The podcast where gym owners who mainly run a small-group personal training model share their stories, struggles, and strategies so you don’t have to figure it out alone.
#55 6 Ways to Improve Your Small Group Coaching (Lessons From Nick Winkelman)
How much of what you say during your small group training sessions actually helps your members?
And how much of it is just noise?
I recently hosted Nick Winkelman, author of The Language of Coaching, for a full-day seminar in Edinburgh.
Since then, I've been thinking a lot more about how we communicate with people during coaching sessions, particularly when we're working with multiple people at once.
In this episode, I'm sharing six of the most useful lessons I took from the day and how you can apply them to your own small group coaching.
We cover:
Why you might be talking too much during sessions.
How using silent sets can help members become more confident and competent.
Why giving someone one coaching cue is often better than giving them five.
How analogies can make your coaching more memorable, effective and enjoyable.
Why involving members in creating their own coaching cues can improve their experience.
What we can learn from comedians about preparing our coaching outside of sessions.
These are small changes that don't require new equipment, a different training programme or a complete overhaul of your sessions.
But they could make a meaningful difference to how your members experience your coaching.
And ultimately, that's something worth paying attention to if you want people to enjoy their sessions, make progress and keep coming back.
7 Oct 2026
#54 How to Become the Gym Your Community Recommends (w/ Maggie Elliott)
How do you become the gym that local people recommend... even when they’ve never trained with you?
In this episode, I’m joined by Maggie Elliott from Spark Life Movement and Wellbeing, a community-focused studio in Prestwich with 109 members and several different ways for people to get involved.
Maggie shares how she’s built a welcoming space for people who feel intimidated by traditional gyms, and how local relationships, social activities and partnerships have become a key source of new members.
We explore:
• How hiring out unused studio space generates income, and recently brought three new members into small-group PT.
• Why a cup of tea, a book club or a social walk can help someone take their first step through your door.
• How Maggie adapted her memberships around what her clients actually wanted.
• Why people who have never visited Spark Life still recommend it.
• Her experience of becoming a Community Interest Company and using grants to make movement more accessible.
Find out more about Maggie:
Her Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mancmaggiemoo/)
Spark Life (https://www.instagram.com/sparklife_uk/)
30 Sept 2026
#53 Why JC Vacassin is Simplifying Foundry
JC Vacassin returns to the podcast to share some of the biggest lessons he's learning from running and evolving Foundry.
We talk about why Foundry is deliberately simplifying its product and messaging, why SGPT should be the vehicle rather than the thing you sell, and the question JC thinks every gym owner should ask themselves: if you opened your gym again tomorrow, what would you build?
JC also breaks down Foundry's approach to generating referrals, incentivising staff, local outreach and acquisition, why gyms may need to do more offline marketing, and how AI is changing the way he thinks about operating the business.
We also get into some of the harder decisions he's made recently — including closing locations, cutting complexity and building a leaner business for the future.
If you tune in, you'll learn:
Why SGPT shouldn’t be the thing you sell — it’s the vehicle you use to deliver the result.
How to spot when your gym, membership and buying process have become too complicated.
The simple question JC thinks every gym owner should ask: “If I opened my gym again tomorrow, what would I build?”
How to build a more deliberate referral system, rather than simply hoping happy members send people your way.
Why gyms may need to rely less on paid digital marketing and get better at referrals, outreach and local marketing.
Find out more about JC:
His Website (https://jcv.consulting/)
Foundry (https://foundryfit.com/)
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