Winter is full of opportunities for fitness professionals. The colder weather typically means fewer people will be training outdoors. With social distancing and stay-at-home orders this year, even clients who usually brave the elements will be looking for ways to stay fit while staying indoors, which means fitness professionals might find themselves in even higher demand than previous winters. 

The More the Merrier

Now is an ideal time to make new connections and invite some new potential clients to class. If you aren’t already, you can consider hosting one community class per week at a pay-what-you-can fee or offering a new client discount for a month. If you have really excited existing clients, you can offer them a free or discounted class if they refer one of their friends to your class. 

You might also consider hosting a month-long workout challenge! This can be as simple as filling out a bingo board with achievements like “take a class before 8am” or “take three classes in one week” and emailing the template to your clients so they can follow along at home or even post their progress on their social media. 

PRO TIP: be sure to not overload your programming. You want the challenge to be achievable while still allowing for days to recover.

Get creative and be sure to include your own information on these templates so potential clients can find you easily (you can think of these as your 21st century business cards). 

These strategies will create excitement around booking and taking class - bonus points to you if your clients can take class with a friend they don’t get to see as often anymore. 

How to Program in the Winter

If you live in year-round warmer climates, congratulations. You might find that not much needs to change with your programming and that your clients are still enjoying your virtual classes from the comfort of their backyards. 

If your client base primarily or entirely resides in places where snow is normal, you might have to think about how a change in scenery might affect their workouts. Clients may be working out in closer quarters, sharing space with family or roommates. If they live in apartment buildings, they might have to think about their downstairs neighbors. Chronic pain can also flare up in the winter. 

Considering all of these things, you may want to offer more regressions to your workouts and include more low-impact options if you don’t already. The dead of winter may not be the time for your most plyometric, high-impact workouts. 

As Always: Wellness First

With darker skies and early sunsets, we may be feeling more lethargic than usual. Be sure to stress sleep and hydration more than ever - and don’t forget to up your own sleep and water intake, too.