High Intensity Business is a high intensity strength training and strength training business podcast offering content to help you realise your health goals, become a great personal trainer, and build a successful HIT business. Content includes training protocols, workouts, exercise science, nutrition, and biohacking. From a HIT business perspective, we cover personal training, coaching, startup, sales, marketing, operations, systems, hiring, scaling, etc. Guests include Dr Doug McGuff, Drew Baye, Skyler Tanner, Patty Durell, Walter Vendel, Fred Hahn, James Fisher PhD, James Steele PhD, Luke Carlson, Adam Zickerman, Kyle Recchia, Adrian Antigua, Bill Crawford, Joe Cirulli, Dorian Yates, Simon Melov PhD, Roger Schwab, Simon Shawcross, and many more.
What can you do to become a highly successful, ultra-efficient solo operator of a HIT strength training studio? You’ve heard of Doug Holland, now see how Dagoberto Vila earns up to $366,000 a year all by himself. Bert returns to the podcast to talk about how he turned his knowledge and personal training skills into a one-man studio that has loyal clients, and we talk about how you can follow his blueprint so you can do the same. If you want to start – or grow – a HIT fitness business and make it really successful, you’ll want to tune in to this conversation! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💪 ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
10/30/24 • 53:51
What does selling a high-ticket HIT program look like from start to finish and how can you create your own? Dave Bess returns to the podcast to walk you through his proven high-ticket process and we’ll give you a high-level step-by-step on how you can implement this in a way that makes sense for your HIT fitness business. As well as being the co-founder of Underground Fitness and later launching PT Legends and Greenlight Personal Training, Dave is a highly successful business builder and coach. If you’ve ever wanted to create your own high-ticket program and wanted a clear plan on how to do just that, you need to check out this episode! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💪 ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
10/23/24 • 59:29
Looking for better tools to help you with your HIT business marketing and want to avoid the headaches of choosing the wrong ones? Pixality Design founder Connie Holen is a fitness business website specialist, a MindBody Certified Business Consultant, an accomplished web designer, digital strategist, and podcast host, among many other things, and she joins us once again to talk you through finding the best email marketing software to help you reach and retain more of your clients. If you want to find out what the right marketing tools are for your HIT business, this episode is a good place to start! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💪 ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
10/16/24 • 53:12
Is SuperSlow the most effective HIT workout protocol and can it help you maximize your genetic potential faster than any other strength training approach? Dagoberto Vila is a bodybuilding champion, the owner of Fit for Life Strength, a certified MedX Fitness Coach and a certified SuperSlow instructor. He joins the podcast to talk about getting the most out of your workouts and why he’s so passionate about SuperSlow as one of the best ways – if not the best way – to strength train. We talk about the science behind why slow reps are effective, how slow you should go, training frequency and volume, and this episode gets a bit spicy in spots — make sure you tune in! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💪 ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
10/9/24 • 50:10
What’s it like to create your own High-Intensity Training sphere from scratch when there isn’t one that you can join as a HIT entrepreneur in your own country? Hugo Moniz, founder of EXS, talks about creating an incredible business ecosystem where he not only provides high-quality HIT education for personal trainers, but also works with doctors, hospitals, and other strength training business owners to promote high-intensity training that benefits patients, clients, and fitness business, and he even has the time to run his own strength training studio and yearly exercise summit! Hugo’s success story is something we can all draw lessons and inspiration from — don’t miss this one! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💪 ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
10/2/24 • 58:54
What exactly does it take to turn your HIT business from just another strength studio to a really great fitness business? Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson returns to the podcast for a Q&A that dives deep into what mindsets, habits, and little details matter that you need to focus on as a HIT entrepreneur. If you’re serious about success and hungry for growth, don’t miss this episode! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
9/25/24 • 54:22
What does it take to actually run 120 personal training sessions a week as a solo HIT strength trainer successfully? Doug Holland is a master strength trainer, a powerlifter, and the owner of Intelligent Exercise, and he has mastered the art of delivering high-quality training sessions each week all by himself. In this episode, Doug shares how he makes it all work: we dive deep into managing personal training sessions from start to finish, structuring and progressing workouts, and building strong client relationships, all without burning out. If you want to learn what it takes to be a successful, high-level HIT trainer, you’ll want to listen to this episode! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? Go here: ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
9/19/24 • 31:01
Can you really transform your HIT business into a multi-million-dollar one just by changing your mindset and reaching out to people? Dave Bess returns to share powerful strategies and tactics that can help you generate leads that turn into meaningful client relationships. Dave is the co-founder of Underground Fitness and later launched PT Legends and Greenlight Personal Training, and here we talk about the step-by-step methods of networking and building genuine connections. If you’ve ever wondered how people can be so good with outreach and wanted to try it yourself, this episode is for you! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? Go here: ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
9/12/24 • 60:14
If you get a severe knee injury, what does that mean for you (or your HIT clients) long-term, and how might that affect your strength training? Dr James Fisher returns for part 2 of his personal experience of rehabilitating a severe knee injury and how he is using high-intensity training to recover from it. James is a Course Leader and Senior Lecturer for the School of Sport, Health, and Social Sciences at Southampton Solent University in the UK. He specializes in exercise physiology, biomechanics, and resistance training. James is an active researcher publishing numerous peer-reviewed articles relating to health and fitness. For anyone who is curious about how exercise scientists themselves train and recover from injuries (like this one), tune in to this episode! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? Go here: ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
9/5/24 • 67:46
Why should you find ways to keep your strength training clients excited about their workouts? Spoiler alert: because your clients will love your HIT studio, you’ll make more money, and you’ll keep them for life. Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson talks about why and how you can do this, from the mindset you should have down to how to implement it in your HIT Fitness Business. If you want to never lose your clients, this episode is a must-listen! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? Go here: ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
8/28/24 • 36:39
What is the truth about Arthur Jones’ Colorado Experiment and what does it really mean for the High-Intensity Training world? Legendary trainer Pete Cerqua returns to the podcast to go on a deep dive into what really went on in The Colorado Experiment with Casey Viator, what happened when Mike Mentzer tried it, and what HIT trainers and business owners should take away from this still-infamous experiment by Arthur Jones. If you’ve heard about the Colorado Experiment, it’s probably not what you thought it was — you need to tune in to this episode! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ Want to GROW your HIT business? Go here: ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
8/21/24 • 66:49
Do you ever feel like you’re in a rat race as a HIT entrepreneur and want a way to earn more while being less overloaded? Dave Bess is the co-founder of Underground Fitness and later launched PT Legends and Greenlight Personal Training. In this episode, we talk about why you should have a high-ticket offer, how to build it out into your existing business model, and how doing all of this can be the life-changing experience you’ve been looking for as a fitness business owner. If you want to make more money while having less clients – and actually execute it successfully – this episode is for you! ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⚡ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏛️ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
8/14/24 • 53:25
What can you learn from one of the biggest HIT businesses in the world when it comes to attracting talent and recruiting great strength trainers? Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson returns to talk about seven powerful and proven tactics to help you hire great HIT trainers for your strength studio. If you want to hire great trainers and hit the ground running, this episode is a must-listen! *** ⚡ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
8/7/24 • 35:35
Is tracking your client’s biomarkers the future of science-based strength training and the door to a new universe of health optimization, or is this just another passing trend? Matt Mombourquette is the owner of OneUp Fitness, a HITuni-certified Personal Trainer, and a Kinesiologist with a degree from Dalhousie University. He joins me in this episode to talk about how he is exploring the future of HIT training through fine-tuning muscular health by tracking very specific biomarkers, along with what this could mean for the HIT business sphere and our strength training clients. We also talk about the misconceptions about animal protein and fat intake, attracting new clients, effective ways of recruiting new trainers, and balancing the pros and cons of tracking body composition metrics in terms of business benefits and how useful these might be to your clients. If the cutting edge of optimizing body composition and giving your clients more meaningful workout experiences is something you’re keen on, give this one a listen! *** ⚡ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
7/31/24 • 58:43
Why is client retention the single most powerful thing you can focus on if you want to make your strength studio profitable, fast? In this previously HIT Business members-only episode, Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson talks about the fundamentals that you need to know, and we go into why client retention is crucial to building a profitable business, how to create an experience that helps keep clients coming back, and the key things you need to put in place (and the mistakes you need to avoid). If you’re keen on maximizing your profit while minimizing growing pains, you’ll want to listen to this one (and maybe even keep it in your bookmarks)! *** 📩 ⚡ 🏛️ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
7/24/24 • 62:23
How can you train, develop, and retain amazing trainers and staff and avoid the big headaches that many HIT fitness business owners have when it comes to hiring, management, and leadership? Katie Santos is the founder of Katie Santos Consulting and Fitness HR. She is a fitness industry expert with 40 years of experience, specializing in HR and HR law and catering specifically to fitness businesses and strength studio owners. We dive deep into how you can help your trainers succeed and add value to your business right from the start, how you should approach developing your personnel and your culture, the biggest keys to success in leadership and management, and more. If you’re keen on maximizing the potential of your staff, growing your fitness business, and minimizing many of the common problems HIT studio owners tend to go through, tune in to this one! *** 📩 ⚡ 🏛️ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
7/17/24 • 59:21
How do the most successful trainers take notes that help create great client experiences without bogging down workout sessions? Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson returns to the podcast for a wide-ranging Q&A where we talk about the best way to take notes during a workout session, how to make great high-ticket offers that attract more clients, Alex Hormozi’s business ideas, fitness trends your clients bring in that might give you headaches and how to deal with them, and more. If you want to dig deeper into wowing your personal training clients and honing your HIT business strategies and tactics, don’t miss this one! *** 📩 *** ♣️ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
7/10/24 • 49:57
Looking for the perfect client management software for your HIT business and want it to be as useful and as pain-free for you and your clients? Pixality Design founder Connie Holen is a fitness business website specialist, a MindBody Certified Business Consultant, an accomplished web designer, digital strategist, and podcast host, among many other things, and she returns to help you find the right CMS that will help your business scale and provide the best possible client experience. If you’ve ever looked at your options and wanted to know the pros and cons before taking the plunge, this episode will help you know what to look for and how to avoid making costly mistakes! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
7/3/24 • 65:40
What should you know about hiring good trainers and staff for your HIT fitness business to scale and grow without the common headaches poor fit can give you? Katie Santos is the founder of Katie Santos Consulting and Fitness HR. She is a trusted expert with 40 years of experience in the fitness and wellness industry. In this episode, Katie shares great insights on how you should hire and staff for success in your fitness business, focusing on the advantages of having the right team who is on the same page as you are so you can grow your revenue faster and avoid the headaches that plague business owners who ignore the importance of building a culture and fit. We talk about building your business culture, navigating the legal system, understanding why your job and role descriptions matter, and the huge effect these can have on your growth and earnings. If you’re serious about being successful as a HIT business owner and want to avoid getting set back by hiring the wrong people, this episode is for you! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
6/26/24 • 77:33
What would it take for you to build a world-class HIT studio brand from the ground up? returns to the podcast to talk about the origin of and how he went from being unsure of what he wanted to do in life to finding the very thing he wanted to pour his heart into — we talk about the valuable lessons every aspiring HIT business entrepreneur and strength trainer can take away from his journey. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to find your north star as a personal trainer or a HIT studio owner, this episode is a must-listen! *** 📩 *** ♣️ *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
6/19/24 • 44:28
How would you like to build a thriving HIT fitness business even if you have zero experience in the fitness industry? James Brown is the owner of Safe Strength in Chepstow, Wales, UK. He brings a unique perspective to the fitness industry as he shares his journey from product management to becoming a strength trainer who is now trying to solve the problem of being overwhelmed with clients! In this episode, we talk about what inspired him to get into the strength training business, his transition from being a product manager toward becoming an entrepreneur, and eventually owning his own successful HIT studio in a smaller market, all the while being a full-time dad. We’ll talk about the challenges he faced, the lessons he’s learned, and how you can take his blueprint and plan your path to becoming a successful HIT entrepreneur. If you’ve ever dreamt about helping people while being your own boss, see what the journey was like from someone who just did it — this episode is for you. *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
6/12/24 • 62:28
What’s the best way to give your personal training clients exercise instruction that makes them enjoy their workout sessions with you instead of dreading these and eventually driving them to quit? Al Coleman returns to the podcast to talk about the power of his Metronome Method and how you can tap into the science of attention to give your clients workout sessions that essentially run themselves automatically! Al is the founder of and is an experienced strength trainer and highly esteemed expert in high-intensity training (HIT). He has worked as the Director of Education for RenEx, Overload Fitness, and PHX strength, working with strength training masters such as Ken Hutchins, Josh Trentine, and Gus Diamantopoulos. In this episode, we discuss how you can be the most effective at exercise instruction, how to make your clients love their workouts, his unique Metronome Method, and more — including some thoughts about personal training approaches that might be quite controversial! If you want to sharpen your exercise instruction skills and stand out from your competition, this episode has a lot to offer you! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
6/6/24 • 66:39
Can you really double your HIT studio's revenue or your earnings as a personal trainer using Pete Cerqua's Million-Dollar framework? Here's Pete's challenge to you: I dare you to try it strictly and then tell me it doesn't work. Legendary Trainer Pete Cerqua is the best-selling author of the books The 90-Second Fitness Solution, High-Intensity Fitness Revolution for Women, and High-Intensity Fitness Revolution for Men, but most importantly, he is an incredibly successful strength trainer and fitness business builder — and he can walk you through how to build your own wildly successful strength studio… if you're ready for it. His “Million Dollar Trainer” program shows strength trainers how to earn 7 figures per year, and he is currently running a high-impact HIT Business Coaching Program that’s been helping trainers and strength studio owners generate more revenue than ever before — Apply for 1-on-1 Business Coaching with Legendary Trainer Pete Cerqua If you're a HIT business owner or a strength trainer and you want to make the most of your skillset and help as many people as you can (including yourself), you need to give this episode a listen — you'll get the 4-step framework that will put you on the road to success and Pete will walk you through how to execute it. Don't miss this one! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
5/29/24 • 80:53
Is your social media content attracting more clients or is it turning them away without you realizing it? Master strength trainer Pete Cerqua returns to talk about the power of social media and how you can optimize your content to pull in and convert more, along with going deep into the small details that can make a big difference. Pete is a best-selling author with decades of experience building massively successful strength-training businesses. His “Million Dollar Trainer” program shows strength trainers how to earn 7 figures per year, and he is currently running a high-impact — Pete talks about how to optimize the biggest keys to success when it comes to your social media posts, from the people you feature down to the language you use (and even some interior decoration tips), and most importantly, what effect your content should have on your audience. If you want to really tap into the power of social media to attract more clients, this episode is a must-see! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
5/22/24 • 46:15
How can you convert more prospects into clients effectively and quickly using warm outreach services like Bark.com? In this episode, we'll talk about my proven strategies and tactics that got our strength studio 53 new clients through Bark.com (this will also work whenever you're on the phone with prospects from other sources) — we'll cover the importance of your mindset, your step-by-step approach, and the right way to execute from start to finish, along with the pitfalls you need to avoid. If you want to get high-quality strength training clients fast, check out this episode! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
5/15/24 • 43:55
How can HIT studio owners and personal trainers run an efficient strength training business that lets them give great customer service without getting overwhelmed and leaving money on the table? Pete Cerqua returns to talk about the basic systems you need to stay organized, on track, and ready for business so you can take on twice as many clients as your competition while keeping your business running smoothly and as stress-free as possible. Pete is the author of the books The 90-Second Fitness Solution, High-Intensity Fitness Revolution for Women, and High-Intensity Fitness Revolution for Men. He also has decades of experience building massively successful strength-training businesses. His “Million Dollar Trainer” program shows you how to earn 7 figures per year, and he is currently running an Exclusive HIT Business Coaching Program that’s been helping trainers and strength studio owners generate more revenue than ever before — If you want your personal training business to be ready to launch and not get knocked out of the sky mid-flight, this episode is for you! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
5/8/24 • 66:02
Who really was Mike Mentzer and what do so many people get wrong about him and his approach to High-Intensity Strength Training? Here to set the record straight about Mike's legacy are HITuni founder Simon Shawcross and modern-day renaissance man John Little, who also happened to be a close friend and associate of Mentzer for over two decades. In this episode, we talk about the profound influence of Mike Mentzer on high-intensity training, the enduring legacy of his philosophy, and the inspiration behind the new Mike Mentzer course at HITuni. We go into the challenges of editing extensive and insightful conversations from John's immense personal archive of Mentzer media, anecdotes about Mike, and the philosophical impact on his training and outlook on life. We also talk about how ahead of his time Mike truly was, as well as his thoughts on individualized approaches to strength training and the role of recovery time between workouts. Check out John Little's (Use Code HIB10 for 10% off) If you want to know the truth about Mike Mentzer, his legacy, and his immense impact on strength training that surprisingly many get wrong, don't miss this episode! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
5/1/24 • 88:41
How can personal trainers and HIT studios better serve their clients with injuries or orthopedic issues (and avoid potentially making them worse)? Rock Solid Fitness founder Patty Durell returns to talk about the common misconceptions and shares her expert strategies for integrating rehabilitative approaches and high-intensity training protocols — this conversation is a treasure trove of useful advice, backed by Patty's extensive experience in both fields. Patty is a Master-Level Personal Trainer, Certified Conditioning Specialist, and Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant, and has specialized training in nutrition and physical rehabilitation with over 25 years of experience in helping people get in the best shape of their life. In this episode, we talk about the importance of understanding and recognizing the signs of impaired musculature and how these can impact your client's physical abilities and increase the potential for injury. Patty provides practical tips for assessing clients and modifying exercises that can alleviate pain and improve mobility. She also discusses the critical role of communication between trainers and clients in managing expectations and making sure they can see and feel progress. If you want to expand your knowledge on integrating HIT with physiotherapy-style practices to help your clients avoid aggravating injuries and go beyond their limitations, then this episode is a must-listen. *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
4/24/24 • 59:40
How good is your social media marketing game in getting you more HIT clients? Is it really turning more of your prospects into customers, or are you unknowingly leaving money on the table? In this episode, Million-Dollar Trainer Pete Cerqua explains how you should craft your social media posts for maximum conversion, why certain things work well, and why you should be very careful about avoiding other things that can make good prospects lose interest. Pete is the author of the books The 90-Second Fitness Solution, High-Intensity Fitness Revolution for Women, and High-Intensity Fitness Revolution for Men. He also has decades of experience building massively successful strength-training businesses. His “Million Dollar Trainer” program shows strength trainers how to earn 7 figures per year, and he is currently running an that’s been helping trainers and strength studio owners generate more revenue than ever before — If you're looking to maximize your social media presence so you can attract more potential clients for your HIT business, don't miss this one! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
4/17/24 • 38:19
Is offering discounts the best strategy for high-intensity training businesses, or can you achieve success without them? Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson returns to the podcast to talk about what you need to know if you’re thinking about using discounts to get (or keep) customers, the right way to do these, and some big mistakes you need to avoid. We go deep into the reasons why you should (or shouldn't) offer discounts, how your tactics can affect the quality of clients you attract, and how you implement these can affect how people see your brand, for better or for worse. If you've ever thought about discounts or felt the pressure to offer these, this episode is for you! *** 📩 ♣️ *** 📈 *** 🎬 For the complete show notes, links, and resources,
4/10/24 • 30:10