Jackhammer Strength Training: 7 years of owning a gym in Columbus, Ohio. What have I learned? Not everyone is capable of doing all lifts. Their is a time and place to make things easier and harder. Everyone should be screened when they come in so they can do things safely and appropriate for them. Retention is hard. Getting leads is hard. Converting leads other than referrals is hard. Converting referrals is easy. Getting referrals is hard. Complexes suck. Complexes are awesome for condioning purposes. Burpees suck, deadlifts variations are awesome. Lots of people hate deadlifts because it hurts their hands. If you get stronger at deadlifting you get stronger at everything. I am very creative with my training. I almost have all the gym toys I want. You cannot please everyone. Sometimes you have to fire clients. You become very close to clients. You miss some clients a lot more than they know. I have lots of training systems 23 but I have 5 go to styles that I use the most metabolic circuits, rounds of 10, 20-10s, long rounds, and 5 sets of 5. You can make year long personal training plans for every client but they will not like them as they are too structured and boring. Email list used to make me very upset when people would opt out. Now people just do not open emails often enough. I have been a generalist training for 12 years and it is time to become a specialists. Although I have trained thousands of people the ones I enjoy training the most are older than 50 and athletes. I have made a stroke victim slightly better. I have helped an Iron man Triathletes get better while training less. I have inspired others to become trainers. I have helped people with their first adventure race, first 5 k, first half marathon, prepare for surfing and skiing. I have helped people lower their blood pressure, lower their cholesterol, lose weight,get stronger, get faster, become more resilient, become better cyclists, lose back pain, get stronger, but most importantly In have helped people feel better about themselves. It feels awesome to get through a hard workout especially if you do not think you can. People get much better results in a small group setting than in a personal training setting. Camaraderie and competition make groups better. Music can make or break a workout. I have had 15 different trainers and 5 admins. I am not good at delegating. I still need to improve in regards to technology. People do not value free. I need to get better at delivering nutrition programming. It is exciting to get new equipment and learn new lifts. Personal records are awesome, need to be acknowledge, and achieved on a regular basis. Deal of the days sites no longer get clients. Classless is horrible from my perspective as a gym owner. Working more hours does not mean more money. Training goes far beyond just physical changes. It can bring one out of sleep depression and keep you out. Most clients love when you bring a puppy or baby. I need a system to get clients back in after they have babies. 26 sessions a week is too many and 10 might not be enough. Even if people have a key to a gym they are not likely to use it on their own. Clients are helpful. Clients are family. Your body is the most important piece of equipment. Even when you fell bad if you get a workout in you almost always feel better. Not everyone can do a pull up. Most people have back and or shoulder injuries at some point. Their are many ways to rehab an injury. 45 to 50 minute sessions are better than hour sessions. I need to make more workout videos. Eventually you might not be able to get stronger but you can still get fitter. Not everyone comes to me to get stronger some people come to me for their cardio. It feels great when people return after long layoffs. Come on back and you might get a hug.