Optimal Aging

I’ve never liked the whole “dad bod” thing… I mean, of course, a lot of mature men are soft around the middle and don’t have much muscle tone. They shouldn’t be shamed for it -- but they shouldn’t exactly be praised for it, either -- right?

Many of them don’t want to be. They’re willing to pay you to get them in shape, and the post-pandemic online-training market has blown the whole world open to trainers like Mike Warren of Perth, Australia. 

He’s doing a booming business Down Under, serving mature men all over the world. He’s one of many, and the market is growing. Learn from Mike about his marketing approach, content, and attitude with his clients. Let me know what you think of his (perhaps) unorthodox approach.

Time Index

6:27 -- A 12-week coaching program that focuses on food, sleep, movement and mindset
12:33 -- 'I'm a tough-love advocate'
14:30 -- When did recovery become so important?
18:00 -- You can't go back in time to get fit later in life
23:35 -- Beware the shiny toy bucket
24:57 -- Sleep is the primary polar
32:22 -- Communicating with your 'key stakeholders'
47:15 -- Three Things I Like This Week: Americans are returning to the gym; a healthy snack; an awesome look back at 1969

Links and Resources

Ditch the Dad Bod with Mike Warren

Naamly -- Support our advertiser, who helps you keep in touch with your members

Report finds Americans are heading back to the gym

Keto Cups Evolved Chocolate

‘Summer of Soul’ trailer

Let's talk about time and money.


We all get the same 24 hours in a day, but some people insist they just don’t have time to exercise. It’s the No. 1 excuse, isn’t it? Right up there with “I can’t afford it.”

Luckily, the over-50 demographic has more time and money, generally, than younger people do. But the objections persist -- so you need to know how to address them.

Highlights:

2:50 -- A breakdown of how people spend time
5:30 -- It's your job to connect with prospects
9:10 -- What are their values, fears, and disappointments?
10:20 -- How much we spend monthly on coffee, hair, TV and more
15:10 -- Focus on people who can afford your pricing
16:05 -- Three Things I Like This Week

Plus:

Support our sponsors:

• Naamly
• Prime Fit Content

Three Things I Like This Week -- Special Books Edition:

• “The Plant-Based Athlete”
• “The Secret to Superhuman Strength”
• “Brain Health”

Have you played the role of fitness consumer lately? It might be an eye-opening experience. Just do a quick Google search on gyms and studios in your area, and see what you find on all the websites that pop up. What kind of messages come through the words and images? 

I did this recently while out of town and looking for a gym to use for the day. And it was helpful to be reminded of what a gym consumer goes through when looking for a gym or studio in his or her hometown.

How do they find a place that’s right for them?

How do you – as a fitness business targeting the over-50 market – make it clear that you want their business? That you have what they need? That you’re the right one for them?

Here are 10 simple tips to guide you through the process and supercharge your content marketing so that the right people know you’re the right spot for them.

Highlights

3:15 -- How do over-50 fitness consumers know you’re the right one?

4:10 -- 10 tips to super-charge your content

10:00 -- How and why to use the right photos

15:15 -- How to fill up your gym during the middle of the workday

18:45 -- Promote your relevant special certifications and training

21:45 -- Three Things I Like This Week

Resources

Prime Fit Content

Naamly

Alloy Personal Training Franchise

Functional Aging Institute

Age of Majority agency

Content Marketing Institute

I met Sumit Seth a couple of years ago at a fitness conference, and we sort of immediately connected because we were two of the few participants who are not actually gym owners or trainers. We were both there to network, to learn, and to promote our new ventures — my Prime Fit Content and his Naamly, a web-based platform that helps fit pros connect with their clients and improve retention. 

Since then I’m glad to say that we’ve stayed in touch and that we’ve both found our footing and a lot of supporters in the industry.

In fact, we both spoke last weekend at the virtual Functional Aging Summit, sponsored by the Functional Aging Institute. You’ll hear us talk about it briefly in this episode of the Optimal Aging podcast, which was recorded a couple of weeks before the event.

Naamly helps gym owners systematize and simplify their operations by centralizing member data and communications, so gym owners can increase their customer lifetime value, improve staff efficiencies, and eliminate their stress.

I’m happy to say Naamly is a sponsor of this podcast, and I want to point out that Naamly makes it easier than ever to keep your active aging clients engaged & excited about being a part of your business.

Highlights

3:45 -- Happy to be seeing faces again

6:30 -- The journey to learn more

8:25 -- Sumit’s successes before fitness

10:40 -- ‘If I do this, I’ll die young’

13:30 -- ‘How we could help gym owners succeed’

19:40 -- Customers crave recognition

24:15 -- The peril of ignoring retention

29:14 -- The story behind the name

38:00 -- Three Things I Like This Week

Links

Naamly

‘In the Heights’ trailer

PFLAG

Jim Adams is the owner of Catalyst Strength and Functional Nutrition in St. Louis — and the author of a brand-new book, “Masters in Fitness Business.” It’s a companion piece to his podcast of the same name and, I’m glad to report, it’s really good. Jim’s a thoughtful interviewer and he presents his guests in a warm light that’s beneficial to the audience. Believe me, that’s not as easy as it might seem, in a podcast or in print.

Jim also fills us in about a new venture for online learning in the fitness business — and we even discuss books and authors a bit, something I love to do any time.

Time Highlights

7:08 -- He used pandemic down time to start

11:15 -- From a bunch of podcast episodes to a book

16:30 -- Fit University is like 'an Amazon for the fitness business courses'

30:30 -- Dialing in your business to a specific demographic

35:25 -- A stronger team emerged from the pandemic

40:15 -- Shifting to the 'older' population

43:15 -- 'Authors for $400, Alex!'

48:10 -- Three Things I Like This Week (Special Vacation Edition)

Get Jim’s book on Amazon

His podcast

Catalyst Strength and Functional Nutrition

Naamly -- Support our advertiser, who helps you keep in touch with your members

National Parks Service

A guide to Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Urban Poling video

Sometimes you find yourself at a perfect moment to look back on the recent past and also look ahead to what might be just around the corner. 

And we’re all at such a point right now, aren’t we — here at the end of pandemic. 

So I want to share a recording of a roundtable discussion on the topic that I was asked to join last week, hosted by Dr. Dan Ritchie of the Functional Aging Institute. It’s me and three diverse experts from various angles of the fitness over 50 world:  

• Dr. Emily Splichal, a podiatrist, movement specialist and founder of Naboso Technology in Phoenix
• Paul Holbrook of Age Performance Studio in Salt Lake City
• Dianne Bailey of Conditioning Classroom and Open the Door to Tai Chi in Denver

I’ll be speaking at FAI’s Functional Aging Summit next month. Be sure to sign up in advance for tons of great speakers. Here’s the link. 

Episode Highlights
5:15 -- The industry is an essential service
8:15 -- Being more present in the moment
13:00 -- A necessary shift in focus
17:30 -- We are all entrepreneurs and need the power to pivot
21:00 -- People are now more interested in taking are of themselves
25:30 -- Getting back to pre-pandemic numbers
29:00 -- This is a unique moment, right now
36:20 -- A resurgence in demand for the in-person experience
39:55 -- Three Things I Like This Week: an outdoor map app; resuming air travel; The Murph Challenge


The Functional Aging Institute

Naamly -- Support our advertiser, who helps you keep in touch with your members

The ONX Mapping App

The Murph Challenge

Bruce and Mindy Mylrea are living the life that many couples in their 60s want. They closed up the house in California, live full-time in a motor home and travel the country. 

That mobile home is decked out with pictures of the pair and lots of fruits and vegetables, with their website, OneDaytoWellness.org, and their slogan, Take Control of Your Health Now.

The high-energy pair are full of enthusiasm and information, and it’s a pleasure to share some of that with you. 

Time highlights

2:15 -- Where in the world are Bruce and Mindy?

3:30 -- Moving full-time into the RV

6:30 -- Eating better while you're eating out

9:45 -- How they started this journey

15:40 -- 'Leaning to the Green' education

19:20 -- Helping people over 50 overcome resistance

23:00 -- Simple steps and recipes to enjoy plant-based eating

24:25 -- Three Things I Like This Week: The Go-Go's get a hand; Tabata; Brazilian flip-flops


Links

Bruce and Mindy Mylrea, One Day to Wellness

Naamly -- Support our advertiser, who helps you keep in touch with your members

“Our Lips Are Sealed” video by the Go-Go’s

10 Tabata workouts for beginners on Pinterest

Havaianas flip-flops

Lawrence Biscontini is many things in the fitness world. He is a Mindful Movement Specialist. He is a philanthropist, speaker, and course development specialist for organizations including ACE, AFAA and NASM. He teaches yoga, runs fun FitCamps in Puerto Rico, and has written more than a dozen books.

Plus — like me — he’s a big fan of "Ru Paul’s Drag Race."

He even points out during our interview the many similarities between personal trainers and drag queens, and how he works with both to improve their businesses.

It’s all about doing a few things differently! 

Lawrence shares uplifting points of view and insight from his decades of experience. I know you’ll enjoy spending this time with him.

Key Moments

6:30 -- 'Did this happen TO me or FOR me?'
8:45 -- Staying afloat and practicing self-care
10:20 -- Embracing active aging and wellness later in life
15:00 -- The 5 different kinds of aging
16:40 -- 'Chronologically enriched'
19:20 -- Why he is so active on social media
26:30 -- Lessons from "Ru Paul's Drag Race"
31:00 -- Maximize moving, minimize time
34:20 -- Three Things I Like This Week -- Avocado ice cream, workout apps, Will Smith

Links

Lawrence Biscontini / TheBigDeal

Naamly -- Support our advertiser, who helps you keep in touch with your members

Cado Ice Cream
Smart WOD app
List of other smartphone timer apps
Will Smith’s Instagram post

When David-Dorian Ross was in his early 20s, he had a brief, intense experience that changed his life.

It was during his first session of tai chi, and the way he describes it is how others recall a profound religious experience.

"It was a gift," David-Dorian says now. "I had this knowledge, this certainty, like a memory of the future that I would do tai chi for the rest of my life and that I would someday be a famous teacher."

And, indeed, all that came to pass.

David-Dorian has been teaching Tai Chi since 1979, focusing on making Tai Chi more accessible to all and has been a record-holding competitive martial artist.

He created his own tai chi method, called taijifit, and he teaches and certifies instructors at taijifit.net. He is also the national network manager of Tai Chi and yoga instructors for the Veterans Affairs Community Care Network - providing free Tai Chi and Yoga classes to our nation's military veterans. David-Dorian served in the Navy from 1975-1980.

In this episode, David-Dorian shares powerful perspective about tai chi, his outreach with veterans and Baby Boomers, and lots more I know you'll enjoy.

Key Moments:
5:50 -- His first tai chi session, when "all of a sudden, everything changed"
12:25 -- Tai chi as part of holistic health
18:00 -- 'The job I was sent her to do' -- working with veterans
25:10 -- How to find tai chi instructors for vets
29:10 -- Tai chi as fall prevention
34:50 -- Incorporating tai chi into your fitness business
43:40 -- What's wrong with the fitness industry
49:50 -- Three Things I Like This Week: Laughter Yoga, Everyday Mindfulness, 1-800-FLOWERS

Links
David-Dorian Ross
Taijifit.net
Naamly : Support our advertiser, and keep your clients engaged
Everyday Mindfulness on Twitter
LaughterYoga.org
CelesteGreeneLaughs.com

Some people over 50 like to go to the gym so they can do well in the gym -- and that’s great.

But others want to train so they can enjoy something outdoors. 

And that’s the specialty of Renae McCloud, a TRX instructor in Seattle who gets her Baby Boomer (ish) clients ready for demanding, fun outdoor adventures.

I met Renae after I wrote about an Atlanta man who celebrated his 75th birthday by running his first Spartan obstacle course. I had no idea trainers could specialize in helping older adults prepare for these kinds of challenges.

Learn how she did it, how she incorporates it into her TRX-based studio training, and the powerful joy she sees radiated from her clients as they cross the finish line. Now, this episode is NOT about Spartan races, per se. If you want to think outside the box, bust some stereotypes, and learn how to expand your business in a fresh way, then you’ll want to hear what Renae has to say.

Key Moments
5:00 -- Ranae's outdoor training
6:00 -- Her "sweet spot" is Boomers
8:30 -- How she got started with Spartan training
13:30 -- Adding mountain biking
16:15 -- "I found the passion for the Boomers"
20:10 -- Strength training is important, particularly for women / TRX yoga
32:20 -- How she trains people for outdoor activities
40:08 -- I'm a little scared of Spartan races
43:38 -- Training to enjoy life
45:00 -- Three Things I Like This Week -- Apple AirTags, Changing Priorities, "The Father"

Links
McCloud Fitness
Renae on Instagram
Spartan
TRX

Naamly -- Support our advertiser

Apple Air Tag
Man’s new “Rules for Living” after a heart attack
“The Father” movie