Optimal Aging

Did you know that two-thirds of workers over 50 and almost 80 percent of the self-employed don’t plan to retire at 65? That’s according to a study in December 2020, but only 1 in 5 said the pandemic had delayed their exit from the daily workforce.

But the same survey found just 62 percent of us are focused on staying healthy so we can keep working.

And look, if you’re going to keep working, or if you’re looking for a job, then you need to stay in shape – with the strength, endurance, agility and social competence that’s required.

A new book aims to help us navigate today’s job market, “In Control at 50-Plus: How to Succeed in the New World of Work” by Kerry Hannon.

Hannon lays out why we’re working later in life nowadays, the challenges older workers face, and strategies for re-entering the workforce or finding a new job.

She joins this week’s episode of the Optimal Aging podcast to talk about all this and more.

Resources and Links

Kerry Hannon

‘In Control at 50+’ on Amazon

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Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said, “We don’t quit playing because we grow older; we grow older because we quit playing.”

But what does “fun” mean when we’re talking about fitness for people over 50?

It might  mean perkiness among group fitness instructors for some folks. But I think it really means engagement – are you speaking to people in ways that are relevant? That indicate that you appreciate them as older individuals? That connect your values to your community?

Here are some great examples of how to go about it.

Resources and Links

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Natalia Karbasova is founder of the Fit Tech Summit and the Fit Tech Club, which helps promote knowledge about coming developments in fitness technology.

She spoke with us right after this year’s FIBO Global Fitness Summit in Cologne, Germany.

Natalia shares a lot of valuable information about exciting developments that should help people live better lives while also revitalizing the traditional fitness industry.

Exoskeletons, anyone? Plus AI, VR and more.

But most important of all, she says, is human empathy. Technology without people is meaningless.

I couldn’t agree more.

Resources and Links

Fit Tech Summit

Fite Tech Club

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Mark Fisher didn’t set out to become a personal trainer or to run a successful gym in New York.

He wanted to be an actor, and was making a pretty good go of things when he stumbled into  personal training – mostly for his actor friends at the start.

But before long, things took off and he opened Mark Fisher Fitness near the theater district as a special place for folks who typically don’t like the gym. There’s a big emphasis on fun, goofiness, irreverence, and all the other zany aspects that appeal to some who appreciate a certain flair. 

Mark wasn’t trying to be everything to everybody. He knew his target audience. He knew his community. And he used email content to develop his business. It’s been going strong for more than a decade now, serving lots of non-theatrical people as well as actors. Mark has also moved into business consulting and is a frequent speaker at conferences.

I found a ton of similarities between how Mark built his gym and how fitness pros helping people over 50 can do the same. And, in fact, after we set up this interview, Mark and Alloy Personal Fitness announced plans to open a new location in New Jersey sometime in the coming months – aimed at our over-50 market, like the other locations in Rick Mayo’s growing Alloy universe.

Mark’s a smart, fun guy, and I know you’ll get a lot out of hearing his success story. We’re going to dip into it right as he was finding his way as a trainer.

Highlights
3:25 -- Developing a niche
6:40 -- Good training plus madness and shenanigans
13:00 -- 'I want joy and confusion'
19:45 -- Know and serve your community
23:55 -- 'My desire to share information'
30:30 -- Email helpful information and you won't be annoying

Resources and Links

Mark Fisher Fitness

Business for Unicorns

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Chris Cooper  is a veteran coach of fitness businesses. And he’s as much an evangelist for content as I am.

He says just 5 percent of the gyms he’s worked with consistently share content – through channels like Facebook, blogs, and email newsletters.

“Everybody has a platform. Everybody has amplifiers. Anybody can do it,” Chris says. “We’ve worked with over 2,000 gyms now, and I’d say that fewer than 100 have been good at consistently publishing media.”

Chris is a gym owner, author, and business mentor based in Ontario. He’s also been a writer and a CrossFit media director. And he is as prolific a writer and publisher as you will find in fitness.

He says gym owners are so overwhelmed by their businesses that they assume telling their own stories is the least important part of their job. We all know this is true.

But Chris says it’s one of the most important – and I couldn’t agree more.

Resources and Links

 TwoBrainBusiness.com

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I have been all about Virtual Reality fitness lately. I got my own headset at Christmas, and another one right away for my 85-year-old mother after she expressed interest in mine. (That's us on Christmas morning, above.)

And I recently wrote an article for WebMD about the fitness applications of Virtual Reality, including the popular Supernatural apron the Oculus Quest 2 headset that has me and countless other people addicted to immersive workouts that are both fun and effective.

For that story, I interviewed a lot of people int heir 50s and 60s who picked up a VR headset out of curiosity and stuck with the fun workouts when they realized it was helping them lose weight and feel better.

Of course, VR is capable of so much more than that, including solutions for older people living in senior communities.

So I was really fired up to interview Kyle Rand, cofounder and CEO of Rendever, a VR platform that’s improving the aging process by bringing the outside world to seniors, combatting social isolation, improving mental health and memory, physical health and more.

This week on the Optimal Aging podcast, Kyle shares the powerful personal story that got him involved in helping seniors stay socially connected. He describes the growth of the Rendever platform and even peaks a bit into the future to see where this is all going.

I’m all in. You might be too after listening to this. Here’s my conversation with Kyle Rand of Rendever. LISTEN HERE.

Resources and Links

Rendever

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Imagine the doorbell ringing at your home one day. You wonder who could it be and go answer, only to find a scary-looking dude loading up your car to take it away.  It’s being repossessed because you haven’t been making the payments. You had no idea things were this bad – and you still have to learn just how bad your financial situation is.

How bad is it?

Bad. Really, really bad.

That’s what happened to Billy Hofacker about 10 years ago. From that shocking moment, Billy learned he had accumulated a mountain of debt — and then he set about correcting his mistakes, learning from them — and now sharing his hard-won wisdom with other fitness business professionals.

Billy has two Total Body Boot Camp locations on Long Island, where the focus is on serving the slightly older market. And he has another business as Your Fitness Money Coach, which includes the podcast of that same name. 

Billy’s story is riveting, and he shares it this week on the OPtimal Aging podcast – along with useful tips to help your manage your finances better and run your business more responsibly.

Here’s our conversation.

Resources and Links

Your Fitness Money Coach podcast

Billy on Instagram

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This week, I share the story of Bruce, a retired doctor who encountered some unwelcoming gyms before finding the right one.

It shows how important it is that you communicate to prospects and clients that you want their business.

Here are 7 steps to make sure you’re sending the right signals.

Resources and Links

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Prime Fit Content – The right marketing material to reach people over 50

The original “Nightmare Alley”

Supernatural Facebook Group

Eating the Rainbow

Pat Rigsby has been coaching fitness business owners for more than 15 years — after spending some time as a personal trainer and an earlier career as a college baseball coach. 

Pat is an entrepreneur and author, as we’ll. But “Coach” is his favorite role, and today on the Optimal Aging podcast, Pat shares his coaching experiences and philosophy shaped on the ballfield, in the gym, and in coaching countless gym owners grow their businesses.

I love Pat’s nurturing approach, his depth of knowledge, and his insistence on communications, marketing and following up on prospects. Get this: Pat has sent an email to his followers every day for 16 years.

SIXTEEN YEARS.

Talk about consistency! Here’s my conversation with Coach Pat Rigsby.

Resources and Links

Pat Rigsby

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Amy Lang is one of my favorite people in fitness and wellbeing — and she’s a favorite of listeners of this podcast, too. More people downloaded my interview with Amy from 2020 than any other episode of the show. 

It’s easy to see why. Amy has tons of experience and expertise, and she’s a font of knowledge and enthusiasm for anyone trying to reach the older market.

Plus — and this is amazing — she closed her successful gym in San Francisco to start an online coaching business right before the pandemic hit.

Since then, her Moxie Club has grown, and her own podcast — Happy and Healthy with Amy Lang — is doing great.

Amy joins me again on this week’s episode of the Optimal Aging podcast. We catch up on her success since our last interview — and we talk about Amy’s focus on building healthy habits that stick — a topic that’s particularly relevant this time of year, when people are struggling with their new year’s resolutions.

Resources and Links

Amy’s Moxie Club

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#10YearChallenge

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