We get to know Bryan Fitzsimmons in this Trainer spotlight episode of FITLETE Radio.
GEORGE: Introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you do and your background.
So as far as education goes, I'm going to forget, like I've done a bunch of certifications as I'm sure many of your guests have, but I've been coaching and personal training, nutrition coaching since 2015 for mostly moms over 40. I started at a place called Get in Shape for Women that was basically like Curves and I absolutely loved it. And then I transitioned to a gym that specifically catered to the 40 plus population. So I got to work with a bunch of people, men, women, and everything in between for, uh, what was it? Seven years. And in that time I got certs like, uh, PPSC, pain-free performance. Uh, what else? Uh, precision nutrition level one. Uh, those are the big ones. Oh, CSCS. So certified strength and conditioning coach, uh, specialist. Uh, and then recently I got a menopause coaching certification with Girls Gone Strong, which is probably like the big one that I talk about because that's pretty much my clientele is like that area of life. So I love riffing on stuff like that and talking about solutions and best practice and things like that. So yeah, that's pretty much that as far as like education goes. And then as far as business, I catered my business. When I went out on my own, I'm like, I'm going to serve the people that I'm used to serving, that I'm best at serving. That is the mom's 40 plus population. And my whole company is based on making it simple because they have been completely screwed over the past 20, 30, 40 years by marketing and a bunch of BS. So my goal is to simplify everything, make it realistic and let them hit and allow them to hit their goals in a way that doesn't feel like it's some gigantic grind, which unfortunately is like the norm right now.
GEORGE: Tell me a funny or interesting story about yourself that help's us get to know you as a human.
Okay, so I'm not sure if this would go in the direction that you're used to or if you might not want to go near this topic, but that all being said, the only thing that really came to mind story-wise was when my fiancé and I were in San Francisco and she was there for a medical conference presenting on something. And we're just having a great time, killing time during the day while she's crushing it in the conference and everything. And then eventually we get some time to ourselves where we could just hang out. And she was there with a couple of her co-residents too, so we're like, all right, let's just hit brunch. Let's find somewhere random. So we do, we roll up and they're like, oh, are you guys here for the show? And we're like, uh, what show? And they're like, oh, the drag show. And my girlfriend at the time, now fiancé, her eyes lit up and she was like, oh my God, she's a big fan of RuPaul's Drag Race and all that. She's like, that would be awesome. But she looks at me and she's like, if you're not comfortable, that's totally cool. And without skipping a beat, I'm like, nah, I'm here for a good time. Let's do it. So long story short, have a blast. And honestly, I ended up being like the drag queen's favorite person because I guess they love the straight guys. But regardless, I'm like, I got an ego boost of the century. I feel amazing. And it kind of just gets into the whole thing of the resounding thing is I'm game for anything. I'm here for a good time. And if whatever package that comes in, I'm all about it. And that's kind of how I serve clients. I'm like, hey, we're all here for a joint purpose. I don't care who you are, where you come from, what you do. We are going to achieve the goal. So whether that's fat loss, whether that's building muscle, whether that's having a fun time at a drag show, I don't care. I'm game and I'm ready to go.
GEORGE: What strategies do you use to attract and retain clients in your personal training business?
All right, so not sure if this is gonna come through or not because it's giving me notices that my mic is too low But I'll do my best to speak up When it comes to attracting clients my big two sources are my podcast and my Facebook group because I just Give them as much free information as possible because it's just my personal philosophy that we should not be gatekeeping information the real value in a coach is the accountability and the support and the education should be like Secondary like it's like yes, it's a guarantee, but it's not like what we're hired for it's not like oh by my secret thing because we're all teaching the same shit, so When it comes to actually getting people in basically, I just stay present So I'm always in the Facebook group putting out consistent podcasts and saying hey I'm here when you need me and then on top of that I run little boot camps throughout the year like once or twice that are big Client drivers and then also just getting into the messaging and like asking them what their problems are and then eventually just bringing them to A call where it's like, okay. There's a lot going on here. Why don't we just hop on a quick call? No Obligation whatsoever. Just I want to help and then a good amount of times people will be like Oh, so like what what is your coaching like? What does that entail and then I go through that with them and they're like, oh this kind of matches my price point So let's do this thing. So it's not an intentional thing It's just coming from a place of serving and then when it gets to that point and they're on board and they're doing the thing the way I keep them on board and my client retention being Over a year is basically one being super supportive and actually getting back to them as quickly as I possibly can I tell them 24 hours, but tell them if they catch me at the right time I'll respond in minutes and on top of that just always having periodic meetings like I do every 12 Weeks where we touch up the plans see what the next goals are and we always have that next goal that next thing that we're working on so they come to expect it and then Eventually just becomes a part of their life for a good chunk of them and then for the people that can't financially do it We bring them down to something like a little bit lower tier or they just go off on their own, which is fine But a lot of them stick around for years
GEORGE: What is your process for assessing a new client's fitness level and addressing their goals?
Yeah, unfortunately, this is a big limitation being that I'm mostly online. But when I do work with clients over Zoom doing personal training, the big thing is I just put them through a very standard program where it's like, okay, we're going to do a very light goblet squat. We're going to see if we could do a pushup or not in some variation. We're going to do some sort of a hinging movement. And basically before doing any of that asking, do they have any pain? Do they have any preexisting injuries? Because that's usually a good tell of what we can and cannot do or how to regress. So like if somebody has back pain, I won't do an RDL immediately, I'll do like a butt tap to the wall, something super duper regressed where it's like, this is basically the movement, but it's not like these random screenings that, I mean, like we know FMS and all this other stuff. Like there's, it is helpful, but it doesn't exactly give us a whole lot as far as like practical stuff. So I'm just like, why don't we just do the movements and tell me if it hurts? And I've been doing this for what, almost 10 years. And that's been a really good way of going about it. And I have had so few people get hurt. And honestly, it's never been during a training session. It's always been outside. So when it comes to actually training people, it's really just ask them, how does this feel? Does that hurt? Take it slow and then build up rather than starting them at some super advanced progression and really honing in on the regressions instead. And then when it comes to addressing their goals, it really just depends on what they are. So most of the people that come to me want to get toned. So that requires us to build some muscle, burn some body fat. So we make sure that we get into a calorie deficit in one way or another, whether that's counting calories, doing other methods. And then when it comes to building lean muscle, since most of them are newbies and can pull it off at the same time, we do basic strength training, progressive overload, and making sure that we stay pain-free the whole time and injury-free ideally. And we also address things that affect recovery, things like sleep, stress, and other nutritional aspects that might get in their way or hydration. So we cover all the bases to make sure that their body responds the best.
GEORGE: What certifications do you hold, and how do you stay updated on the latest fitness trends and research?
Yeah, sorry, I must have jumped the gun on this one, but when it comes to the certifications, my big four are PPSC, pain-free performance, Girls Gone Strong certified menopause coach, PN1, so precision nutrition level one, and also CSCS, so certified strength and conditioning specialist, are like the big four, but I've got a couple others, but those are the big ones. And then when it comes to staying up to date, I'm a member of a couple of research reviews, like REPS, which is Lane Norton's, Alan Aragon's, and also just follow industry experts online, because even though social media is not the same thing as a textbook or anything, it can guide the learning in the right direction as far as things that people are asking these major influencers that actually have knowledge on the subject. So when it comes to quick hits and snippets of what I want to dive a little bit more into, that's a really good way to go about it, and one that I think saves a whole lot of time too and helps with the direction of things.
GEORGE: How do you envision your personal training business evolving in the next few years?
Yeah, I'm pretty interested in expanding the online offerings because, or just improving them in general, because I think going into the future with people's crazy schedules, it's going to be harder to really block out time to go to the gym, to do an hour with a personal trainer, which is why I kind of shifted the way I did. And on top of that, a lot of companies like Octavia or Weight Watchers and all this stuff, they promote that they have coaches, but we all know that they're just marketers. They're not actually coaches. They're just pushing a system. So when people actually seek out good coaching, then that's going to be where the tide shifts. And that's where I think a lot of people are going to start seeing the long-term success that they want, especially off the backs of these like GLP medications and things like that. When people understand that the secret sauce is in working with somebody that can help you with 24 hours out of the day rather than just the one, then I really feel like that's where people are going to start gravitating towards because that's going to get them the best results.
GEORGE: What do you think are the biggest challenges currently facing the fitness & personal training industry?
Honestly, I think the biggest one is misguided energy, because a lot of people are focusing on the wrong things. Like, what does the algorithm say? Like, how do I get in front of more people? When you serve the people in front of you and you start these conversations and build these relationships, it compounds over time. But a lot of people are just trying to make the best Instagram or the best whatever on TikTok. And it's like, everybody's chasing the wrong shit. And on top of that, putting other coaches down or even other systems. Like, I threw shade at Octavia and Weight Watchers, but they're not even the enemy. Because at the end of the day, more than 50% of people are overweight. Or not even, more than 50% of people are going to be obese right now. And even more people are going to be overweight in the years to come. And that's where the money is. That's where our people are. That's where we got to be focusing on. So we're not really fighting against the algorithm or all this other bullshit that we hyperfixate on. We're fighting against Netflix, against people not wanting to do the thing, against boredom. Against all these things that stop people from being active and eating better.
Want more Bryan Fitzsimmons in your life? You can find’em here:
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