As the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month gets underway this October, FAI wants you to know about about a great learning opportunity from the Cancer Exercise Training Institute (CETI).

The organization is presenting three dates in coming weeks for trainers to take Cancer Exercise Specialist Advanced Qualifications. The program was developed for health and fitness professionals who work with cancer patients in post-operative exercise and quality-of-life programs.

“This program was developed for fitness professionals who want to help someone dealing with breast cancer and need proper information and training,” says Andrea Leonard, CETI president and founder. “Every patient is different in their response to treatment, their surgery, and their prognosis. If you don’t know how to put it all together, you can do more harm than good.” Andrea wants people to succeed, to make a difference in people’s lives, but at the same time, increase their clientele.

So what are the CETI workshops like? The workshops provide a day of specialized training and access to the latest materials from the organization. CETI provides cancer exercise programming on twenty-seven types of cancer, including pediatrics, with an emphasis on breast cancer and breast reconstruction.

“Exercise can play a role in lowering our risk for cancer, and it is important after surgery,” Andrea says. “People are much more likely to survive cancer who exercise. That’s just a fact. There is no argument for not exercising.”

Exercise is also helpful in restoring self-esteem and a sense of control. “Teaching cancer patients to regain control empowers them, increases esteem and confidence, and takes them from victim to survivor,” Andrea shared.

Also, CEUs are available for ACE, AFAA, NASM, and other organizations.

The workshops are scheduled for:

• West Palm Beach, Florida, American Cancer Society, October 20, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• San Francisco, Jewish Community Center, October 26, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Chantilly, Virginia, Nova Medical Exercise, November 2, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

You can register for a workshop here.

From population trends to technology, countless factors affect the fitness industry. Still, anticipation is key to business success, and we’re predicting the top five trends coming in the next year. Here they are, followed by tips on getting ready.

No. 5

Brain Fitness Comes of Age

Our active aging demographic is concerned about dementia and other cognitive decline. And we are already seeing greater awareness of this simple fact: People need to exercise more to maintain their brain health.

What We Can Do

Get certified in brain health, Tai Chi, Ageless Grace or other related activities that engage the memory and other cognitive function. Start talking about these issues with clients, prospects, fitness peers, and healthcare professionals. Distinguish your business as a unique local source of information and referrals.

No. 4

The Rise of the Fit Senior

You probably know some rock stars of aging – and more are coming. We’re living longer, staying healthier, and extending the boundaries of aging and physicality. Lifelong athletes never stop. Remember the 13,000 athletes at the National Senior Games.

What We Can Do

We have to train aging clients for what they want to do as individuals. Swimming is a great exercise, but will it help someone devoted to, say, archery?  Position yourself with doctors and physical therapists for more referrals for “brain health” and “balance training” instead of “strength training for seniors.”

No. 3

Our Population Is Aging Fast

The Baby Boomer generation began in 1946, so its members begin turning 80 in 2026. They will change the world’s ideas about what it means to reach that milestone. We’ll see more and more outstanding athletes in that category. But we’ll also see increasing burdens on the healthcare system, with frailty and risk of falls rising among people after they hit 80.

What We Can Do

Train clients for strength, balance, motor control and reaction time. We need to use the best fitness assessments in our evaluations of prospects and clients. Also, remember that Generation X is moving into our target demographic already, and they want something different than what they’ve been doing, like intense boot camps.

No. 2

Group Training Lives!

When people say group training is dead, don’t believe them. It will keep growing and growing – and, no, you won’t have to undersell it, either. But we will have to diversify our offerings even more.

What We Can Do

Learn about supplementing your brick-and-mortar with online training, apps and other technology. Online accountability and support will help you engage clients when they’re not in the gym or studio with you – and bring in extra revenue.

No. 1

Expect More Competition

Large and small health clubs, boutique studios, super-cheap chains, Pilates… the list goes on and on. And senior fitness franchises are coming. At FAI, we already have two licensing models, Fit Body Forever and Ageless Fitness.

What We Can Do

Keep standing out from the crowd. No one does what you do. Be unique, be focused, and use better content and storytelling to let your community know what you’re all about. Use a professional content service, like Prime Fit Content, which helps you reach the over-50 market.

For more on our predictions – and the role you can play in the changing landscape – watch this video from the 2018 Functional Aging Summit.

What’s a great way to receive invaluable business coaching, learn from peers and other experts, and have a great time for a couple of days?

FAI’s Mastermind members, including seven newcomers and guests, learned the answer the easy way September 12-13 in Indianapolis. FAI President Dan Ritchie led the quarterly group business coaching meeting, which features a round table of “hot seat” presentations from each participant and instant feedback from Dan and others, plus more helpful insights.

About two dozen fitness pros from around the country shared updates on their businesses, talked future expansion, got guidance from two high-tech vendors – and had a ton of fun, including restaurant outings and a little urban kayaking. (That’s Bruno Peron of Still Got It Fitness in Lomita, California, above.)

“It was a mind blower once again,” said Sharan Tash of TASH Wellness for Women near Chicago, a Mastermind veteran and enthusiastic supporter.

Nina Camacho came all the way from Hawaii for her first Mastermind meeting.

“Much mahalo (thanks) to everyone in the Mastermind group for their encouragement and expertise,” she said. “I had so many golden nuggets of information from all. I will take heed and do my best to make everyone proud.”

Dan and FAI co-founder Cody Sipe created the FAI Mastermind to help members attract prospects, systemize their businesses, grow profits – and have more freedom in life and in business.

In addition to stimulating quarterly meetings in different cities, the Mastermind provides:

• Monthly accountability calls
• Access to the Mastermind private Facebook group
• Access to all FAI programs for members and staff
• Individualized coaching to help you avoid costly mistakes, break through plateaus, and grow your business
• Marketing techniques to reach mature clients
• “Done for you” resources proven to work

The FAI Mastermind is for any member who wants to take their business to the next level, no matter where you are now or where you want to go. Click here to become a member today.

Our next meeting is in January in Houston.

You might have noticed in recent months that FAI has increased its communications and social media content. It’s part of our efforts to keep you engaged, to increase a sense of community among us, and to share the richness of what FAI and our members are doing to improve the lives of countless people every day.

First, we began consistently sharing fresh, weekly blog posts related to FAI, fitness, or over-50 demographics. We also started a weekly email newsletter sharing the posts and other “news you can use.”

Then starting in August, we began reinvigorating our social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to follow us and each other on those channels to keep up to date and to share best practices, challenges, and insights. Remember, the first word in “social media” is “social,” after all.

FAI’s new social media manager Jen Lutz Ritchie aims to increase your access to co-founders Cody Sipe and Dan Ritchie and the tremendous amount of content they have created over the years. She also hopes the social media content from FAI will provide something different for readers and hope to hear from you, too, since we are such a diverse group involving people of varying ages, locations, and fitness styles.

And the increased communication is also meant to help you make the most of what FAI offers through your membership – certifications, workshops, business coaching, webinars, and more.

By the way, if your business is not on social media, it should be, especially Facebook. It remains the Big Daddy among social media for people over 50. Instagram and Twitter are growing, as well. And Instagram in particular is attractive for the fitness industry since it’s easy to share photos and videos of our highly visual kind of work.

Here are some interesting statistics. (Sources: Hootsuite, Forbes, Sprout Social)

• Facebook had more than 2 billion active users as of October 2018.
• In the US, 68 percent of adults use it, most on a daily basis.
• Most advertisers say Facebook is the best social media channel to reach their goals.
• Instagram has more than 1 billion users a month.
• A third of US adults use Instagram, an increase of 7 percent in three years.
• Twitter is more popular for social advertisers than Instagram, with 88 percent using it.

Social media is typically used to teach, tell a story, or inspire potential customers. Be sure to include a link to your website so prospects can learn more.

Let us hear from you – via social media, an email or a phone call. We’re all stronger together the more we share with each other.

The over-50 fitness market is more than just Baby Boomers.

And it’s time to start getting ready for Generation X, who will start turning 55 next year.

They grew up on “Seinfeld,” Nirvana and Winona Ryder. They can remember life before computers, but might’ve never had a job without one. They’re more than a bridge between the post-World War II boomers and the routinely maligned Millennials.

There are subtle differences between the two generations, says marketing guru Jeff Weiss, who was a keynote speaker at the 2019 Functional Aging Summit.

Jeff’s agency, Coming of Age, put together a report on ”Advertising to Generation X as They Enter the Fall & Winter of Life.” It’s a good place to start educating yourself on the 51 million Americans born between 1965 and 1980.

• Gen X-ers love their smartphones almost as much as Millennials, with 89 percent owning the devices. They’re receptive to ads while on the go – shopping, running errands or exercising. They use their phones to shop online. This indicates that marketing to Gen X-ers online is a must.
• They use new technology, like smart phones and voice search.
• And they still watch traditional TV – although they’re impatient with too many commercials. So they’re using streaming services like Netflix that let them control the content they want to see.

We’ve got to make our messages to them short and to the point, Coming of Age says. Many are still busy with kids and jobs. They want authentic relationships, and they value connecting with things they care about, including independence.

What does this mean for your fitness business?

The core messages of delivering fitness to people at this stage in life stay the same, FAI’s Cody Sipe says.

“The delivery mechanisms will be different among generations – the web, emails, smart phones and things like that,” Cody says. “Even Millennials will eventually reach this stage of life, and the messages will need to resonate with them, too.”

Keep on the lookout for more discussion of this generation, which will become increasingly important to us as more and more of them reach 55 and beyond.

Like the Boomers before them, they represent a tremendous opportunity for the fitness industry. Just remember – if you get a new client at 55, that person could stick with you for decades to come.