MyClassPro

By Kelly Stroud

We all know that feedback is important to any business and I’m often asked for my opinion on the best way to collect client feedback.

For “offline” businesses like fitness training, you may not always get an email from a client offering a good word or two about your classes or boot camps.  Sometimes, sending a short survey can provide insight into how your clients view your services.

Enter SurveyMonkey.

SurveyMonkey is an online survey service.  It’s easy to use and allows you to create great looking surveys to send to your clients and collect feedback.

There are three plans available:

1. Free Basic Service – allows 10 questions and 100 responses per survey.  You get access to 15 pre-designed question types and real-time results.
2. Pro Service – At $19.95 per month, this is a great option if you plan on monthly surveys with more than 10 questions.  You get unlimited questions per survey and 1000 responses per month.  You can brand the survey, access expert survey templates, and download the results to Excel and PDF.
3. Unlimited Service – It’s just that.  Unlimited questions and unlimited responses billed at $200 annually  ($16.67 per month).

Visit the SurveyMonkey site and look around.   This might be the option you’ve been looking for!

By Kelly Stroud

Here they come again.  The Holidays are just around the corner!  It’s time to set up and offer Gift Passes to your fitness clients.

For those of you using the MyClassPro service, when you create a STANDARD PASS, the bottom of the page has a check-box to indicate if the pass is a Gift Pass.  If it is, you’ll see a G next to it on your Payment Options page.  You would create it the same way you create any STANDARD Pass (not subscription) and assign it to either specific classes or to all classes.

Remember that the Pass description will act as Sales Copy
and should entice someone to buy it.

Since this is such a great way to get new clients, you also have the ability to add this Gift Passes button to your website or newsletters.

Once someone purchases a Gift Pass, you’ll see a Gift Pass Purchases section on your Payment Options page – just below the Subscription Payment Options section.

Once you’ve created a Gift Pass you can use the code in the Client Pages > Get HTML/Links section to copy a snippet of code to display the Gift Pass Image on your website. Your site visitors can click the image to visit the Gift Passes page and purchase any of your available Gift Passes. The buyer enters the email address of the recipient and sets a delivery date.

When the delivery date arrives, the recipient is sent an email announcing their gift with a redemption code.

If the recipient already has an account on your MCP service, they simply click the Redeem Gift Pass button. Once the redemption code has been entered and submitted, the Gift Pass is credited to their account.

If the recipient does not already have an account, they can still redeem their Gift Pass once they have created their account.

Gift Passes are used the same way as Standard Class Passes.

From Diet.com

Choose healthy Halloween candy this year with our calorie minute diet tips.

Note: We only chose to evaluate the typical and most common candy found in the typical Halloween Bag assortments, most if not all chosen to evaluate were chocolate on purpose.

By Pat Rigsby

By Casey Kaldal

By Amber Baillie, Greeley Tribune

As the warm, fun-filled days of summer filled with picnics and relaxing vacations fade away and autumn rounds the corner with busy school activities and jam-packed holidays, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the drastic change of pace. A new schedule and new stresses can take a toll on your mind and body, so here are some helpful ways from certified nutritionist Mary Calaci of Longmont Natural Grocers to help boost your energy and have an alive and active appetite for autumn.

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By Sarah Jio, Glamour magazine

We already have a long list of health reasons why getting fit is a good idea, but it also could be good for your bank account. Economists are reporting that overweight people–especially overweight women–dole out thousands of dollars more a year than their fit counterparts…

Economists at George Washington University have tabulated the cost of obesity and say that not only do obese men rack up an extra $2,264 annually in expenses, but obese women pay nearly double that–$4,879–revealing quite a gender gap.

More: The study, reports the New York Times, also indicates that the more overweight you become, the more expensive life is.

Interesting, huh?

Tell me, does this motivate you to get fit/stay fit?

By Jenny Everett, SELF magazine

Not only are your calves your look-sexy-in-high-heels muscle, they are also your lower body’s shock absorber. So, if they’re nice and strong, you’re less likely to get injured when you land hard after, say, jumping up to reach something on the top shelf.

That makes us doubly motivated to keep them in tip-top shape. Thankfully, we have exercise physiologist Tom Holland, owner of Tom Holland’s Athletic Club in New Canaan, Conn., to explain how to define our calves so they’re not just an extension of our ankles…

1. Toe raises: No excuse not to do these — you can do them anywhere, sans equipment. Stand with your toes perched on the edge of a step. Slowly rise up onto your toes, then lower your heels until they dip below the top of the step. That’s one rep, do 10. Repeat with the opposite leg. That’s one set. Aim for 3 sets, 3 times a week. To make it harder, hold a dumbbell at your side next to the leg you’re working.

2. Hit the StairMaster or Step Mill: But don’t just bounce along. Instead, lean forward slightly at the waist (no hunching) and take deep fast steps — like you’re bounding up the stairs two at a time. Let go of the rails (only touch them lightly as needed for balance) to make sure your lower body — calves included — are taking on the brunt of the stabilization work.

3. Take the hilly — or sandy — route: Running on flat ground doesn’t effectively target your calves. Instead pick a hilly route, or opt for a jog on the beach. According to Holland, the instability of the sand forces you to recruit your calves in a major way. You’ll definitely be feeling it the next day!

Even the most imaginative trainer can get stumped for ideas on how to make their fitness classes unique and fun for clients.  Here’s three ideas that might help you or at least get those mental juices flowing in the right direction!

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By David Zinczenko – Men’s Health Expert

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with slabs of meat on my face.

As kids, my brother Eric and I fought like wild animals. He still sports a scar above his lip from a cut I accidentally gave him, and my nose isn’t quite as straight as it might be if I hadn’t taken so many shots to it. We’re as close as can be today, but back in our teen years, we sported many a bruised ego and blackened eye. And the home remedy for the latter? A hunk of steak.

Turns out, a lot of moms don’t have the whole story when it comes to food cures. Cold is good for a bruise, but meat doesn’t do anything more than a bag of ice would. But there are plenty of foods that are effective home remedies for curing everything from pounding headaches to potency issues to procrastination. Take these 25 secret food cures, for instance. Incorporate these wonderfoods into your daily diet, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly your body and your mind react.

And best of all? Nobody will laugh and call you “meat head.”

1. BE MORE POSITIVE
Dark Chocolate
Research shows that dark chocolate can improve heart health, lower blood pressure, reduce LDL cholesterol, and increase the flow of blood to the brain. It also boosts serotonin and endorphin levels, which are associated with improved mood and greater concentration. Look for chocolate that is 60 percent cocoa or higher.

2. REDUCE ANXIETY
Garlic
Tuck a few extra cloves into your next stir-fry or pasta sauce: Research has found that enzymes in garlic can help increase the release of serotonin, a neurochemical that makes you feel relaxed.

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