If you’re partial to a bit of yoga throughout the week or you prefer to invest in a gym membership or personal trainer to get yourself motivated, then you’ll understand just how tough it’s been for the fitness industry during lockdown.
A reduction in demand is predicted to push revenue down by at least 10% (IBIS World, 2020) across Australia, not to mention the hot spots of Melbourne and Sydney.
Whether you work in the industry or you’ve dabbled here and there, the dream has always been to have the freedom of running your own business, working your own hours all while keeping yourself and more importantly your clients happy and health.
Well, that dream is gone!
Or is it?
Of all the industries impacted by coronavirus, it’s one that’s expected to bounce back very quickly and if the interest in Ultra Lite is anything to go by people are literally craving good health and fitness as a result of the lockdown.
Just how many bad habits have we added into the mix as a result?
So what if this was actually the perfect timing to scale your fitness business, what if there was a way you could upskill yourself and continue to offer exception value for your clients regardless of any lockdowns?
Meet Angela
One personal trainer who is currently weathering this storm is Ultra Lite Practitioner, Angela Larose. For the past 10 years Angela has incorporated a strong nutrition plan into her personal training business and if it wasn’t for this diversified approach to servicing her clients, the closure of non-essential services would have had a far greater impact on her bottom line.
“With the [Ultra Lite] Virtual Program the initial consult is all done online, so they’re filling out the paperwork and then we have a weekly phone call which generally only lasts 15 minutes…’You spoke to me on the weekend about my weight management plan, here’s the link, have a look and let me know what you think’ Angela explains.
“They don’t even have to come in, I can sign them up on line, it’s that easy! I can fit probably 4 consults (in) now where I would normally do 2 and any time of the night so if you’ve got clients that are working late then it’s easy to get on the phone at home in your PJs and talk to them if you have to. So that’s a great advantage, you’re not having to hang around the studio until 8-8:30pm at night, waiting for someone to come in for a consult and you can just talk to them on the phone, you can be anywhere!”
The Ultra Lite Program offers a structured and easy to follow diet system, which is based on the ‘clean Ketogenic,’ approach to eating. It focuses on low carb and low gi fruits and vegetables combined with moderate amounts of protein and fat. This balanced approach to eating ketogenically not only offers a wide range of benefits, such as more energy, improved sleep, and ability for the body to burn fat while still maintaining lean muscle mass, but is also structured in such a way as to minimise the usual negative side-effects of detoxification and the ‘keto-flu.’
Angela shares with us some of the secrets to her success and while at times I don’t think she gives herself enough credit, it really does inspire any of us who might be struggling to add value and retain positive outcomes for clients in the health and fitness space.
Why did you decide to become an
Ultra Lite Practitioner in the first place?
“I was quite adept with weight training and fit-boxing and so forth. But there were still clients that actually wanted weight loss advice. As personal trainers, we don’t cover a lot of nutrition in our learning, it’s a really small module. I felt that I needed some guidance, and I started looking around. Most of the programs that I found were meal replacement shakes, which didn’t resonate with me at all. I wanted to educate my clients on how to eat well. I came across Ultra Lite. It was real food for real people.
My clients started getting amazing results just by sticking to the program. There was a lot of support for me in the background. To know that I had this program that had backup support that was amazing. If I had an issue with a client who was struggling with losing weight, it was just a matter of a phone call, then making a few tweaks in the program.”
But does it really work and does it actually get results?
“I think it’s one of the easiest things, and it is, it is certainly the world’s best kept secret as far as weight management goes…If they (clients) want the weight training or some online personal training, it’s a great way to package that into a program to suit the client…People come in with the perception that ‘I want to lose 10 kilos, train hard, you know, go hard or go home’. That is not how it’s done. It’s more about your nutrition; you’ve got to get that nutrition in place. That’s how you’re going to lose your kilos!
With Ultra Lite being a ketosis program, you don’t have to move a lot. So even if people have issues with poor mobility, flexibility or they can’t get out of the house they can still get results on the Ultra Lite program. Most of my clients who are overweight have really bad knees and hips. There’s not a lot they can do in the gym, but if you put them on the Ultra Lite plan, the kilos start dropping off after the first week, they get this little bit of energy and go, ‘Wow, this is really working.’ They can see that the weight is dropping, the confidence is building and then they’re stepping out of the house to actually go for a walk down to the park. It just grows from there.”
What’s Ultra Lite meant for your business?
“It’s increased my cash flow; it’s been tremendous for that…Some people come in and just want Ultra Lite…The majority of my clientele is now referral-based. The beauty of that is when someone walks into your studio and they say ‘I need to lose 20 kilos,’ they’ve already made up their mind that they’re going to do it. So there’s no hard sell, you’ve just got to present it and show them the facts that this works.”
How can you become an Ultra Lite Practitioner?
Anyone can become a practitioner and you don’t need any formal qualification to get started. All necessary training is included in your license and can be completed online within a couple of weeks. So whether you’re looking to add extra value to your existing clients or looking to take on a new segment of clients altogether, Ultra Lite can certainly help you reach your financial goals and take your business to the next level by helping clients both face-to-face and online.
It’s never been easier to start and grow an online business and many practitioners are opting to tap into a whole new world of clientele where they can connect and coach their tribe online.
Prospective clients can book a free call via the practitioner’s online calendar link. Once they have decided the program is right for them, they fill in their details online and begin their lifestyle journey. Practitioners can either send the clients the products out of their own stock or, to reduce double-handling, they can order online and the goods are despatched directly to the client.
Clients gain access to the Ultra Lite Plus on-line membership, where they can use existing meal-plans or even create their own. They can even print out their shopping list based on what they have selected each week. The initial consultation with the practitioner is a longer session, where the program is outlined, This is then followed by shorter weekly consultation where they review their progress and ask questions, helping the client to stay on track and reach their health and weight loss goals.
The purpose of the Ultra Lite program is not just to ‘get people on a diet,’ it’s to educate them on how to eat well, live well and feel well.
Originally published in Australian Leisure Management