Home Posts tagged "Pete Dupuis" (Page 6)

Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 4/13/17

I hope you're all having a great week. I'm a few days late with posting this because we were a bit more content heavy earlier in the week, but the good news is that it gave me a few more days to round up some excellent content for you.

Kabuki Strength Chat with Eric Cressey - I joined Chris Duffin and the rest of the Kabuki Strength crew for a podcast last week. We talked baseball strength and conditioning, business development, and fitness industry trends. Check it out!

STEM-Talk with Dr. Stuart McGill - Any podcast with Stu is a must-listen podcast! This one doesn't disappoint - and I particularly enjoyed his commentary on the flawed medical model as it relates to treating lower back pain. 

It Took Me 10 Years to Become an Overnight Success - This was an excellent post from my business partner, Pete Dupuis. He shares some awesome insights on little things that can lead to long-term success - if you're patient.

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#Repost @cresseysportsperformance with @repostapp ・・・ More wise words from @ericcressey. #cspfamily #ArmCare

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 2/7/17

We're only about a week out from pitchers and catchers reporting, so things are about to quiet down at Cressey Sports Performance for the offseason. I've got lots of new content prepared for the next few months, but for now, here's some good reading material from around the web.

Lindsay Berra on MLB Network on Corey Kluber's Offseason Workouts - Lindsay wrote up a great article at MLB.com last week, and this week, there was a follow-up interview on MLB Network. Here it is:

The Surprising Way Jet Lag Impacts Major League Baseball Performance - Sleep deprivation has a significant impact on performance, and jet lag is a big culprit in professional baseball. This article sums up some research on the subject. West Coast teams, in particular, really need to stay on top of optimizing sleep environments and opportunities for their guys.

Forget the Athletes; I Want to Coach the Everyday Joes - This is an excellent guest post from new Cressey Sports Performance coach Frank Duffy for Pete Dupuis' site. CSP might be best known for our work with baseball players, but Frank writes about why we love our general fitness clients, too.

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Halftime musings. #cspfamily #superbowl

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 1/26/17

It's time for this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading. With this week's launch of Cressey Sports Performance Innovations ($50 off through Sunday at midnight), we're going with a CSP staff theme here.

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Believe It Or Not, CSP Isn't a One-Man Show - Pete Dupuis authored up this great post about how to build up a multifaceted fitness team instead of just a one-man show. It's a great read for anyone who aspires to own a facility one day (or already has one). 

Technique Tuesday with Tony Bonvechio - You might not know that CSP coach Tony Bonvechio posts a thorough technique video each Tuesday morning on the CSP-MA Facebook page. Here's this week's:

6 Ways to Improve Your Bench Press Lockout - This is another great contribution from Tony Bonvechio, there resident bench press expert at CSP!

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 1/18/17

It's a big Wednesday. The Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2017 is announced, and our family is actually closing on our new house here in Florida. And, it's a beautiful sunny day outside - and I'm headed to the fields for throwing, hitting, and sprint work with our pro baseball crew. Who says hump day has to suck?

Here are some recommended reads for the week:

What Kind of Substitute Teachers is Your Fitness "Classroom" Prepared to Employ? - This article from my business partner, Pete Dupuis, is targeted toward gym owners, but a lot of the lessons can be applied to personal trainers managing their own clientele. Who do you trust to pick up the slack if you're sick for a day?

To Hell and Back: The Untold Story of Male Eating Disorders - This article by Mike Zimmerman for Adam Bornstein's site hits close to home for me in light of some troubles I went through roughly 15 years ago. 

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Random Thoughts on Long-Term Fitness Industry Success – Installment 5

I haven't published a post in this series since September, so this update is long overdue. Here we go...

1. Focus on optimism in training, but pessimism in business.

I'm in the process of reading The Founder's Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman. It's been excellent thus far, and this quote stood out to me, in particular:

"Higher optimism entrepreneurs have 20% lower revenue growth and 25% lower employment growth than lower optimism entrepreneurs who would be less susceptible to the perils of optimism."

Without even knowing it, Wasserman might have explained a big reason why so many fitness professionals struggle when they open their own business (as compared to working for someone else). The best trainers are upbeat, unconditionally positive, and energetic during their training sessions - but that doesn't mean that this approach also works well on the business side of things.

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As I think about the most productive meetings I've had with my business partners over the years, they haven't been sit-downs to talk about all the great things we're doing. Rather, they were meetings where we nit-picked and scrutinized everything we were doing to find ways to improve. In a broad sense, they were very pessimistic.

Wasserman elaborates: "Excessive optimism can blind many founders to their start-ups' critical needs. So, they must be particularly vigilant in identifying the gaps in their skills, knowledge, and contacts - and evaluating whether and when those gaps should be filled by a co-founder."

There's your quick, two-part recipe for fitness industry business struggles:

a. Be overly optimistic on the business side of things and miss key opportunities for improvement and growth.

b. Fail to have the knowledge and resources needed to improve a problem even if you do actually identify it.

2. Effective loss leaders shouldn't devalue your service.

A while back, my business partner, Pete Dupuis, wrote up a great article: 3 Reasons We Don't Offer Free Training Consultations. In it, he outlined three primary reasons why offering free training consults at your gym might not be a good idea. One point he didn't make, though, is that you are effectively devaluing your services.

Now, to be clear, I am not at all opposed to loss leaders in the fitness industry - as long as we have a broader definition of "loss leader." Wikipedia defines it as "is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services." In my opinion, you can utilize "value addition leaders" with great impact without devaluing your services (the only "loss" is your time). You're simply finding ways to give potential customers something of value before they take the initial plunge with you.

This might be a free seminar at your facility that they attend, or a expedited referral to a physical therapist or sports orthopedist prior to them starting up with you. You might even go to this appointment with them to learn more about their injury and help make the transition as smooth as possible. It's a way to show you care and deliver value before the first transaction.

With our professional athlete clientele, we have a great opportunity to do this prior to them actually getting to Cressey Sports Performance for an evaluation. Maybe it's a function of helping them to find housing (sometimes even at the Cressey residence!), or passing along the information they need for the smoothest travel experience on the way to CSP. Or, maybe it's lining up a catcher for them to throw a bullpen when they're only in town for a short stint.

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There are countless ways to add value to the client's experience with your training facility, but you do need to be a bit more creative to find ways to differentiate yourself even prior to the first transaction.

3. Lead Generation, Lead Conversion, and Retention are the big three of fitness business success. 

Just as powerlifting has the big three - squat, bench press, deadlift - fitness business success has its own big three:

a. Lead Generation - how many people inquire about your services

b. Lead Conversion - how many of those prospects actually wind up paying for your services

c. Retention - how well you keep those clients

If you're a relatively experienced powerlifter, you can usually identify the quickest way to bring up your total. For me, I was always a strong deadlifter, decent bench, and mediocre squatter - so prioritizing the squat was the fastest way to bring up my overall performance.

Similarly, I think every business owner (even outside the fitness industry) would be wise to look at their businesses with this "largest window of adaptation" perspective. At CSP, lead conversion has never really been an issue for us, so we can devote most of our efforts on the business front to lead generation and retention.

Of course, don't overlook "ancillary" efforts like managing expenses, collecting outstanding payments, servicing equipment, and the like as important. While they are key considerations, they just usually aren't "big rocks" on the profitability front like these other three.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 1/9/17

Between the holidays and my "Best of 2016" series, it's been a few weeks since the last installment of this weekly recommended reading/viewing list. With that in mind, I'll throw out some extra recommendations this week:

Healthy Hips for Serious Sumo Deadlifts - Dean Somerset knows hips - and this article demonstrates just how thorough that knowledge is.

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Understanding Influencer Marketing - My business partner, Pete Dupuis, discusses the value of collaborative marketing efforts between one company or individual and another - using our relationship with New Balance as an example.

Stress is Not Stress - This was an outstanding post from Dave Dellanave; he cuts through all the science and explains why not all stress is created equal for every person.

5 Key Nutrition Lessons We Learned in 2016 - As always, the crew at Examine.com puts out some excellent science-backed information.

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 12/6/16

I hope your week is going well. I had a blast in Nashville this past weekend while speaking at the Pitchapalooza event, but now it's back to the regular craziness of the baseball off-season. I'll have some new content later in the week, but in the meantime, here are some good reads for the week: 

30 Days of Arm Care Updates - You can see all these videos (currently on day 23) via the hashtag #30DaysOfArmCare on both Twitter and Instagram.

Pre-Suasion - This is the second book I've read from Robert Cialdini, and while neither of them were directly written for strength and conditioning coaches, they can both really help the way we interact with our athletes.

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The Ideal Business Show with Pete Dupuis - Pat Rigsby interviewed my business partner, Pete Dupuis. This is a great listen for all fitness professionals interested in the business side of the industry.

New Boss Derek Falvey Looks to Make an Imprint with Twins - Derek Falvey is the new team president of the Minnesota Twins - at age 33. That's an incredible accomplishment, and this article sheds some light on how he quickly ascended through the MLB front office ranks. There are great lessons in here for up-and-comers in any field. Derek has become a good friend, and I'm really excited to see where the Twins go in the years ahead behind his leadership.

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#Yankees prospect Austin DeCarr reminds us that pitchers are athletes, too. #cspfamily

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 11/7/16

Happy Election Week! I'm happy to report that today's recommended reading list has absolutely nothing to do with politics, as I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about the election on social media. Enjoy the following non-political reads:

The Art of Relationships Based Coaching - This article from Purdue Basketball strength and conditioning coach Josh Bonhotal is one of the best coaching reads I've seen in a long time. It's must-read.

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An Interview with Doug Kechijian  - This is a fantastic interview with a former CSP intern who is currently doing a great job in NYC as a physical therapist. It's free to the public for the week (Sports Rehab Expert is normally a members-only site). 

Gym Owner Musings: Installment 3 - My business partner, Pete Dupuis, always has some great thoughts on the business side of fitness - and this series has been the beneficiary of what pops into his head.

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Not too shabby for November, @mattsolter. #cspfamily #giants

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 10/31/16

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Personally, while I'm really enjoying the World Series, I'm ready for these late-night playoff games to end so that I can get back to getting to bed early!

Anyway, here's a little recommended strength and conditioning reading to kick off your week:

Meal Plans Usually Suck; Here Are 6 Better Ways to Transform Your Diet - I absolutely LOVE this article from Brian St. Pierre. It's a game-changer when individuals understand nutrition principles rather than just becoming slave to pre-made meal plans. 

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10 Commandments of Injury Prevention - Dr. John Rusin did a good job with this article for T-Nation. There are a lot of things you probably already know - but they deserve reiteration!  

Why We Don't List Our Prices on the Internet - My business partner, Pete Dupuis, thoroughly outlines why you won't find our fees on CresseySportsPerformance.com.

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He's pretty good.

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 9/10/16

It's been a hectic week in South Florida with Hurricane Matthew preparations on top of the baseball off-season, but we lucked out as the storm moved past us in Jupiter before coming ashore further North. Hopefully all our readers in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas are safe and sound! 

That said, here's a little content to get the week going:

Elevation Training Masks: An Analysis - I've been meaning to write a similar post up for a long time, but suffice it to say that I never got around to it. Luckily, Doug Kechijian made it happen and did a great job. Elevation masks are a waste of time and money - and have potentially negative side effects.

Gym Owner Musings: Installment 2 - My business partner, Pete Dupuis, discusses a few of the lessons we've learned in running Cressey Sports Performance for the past 9+ years. I think point #3 on early-stage "learning by doing."

The Ideal Business Podcast with John Berardi - Dr. John Berardi was been a great friend and mentor to me, and he shares some awesome business development wisdom in this podcast with Pat Rigsby. I thought the portion of the interview where he talks about the importance of saying "No" was particularly intriguing (and an area in which I need to improve!). 

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