Fabio Zonin is a StrongFirst Certified Instructor. He is a former powerlifter, natural bodybuilder, and the owner of fitness centers. He has authored many articles for Italian popular magazines and websites that are dedicated to fitness, bodybuilding, and strength.

How have things been in Italy over the last 90 days for you?

• Fabio says that it is getting better in Italy. 
• Italy did not have the experience to deal with the COVID. 
• Italy is open again, however, they do have their rules with social distancing, sanitization, and masks. 

Within the organization of Strong First, you have been evolving and shifting as well, can you give us some insights into some updates on that? How are you working out Strong First now? 

• Strong First is a company that is based on live events, and the events were often rescheduled or canceled, it was difficult in the beginning. 
• Managing events were not easy, so Strong First worked on creating a stronger online presence to help their customers to stay strong at home. 
• Strong First turned some of their in-person events into online live events. 
• Strong First sees their events becoming smaller. 

Does Strong First have first branded gyms or studious?

• Strong  First has gyms that have specific requirements. It needs to have certified instructors. 
• Strong First reached over 50 gyms and then COVID occurred, it will take a few months before they start creating and reopening gyms.

How many certified coaches does Strong First have? What are some of the numbers you guys have as far as your community?

• Strong First has 4000 instructors worldwide in over 50 countries. 
• Coaches need to recertify every 2 years, and Elite Instructors need to recertify every 3 years. 
• Strong First had to give extended recertification dates for coaches due to COVID. 

Pablo was on the Joe Rogan podcast. How did that affect the community? Do you see any traction? How did that affect the community?  What was the result of that?

• It increased traction, from people who did not know who Strong First was. 
• Pablo is a natural-born leader, and it was a great podcast. 
• The podcast piqued interest from outsiders and was great for the community. 

Is there any particular technology that you guys are looking at right now to kind of step into the next evolution fo what this industry may look like?

• Strong First is looking int a training app and a streaming system for online training to provide a window to our instructors to be seen. 
• Technology and going online will help people be coached by different people and in different countries. 
• It can be difficult finding a trainer that fits your time but using different times zones can change this. 

How do you think the fitness industry is going to be fundamentally different? 

• Zonin is concerned that going too fast into going online may affect quality. 
• Zonin has been basing a lot of his feedback on his online sessions on the feedback using people’s faces, and the transition to online made it difficult to see how people reacted. 
• When COVID started, a lot of people turned to be an online presenter, you need to learn how to present in front of a camera and the way you teach. 
• So many social media gifts did not give away quality workouts, the student has no idea how to figure out what is good or what is bad. 

Resources:

Email: [email protected]

Website: Strong First Website