Sports Camp World!

I don't normally do plugs on my blog, I usually keep it more of a journal to practice my writing but I have to tell you about this opportunity incase any of you are getting into sports training camps which are a great way to make money in this industry!

If you have every thought of doing a sports camp- Today is the day everything changes in the sports camp world!

At noon today, Eastern Standard Time (Boston, MA) Pat Beith unleashes what is, quite honestly, the most comprehensive sports camp and speed clinic 'business in a box' that this industry has ever seen.

SPORTS CAMP BUSINESS IN A BOX

The experience and success of the teachers in this program is unparalleled.

Starting at noon today, there can be no more excuses for not turning record breaking profits running speed clinics and sports camps.

You'd have to try *not* to make money and it still wouldn't work. There's just too much good 'stuff' in this package to not succeed.

So go order the Sports Camp Empire program and completely change the way you do business.

SPORTS CAMP BUSINESS IN A BOX

Trust me - you haven't seen anything when compared to this program.

--
Rachel

P.S. Pat is also giving away 6 sweet 'Fast Action' Bonuses to the first *75* serious entrepreneurs who order the Sports Camp Empire Program.

So if you're serious about growing your business, it's worth your while to jump on this offer right at noon because from the buzz these videos have created, those first 75 programs will be gone very quickly.

SPORTS CAMP BUSINESS IN A BOX

P.P.S Pat is also offering a "more than your money back" guarantee. Definitely worth checking out

Perform Better One Day in Los Angeles

This weekend I went to the Perform Better One Day Learn by Doing in Los Angeles. My husband was speaking but the real reason I went was to learn and network. I always learn something at these events or have an "Aha" moment talking to someone I meet. Todd Durkin, Mike Boyle, Gray Cook, Anthony Deluglio and of course my husband, Alwyn Cosgrove all spoke at the seminar.

Perform Better puts on a great event, they are the top in the industry when it comes to continuing education. It was close to sold out, if not sold out(I think every seat was taken but don't know if they actually turned anybody away). I am surprised that I did not see EVERY single trainer I know in attendance there, why anyone would miss a Perform Better event???? I know a lot of trainers in Los Angeles who weren't there- it baffles me. Heck, the audience was almost more impressive- I saw Sean Skahan, strength coach for the Anaheim Ducks, and trainer to the stars Gunnar Peterson was in attendance sitting in the audience learning and this was the first one Valerie Waters, trainer to Jennifer Garner and Cindy Crawford among other beautiful celebrity clients has missed in years(only because she had a previous commitment). Any trainer who is a professional and who takes their career seriously was there learning and getting even better.

What did I learn?

Todd Durkin- Todd's talk was motivational and reminded me of the daily actions I need to take to continue being successful in our business. His energy is contagious! He had a list of Lessons learned from the Trenches, here are a few of them -

• Focus on delivering the Customer Experience!
• Don't live in FEAR- "Fear" is False Expectations Appearing Real
• "If you're tired, you're not inspired"
• "Do what you do best and hire the rest"
• Focus on the process, not the product. (The Journey)
• Don't spread yourself too thin- learn to say No!
• Protect against burnout by investing in yourself, staying hungry and leveraging your time.
• Attention to detail is critical
• Adversity is God's way of teaching you a lesson to be used at a different time in your life.
• Mo-mentum means Mo Money!!!
• The Power of Success lies within you!

His hands on was intense! He did some great stuff to use in boot camps or group classes, partner stuff and games. Again his energy is insane!!!

Alwyn Cosgrove- My husband was hilarious as usual. He makes me laugh everyday and he made the audience laugh outloud on Saturday along with provide some of the real strategies we have learned running our business for the last 9 years. We almost sold out our April mentorship, I think we have 2 spots left. If you are interested, download the brochure here and send in your resume and a paragraph about why you should be accepted to info@results-fitness.com. You can also check out our site at http://www.resultsfitnessbiz.com/.

Alwyn's hands on used kettlebells, bands, sand bags, val slides, swiss balls and body weight to give everybody an awesome workout.

Gray Cook- Gray discussed the primitive patterns of squatting, lungingm stepping, reaching, leg raising, push up and rotary stability. Most of all the walk away piece of information that everyone grasped was that we need to stop doing crunches with our clients and use all Core stabilization exercises in place for core work. Crunches = Low back injuries. If you are lost on what I mean by core stabilization exercises check out our brand new Ultimate Core DVD that has a TON of exercises on it. His FMS certification course is coming up in February and is one not to miss if you want to be at the top of the field in this industry. If you aren't doing some kind of screen with your clients, you are missing a huge piece of the puzzle. You must assess for success!

Mike Boyle- Mike talked about the difference between training a "fat" client and an athlete. He talked about stuff like the fact that you can't have a "fat" person roll around on a foam roller or do a bunch of core activation or one legged exercises- all stuff that he makes the number one priority with his athletes. A funny visual was him describing trying to get a "fat" person to do a plank and how basically what happened was the person was on his elbows and feet but his stomach, his boobs and everything else was also on the ground and there was no way that guy could "feel" if his abdominal was engaged, he hadn't felt or seen his abdominal muscle in years. This talk was stuff that all of us who train fat people know already but I thought it was good for Mike to cover it because I think sometimes trainers come back from these conferences with all kinds of crazy stuff when the basics will work with the average fat client who most of us train on a daily basis.

Anthony Deluglio- Anthony is one of the most innovative people I know and is always coming up with new ideas and new inventions. Anthony had a line up of 7 different exercises, each one correlating to one of the tests on the functional movement screen. He is recommending using these exercises for your screen which would get the client feeling the exercise, getting a bit of a workout and realizing they can do this but also give you the feedback you need to write their program. The exercises included a get up sit up, a swing using a rope with the kettlebell, a double clean, a front squat, lunge with a twist and a few other basic exercises to see how the client moves and give them a workout. Anthony is always excellent!

So, there is a scraping of what was taught on Saturday. If you missed out you should definitely look up on the Perform Better site when the next event is in your area. The three day summit Perform Better puts on is definitely one not to miss- there are 4 speakers going every hour for three days so you can totally immerse yourself in professional development for the weekend. http://www.performbetter.com/

Learn more to earn more. Be the best at what you do and you will never be short of income!

Drinking Water from a fire hose!

A guest blog from my hubby, AC:

Tom Oberhue of Impact Performance Training said the Results Fitness Mentorship was like:

"Drinking Water from a Fire Hose!! " and "Contained a Mind-Blowing Amount of Information""I just finished an amazing four days in LA doing a business mentorship at Results Fitness with Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove. We covered so much material ... the A to Z of the fitness business. It has taken my understanding and thinking to a whole new level."--Tom OberhuePortland, OR

Been getting a lot of emails asking me about our resultsfitnessbiz.com membership site, our platinum business coaching program and our mentorship course.Well, it all starts with the mentorship course - you can't get into any of the coaching programs unless you attend a mentorship first. In fact we don't even answer business emails or inquiries to non-coaching group members anymore.So this years remaining mentorships are as follows (we just finished another group last week):April has only 3 spaces leftJune has 4 spots leftSeptember is sold outNovember has 4 spaces open currently.If you are at all interested then email donna@results-fitness.com and she'll give you all the details.Basically it's 4 long days where we take your current business apart piece by piece and rebuild from the ground up.We cover lead generation, lead conversion, client fulfillment and retention, marketing, sales, program design systems, and other service centers within your training business.We also open up our business and share with you every single system that we use, and implement daily in our facility and we go over everything that we monitor and track.It's all business for 4 days and is aimed at small gym owners, trainers and studio owners,Just wanted a reminder (for the few who have asked) that I can't (won't) take business coaching clients on who haven't been through the mentorship events. Plus you get as much Q&A time with Rachel and I as you'll ever want! Results Fitness was voted one of America’s Top 30 Gyms by Men’s Health Magazine in 2008 - this is your chance to find out first hand why!

"This was truly a transforming experience! I now see what is possible and how there are no limits! Rachel and Alwyn and their entire Results Fitness staff are simply amazing and their openness and willingness to help others is WONDERFUL! These four days are going to change everything for me. I am inspired, excited, motivated and realize the only limits that exist are the ones i put on myself. Thank you somuch!!"- Sarah Scozzaro (Germany)"

Alwyn and Rachel create a learning environment unparalleled to anything I've ever experienced. the small group environment allowed us to direct the flow of conversation. they were an open book and went above and beyond the call of duty. Best Investment Ever!!!"- Ryan Patrick (USA)

"if you only get to meet Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove once, this once in a lifetime experience could change your life, business, program design and so much more. this experience was so valuable. Personally I wouldn't want to miss out! If you don't go, your competition will!"- Joe Hanney (UK)

"If you're serious about personal development, learning and accelerating your business forward, I would highly recommend you attend a Results Fitness mentorship. it's well worth the investment."- Alexandria Wilson (UK)

"if you would like a better life, more money and to be a better coach then you NEED to go to this mentorship. It will completely revolutionize your thought process and thus everything else."- Josef Brandenberg (USA)

You can download the mentorship brochure HERE

“Results Fitness is quite possibly the most profitable gym per square foot in the country” – Thomas Plummer (Fitness industry consultant)

The investment for the mentorship is $1500.

--AC

Keep up...

We just had our first Results Fitness Biz mentorship of 2009 last week. 9 trainers in this industry just took a HUGE jump up the ladder of success in this field. What has taken Alwyn and I 9 years to figure out through mistakes and experiences, we shared with this group of people to save them from making the same mistakes and they sucked it in like sponges. This group was full of questions and got every answer. They each left with an action plan that they will start to implement this week. It was such a pleasure to work with a group of people in this industry who are looking to be the best at what they do. And they will quickly pass everyone else up.

"The Results Fitness mentorship has been one of the most inspiring and enlightening educational experiences I have ever had. I flew from the UK to attend the course and high expectations, but I am blown away with everything I have learnt from Rachel, Alwyn and their incredible team." Charlotte Ord

They each received our Trainer to Business Owner manual which is exclusive to those who attend our mentorship along with a computer disc with our program templates, budgets, spreadsheets, forms we use...EVERYTHING we have to offer right on a disc to use immediatley in their own businesses. They sat in my office with me as I opened my hard drive and shared every form and document I use on a daily basis to run our business. They also worked out with Alwyn and I and had some fun!






They "get" it

The people who "get" it come to our Results Fitness Biz Mentorship and hear about all of our experiences and fast track where they are in their fitness business so they don't have to make the same mistakes we did. They know that the time and money invested for this 4 days will pay them back double, triple...or whatever they decide. Attending this mentorship will save them a ton of time and money as their businesses grow. I wish Alwyn and I had an opportunity like this when we first started out!

To learn more about it go to http://www.resultsfitnessbiz.com/. This is our membership site that is exclusive to our coaching group and is only open to those who have attended our mentorship. Alwyn and I only want to work with people in this industry who are serious about their career and want to be the best. You can only be accepted to the mentorship by application. To learn more about it Click Here- Click Here to download our brochure.

Email your resume and a brief paragraph to info@results-fitness.com to apply for our next mentorship.

Resolutions

Have you set New Years Resoultions, done challenges, set goals for yourself and not hit them? So by now you have given up and think it is hopeless?

Only about 45% of us actually write out New Year's resolutions? According to a survey, that's down from 88%. The reported reason was that only about 8% of us achieve our resolutions, so most people don't believe they work. The problem is most people don’t follow through.

Well, I have exciting news for you! If you have tried and failed in the past- there is hope! You may be that much more likely to change your body, your habits, your lifestyle and make it stick this time around. Recent research suggests that it often takes a number of attempts before people are able to change a habit for good. The National Weight Control Registry is conducting an ongoing study of more than 5000 men and women who have succeeded in maintaining an average weight loss of 66 pounds for more than five years- among them 91 percent had tried and failed in the past.

Consider your past attempts part of your journey and make this time the time you do it for good! Decide what you want this year, committ to yourself that you will follow through and do it no matter what obstacles creep in your way, you will stay focused. 2009 is your year to be in the best shape of your life! Don't ever give up on what you want for yourself!