Media training for health clubs and gyms.
Not only does January see many of us looking to get fit after Christmas indulgence but it’s also a busy time when it comes to media training for health clubs and gyms. With the rapid expansion of budget gyms this is more important than ever. As the Financial Times recently reported, according to Savills, the number of gyms run by PureGym, The Gym Group and JD Gyms has grown rapidly. In places with a population of 10,000 to 75,000 people they more than doubled between 2019 and 2024 to reach168 sites.
We’re finding that a growing number of gym and fitness chains’ PR companies and in house Comms teams are asking for us to train their key spokespeople. This means that they’re ready to do media interviews for journalists looking to provide their readers, viewers and listeners with advice and comment on health, fitness and wellbeing.
Media Training for Fitness Professionals
Our media training courses for personal trainers, gym managers and the leadership of gym and health club chains means that they get their messages across, create positive coverage and avoid getting drawn into issues that they’re better off avoiding.
There are more opportunities for personal trainers and other health, wellbeing and fitness experts to talk to the media, offering practical advice and tips than ever before. However, savvy PR companies and in house Comms teams of health clubs realise that with more experts available this is an increasingly competitive market. You need to work harder to earn your place in the media. As a result, it’s worth investing in media training in order to generate positive coverage for their colleagues and clients.
All of our media trainers are working journalists.
All of our media trainers are working journalists. This means that they’re aware of how providing new information on matters relating to health and fitness to an increasingly demanding and knowledgeable public is a challenge. As a result, the media is looking for spokespeople who can provide relevant, practical and punchy comments quickly.
Media training workshops for personal trainers and health and fitness professionals
As we explain in our media training workshops for health clubs and gyms, it’s essential to think about the audience. One of our media trainer/journalists remembers interviewing a personal trainer from one of the big chains. “His advice was interesting, but I’d stressed that my piece was aimed at older women wanting to stay fit,” they explain. “Almost everything he told me was about young men wanting to develop muscle. Unfortunately, because his comments weren’t relevant, I couldn’t use any of them in my piece, interesting though they were.”
It’s the same for a business versus a consumer audience. Thinking about who you’re speaking to – investors, industry players, partners, franchisees on the one hand or members of the public including potential members on the other is essential.
Another risk for the Comms teams and PR companies of health clubs is that personal trainers or local managers end up speaking to the media without getting company approval. No PR professional wants to hear: “I’ve just done an interview with a journalist. Can you find out what they’re going to quote and why they wanted to speak to me?”
In our media coaching for the fitness industry we stress to the participants the importance of always going through their PR companies or media relations office rather than speaking directly to a journalist.
Media training workshops for fitness professionals and gym managers
Journalists love stories – and that’s true of health and fitness journalists. In our media training workshops for fitness professionals and gym managers we help our course participants to identify and tell great stories. This might be about the woman who had never been to a gym before but, at the age of 50, has transformed her body – and her life – for the better. It might be anecdotes about clients who have learnt important lessons or who have run marathons have never run for a bus previously.
We’ve heard incredible stories about people with disabilities or those who have suffered life changing injuries and illnesses but who were inspired by a great personal trainer to get fit. We’ve also heard some pretty silly stories. Working out how to relay these mistakes and misconceptions without causing offence is a challenge but anything that can illustrate and prove a point is very useful during media interviews.
Media coaching for the fitness industry
Finally, as we point out in our media training courses for fitness professionals, journalists are always looking for a story and they don’t care if it’s good or bad. If anything, a bad news story that includes risks, dangers and scandals can be better than a positive one for a reporter. That’s why it’s essential that the spokespeople for gyms and health clubs are prepared for difficult questions and have answers ready for them. Knowing how to manage difficult issues or irrelevant questions and maintain control of a media interview is essential – that’s why we spend time focussing on it during our media coaching for the fitness industry.
In some cases, the bad stories can be really bad. The health and fitness sector is as vulnerable as anyone else to crises and scandals. If anything, with so many staff, so many locations plus heavy weights and physically active customers, it’s morelikely to suffer a crisis than many sectors. That’s why more and more PR companies and in house media relations teams are coming to us for crisis management.
Crisis communications for health clubs and gyms chains
In our crisis communications for health clubs and gym chains we create relevant crisis scenarios that enable everyone within the organisation from the CEO down to a receptionist to understand what a crisis means. Our experienced media trainer/journalists have reported on many crises. This means that they know how the media will behave in these situations and what questions journalists will ask.
We advise our health and fitness clients on procedures, communications strategies and lines to take. We also put spokespeople through realistic role play interviews. Then, as with our general media training for health clubs, we provide advice and recommendations on their messages and their style of delivery so that they can improve their performance.
Media training courses
We design each of our media training courses for fitness professionals and gym chains to meet the exact needs of the trainees. Come and talk to us about how we can help you. You can follow us on LinkedIn here. In the meantime, have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025.
