Club Solutions Magazine

By Club Solutions MagazineBusiness

Club Solutions Magazine episodes

May 25 Does Taking a Break Matter? What New Research Says about Muscle Memory and Training Gaps
New research challenges the fitness industry assumption that consistency is the only path to results.
Episode 19 of The Research Debrief examines a paper in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science and Sports asking a question nearly every club member eventually asks: what happens to my progress if I stop training? The findings carry real implications for how operators and fitness professionals communicate with lapsed members.
This Episode Covers:
- What the study tested: Continuous training for 30 weeks vs. 10 weeks on, 10 off, 10 on — measuring changes in strength and muscle size.
- What happens during a break: Strength and muscle decline, but participants retained more than their pre-training baseline.
- The muscle memory effect: The returning group regained strength and muscle faster than the continuous group, driven by the persistence of myonuclei.
- The 30-week result: Both groups finished at the same levels of strength and muscle size.
- The message for operators: Re-engaging lapsed members works better with encouragement than guilt and the science supports it.
📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube
👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research
Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/
10 min
May 18 Why Passion Isn't Enough: The Case for Evidence-Based Fitness
Most fitness professionals believe they are giving members accurate, up-to-date guidance. The research says otherwise.
Episode 18 of The Research Debrief examines two papers that reveal a significant disconnect between what the science says about resistance training and what practitioners and exercisers actually believe — and makes the case for why an evidence-based approach is essential for the fitness industry's credibility and long-term impact.
This episode covers:
- Two peer-reviewed papers reveal that gym-goers and fitness professionals alike can only identify exercise myths versus facts 50% of the time — essentially a coin flip.
- What "evidence-based" actually means, and why it's different from being passionate, experienced, or well-credentialed.
- Why the fitness industry's reliance on enthusiasm over expertise is costing it credibility with consumers, healthcare providers, and policymakers.
📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube
👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research
Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/
11 min
May 13 The Next Era of Fitness with Mark Mastrov — sponsored by ROR
Few names carry as much weight in the fitness industry as Mark Mastrov. As the founder of 24 Hour Fitness — which has grown from a single club to now more than 400 locations — Mastrov went on to build Crunch Fitness and UFC Gym. Now, he's returned to where it all started.
In this episode of the Club Solutions Magazine podcast, sponsored by ROR, Mastrov joined host Taylor Gabhart to discuss what brought him back to 24 Hour Fitness, the three priorities driving his first year, where the industry is headed and what operators at every level should be paying attention to right now.
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33 min
May 11 Why 10 Minutes of Cardio May Be All Your Members Need
The number one barrier to exercise is time. And this research is just another piece of evidence showing how club may be able to solve that.
Episode 17 of The Research Debrief examines a paper published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism on Reduced Exertion High Intensity Interval Training (REHIT) — a protocol designed to deliver meaningful cardiovascular and metabolic adaptation in as little as 10 minutes per session.
This Episode Covers:
- What the "minimal effective dose" framework means when applied to aerobic exercise — and why the fitness industry has been slow to ask the question
- The REHIT protocol: two all-out 20-to-30-second sprints within a 10-minute session, two to three times per week, and the metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations the research shows it produces
- Why intensity — not duration — is the operative variable in this approach, and what "all-out effort" actually means in practice
- Which cardio modalities work best for this protocol and why the stationary bike is the most practical and accessible starting point for most members
- How clubs can apply this research to programming, member education, and conversations around the number one barrier to exercise: perceived lack of time
📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube
👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research
Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/
8 min
May 04 Cardio vs. Strength vs. Both: The Science on Concurrent Training
One of the most persistent debates in fitness — whether combining cardio and strength training undermines the results of each — just got a thorough scientific review.
Episode 16 of The Research Debrief breaks down a newly published meta-analysis examining the effects of concurrent training, defined in scientific literature as combining aerobic and resistance training, on body composition in middle-aged and older adults.
This Episode Covers:
- What concurrent training is, why researchers study it separately from cardio and strength alone, and the molecular science behind the so-called interference effect.
- Whether adding cardio to a strength program negatively impacts muscle size, strength, or power.
- Whether adding strength training to an endurance program compromises aerobic fitness gains .
- Why combining strength and cardio in the same session eliminates the post-workout calorie-burning effect that strength training alone produces, and what that means for how combination classes are marketed.
- How operators and fitness professionals can use this research to have more precise goal-setting conversations with members and correct common misconceptions that may be steering them toward the wrong programming.
📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube
👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research
Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/
9 min
April 28 Beyond The Booth: What Keiser Has Learned from Eight Years at the Club Solutions Leadership Retreat
Alastair Watson has been in rooms with thousands of people at industry trade shows. And after years of two-minute conversations and badge scans, he started asking a different question: what would it look like to actually get to know someone?
In this episode, Watson shares what eight years of attending the Club Solutions Leadership Retreat has taught him about the fitness industry, building real business relationships, and what happens when you slow down long enough to actually listen.
Spoiler: one breakfast conversation turned into a 300-bike order for Keiser. But more than the numbers, it's the quality of conversations — at the roundtables, over lunch, during team building — that keeps him coming back. If you've ever wondered whether the format of an event matters as much as the content, this one's worth a listen.
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11 min
April 27 More Sets, No More Muscle: The Largest Study on Strength Training Volume Has Answers
The long-held belief that more sets means more muscle has been challenged by the largest study ever conducted on resistance training volume and muscle hypertrophy.
Episode 15 of The Research Debrief breaks down the newly published paper co-authored by Luke Carlson on a study done by Discover Strength that compared high-volume and low-volume strength training from more than 100 trained participants over 12 weeks. The findings carry real implications for how clubs communicate the value of their programming.
What this episode covers:
- The study design behind the largest resistance training volume trial ever conducted — 100-plus trained participants, 22 locations, 12 weeks
- Why no statistically significant difference in muscle hypertrophy was found between participants doing nine sets and those doing 36 sets per workout
- What "fractional sets" are and how researchers used them to accurately measure and compare training volume across exercises
- Why participant training history matters and what these results mean specifically for the experienced gym members operators are most likely serving
- The bottom line for time-crunched members: a low-volume strength training session isn't a shortcut, it's the most efficient path to results the research currently supports
📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube
👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research
Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/
11 min
April 20 The Strength Training Myths Trainers Are Still Telling Female Members
A brand new meta-analysis synthesizes the most comprehensive look at how women respond to resistance training across their entire lifespan and the findings should reshape how fitness operators program, coach and communicate with their female members.
Episode 14 breaks down the paper which reviewed 126 studies involving more than 4,000 women ranging from premenopausal to postmenopausal, with a mean age of 50. Several of the conclusions directly challenge common myths still being repeated on gym floors today.
This Episode Covers:
- Why women have been significantly underrepresented in exercise science research for decades — and why this paper represents a meaningful shift.
- The myth-busting finding that females achieve similar lower body strength and hypertrophy gains as males, and actually show greater relative upper body strength increases.
- Why no age-related differences in adaptive capacity were found — meaning women at 50, 70 and 80 respond to resistance training to the same degree.
- The frequency finding that training two times per week produced comparable results to three or four times per week.
- Why current resistance training recommendations appear to apply equally to both sexes.
📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube
👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research
Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/
10 min
April 17 Leading the Next Generation: Hiring, Motivating & Retaining Gen Z Employees
This expert panel explores what today's youngest professionals truly value in the fitness industry, how to communicate in ways that resonate and how to build career paths that keep them engaged for the long haul. Whether you're managing Gen Z for the first time or looking to strengthen your approach, this is the conversation you don't want to miss.
1 hr 3 min
April 15 Community as a Growth Strategy with Stephanie Schon of The Bar Method
What does it take to build a thriving boutique fitness franchise? For The Bar Method, the answer is community.
Stephanie Schon, the brand president of The Bar Method, has spent the last five and a half years scaling a brand where 99% of studio owners are women, growth is driven from within the client base and community is treated as a core business strategy.
Schon joined the Club Solutions Magazine podcast to discuss how the brand approaches franchisee selection and support, what KPIs matter most in year one and why the boutique fitness boom is only getting started — particularly as Gen Z and Millenials increasingly drive industry spending.
16 min