Hey what going on Super Trainers!!
The other day my wife and I went to get a little workout at our local 24 hour fitness in Chino Hills. Now I have heard from others that the “big box” gyms have now started fitness boot camps but now I have PROOF.
Checkout what I discovered in a beautiful Saturday morning in Chino Hills, Ca.
This is EXACTLY what I have been preaching about. America is the greatest country in the world because of free enterprise and CAPITALISM. Which means we all have the right to work for ourselves and write our own paychecks.
FYI: I love the fact that I sign my name in the front of the check and not the back ;)
That’s why we all went in business for ourselves in the first place. So we really can’t get upset at anyone wanting a piece of the pie now can we? After all this is America and as soon as there is an opportunity everyone and their grandma jumps on the bandwagon. It’s always a matter of time til the “big boys” get in the game and wanting a piece of the action.
(remember a few years ago everyone and their grandma was in “real estate”)
We even saw the rise and now fall of “The Broke Body Boot Camp” franchise.
FYI: I talked the co-owner’s brother and found out the real reason why he left broke body boot camp. My hats off to him for leaving and reaching out and trying to make things right with his brother.
As far as I am concerned the name “Boot Camp” is a commodity and it’s TOTALLY PLAYED OUT.
So if you’re thinking of opening a new facility I highly recommend against using the word “boot camp”. I am not without fault as I jumped on the bandwagon and have a few “boot camps” as well. (but I’m smart enough to jump off of a sinking ship ;)
Now that I think of it my boy Pat Rigsby saw this coming and didn’t jump on the bandwagon. He created
Fitness Revolution that offers impeccable service and notice he stayed away from the word
“boot camp”. No wonder Fitness Revolution surpassed broke body boot camp. They simply
delivered on what they promised and differentiated. Big lesson to be learned here.
You can and should offer boot camp style workouts but don’t call it boot camp. Differentiate.
I warned you ;)
[spoiler]
Hey. What’s going on, everybody? It’s your main man Seven-Figure Sam here in beautiful Chino Hills, California. As you can see, it’s a beautiful Saturday morning. I’m here with my wife to get a quick workout. Check it out. We’re in front of 24 Hour Fitness and I knew this was going to happen so I walked in today this morning and I hear some noises outside on the parking lot.
Now, go ahead and look at behind me. You see it? You see that? Yes, that’s right. They actually [0:03:32] [Indiscernible] 24Hour Fitness to start having boot camps and it was just a matter of time. So guess what. My membership here is $49 a year, right? That’s right. It’s like four bucks a month. These guys are getting boot camp for four bucks a month. So if you don’t have a way to differentiate yourself, you are a commodity right now.
So all those boot camps out there and all that kind of stuff, you might as well start differentiating yourself because right now, these guys are offering boot camp for $49 a year. All right? Reporting to you. I knew this was going to happen. I’m going to go get my workout and see you.
Hey. What’s going on again? This is your main man Seven-Figure Sam inside of 24 Hour Fitness in Chino Hills. It is packed in here. Take a look over there. OK. Now as you can see, they estimate about 10,000 people signed up at the 24 Hour Fitness [0:01:40] [Indiscernible] 24 Hour Fitness because these are about five or six percent population that actually come in and use the gym. Now, with this big reach, I mean these 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness reach a mass of people.
So these guys are offering – for signing up like $29 a month for everything, [Inaudible] boot camps, everything. And as far as for me, since I’ve been a member for a while, my renewal just came up and my renewal costs $49 the whole year. Like I said, you get everything, all access, boot camps and everything and as far as I’m concerned, boot camps are dead. They’re on the way to decline [0:02:18] [Indiscernible] hit a critical mass and from then on, started to decline.
If I was going to start a new business right now, it wouldn’t be called boot camps. It would be called fitness. Now you’re calling yourself a boot camp, you come down to a commodity. Nobody will know the difference. As far as a regular person is concerned, a boot camp is the same boot camp. Your boot camp is the same boot camp they offer at 24 Hour Fitness at $49 a year. So why should they pay for $149, $197, whatever you charge?
They don’t know the differentiation because they have to come and check it out. Obviously I know your boot camps are going to be way better than the boot camp [Inaudible] but they don’t know that. If you’re going to say “boot camp,” they just go price shopping. You got to definitely, definitely differentiate yourself. Give it a different name. If I were going to start boot camp today, it wouldn’t be called a boot camp. It would be called fitness. OK?
This is your main man Seven-Figure Sam. Take a look at the cardio [0:03:16] [Inaudible]. Signing off with you. Take care.
[/spoiler]
Crazy, eye opening post Sam. Definitely taken to heart.
@Kaiser you been preaching about this for years my friend. See you soon and THANK YOU for creating Super Trainer in the first place ;)
Btw was just listening to DIFFERENTIATE OR DIE again in my car today. Differentiation is everything.
Hi Sam,
Great post and this is exactly why I never jumped on the Bootcamp Bandwagon either. It’s not that you can’t be successful, but I have never and will never enter into a business where there is no barrier to entry.
It costs $0 to train a group of people outside, which means everyone “and their grandmother” decides to through their hat in the ring…
Even if you run a great operation how can people justify paying $297 or even $197 a month when they look 100 yds across the park and see another camp operating for $97 for the YEAR.
Good luck with that business model and hopefully, my S3 Members have taken my advice and started to add another stream of income beyond bootcamps…
Again, 10% of all bootcamps like Kaiser’s and Dustin’s will be successful since they’re at the top of their game… However, the majority of bootcamp owners are going to make just about the same as your average struggling health club trainer… if that much.
I also wanted to thank all the “XYZ bootcamp marketing systems” out there as well as everyone preaching that 1-on-1 sessions are dead. Over the past 5 years i’ve gone from 0 sessions at my studio to over 1,000 1-on-1 sessions a month – apparently our clients and I never go the memo!
Great work Sam – keep preaching the truth!
Coach Cabral you’re so right about “barrier to entry”. I can’t wait to visit your place and learn a thing or two from you. You’re a class act my friend
I will be changing my class names from boot camp within the next week. It is so sad that not one person was lifting weights not even the horrible machines at the end of the video. It also looked like everyone in the video was doing steady state cardio and not intervals. I kind of want to go shop around at the local big box gyms just to see what their boot camps are like.
Nathan: I couldn’t believe what I saw either. It’s a race to the bottom
thanks for posting good timing.. as I am re defining my business.. had a bootcamp franchise and now on my own.. have to revamp and still looking to creating a bigger difference between bootcamp biz and what I offer. cheers.
Great post Sam..
I differentiate my boot camp by making it an experience the members will never forget everytime they come. Joining Eze Fit is like joining a cult. You gotta drink the KoolAid.
But You are right tho.. People are starting to think all boot camps are the same..
After seeing this post, I’ll eventually have to take boot camp out of the business name and leave it as
Eze Fitness.
Great post.
Hey Sam,
I would agree with you completely. If you currently trying to get into the game, that you would be silly to use the term boot camp at this point. It is completely saturated and many trainers have misused the term completely. However, if you have a well established boot camp, would you jump ship or would you keep the name boot camp? I have thought for some time that boot camps have been on the decline, but it has been my belief that the strongest boot camp presences would survive due to the simple fact they are better.
If you only teach a class and don’t implement everything that you learn to implement as a personal trainer: motivation, nutrition, assessments, influence, etc, you are no better than the 24 Hour Fitness “boob” camp. The true difference between me and 24 Hour Fitness is that I am a results receiving machine. They are just a class…the end.
I have my studio right beside a 24 Hour Fitness and they just recently started a boot camp. I allow myself to go head to head with it. If a client ask me about theirs I tell them the differences we provide….and then I politely remind them that we happen to be mostly inside during this extreme July heat while they are trying to do it all outside! Maybe not a selling point in California, but totally one here in Tennessee!
@Stephen
I was in disagreement with the whole preaching of “1-on-1 training is dead” as well.
People that took on 1-on-1 training wanted privacy, not to be looked at, extra personalized attention, the feeling of not being rushed, and can afford $300-$700/month
Why would that demographic all of a sudden vanish into the Bermuda Triangle because group training is another option?
——————-
@ Sam
I’ve been with “XYZ” before and got out. An identity change has since ensued but the phrase “boot camp” has been kept.
Being different with my approach, being more about service/value, and taking cues from Fitness Revolution–in my mind—has made my boot camp 5x better than what it was under “XYZ.”
My objective is not to offer “just another place to workout” but an experience. Feedback has been so much better in 2012 than in 2009-2011 combined.
Great post Sam! Exactly the reason I brought this up at the KBL mastermind. Boot camps are now a commodity. The average joe consumer is now just price shopping for whatever place can give them a “bootcamp” workout the cheapest. Thanks for the post and taking the time out of your workout to film this Sam!
@Brigitte: Glad you liked the post and thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
@Jemand: I am faced with the same decision. I have a bunch of established boot camp and I am also weighing out keeping “boot camp” in the name or taking it out.
@Dexter: Love “boob” camp, OMG you had me chuckle. Had to show that to my wife. To someone who has experienced and knows the product and difference you’re absolutely right. However to someone who doesn’t know anything and just knows the term “boot camp” they would just shoppe for the lowest price. I also have some decisions to make.
@Chris: Wow ladies and gentleman another casualty of “XYZ” boot camp. Wow the saga continues. Leaving XYZ and going to Fitness Revolution is the best thing you could have done. They actually service you and care about your success. The big lesson here is that a business with just marketing is a FRAUD. Eventually there has to be some “substance” to the service or the product offered.
@Mike: I couldn’t agree with you more. I remember that and it’s been a topic that’s been on everyone’s mind. Boot Camps are PLAYED OUT like an 8 track ;)
I have to totally agree with Stephan Cabral and you Sam. With obesity and stress on the rise, more and more people NEED the one on one attention of a qualified trainer and are willing to pay a little extra for that relationship. For someone a little more advance, a group setting might work better for them. But yes it’s still personal training. So let’s re-name boot camps RIGHT NOW! How’s TEAM PERSONAL TRAINING or just TEAM TRAINING.
I have been saying this ever since being with Fit Body. Being under Fit Body is what let me know that bootcamps are on the decline. No better way to know than to be under the crappiest franchise in the world.
Hey Sam, Crunch Fitness and Boom Fitness do the same thing for $10 a month and now offering Crossfit and MMA too. I will change my website around. No Boot Csmp words.
I’m sorry I was so distracted by that guy doing the lat pulldowns in the background. Hahaha jk!
Great post! Definitely something to not take lightly, as it seems like more and more “boot camps” have been popping up left and right in my area.
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