Gym owners around the world have never been more united, sharing the same frustrations of mandatory closures. 

Gym owners are thinking, “I’m not sure what we will do if we have to shut down again.” “How will we do this again?”

According to IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association), the fitness industry has lost $13.9 billion in revenue from March until September 1, 2020. 

There is a bill on the table that will provide $30 billion recovery funds to help gyms and fitness clubs devastated by COVID. This is great if it passes. How long will it take to get in the hands of gym owners? 

After talking to thousands of gym owners in webinars, group calls, and workshops, a few things stood out. 

Here are our recommendations if and when you are forced to close your gym again:

1. Lead your tribe with confidence. Your community is seeking direction and assurance. You have to make decisions and take action on them. I found myself asking, “Will this support our clients in this season?” before every decision. 

2. Communication is key. Start with your staff, then communicate to your members before any public statements. Ideally, you are communicating via video over text. At Healthy Steps Nutrition, we recorded a video on youtube then sent it out via SMS text. 

3. Support your clients virtually beyond zoom classes. Most CrossFit affiliate owners will say “their community” is what sets them apart. Why? Community provides accountability and support. That is what your clients need. Assign clients to coaches and have regular check-ins to keep them accountable.

At Healthy Steps Nutrition HQ, we hosted a 28-day challenge during the first shutdowns to keep our clients engaged and supported when there was so much stress and uncertainty around them. 

We hired a videographer to come and record content like: how to manage stress without binge eating, how to cope with triggers, how to stay on track when working from home and the kitchen being 10 feet away and so much more. 

Our clients were grateful and were able to say on track because of this accountability! 

We gave this entire program to every gym in the HSN Mentoring platform. 

When we heard about gyms were forced to close again, we decided to create another program to keep clients engaged. HSN Mentoring is releasing a 6-week accountability program that contains videos about staying on track during the holidays, stress management, and so much more! 

Why 6-weeks? Because it will get you through the holidays and two payment cycles in case of extended closures.

Gyms can use this as a member-benefit starting in November if they are shutdown or as a paid challenge to support their clients during the holidays. 

Imagine keeping two clients active when shut down because you are launching this program – the HSN Mentoring monthly subscription has paid for itself. 

Gyms will charge between $199-250 for this 6-week challenge. One sign-up pays for the monthly subscription for HSN. 

Our mission at HSN Mentoring is to empower gym owners to feel confident, which means you need a plan! 

For gyms who are not HSN Mentoring clients, we have created an awesome FREE Nutrition Challenge Starter Guide — which includes checklists, resources, and tools to build a nutrition program beyond a challenge. Access this incredible resource >>HERE. 

Here are 5 tips when creating your accountability challenge:

1. Have a streamlined way to track your clients — we use the HSN App but if you don’t have that, try google sheets

2. Assign all of your challenge participants to a coach for support and accountability

3. Create a theme each week and plan out content before the challenge starts

4. Set up initial meetings with all participants to find out what success looks like for them — you can do these through zoom if your location is closed. 

5. Keep it simple and focus on one habit at a time.

Next week, we will be talking about how to increase engagement during your challenge; tune in!