Escape Your Limits & LIFTS

Should gyms be considered essential businesses? One of the more controversial aspects of the various shutdowns, lockdowns, and business closures was that of the extended closures of gyms and fitness clubs worldwide. In this week's Escape Your Limits podcast episode, we speak with one of America's leading health educators and exercise physiologists, Eric Durak. He believes that gyms are, in fact, essential businesses and he's here to reveal what gym owners need to do to make sure they remain essential, avoid closure, and take advantage of revenue opportunities by providing holistic solutions to their members. Eric Durak is one of the nation's leading clinical Exercise Physiologists and Health Educators and is the founder and president of Medical Health & Fitness. He has a 35-year career in fitness, medicine, and health promotion and is now entering into medical fitness, population health, and precision wellness. Most recently, Eric developed the Healthy Stats Outcome software. Eric has also logged thousands of hours in clinical care, wellness, and research and works as a Wellness Specialist at the University of California to promote wellness and manage workers compensation claims. He is the 1999 IHRSA Institute Aware Winner for the Cancer Well-fit Program. MedHealthFit is a visionary wellness company that looks at the profession of health promotion through interaction of research, data collection and outcomes. Subscribe to get all the latest podcast-related content: https://www.youtube.com/user/EscapeFitness Connect with Escape Fitness online and on social below: Website: https://www.escapefitness.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Escapefitness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escapefitness Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/escapefitness LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/escape-fitness

Today, we're speaking with Eric Von Frohlich and Debra Strougo, the husband-and-wife team who founded Row House, the highly successful indoor boutique rowing franchise and Xponential brand. Through blood, sweat, and tears, they've discovered a way to do the work they love while also empowering people through community. In this episode, they share how they manage to balance family and business, carve out time for wellness to achieve optimal health and performance, and how Row House continues to stand out in a crowded boutique studio landscape. As entrepreneurs, they've had to be extremely committed to their vision and make intentional sacrifices to turn their dreams into a reality, but the plan was always to scale and sell Row House. Please welcome Eric Von Frohlich and Debra Strougo to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version - https://youtu.be/W2ENJROerWs Eric Von Frohlich and Debra Strougo are the husband-and-wife team who founded Row House, the highly successful indoor boutique rowing franchise and Xponential brand. They met teaching on the NYC fitness scene. They followed their passion for fitness and grew two brands with their own pennies and a lot of blood, sweat and tears — creating security for their family of 5 and jobs that they love. Row House has revolutionized the way people not only view the experience of rowing but also solved a problem and created a low-impact, cardio enhancing, full-body strength workout for the 70% of the population not working out. Today, the franchise has plans to expand to over 250 locations throughout the US and Canada. Row House was born in the Columbus Circle Neighborhood of NYC in 2014. Co-founders and husband/wife team, Eric Von Frohlich and Debra Strougo took the rowing machine out of the corner, and put it front in center. Born of the couple's search for a workout that two individuals with varying fitness levels could do together, they created a workout that gives people of all different shapes, sizes, and abilities an efficient and effective workout. Row House's values are: Inclusivity, Rewarding, Camaraderie, and Authenticity. About Debra Strougo Debra left a life behind the desk to bridge her business acumen with her passion for fitness. She teamed up with her husband, Eric, and started to build the dream. Together, they balance their work and family — and have found a way to do the work they love and bring their vision for fitness communities far and wide. Debra is the Founder of Row House and EVF Performance. She owns and operates 5 NYC studios with her husband and business partner, Eric. Debra is a Goldman Sachs 10KSB scholar; in 2016 Row House was chosen as a company likely to have exponential growth. She has over 15 years' experience teaching at NYC's premiere gyms including Equinox, Crunch, SCLA and NYSC, and has consulted for numerous national fitness brands, including SELF. About Eric Von Frohlich Eric is a seasoned fitness pioneer, National Brand Founder, and national spokesman in the fields of health, exercise, and wellness. He is an expert on trends and techniques in fitness and wellness, as well as on what it takes to create a strong community. He owns and operates five NYC studios with his wife and business partner, while keeping his finger on the pulse of all things fitness, sport, and wellness to continue to help people. An avid 20+ year trainer and athlete. Episode highlights Why it's crucial to stick to your vision. Secrets to running a business with your partner and leveraging each other's strengths. The story behind creating a very inclusive, scalable brand that was designed to go global. How to make intentional sacrifices for your business. Regardless of how successful you are, there's always more work to be done. How they targeted 70% of the population that doesn't work out. The importance of approaching every problem and every solution with gratitude. Accomplishing big things without sacrificing family, their values, or their core beliefs. Celebrating the small victories. Coming up with real solutions when you have limited resources, time, and money. Being an entrepreneur is not all fun and games. Join Matthew Januszek in powerful conversation with Eric Von Frohlich and Debra Strougo.

Today, we're speaking with Brendan Kane, a business and digital strategist who has worked with Fortune 500 companies, the world's biggest brands, and high-profile celebrities. He is best known for gaining one million followers on social media in 30 days. If you're interested in learning how to leverage social media to make difference for your brand, he's the guy to turn to. In this week's Escape Your Limits podcast episode, Brendan reveals how to cut through the noise and disrupt the pattern to earn the click or stop the scroll. He also offers insights on how he was able to grow his following so quickly, techniques you can use to make your content go viral, and explains why just because you have one million followers that doesn't mean you're reaching or engaging one million people. Tune in to learn how to crack the code that will lead to the best performing content you can put out into the world that will provide the most value. For more information, visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version - https://youtu.be/9_9NLw_ktHg Brendan Kane is an out-of-the-box thinker for Fortune 500 corporations, brands, and celebrities. He thrives on helping his clients systematically engage new audiences that reward relevant content, products, and services with their attention and purchases. His greatest strength lies in unlocking value by transforming complexity into simplicity through tools and methods that amplify growth and enable execution. Having started his career at Lakeshore Entertainment, Brendan oversaw all aspects of the company's interactive media strategy. He worked on 16 films that generated a worldwide gross of $685 million and also pioneered the first-ever influencer campaign to effectively promote Crank starring Jason Statham. He has since built social media applications and digital platforms for celebrity clients such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler. Brendan served as vice president of digital for Paramount Pictures and helped scale one of the largest social optimization firms in the world. Episode highlights - •99% of brands suck at creating content. •Just because you have one million followers doesn't mean you're engaging one million people. •You have to become a student of the game. •Are you learning or just consuming content? •You gotta get out of your own way. •Social media is meant for your audience, not for your brand. •There's not one way to be successful, there's multiple approaches. •The most important thing is that you test, test, test. •You can make any subject interesting or go viral, you just have to add value.

Today, we're speaking with Jan Spaticchia, a serial entrepreneur who has empowered millions of people to transform their lives through engagement with one of his fitness franchise brands. He is the Chair of énergie Group, Vice Chair of BMF, and Founder of Visivo. As the world now moves into a new and exciting digital age, Spaticchia is already planning for the future and is on the verge of launching Visivo, a VR fitness club membership experience, the first of its kind in the world. Are you ready to learn how to start up, build, sell, and buy back a franchise with one of the best in the game? Please welcome Jan Spaticchia to the Escape Your Limits podcast. Video version - https://youtu.be/1S8MhNoHbnY Escape Your Limits homepage – https://escapefitness.com/podcast Jan Spaticchia is the Chair of énergie Group, Vice Chair of BMF, and Founder of Visivo. He is also the founder of National Fitness Day. As a creative visionary, Jan is passionate about finding ways to break the rules and stay innovative in the competitive fitness market. His franchise group is one the biggest and fastest growing in the UK. In 2019, Spaticchia handed over ownership of the énergie Group, a hugely successful franchise business that he grew from scratch into the UK's leading franchise operator. A year later, after the pandemic struck, Spaticchia found himself leading a rescue MDO, supported by RM Funds, to buy back the company. During lockdown 1.0, 38,000 of the 140,000 énergie fitness members across the UK continued to support their local club and pay their membership fees. This meant the company was able to suspend franchisee fees during closure and also invest in a digital provision to enable the creation of a virtual platform to deliver at-home workouts to members. During lockdown 2.0, énergie fitness did not apply a blanket freeze and instead supported members virtually towards the achievement of individual goals based around fitness, nutrition, and mindset offers. Episode highlights - The fitness market has changed forever. We didn't do what everybody else did. We didn't freeze memberships. Necessity is the mother of all invention. If you don't have fire in your belly for franchising, it's doesn't work. You have to have a little luck on your side. Local management is crucial for international expansion. Taking a different approach to the rest of the market. Franchises that are passionate and follow systems do best. Importance of focusing on your staff and club members. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jan Spaticchia.

The two most fundamental aspects of your health are diet and exercise. But chronic exposure to stress, sleep deprivation, sedentary behavior, and processed food are causing metabolic dysfunction in your body. Jim Lavalle, an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, nutrition expert, and founder of the Metabolic Code®, is here to shed some light on the underlying metabolic issues that stop people from feeling healthy. Your body is constantly working as a complete metabolic system, signaling and telling your body what to do. When it gets out of whack, it can cause serious health issues. Tune in to episode #177 of the Escape Your Limits podcast to learn all about how you can reach optimum levels of health and vitality, manage your stress hormones, avoid stress fractures, strengthen your immune system, and age better. Please welcome Jim Lavalle to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/Zgy44D0RgdA Jim Lavalle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, nutrition expert, and founder of LaValle Metabolic Institute. He is best known for his expertise in metabolic and personalized integrative medicine and therapies. Has an extensive background in natural products, drug/nutrient depletion, and the underlying metabolic issues that stop people from feeling healthy. The author of more than 20 books, including, "Your Blood Never Lies," "Cracking the Metabolic Code," and "Nutritional Cost of Drugs." Jim Lavalle was named one of the "50 Most Influential Pharmacists" by American Druggist magazine. He has also developed health programs for the fitness industry (healthcare and professional sports teams) such as Orlando Magic, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Anaheim Ducks – to name a few. He has trained thousands of health care professionals on the value of predictive health. Jim is an appointed faculty member and course educator for the Integrative Medicine postgraduate program at George Washington University School of medicine. Previously, he was a correspondent on ESPN2's No. 1 rated "BodyShaping" fitness program. Visit www.jimlavalle.com to learn more about the underlying metabolic issues that stop you from feeling healthy. Episode highlights People deserve vitality at every stage in life. It isn't how hard you train. It's how well you rest. 78% of the US population is overweight. You can't put a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. If you're getting stress fractures, you're overtraining. The more muscle you hold as you age, the better your metabolism will be. If your resting heart rate is 10% above average, you probably need a day off. Your immune system is the center of your aging process. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jim Lavalle.

Today, we're speaking with Rita McGrath, a renowned Columbia Business School professor and premier expert on innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth strategies during times of uncertainty. The pandemic is forcing every business regardless of industry to reevaluate their operations and to stay relevant while also staying on top of strategic inflection points. According to Rita McGrath, the pandemic is offering businesses an opportunity to grow, or to stay as they are. Her new book, Seeing Around Corners, helps leaders recognize the inflection points that could lead to innovation and success. The pivotal changes taking place in business environments today are a wake-up call for leaders to not only define their cultural values, but to stay ahead of the tech game and get closer to the customer experience. There's no substitute for the knowledge and expertise this week's guest has to offer. Please welcome Rita McGrath to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version - https://youtu.be/T2M2c3s4eT0 Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, a sought-after speaker, and a longtime professor at Columbia Business School. She is known as The Entrepreneurial Strategist and a globally recognized champion of harnessing disruptive influences for competitive advantage. Rita McGrath is widely recognized as a premier expert on leading innovation and growth during times of uncertainty. As a consultant to CEOs, her work has had a lasting impact on the strategy and growth programs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Rita is also the founder of Valize, an innovation platform whose mission is to help organizations build lasting innovation capability as the basis for long term shared prosperity. Visit www.ritamcgrath.com to learn more about this Entrepreneurial Strategist and discover how to see business environment changes as opportunities. Episode highlights - Keep focused on your customers' end state You need to create something other people can't copy Treat your employees like human beings, not robots Employee satisfaction leads to greater customer satisfaction As a brand, focus on what's true for you Inflection points provide opportunities for innovation The pandemic's impact on the fitness industry Arenas vs. industries Staying on top of new technologies and changing lives Three kinds of competitors to watch out for Observations on leadership Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Rita McGrath.

Today, we're speaking with celebrity personal trainer Gunnar Peterson. He is a household name in the health-and-fitness industry. He is the guy responsible for shaping some of the most famous bodies in the world and has trained everyone from the Kardashians to Sylvester Stallone to the Los Angeles Lakers. His dedication to fitness dates back to 1989. Today, he specializes in functional fitness and strengthening conditioning training with an emphasis on the basics and consistency. In his Hollywood gym, Gunnar works with his clients on movement to hit all three planes of motion to improve flexibility and improve cardiovascular conditioning. In this episode, our host Matthew Januszek and Gunnar Peterson discuss everything from the future of traditional gyms to fitness data, the clients he trains, and the importance of recovery. Please welcome Gunnar Peterson to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/RTnv0M_LmnY Gunnar Peterson is a Beverly Hills-based personal trainer whose clients include celebrities, professional athletes, and everyday people. Gunnar was formerly the Los Angeles Lakers' Director of Strength and Endurance. He is widely recognized for his expertise in functional training and his commitment to developing and implementing innovative fitness techniques. With over 28 years in the fitness industry, Gunnar's dynamic approach, boundless energy and (sometimes risky) humor only add to the effectiveness of the experience his clients enjoy. Gunnar is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and is a graduate of Duke University. He is an editor and wrote a regular column for Muscle and Fitness magazine for over a decade, he is on the advisory board for Fitness magazine as well as contributor to Clean Eating magazine. Gunnar is also regularly featured in Allure, Elle, In Style, In Touch, Us, Men's Health, Women's Health, Self, and other magazines. His television appearances include The Today Show, Fox & Friends, CNN, CNN Headline News, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Extra, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Lala's Full Court Life, Revenge Body and numerous shows for E! and VH1. Visit www.gunnarpeterson.com to learn more about Gunnar and what sets him apart when it comes to personal trainers. Episode highlights - If you're not growing, that's a fast road to destruction. What do you enjoy? Because that's what will deliver results. Training clients who come in, work hard, and are consistent. Gyms returning when people move past the fear stage. Is data giving you power or debilitating you? Using social media as a tool for inspiration vs. distraction. How to deal with adversity. The importance of recovery. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with celebrity personal trainer Gunnar Peterson.

Today, we're speaking with Ed Harrold, an author, breath educator, and health, performance and leadership coach. Breathing is the first and last things we do as humans. Did you know you breathe in and out around 25,000 times a day? But you might be breathing wrong and not even know it. At a cellular level, oxygen is body fuel. It's how you nourish your muscles and brain. So, what exactly happens if you're breathing incorrectly? The bottom line is that it can seriously affect your health. For the past 25 years, Ed Harrold, a master in the science of mindful breathing, has been committed to helping people understand the importance of transforming the automatic and unconscious process of breathing to a deliberate conscious series of choices. He invites you to consider the various dimensions of breath: length, depth, rate, and rhythm. Are you ready to learn how to breathe for health and longevity, and not just survival? Please welcome Ed Harrold to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/9CQjWI40Vds Ed Harrold is an author, breath educator, and health, performance, and leadership coach. He is a master in the science of mindful breathing to improve overall health, well-being, and performance. Ed's breathing practices are used in fitness & athletic training, stress reduction, performance coaching, and corporate settings. A contributing wellness expert for: Huffington Post, HuffingtonPostLIVE, Thrive Global, Corporate Wellness Magazine, Mind Body Green, TRX Training, The Daily Love, and Wanderlust Journal. Ed's mastery in the science of breath has guided him to apply mindful, conscious breathing practices in the fitness & athletic industry, corporate wellness and organizational performance programs as well as lifestyle coaching for individuals. Ed's Breath AS Medicine continuing education trainings support the healthcare, health and wellness coaching, fitness, psychotherapy and medical fitness industries. Ed blends the fields of neuroscience and the wisdom of contemplative traditions into effective strategies to improve health, performance and overall well-being. Ed's fluency in mindfulness-based strategies combined with the belief in the human potential gives him the depth and understanding to meet individuals and group needs across industries and platforms. Visit https://www.edharrold.com/ to learn more about Ed Harrold's methods for rediscovering your breath. Episode highlights - Breath control is the first step to controlling your thoughts. When we feel good, we think good. As you get control of your breath, you gain access to your health. Being in a flow state is one of the most optimal feelings of being in a human body. Breathing for health and longevity, not just for survival. The relationship between heart rate and breathing. Bringing mindfulness and control to the activity of breathing. Stress reduction and the pandemic. The proper way to breathe during exercise. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with master breathwork coach Ed Harrold.

Today, we're speaking with Patrick and Talilla Henchoz. Patrick is the founder of one of the great fitness chain success stories of the '90s, Esporta Health and Fitness Clubs.He was the first to build and sell a fitness chain in the UK. Growing the business to 38 clubs with over 200,000 members. Talilla is a personal trainer and social media influencer who founded a global digital fitness brand called Club V from scratch in July 2020 during the pandemic. Her all-inclusive virtual fitness service is built on the five pillars of health: body, mind, nutrition, community, and sustainability. Daily live-streamed workouts, which include HIIT, strength, low impact, core, yoga, and pilates, engage thousands of members across 50 countries. Club V inspires its community by reminding people to celebrate their body rather than simply what it looks like. Together, Patrick and Talilla are at the forefront of an evolving industry—never forgetting that the most important person in the room is the customer. Home workouts are here to stay, and we're excited to see how Club V continues developing its offering. Please welcome Patrick and Talilla Henchoz to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/n0FPSUNXafI Patrick Henchoz is the founder of Esporta Health and Fitness Clubs. He was the first to build and sell a fitness chain in the UK. Growing the business to 38 clubs with over 200,000 members. Talilla, is a personal trainer and social media influencer who founded a global digital fitness brand called Club V. It's not just another fitness plan designed to 'burn fat' and 'detox'. Club V helps its members hit the RESET button and create sustainable changes. Working with top nutritionists, life coaches, physiologists, pilates and yoga instructors, Talilla provides her community with an all-inclusive offering. To learn more about Club V, visit: www.weareclubv.co.uk Episode highlights - Fitness is more about mental than it is about physical. Fitness is not just a quick fix. It's all about making the customer feel important. Community is everything. Nobody can predict how club membership will rebound. Celebrate your body and what it can do rather than what it looks like. You have to constantly pivot and see the potential. Add value through high touch vs. high tech. It's about having passion and the ability to adapt. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Patrick and Talilla Henchoz.

Today, we're speaking with Ian Mullane, the Founder and CEO of Keepme, a business dedicated to increasing the revenue of health and fitness operators utilizing Artificial Intelligence. He's being working with AI for the past six years and is committed to better understanding why members leave the gym. As the fitness sector is confronted with its greatest ever challenge, clubs worldwide are pulling out all the stops to keep their members active and engaged. Ian says operators need to rely on data and hyper-personalization to move into the future. It's adapt or die, especially for the brick and mortar gyms and clubs. Recently, he published a powerful white paper in an effort to spark conversations around the shift and disruption that's currently happening within the fitness industry. The truth is that the industry will never be the same. It will never return to how things were pre-COVID. Are you ready to learn the six key rules for survival? For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/fbDsjylzYuA Ian Mullane is the Founder and CEO of Keepme, a business dedicated to increasing the revenue of health and fitness operators utilizing integrated Artificial Intelligence. Relying on years of data, he wants to show you how to stop guessing and offer a game-changing level of personalization for gym and club members. By reimagining the customer journey, operators have the opportunity to enhance their service offerings, engagement, product customization, and more. Technology today has completely disrupted every business around the globe. The fitness industry is no exception. The industry will never return to how things were pre-COVID. If brick and mortar operators are not ready adapt and make the customer the center of all experiences when it comes to the personal wellness ecosystem, they may not survive. Keep.me uses predictive and machine learning models, operators can hyper-personalise engagements with a commercial and operational perspective and increase response levels to benefit the business. After 18 years of working with some of the biggest names in Fintech, including Thomson Financial and SS&C, Ian Mullane left corporate life as the COO of Sungard's Asia Pacific business. Since then, he's founded and grown a number of companies including Locowise.com, Vanda.fit and most recently, Keepme, an AI-powered membership retention tool. Episode highlights - Brick and mortar operations face big challenges ahead You need to optimize for revenue and for retention Apps are nothing more than vehicles to create experiences 5G will change how people consume fitness content Adapt or die You probably don't know your competition Personalization is the future of fitness How to reimagine the customer journey Effect of membership plans on retention rates Making the customer the center of the ecosystem How fitness will become like banking Power of first-mover advantage Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Ian Mullane.

Today, we are speaking with Jason Stella, the National Education Manager for LifeTime Training and a podcast host who has more than 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. He's an innovator who has dedicated his life to coaching and consulting the top fitness and nutrition companies in the U.S. and also developed the Alpha Training program. Jason is a firm believer in personal development and capitalizing on your strengths to reach your full potential, both in business and in life. Living by the 3 P's (purpose, preparation, performance, and persistence) he's been able to re-invent himself over the years and return to doing what he loves, which involves getting trainers to elevate the training industry. From personal and small group training trends, the challenges and opportunities the global pandemic has presented, lessons learned from 2020, and best practices to take into the future, his insights will give you an idea of what to expect in the world of health and fitness in 2021. Please welcome, Jason Stella, to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/kFAymkaR7g0 Jason Stella is the National Education Manager for LifeTime Training and a podcast host who has more than 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. He's an innovator who has dedicated his life to coaching and consulting the top fitness and nutrition companies in the U.S. and also developed the Alpha Training program. Episode highlights - How to successfully take your personal training business online Importance of having a vision and taking risks Failure is not failure, it's a learning experiences Behavior modification and accountability 5 fundamentals every trainer needs to be successful Why personal development is so important to him How purpose, preparation, performance, and persistence bring out your potential The essentials of creating a successful group training program How the personal training business model is changing due to the pandemic Consistency is the key to your fitness goals. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jason Stella.

Today, we are speaking with a global health and fitness industry analyst who is committed to improving the health and well-being of society. He is the Founder of Gymtopia, the award-winning platform distinguished for curating corporate social responsibility projects and authoring reports that analyze the fitness industry's evolution. With a mission to help purpose-driven, high-impact social enterprises be successful, he produces work that is both inspiring and influential. His most recent report: Health Club Industry Active Ageing Report argues that the fitness industry needs to harness the opportunity of engaging an ageing society. What do consumers really want? What does it mean to operate a purposeful business? How do you get the government to care about the fitness industry in this era of COVID? You're about to find out. Please welcome the Managing Director of UK-based Oxygen Consulting and Founder of Gymtopia, Ray Algar, to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/BqwKwbtllao Escape Your Limits homepage – https://escapefitness.com/podcast Ray Algar is a global health and fitness industry analyst who is committed to improving the health and well-being of society. He is the Founder of Gymtopia, the award-winning platform distinguished for curating corporate social responsibility projects and authoring reports that analyze the fitness industry's evolution. Ray Algar is a UK-based strategic business analyst and adviser to the global health and fitness industry. His entire career has involved collaborating with organisations to encourage people to become healthier and more physically active. Fitness businesses have been started or scaled from the insights contained in his work. He is motivated by a deep sense of curiosity and a desire to produce work that has the capacity to move people. With a mission to help purpose-driven, high-impact social enterprises be successful, he produces work that is both inspiring and influential. Visit www.oxygen-consulting.co.uk to learn more about Ray Algar. Episode highlights - Let go of what's no longer serving you. Consumers don't just want a product. They want a story. Even world-class leaders make mistakes. Big shifts in the ways consumers are interacting with physical activity. Creating places of belonging within the industry. Phenomenon of 'gym substitution.' Why biggest is not always best. Having a compass in times of volatility. Creating social impact. Learning lessons COVID has taught the industry. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Ray Algar.

Today, we're speaking with the founder and CEO of one of America's fastest growing fitness franchises, Bedros Keuilian. He is a sought-after high-performance consultant and mentor, best-selling author, and self-made entrepreneur who has built multiple million dollar generating global brands and businesses. His book, Man Up: How to Cut the Bullshit and Kick Ass in Business (and in Life), is a powerful guide for anyone who wants to grow a company, make a difference, or launch a new brand. He'll teach you to be resourceful and use your purpose, passion, mindset, and determination to overcome any adversity. He is a prime example of what it means to live the American Dream. Are you prepared to learn how to MAN UP and dominate your goals? Please welcome Bedros Keuilian to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Bedros Keuilian is the mastermind behind many of the most successful brands, businesses, thought leaders and best-selling authors throughout multiple industries. Odds are you've seen his international franchise Fit Body Boot Camp in your town, or his coaching and consulting clients on hit TV shows featured on ABC, NBC, Spike TV, in popular magazines, & on top of the New York Times Bestseller list. Bedros Keuilian is the founder and CEO of Fit Body Boot Camp, which is one the fastest growing fitness franchises in the country. He is a sought-after consultant and mentor, a best-selling author, and a self-made entrepreneur. His rags to riches story is a powerful lesson in determination, resourcefulness, and what it means to not only survive, but to thrive. His book, Man Up: How to Cut the Bullshit and Kick Ass in Business (and in Life), is a New York Times Bestseller and will teach you how to use your purpose, passion, mindset, and determination to overcome any adversity. On a mission to shake things up, Bedros is the guy you want to be looking to for advice if you're interested in growing a company, making an impactful difference, or launching a new brand. There is such thing as living the American Dream. He is living it and wants to teach you how to do the same. Visit https://bedroskeuilian.com/ to learn more about Bedros Keuilian. Episode highlights - No politician is going to put me out of business Suffering and adversity mean you're alive Why you shouldn't choose easy over hard How the pandemic can make you a greater leader The power in offering hope to your team To succeed you have to be specific Why businesses need to market their local community Differentiate yourself to beat the competition Join Matthew Januszek in powerful conversation with Bedros Keuilian.

In this week's Escape Your Limits podcast Director and Host, Matthew Januszek, sits down with our podcast Manager, Wendy de Knoop, to discuss navigating the business through 2020 and the invaluable lessons he's learned along the way. Matthew also dives into what to expect from the Escape Fitness brand in the year ahead. Additionally, this episode will present you with powerful and provocative real-life accounts of how some of the most influential and successful people in the world escaped their own limits to overcome mental, physical, and emotional hurdles to champion their highest potential. It is our hope that their stories of self-development and discipline, leadership, getting into elite physical condition, and achieving what others said couldn't be done will inspire you to tap into your own greatness and achieve your goals in 2021. What does it mean to Escape Your Limits? You're about to find out. Tune in to this end of year compilation on the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/4YRw-9bFokk Over the past 20 years, Escape Fitness has forged countless meaningful relationships with the world's greatest business leaders, entrepreneurs, and industry influencers. Each guest featured in this end of year episode shares specific, actionable, real-life experiences and demonstrates how to champion your highest potential and make success happen for anyone. You're about to discover how to Escape Your Limits. Episode highlights - What you can expect from the Escape Fitness brand in 2021 The lessons Matthew Januszek learned about business and life in 2020 Fitness industry trends to look out for How the world's most influential people overcame adversity to escape their own limits Inspiration to achieve your goals in the New Year Achieving remarkable results not only in business but for the mind and body Join us as we offer insights into what's ahead for Escape Fitness and the industry in 2021 and get inspired by some of the world's greatest leaders to achieve your goals and Escape Your Limits in the New Year.

Today, we are speaking with the Executive Director of a family-owned and operated company that has become the world's largest group fitness provider. What began as a single gym in Auckland, New Zealand, more than 50 years ago has evolved into a business with a network of more than 140,000 trained instructors who deliver exciting training programs to millions of members each week. Driven by the defining philosophy to "make people fall in love with fitness," he has spent decades dedicated to pushing the envelope to offer life-changing fitness experiences to the masses. This ambitious mogul opens up about how he harnessed technology to expand the market, dealt with setbacks and failure, and how digital fitness is shifting the club industry Please welcome the founder and Executive Director of Les Mills International, Phillip Mills, to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/HipEWhEWh0A Phillip Mills heads up one of the most recognisable brands in fitness. More than 50 years since the launch of the company, he continues to drive the business forward on his father's mission to "make people fall in love with fitness." In 1997, Phillip established Les Mills International, a separate company to Les Mills NZ, in order to take licensed fitness programming to the global market. Always one step ahead of the game, he was quick to realise the power of digital and the opportunities it created to engage and inspire. A focus on enhancing the in-club experience through Trip, the fully immersive cycling experience, Phillip also began rolling out development for Les Mills On Demand. Hailed as the Netflix of Fitness, Les Mills On Demand provides anytime, anywhere access to quality group exercise classes – extending operator influence into homes and daily lives. The goal? To grow the market and drive participants back to their local club. Today, LMI continues to drive a "fitter planet," working with operator partners to engage even more participants across the world. Les Mills International is on a mission to create a fitter planet. For them, that means helping people fall in love with fitness. What began as a single gym in Auckland, New Zealand, more than 50 years ago has evolved into a business with a network of more than 140,000 trained instructors who deliver exciting training programs to millions of members each week. Visit www.lesmills.com to learn more about Phillip Mills and the world's most popular workouts. Episode highlights - You do not freeze during a recession. You find ways to add value to your business. 30% of the world's population are using some kind of gym. Your best defence against the virus is to be fit and healthy. You must do what you love and love what you do. What your best defence against COVID-19 is Marketing to the out of shape and deconditioned market Why Les Mills built huge studios in their clubs What makes Les Mills different than other fitness brands The importance of music and group fitness His views on failure and success Join Matthew Januszek in this insightful conversation with Phillip Mills.

Today, we're speaking with an author, psychologist, and educator who is passionate about helping you understand the mind-body connection. Her TED Talk titled "How to Make Stress Your Friend," has amassed a staggering 25 million views. In her latest book, The Joy of Movement, she explores how just 20-minutes of physical exercise can be a powerful antidote to the afflictions of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. The key takeaways from our conversation include why physical activity during the pandemic is absolutely essential and how it is strongly linked to mental health, the importance of collective joy, distinguishing dependence from harmful addiction, how movement and music fuel you for everything else that matters in your life, and the vital role of "hope molecules" in improving our levels of resilience Please welcome the mind-body visionary, Kelly McGonigal, to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/-MzvWIX_q0s Kelly McGonigal, PhD, is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University, and a leading expert in the new field of "science-help." She is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from psychology, neuroscience, and medicine into practical strategies for health, happiness, and personal success. Her latest book, The Joy of Movement, she explores why movement can and should be a source of joy. Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who is known for her work in the field of 'science help' which focuses on translating insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support health and well-being. Visit http://kellymcgonigal.com/ to find out more about this mind-body visionary. Episode highlights - You can't practice happiness without exercise. Just 20-minutes of continuous movement triggers a reliable change of brain chemistry to give you energy, reduce pain, decrease stress and anxiety, and increase optimism and hope. Movement changes people's lives. It's as important as eating and sleeping. Your capacity to release higher levels of adrenaline comes with your conditioning and fitness level. We can actually use stress as a catalyst for things like courage, social connection, and growth. Thinking about movement as a vehicle for experiencing joy in life, as opposed to something you have to get through in order to burn calories. Stress is energy that you can harness. Physical activity throughout this pandemic is strongly linked to mental health. It is essential. Now is the time to invest in a relationship with an activity that really brings out a side of you that is important. A harmful, destructive addition to exercise is when people never feel like they've done enough. They start to organize their entire lives around it to the point where it interferes with their job or their relationships. Moving your body is good for your mental health, your happiness, your meaning in life, and your relationships with others. Exercise and movement fuels you for everything else that matters in life. Different forms of movement release a lot of the same chemicals as substances that people use recreationally or abuse. Exercise is the only rewarding thing that upregulates chemicals in your body to make your brain more sensitive to joy. When you exercise, when you use your muscles, you are giving yourself medicine. And it is medicine you can't access any other way. Your muscles are this amazing pharmacy that are manufacturing and storing chemicals that have profound effects on your physical and mental health. Join Matthew Januszek in this fascinating and in-depth conversation with Kelly McGonigal.

"Anything that comes at the cost of your peace, is too great an expense." As a speaker, author, consultant, coach, and mentor, Herman Siu helps both individuals and businesses find positive growth. As a 6th generation Shaolin Temple Descendent, Herman shares his ancient wisdom and practices to help better every facet of a person's life. His mission is simply 'to inspire you to live an abundant life full of simple solutions' motivated by the belief that in order to change the world, we must change ourselves. In this episode, Herman discusses how rebelling and playing sport helped him learn leadership skills, the importance of being a producer not just a consumer, how we all need to process at an elite level in order to also perform to our potential and the steps we can all take to embrace the hurdles in life and find greater peace. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/yd8YJzdF5O4 Herman Siu is a 6th generation Shaolin Temple Descendent who shares his ancient wisdom and practices to help better every facet of your life. Through his deep knowledge of Chinese medicine and nutrition, he's healing clients and audiences worldwide, helping them to rediscover their creativity and potential from childhood, before we were tainted by society, television, politics and other cultural influences and offering powerful messages of mentorship and advice to anyone in search of positive growth. As a speaker, author, consultant, coach, and mentor, Herman Siu helps both individuals and businesses build their personal blueprint for continuous evolution and success. Herman's unique set of skills allows him to help his clients understand exactly what is holding them back, what their blind spots are, and what they can add to their strategy to get better results.Every day our world is bursting with new information, but people are starving for more guidance and wisdom than ever before. Herman's understanding of the link between the metaphysical world and today's digitally-driven society in the urban jungle puts him in the upper echelon of today's East-meets-West humanitarians. Through his mission, Herman dedicates his days to helping others unlock their true potential. Visit www.hermansiu.com to find out more Episode highlights - How curiosity can lead to greater understanding How sport can teach valuable leadership skills Understanding how important it is to feel a sense of purpose Understanding the link between emotions, food and eating How to become more of a 'producer' rather than just a consumer How to find and maintain balance between work, health and family life What small steps can be taken to start making meditation more of a regular routine Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Herman Siu…

What has Covid-19 taught us and how will its influence the industry moving forwards? In our first interview with Martin, back in June 2020, Martin was based in the UK, overseeing LifeFit Group's six brands, including Fitness First, Barry's Bootcamp, elbgym, Smile X, The Gym Society and New Moove. He talked about leading from the front in a crisis and the challenges of reopening facilities after lockdown 1.0. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Martin Seibold Today, as the world continues to deal with the effects of a global pandemic, Martin has moved back to his native Germany. In this episode, he talks very candidly about the challenges Covid has presented and its impact on business, plus how this current crisis will impact the industry moving forwards For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/LtJFPGiWLeI Martin was destined to map out a career in the fitness industry. He grew up in Germany, where, at a young age, he started working in a gym owned and managed by his parents. The gym became IHRSA's first facility member and was acquired by Fitness First as part of the brand's global growth strategy. Martin as appointed marketing manager and, within six years, the business had expanded to over 90 clubs. Martin's talents did not go unnoticed and in 2006, Fitness First's Founder, Mike Balfour asked Martin to relocate to the UK to head up the brand in the territory. Today, Martin is leading multi-brand strategies and teams around the world, implementing humble growth strategies for the long term success, not just of the Fitness First brand but for the entire LifeFit Group brand portfolio. The LifeFit Group unites multiple fitness brands from the boutique, high-value-low-price and premium segments under one roof, including Fitness First, Barry's Bootcamp, elbgym, Smile X, The Gym Society and New Moove. The Group is committed to inspire and support its customers to live their best lives through personal, fun and focused health and fitness experiences. For more information visit www.lifefit-group.com Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Martin Seibold… Episode highlights - How business leaders need to step outside of a situation, clear the diary and concentrate on a clear plan without interruptions Why it's important, as a leader, not to be sat in HQ but to be highly visible, out with the customers, the teams, the partners. How the German and the UK governments differed in their management of the pandemic. National versus regional lockdowns. Which is the favoured approach and why Should gyms be allowed to open? A single Fitness First Club in Germany recently won a lawsuit which declared the club should have been allowed to open. The brand attracted a lot of international attention for its actions It's important to get decision makers and influencers into facilities to see how they operate and the safety measures in place How the industry has been guilty of focusing on servicing the minority and how this has to change if we are to address some of the major global health issues affecting the population How we have to, as a population, focus more on creating positive lifestyle habits. How presenting our industry as part of the COVID solution openly in marketing and promotion is resonating with people and influencing behavioural change How do we turn the tide on inactivity? What population groups should we be targeting? How adjusting the environment can attract new segments of the population. The answer to growth lies in diversity of offer rather than trying to convert people into 'gym lovers', offer them an environment they will enjoy People enjoy human interaction and this is why coming out of the first lockdown, Fitness First saw such a healthy engagement amongst the membership. It also accounts for the fact that going into second lockdown there was no big spike in cancellations How being upfront and transparent has resulted in a retention of 75% of revenue during second lockdown How Smile X successfully plugged 'white spots' in urban areas across Germany The challenges of creating and monetizing a digital product Learn from the lessons and practices of other industries As a leader, it's important to preserve the business. This means making difficult decisions around staffing levels and cost management. This is one of the biggest challenges. The other challenge is how to keep staff engaged and motivated during times when they are not able to fulfil their day jobs. How this pandemic will affect the industry in terms of number of facilities and percentage of population engaged How the population's heightened awareness of the need to maintain personal health will be a main growth driver for the sector post Covid-19

How to optimize training outcomes through heart rate training Jesse N. Thomas MS CSCS, a self-confessed science geek, is one of the industry's leading heart rate training experts. Jesse has dedicated his life to helping athletes train for success. He has spent decades applying the vast array of knowledge gained from years of studying for multiple degrees in kinesiology and exercise physiology to helping coaches, instructors and athletes optimize training outcomes through the delivery of insight and education. In this episode, Jesse discusses the merits of heart rate training and the important role of the coach in teasing out optimal performance from individuals training in a group setting. He also explores how heart rate monitoring can flag negative training outcomes and the necessity of applying training strategies that drive a specific outcome. This is an episode not to miss for anyone looking to get the most out of their heart rate training For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – https://youtu.be/xr6qxyFnmRY Jesse N.Thomas MS, CSCS, has dedicated a lifetime to competitive sports. His coaching has helped high performance athletes all around the world to improve physical performance and increase mental strength. Jesse studied for and achieved multiple degrees in kinesiology and exercise physiology, applying education to teach the importance of energy management and seeing the bigger picture of performance. With years of experience developing master training teams around the world for globally recognised brands such as UFC, ICG and Life Fitness, he's now sharing this information in his book, The Ultimate Heart Rate Training Guide and has established himself as one of the world's leading authorities in Heart Rate training. Fitness Deconstructed is an exercise and fitness educational resource aimed at coaches, athletes, trainers and fitness minded individuals keen to enhance their understanding of Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology in order to optimize training practices. Jesse also works with a diverse portfolio of international fitness brands – from equipment manufacturers - including MyZone and Life Fitness to commercial fitness operators, developing product and equipment specific training programs delivered via written content, presentations and workshops. Through Fitness Deconstructed, Jesse has developed leadership and competencies of thousands of athletes, trainers and coaches around the world. Today, Jesse continues to fulfil his ambition to effect positive change through education and practical application. His passion is Heart Rate training and his book: 'The Ultimate Heart Rate Training Guide' is available now via Amazon. Visit www.fitnessdeconstructed.com to find out more about Jesse' coaching, education and content creation. Episode highlights - Why it was important to improve the accessibility and availability of heart rate training education Most commercial fitness operators could get more out of their heart rate training equipment and programming if coaches and instructors were better informed Training outcomes can be achieved in a multitude of different ways. Understanding cardiovascular dynamics and how the heart goes into cardiac remodeling when demand is placed on it will determine the effectiveness of the training application on the outcome. How controlling training variables and applying consistency will lead to the attainment of goals in the shortest possible time frame How heart rate monitoring can be a useful indicator of the effectiveness of recovery strategies. Varying intensity - the 'rollercoaster of diversity' is the key to performance success whether training for an event or training for life Why questions have been asked about the accuracy of Karvonen's 1950s heart rate training zone equations and what this has means now for the application of heart rate training zones in populations where a maximal heart rate test is not appropriate How training at an intensity as low as 68% maximum heart rate (in MyZone's Blue Zone) can still be classified as High Intensity Interval Training How the overtraining effect impacts heart rate How steady state and HIIT training effects the neurological capacity of the heart How the type of training undertaken translates into performance outcomes. Defining what you want the outcomes to be will determine the make up of your training regime. Individuals are the product of their training The importance of personalized warm up prescription to effective training If training for life, what is the ultimate mix of weight being shifted and time allocated to training How regular interval training differ from HIIT training How the ability of a coach to offer modifications impacts the effectiveness of training for individuals working out in a group setting The role of education in helping participants to train smarter Choosing the right heart rate monitor for your training requirements? Most cardio equipment has a fat burni

Long before Conor McGregor, today's guest was responsible for bringing mixed martial arts to the masses, inspiring an iconic era of growth for the UFC. Fighting in the first MMA event to break one million pay per views, he also coached the first ever series of the Ultimate Fighter show and has been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Today you can see him on TV and the big screen in guest appearances and acting roles around the world, or most recently breaking up fights and de-escalating tension during Huntingdon Beach riots. Please welcome former UFC lightweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer, Chuck Liddell to the Escape Your Limits podcast. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – https://youtu.be/x8blHv2w3fU Chuck 'Iceman' Liddell is a retired American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion instantly recognised by his trademark Mohawk. He has an extensive striking background in Kenpo, Karate, and Kickboxing, as well as a grappling background in collegiate wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Liddell had 23 fights in the UFC including two historic wins over Tito Ortiz and is widely credited with bringing MMA into the mainstream of American sports and entertainment. On July 10, 2009, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Liddell holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Business Accounting, from the California Polytechnic State University, is the father of five children and is married to Heidi Liddell. Chuck Liddell is one of the richest MMA fighters in the world, with an estimated net worth of $14 million. Since official retirement in 2020, Chuck has dabbled in reality TV, appearing in Dancing With The Stars, and continues to enjoy his passion for acting. To date, Chuck has appeared in 30 TV shows and films from 1981 – 2020. Visit www.chuckliddell.com to find out more about Chuck Liddell's story Episode highlights - Pre competition preparation. How being 'ice cool' before a fight helps to focus the mind How a determined mindset in the ring transfers to business and other aspects of life. The need to look for creative ways to achieve How to become proficient enough to compete at the top level. Select core skill elements to focus on and become a master of these. Once the foundations are in place, build on these Why skill evolution and continual learning is vital to success How adversity drives success. Turning a defeat into a driver for achievement in the future How much of today's fighting is about strategy and how much is raw skill execution How important is mindset? What role does mental attitude play in success? How being able to read fighters and know when the right time is to throw that killer punch Why it is important to train across multiple disciplines and pick out what works for you? Why John Hackleman, long term coach and friend, played no part in the final fight Hard core fans enjoy great fighters compete but showboats like Connor McGregor help to attract new 'casual fans', growing the sport and turning a fight more into a party or an event Is it more important to fight to win or fight to entertain the fans? Was a highly competitive mindset something you were born with? People who are really good at what they do work hard at what they do. Success has been the result of hard work, driven by a love of the sport The strong work ethic that has driven success in sport translates into other areas of life and business but it's not so easy Failure only happens when you give up. If you want to think like a winner, be a winner, keep moving. Pick a direction and keep going If you make a mistake you need to get over it quickly, get back to work. Mental toughness is an everyday thing. It can't be turned on and off. You have to focus on it. If you don't, it can slip. You've got to believe in yourself. Dealing with retirement was hard. The whole purpose in life disappeared. It's been really important to find new things to focus on UFC has changed. There is a lot more hype, more theatrical around the fights now. The main event should remain in the ring The story behind the mohawk How did a UFC Hall of Famer find the 'Dancing with The Stars' experience Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Chuck Liddell

An insight into the power of the mind to create positive, lasting change. Crystal Dwyer Hansen Dwyer Hansen is a Transformational Life Coach with a belief that all people have unlimited potential for greatness if they only understand how to tap into their own inner resources. Through her years coaching, and as a Wellness/Nutrition Expert, she has seen people experience profound and lasting transformations in relationships, careers, health and wellness. In this episode, Crystal discusses the importance of mindset in creating lasting change, loving the foods which love you back and the launch of her new book ASK! The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/dG5Hd_S2HZQ Crystal Dwyer Hansen started her career in real estate and modelling, obsessed with helping people improve their lives and to be their best through whatever means she could. Wanting to better understand what it took to transform lives and improve both mindset and wellbeing for anyone, she made a huge pivot to study and research every opportunity she could. She graduated from one of the largest providers of holistic healthcare education in the country, earning certifications in transformational life coaching, and clinical hypnotherapy. Today, Crystal is an international speaker, researcher, author and entrepreneur with expertise in the field of human potential to help people use their minds proactively and evolve their consciousness to live a fulfilled, happy life. Crystal's personal coaching, speaking, CD and video programs, books, and articles have helped people all over the world. She is a Member of the International Coaching Federation, a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, the founder of Crystal Vision Life, Ltd, (crystalvisionlife.com) and Skinny Life™ a wellness company (skinnylife.com). She travels the world with her husband, best-selling author and entrepreneur Mark Victor Hansen, speaking, inspiring, and teaching leadership and together they have released a new, co-written book called ASK! The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny. Visit www.crystalvisionlife.com to find out more about Crystal's coaching, speaking opportunities and written work. Episode highlights ● Why it is important to continuously ask honest questions, of yourself and others, in order to increase understanding, reward and joy. ● Why people have such a roller-coaster cycle when trying to maintain weight loss programmes and how to learn to love the foods that love you back. ● How to learn to love yourself and not wrap your own identity around your weight. ● Why doing subconscious, deep-mind work can help when working towards a permanent change in your weight and your awareness. ● Why a singular state of being shouldn't negatively influence your personal identification. The importance of separating from this identity and how to start creating the new, positive persona and mindset. ● How negative messages that we receive through our lifetime can become self-defeating, how to go back and do a 'mind excavation' to identify where negative thinking started and how to stop this repeating by replacing it with a new thought process. ● How the idea of self-love and self-image are connected and the importance of appreciating your unique qualities. ● Why it is important not to compare yourself to others because the more you try to compete, the unhappier you will be. It's about making it your business to care for yourself. ● Why you should look at food like you're an artist - like you're discerning and picky about what you're going to fuel your body with. ● Why you need to stop thinking of exercise as pain and punishment and start asking yourself what activity you find fun. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Crystal Dwyer Hansen…

Lessons from a business leader with a reputation as a disruptor. This week's guest on the Escape Your Limits podcast is a graduate from the University of Cambridge; he's held several roles in a number of top corporate institutions, most recently spearheading growth from 84 gyms to over 200 after overseeing a £600m company sale in his current role. We hope you enjoy this passionate, professional and honest interview with the CEO of PureGym, Humphrey Cobbold. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – hthttps://youtu.be/uYbjk5PckCs Humphrey Cobbold is CEO of PureGym and a serial disruptor in business, responsible for a dramatic shift in pricing structure and offering members more flexibility. He's an IRONMAN triathlete with a passion for both performance and recovery in and out of business. From building his breadth of experience in consultancy and other roles out of the fitness industry, he transitioned into a very different type of role as CEO of Wiggle where he took sales from £33m to £175m. Today he's dealing with the challenges of PureGym locations being closed down in over 500 sites around Europe, while also representing the fitness industry to the media in fighting continued closures even after sanitisation and hygiene standards have been exceeded. PureGym believes everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy a fit and healthy lifestyle. They have made it simple, affordable and convenient for everyone to achieve their personal health goals. With over 220 pieces of the latest gym equipment, personal trainers will also be on hand to provide you with advice and instruction to get the most out of your workout. Inside PureGym you will find a vibrant and spacious gym floor, excellent changing facilities, modern showers, and the brand's functional training zones. The team prides itself in maintaining the highest standards in every PureGym, while creating a fun and friendly atmosphere. Episode highlights - Hear the reaction of government decision makers as they toured gyms to get a better understanding of the fitness industry throughout the pandemic, and what percentage of them hadn't stepped foot in a gym for 20 years. What the PureGym team is doing to track transmission rates throughout the fitness industry and feed results back to governing bodies. Why governments and authorities don't really understand what the fitness industry does, and how we can impact and influence decision makers in each environment around the world. How you can make your own luck from persistent hard work, and what you can do if the worst happens on your career path. A resilience-focussed mindset is key to getting through hard times, even if it's day by day. What the difference is in a career path between trying to manage something that's inherently unmanageable or embracing opportunities as they arise. What are the four things that you're truly responsible for as a chief executive, and how you can overcome the pressure of a new role in the first few weeks of the job. How business strategies have changed in the past 25 years and what we can learn from the past to find sustainability, durability and success in the future. What the importance is in fitness facilities and wellbeing environments to inspire confidence in both members and teams, regardless of whether the brand is low cost or luxury. Why you need to understand where your strengths and weaknesses are, hire people better than you, and work together to complement each other as a team in every area of business. How you can take time to think by blocking out space in your diary for concentrated effort for planning, strategy, understanding and finding new ways of implementing what you've learned. What actionable changes can you make to your life to not only set yourself up in business, but support your wellbeing and family life in the most efficient way possible for true happiness. Why distraction from your business life and daily activity is just as important for recovery and performance over time. Find what you love to do in your spare time and do it regularly so that you're not always head-down and on the clock. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Humphrey Cobbold…

Forget what you think you know about protein and muscle. Dr Gabrielle Lyon is a medical doctor with a revolutionary approach to health, wellness and longevity called muscle-centric medicine. In this episode we break the stereotypes surrounding building muscle; we discuss good and bad protein choices, and we explore how to deal with obesity as a nation. This is a lesson in what we can all do to improve the long term health of ourselves and our community. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Dr Gabrielle Lyon studied nutritional science for seven years and has a doctorate in osteopathic medicine. She specialises in helping patients and clients take control of their body and mind, through an innovative approach called muscle-centric medicine. This shifts the focus from fat loss to muscle gain, for better metabolism, reduced risk of disease and better long-term health. Her knowledge and insight has helped everyone from entrepreneur Bedros Keuilian to elite military operators such as Navy SEALS to perform at their best. Muscle-Centric Medicine is the most revolutionary aspect of Dr. Lyon's methods. Her ground-breaking concepts eliminate unwanted body fat and build muscle, allowing for continued metabolism boosts and long-term wellness. The key is to eat the right kinds of protein, and enough of them, at each meal. This stimulates the body's natural muscle-building process, called "muscle protein synthesis". HIGHLIGHTS • What the science is behind brain activity, body composition, waistline and muscle mass. • Why we're failing at addressing obesity issues, and how nobody knows what the optimal muscle mass is for anyone. • Why progress in regards to muscle mass is all about improvement, as everyone has a different starting point to meet their physical, mental and longevity goals. • How your diet is affecting your glucose levels and muscle mass, and what this means in relation to your protein, carb and fat intake. • What effect concentrating on muscle first will have on cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and other issues, compared to concentrating on more stereotypical or traditional focus points. • How much protein you should be eating, where you should be getting it from, and why information you've heard already may not be reliable based on the balance of emotions and facts. • What difference stress and recovery makes on testosterone levels, and how sleep disruptors such as alcohol affect your whole body. • How modern medicine has a fundamental flaw that can be revolutionised by taking a different approach of prevention instead of treatment. • Why researchers and healthcare professionals need to be OK with being wrong, especially when it comes to forwarding education and insight about new approaches to longevity. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Gabrielle Lyon…

Understand the science and specificity to outspend the competition and win. On this week's Escape Your Limits podcast, CEO of Alloy Personal Training Rick Mayo talks about what it takes to build a global franchise and target a demographic that holds 70% of the nation's disposable income. A pioneer of personal training and former trainer for Madonna, he's internationally recognised as an expert in systems and scaling, helping millions of members around the world through a mantra of assessment, accountability and actualisation. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version - https://youtu.be/1d3YbuCIjhc Rick Mayo started out training people in their homes to pay his way through college, doing something he loved to do. He opened one of the first facilities dedicated to training, all one-on-one, and soon growing the business to a million dollars of PT a year. Through circumstances such as staff leaving to set up their own studios, Rick's income went from $83k a month down to $12k a month. That became the birth of a systemised process to training, from welcome, through memberships, to programming and across the whole experience. With more rapid growth, Rick began using his model in other gyms, and soon it was in 2000 clubs worldwide. Alloy Personal Training's mission statement is: Real people + alloy programs = real results. No one person is the same, nor is the journey toward a healthier, active lifestyle. So why should workouts be the same? Trainers tailor the Alloy programmes for all clients who walk through the doors — no matter their fitness level. From the first session with us, Alloy works to help clients reach their goals and become their best version of possible. On the franchise side... Alloy offers a combination of personal service, effective technology, 30 years of experience and a formula for incredible results for both members and fitness franchise owners. The numbers prove it. Alloy's revenue per member and retention rates are among the highest in the fitness industry today. For more visit alloypersonaltraining.com Episode highlights - How the studio within a larger gym model, or box within a box, started out. Also why creating a space and environment is key to member experience or maintaining revenue, but what's changed in recent years. What the differences are between price points and member experiences for large gyms and studio models, and what you need to focus on as an owner or operator. How operational commitment from general managers can support personal trainers to upsell members into coaching, even on a large scale. Why success is like weight loss in that you have to change your expectations or change your habits. It takes hard work to get better, and some people don't want to do that if they're happy where they're at. How a systemised approach to training, programming, service and experience gave Rick's business the rapid growth it needed to start interesting other gyms in using his model. And how this has created the opportunity to build his own franchise business off the back of it. What the formula to profitability is, and how you can use it to outspend your competition even in a saturated market. How you can look to the automotive market when it comes to marketing to an ageing demographic, as not many young people walk into a Porsche dealership. Why the ageing demographic offers greater lifetime value and will give your business much higher retention rates compared to the stereotypical clientele of a gym. How it's good advice if you have the assets to go digital, but it doesn't mean that it's a great idea for classes alone. The audience on the other end are going to hold you accountable. What you should be scaling to as a personal trainer or bootcamp operator to make more money off fewer people while they pay less. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Rick Mayo…

This is why fitness needs an experience upgrade at every level. On this episode of the Escape Your Limits podcast we meet Rob Barker, president of Precor. As well as heading up of one of the world's largest fitness equipment companies, Rob is also an exec board member of Amer Sports, the £3b global leader in sporting goods. Rob's sharing real-time advice and information about driving the development of personalised health and fitness experiences that help people live the lives they desire. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – https://youtu.be/hW6g8zcDKhw Venturing into fitness as a career, Rob began in operations, running the equipment of YMCAs in the UK. He fell in love with the industry, wanting to make people healthier and happier. He progressed and started in the supply sector in 1995, as a London sales rep for Precor. In his own words, he's been trying to be the best version of himself ever since, rising through the ranks of the business until he became president. The Precor mission is to develop personalised health and fitness experiences that help people live the lives they desire. For over three decades, Precor has driven fitness forward with a passionate focus on ergonomic motion, proven science, and superior engineering. The business constantly studies and anticipates the needs of the people and organisations it serves, and continually redefines the levels of innovation, quality, and service necessary to deliver the very best fitness experiences – all with the goal of improving the ways people improve themselves. Precor equipment is chosen by health clubs, hotels and spas, universities, and individuals all over the world. Episode highlights - What power is in owning your own development, staying humble, and working every day to be the best in whatever it is you're doing at the time. Why happiness has to come before success, and why it's a choice that you can make regardless of your situation. Reference: Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work (TED Talk on positive psychology) https://bit.ly/2GE3fvU How you can energise yourself as a leader in the tough times even more than the enthusiasm you show during the good times. Why a lot of operators will pivot from facility-centric to consumer-centric, with an omni-channel approach that better suits how the world has changed. What results come from live tracking of over 120,000 connected pieces of cardio from all around the world in gyms, hotels and hospitality, with each machine getting an average of 23 minutes' workout time on it. How do these results compare to last year pre-COVID? Reference link: https://www.precor.com/en-us/preva-stats Why the fitness industry needs to be working together even more closely to get the message across about being a safe space, and what other countries have done to change the mind of policymakers. What positives have come from COVID and how the pandemic has given the fitness industry a real tail wind to ride on for future progress with a growth mindset. How habits pre-coronavirus have been broken and why we need to help reestablish new fitness habits for members of the future. What power digital has to create local familiarity across digital platforms, in addition to the digital advances that have already come into effect. What are going to be some of the key trends that we'll see, both from a manufacturer and operator's side, in the coming months. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Rob Barker…

Hard hitting home truths that will improve your life and expand your potential. David Meltzer is co-founder of Sports 1 Marketing, an agency he co-founded with the NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, Warren Moon. As an executive producer and main judge on Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, David provides insights for thousands of businesses each year to help them focus on their company growth. Host of The Playbook podcast, David also depicts the key principles to expanding your own potential in both business and life. This episode will have your head spinning with simple and practical advice. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/aHP_0_UGy0g In his early 20s, David Meltzer quickly rose to the top of his game in the business world, becoming a millionaire. David lectured around the globe and saw rapid success in every business project he touched. But something was missing, and in his 30s as a multimillionaire, he went on a rapid downward spiral that ended in bankruptcy. It was only then that David realised, in order to revive and thrive, he needed to 'codify' what had made him successful in the first place. Today, his entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit has rewarded him with recognition as one of Marshall Goldsmith's top 100 business coaches in the world. David is also chairman of the Unstoppable Foundation, Variety magazine's sports humanitarian of the year, and host of the Top 5 podcast: The Playbook. Sports 1 Marketing is a global sports and entertainment marketing agency that leverages over $20 billion in relationship capital and over 38 years of business experience, bringing athletes, celebrities and businesses together to make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun. If you'd like to learn more about the free resources that David is offering anyone for business and life improvements, email him at [email protected] Episode highlights - How to deal with the worst of times, even to the point of losing $100m, a top golf course, ski mountain, 30 houses and a bunch of condos. It's all about the mindset and overcoming challenges. What the positive effect of building values, principles and key disciplines will bring in your life no matter what stage of success you're at. How to deal with bankruptcy and understand the enjoyment of the pursuit of your potential, regardless of what challenges face you. Why pain is just an indicator that you've got lessons to learn. It's not a stop sign. What your skills, knowledge and your desire is going to do for your journey to success. How to understand the mathematical equation to luck, and how attention plus intention will equal coincidence that will allow you to take advantage of great opportunities. Why you need to study every day what you have planned, what you don't have planned, what you're grateful for and what other areas you need to identify. What the timescales are you need to concentrate on for your health, family, research, and studying your calendar. How to improve efficiencies, practices and timekeeping to increase the amount of 'hours' you can achieve in the same time as anyone who's not weighting the balance of efficiency. Why it's important to understand faith as an object of energy, and how we can do better to "understand what surrounds what surrounds you" (sic) for a better perspective of the universe. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with David Meltzer…

Everyone needs honesty, and everyone needs recovery. Eric Leija is one of the fastest rising fitness influencers online with almost a million Instagram followers, his own online coaching business and a workout programme branded by Men's Health. In this episode, the celebrity fitness trainer who specialises in unconventional training talks about what it took to develop and launch a successful fitness app, Primal Fitness, in the middle of a pandemic, and how COVID put him out of action for weeks, even as an elite athlete. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/_X3-BfV2TgQ Eric Leija used to work in the ONNIT warehouse, packing supplements and shipping equipment off to customers. As the company started selling more kettlebells, steel maces and unconventional training equipment, they needed someone to show potential customers how to use it. Eric got certified and became one of the first coaches in the ONNIT gym. He soon became a head coach for kettlebell training and created a new approach for his growing audience with kettlebell flows. Backing from a Joe Rogan shout out on social media and hard work behind the scenes meant that Eric was able to launch his own business, teaching kettlebell and animal flow workshops of his own. With the guidance of Eric Leija, you will become proficient with tools below such as kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells, sandbags, the steel mace, steel clubs, or resistance training, mobility and durability in general, and other approaches that lead clients to live a stronger, healthier, and more optimal life. Visit ericleija.com to find out more about the Primal Swoledier's online courses, customised training programmes, personalised diet plans, and unconventional workouts. Episode highlights - How having a business based online has helped Eric transition activity to still be successful through lockdowns and pandemic challenges. Why workshops may not be a big generator of revenue, but is the best way to connect with the most valued members of your audience. When you need to focus on hard and heavy training, when you need to focus on foundational fitness, and why the social media highlight real isn't the full picture. How much time you should be spending creating content for social media, posting it on platforms and engaging with your community. Where there's still space in the digital fitness and app market, and what further growth is going to have on current operators in the industry. Why, even when someone is known for working with a particular bit of fitness equipment, any athlete's training regime is made up of so much more than solely what they specialise in. How to deal with burnout from business, physique issues, creating content and lack of sleep, and why that left even an athlete such as Eric suffering from coronavirus. What symptoms COVID can cause; the timeline of how they evolve over weeks, and how long it can take to recover. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Eric Leija…

Attract clients. Perfect your pricing. Retain members. Profit and prosper. This episode is a lesson in how to bring more clients into your business and keep them longer, all while improving profitability. It's an art form that our guest has developed into a science. With tips time-served by a client base of over 2000 thriving businesses, this strategy session can bring some impressive results. CEO of GymLaunch, Alex Hormozi, is making gym owners evolve their business to be better for their bottom line and members. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/8_qL5oB3BR4 Formerly a competing power lifter, Alex Hormozi didn't like the effect that the volume was having on his joints. He transitioned to more of a bodybuilding approach without feeling the need to get stage lean. Professionally, Alex has gone from sleeping on the floor of his gym to discovering financial freedom, teaching other gym owners his success secrets and transforming over 1500 gyms on four continents. As host of the Gym Secrets Podcast he's also helping gym owners get more profit per member, increase retention and engagement, all while retaining your own personal life. Alex is also host of the Gym Secrets Podcast. Subscribe at https://apple.co/3kHGF4g The Gym Launch model has now transformed thousands of gyms spanning four continents. Gym owners work endless hours and sacrifice themselves for their customers, and still, many go home empty-handed. Gym Launch is dedicated to solving this problem. For more information visit gymlaunch.com Episode highlights - How to build a consultative mind map of all the information that exists for success, and build a mentorship and educational community to leverage lessons that others have already learned. Why the fitness industry continues to talk about the same challenges, and what it's going to take to start moving conversations forward. How the virtuous or viscous circle of price can work for or against your business model through understanding value, profit and performance. What your choice of equipment and classes will do to your business, and how the smallest accessory can ruin your profit line. Why the passion in the fitness industry is often what kills the chances of a business' success. What fitness trends are going to outlast everything else, and what to base a gym around for longevity. Plus the key points to what makes a good operator. The five things you should be doing in order to retain members, and what to do if you're a struggling gym owner right now. Why exercise digital programming will better serve members and clients through convenience than any live digital workout on Zoom will do. How the difference between a good and bad operator is all in genuinely caring about your customers. Why dual motivation is so powerful in getting to the gym, particularly when you think about hanging out with your friends and going for a workout. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Alex Hormozi… For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast

Stress, recovery, repeat. This week on the Escape Your Limits podcast we discuss a very different vision for the future of the fitness industry. Today's guest has consulted with some of the biggest brands in fitness, sharing his passion for movement with audiences from the likes of Equinox, Microsoft and Nike. This conversation with Michol Dalcourt, CEO of the Institute of Motion, will challenge your thinking and open your mind to many of the great opportunities that still exist within the fitness space. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/zsboE_hhkxw As CEO of the Institute of Motion, inventor of the ViPR PRO, and co-founder of PTA Global, Michol Dalcourt has spoken at hundreds of conferences on becoming unbreakable. He is a fitness visionary and shares his insight on the future of fitness for both bodies and business in his second appearance on the Escape Your Limits podcast. The Institute of Motion is an applied health and human performance company. For over 20 years, the IoM has continued to provide innovative solutions in the arenas of health care, fitness and human performance through programming, coaching and education. The mission is to help people improve their health so they can do whatever it is they love most. The IoM team get fired up about helping others enjoy the benefits of healthy choices, because we know health is what makes everything possible. For more information visit instituteofmotion.com Episode highlights - How to implement lifestyle changes that will build your resilience in order to become unbreakable at any stage in life. Why fitness doesn't necessarily equal health, and why some of the fittest people on the planet may not be leading a particularly healthy lifestyle. What certain responses are the result of chemicals and processes within the body, and how you can leverage these to get bigger, stronger and faster, but also knowing what the cost to your body may be. Why there's no binary good and bad, but health and human performance that is engineered for the individual. How celebrities such as Tom Brady, LeBron James, Serena Williams and Roger Federer are trying to build capacity, balancing out the systems of the body. What are the different types of training that will bring longevity and recovery to your body, and why cardio is not the killer of gains that people think. Business model evolutions and ancillary revenue stream ideas that will offer longevity to your fitness offering long after HIIT training and current trends pass. What the difference is between personal training and health coaching, and how fitness is likely to make way for lifestyle and behaviour change. How recovery days in the gym may not look to others like you're doing much, but will leave you feeling bulletproof when you leave. Why the fitness industry's experience has to be at the global table when it comes to longevity for populations around the world. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Michol Dalcourt…

How to build a community and keep it. This week's Escape Your Limits podcast guest started out from humble beginnings in a family that depended on welfare and food stamps. Today he's earning millions of dollars, following a core belief system of mind, body and action. Starting as a personal trainer in fitness, Dean Aguilar is now the founder of two real estate companies selling over $300m in real estate, as well as being the CEO of Digital Muse, an award-winning marketing agency. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version - https://youtu.be/ceqDJAoBOm4 Dean's family immigrated to the US from Argentina (mother) and Pakistan (father) in 1972. From the age of 13, he began bagging groceries for $3/hr. At the age of 15 he fell in love with fitness and began sharpening his sales skills by selling personal training to clients at a local gym. Dean excelled so quickly, by age 21 he was running an entire fitness facility with 61 employees. Today, whether heading up his real estate agency, his media agency, consulting, undertaking speaking engagements or any other business activity, Dean Aguilar knows the importance of online and social media. It's many of these insights he's sharing in this episode of the Escape Your Limits podcast. Contact Dean for more information at instagram.com/realdeanaguilar Dean Aguilar is CEO of Digital Muse Media, an award-winning, full-service digital marketing agency. His work has been featured in Forbes and Buzzfeed, and the agency was named the fastest-growing brand agency of 2019. If you're looking for some of the latest strategies for growing your business and your personal brand, building a growing virtual community, and discovering trends in the digital marketing space, Dean is the man to contact. Episode highlights - What's causing people to truly appreciate how social media is a truly giant presence in our lives, and how platforms can be leveraged especially during tough times when gaining attention is vital. How you can position yourself to deal with impending uncertainty, and why you should often prepare for the worst in business. Why it's important to stay humble and be prepared to take a step backwards if you need to. Lose the ego and it will benefit your business. What parallels and predictions you can draw from school situations and child attendance, with gym member activity and comfort in coming back to a regular routine. How you can offer the best service and build a real community through digital channels in ways to satisfy members, offering value and longevity in times where your audience can't be physically social. What effect the relationship between bricks and mortar and digital is going to be across difference sectors over the coming months. Why 'pay to play' social media doesn't have to be about selling, and how it's more about connecting and being seen . What social media strategies you can leverage to draw new audiences to your business, and what you can do to keep that attention. Why it's important to be authentic and how trying to be someone else will not serve you well in the long term, whether it's personally or professionally. What you can do to block out space and make time for social media activity and shooting videos as part of your personal brand. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Dean Aguilar…

How to ask the right questions for success. This week's Escape Your Limits podcast is a lesson from positivity power couple Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of best-seller Chicken Soup for the Soul, and his wife Crystal Dwyer Hansen. Together they're sharing important messages from their new book: Ask! The Bridge From Your Dreams To Your Destiny. Through understanding how to pivot and perform when faced with any challenge, these are the questions to ask to wake up opportunity during adversity. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video - https://youtu.be/8W35XFkzbSs Inspirational speakers, authors and motivational specialists, Mark Hansen and Crystal Dwyer Hansen are passionate about positivity. Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Mark Victor Hansen has sold over 500 million copies and also holds the Guinness World Record for having the most books in the New York Times best selling list at the same time. Crystal Dwyer Hansen is an international speaker, researcher, corporate consultant, author, and entrepreneur. Internationally-renowned as an expert in human potential, she has invested years of experience and insight into health and wellness. Mark Victor Hansen has worked his way into a worldwide spotlight as a sought-after keynote speaker, and entrepreneurial marketing maven, creating a stream of successful people who have created massive success for themselves through his unique teachings and wisdom. For more information visit markvictorhansen.com Through her years spent as a Transformational Life Coach, and Wellness/Nutrition Expert, Crystal Dwyer Hansen has seen people experience profound and lasting transformation in relationships, career, health & wellness, by tapping into their own inner resources. For more information visit crystalvisionlife.com Episode highlights - What difference the ability to ask will have on your opportunities, business and resulting success. How anyone's success story isn't a one way deal, and is a journey of up and down that can, at times, look like the end of opportunity. Mark and Crystal explain how they have both overcome low points. What tough questions should you be asking yourself in order to get out of challenging situations and get to where you want to be. How you can put down your baggage, let it go and start your life anew every day. What you can do when facing rejection, and what are the factors to indicate you're on the right path. Why it's everyone's duty, responsibility and obligation to fulfill their destiny, become rich and be as healthy and happy as they can. What you can do to pivot and reinvent yourself if you're facing the worst situation you've lived through. The only way is up, but you've got to ask the right questions. What the most common things are that hold people back from their potential, and how to overcome them. Why we're all master askers when we're born, wanting to know who, what, when, where and why about everything. And why we lose that initiative as we age. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Mark Hansen and Crystal Dwyer Hansen…

How to make strategic decisions when dealing with uncertainty. Chris Clawson is passionate about fitness being seen by the world to help with longevity and wellbeing, long after the pandemic passes. In this Escape Your Limits interview, he explains why the fitness industry needs better representation for public perception change, how to thrive in a climate of adversity, and why he rejoined Life Fitness as CEO shortly after parting ways with the company. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – https://youtu.be/g7vjKusw5UI

Behind the scenes with leadership lessons from a pioneer of fitness in Asia. Sincere and reflective, this Escape Your Limits podcast interview with Simon Flint is the kind of honesty that we need in fitness today. Simon is the CEO of Evolution Wellness, a six-brand total port folio making $300m in revenue across 175 sites in six countries. He's leading his 7000 employees with compassion, communication and a camaraderie that will see the companies gyms and studios coming back stronger than ever. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – https://youtu.be/-EbxHtqhulU Simon Flint was born in the UK to hard working parents that instilled a mindset in him of continual growth and progress. He moved to south east Asia in 1994 and has put the hours in that's led to his 26-year veteran career, leading Asia's health and fitness industry. Today as the CEO of Evolution Wellness, created from a $500m merger by the Fitness First Asia and Celebrity Fitness brands, his six-brand total port folio has been making $300m in revenue across 175 sites in six countries, with 7000 employees. Established in 2017, Evolution Wellness is comprised of six brands: Celebrity Fitness, CHi Fitness, FIRE Fitness, Fitness First Asia, Fivelements, and GoFit. The brand reaches as far across Asia as Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The vision is to build a comprehensive wellness ecosystem, and the company is focused on leveraging combined industry knowledge and the team's global experience to extend reach across the vibrant Asian fitness and wellness scene. Episode highlights - How to cope with closures in multiple markets, and then deal with the organisation of some markets opening again, some staying closed, and some closing again after reopening. What can change optimism into pessimism during dark times, and how to manage a business effectively with a realistic mix of both outlooks. How different government approaches can affect business through standards of practice, communication and ministerial level access. Why each member's needs different affects how a gym can react with space concerns and workout offerings if one aspect such as group exercise is prohibited due to COVID restrictions. What the contrast is between trainers leading classes in person or instructing others through digital platforms, and why some may thrive on one medium over the other. How a leadership team and perform at peak capacity during challenging climates through staying resilient and nurturing the team dynamic. What both landlords and gyms can do to help each other and work together for mutual benefit in the future. Why access to senior management and being able to communicate information is vital to the understanding, empathy and mental health of staff and teams throughout an entire business. What trends are set to take over from HIIT workouts and the popular modalities of recent years, and what members are most looking to get back when the pandemic passes. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Simon Flint…

Post-pandemic plans and predictions from a CEO who's seen success all around the world. An experienced and successful multi-brand professional at a global level, Ty Menzies has spent over 15 years forging growth in the fitness industry and founding multiple companies of his own. Today as CEO of Lift Brands, Ty oversees a port folio of five operations: Snap Fitness 24/7, 9Round Kickboxing, YogaFit Studios, Steele Fitness and FitnessOnDemand. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/fYP63YmI_6k Lift Brands is a collection of fitness-minded businesses that share a similar goal: creating comfortable, welcoming services that foster good health and wellness. From individual personalised workouts to group fitness training, each company has its own unique specialty. For both users and owners, Snap Fitness 24/7, 9Round Kickboxing, YogaFit Studios, Steele Fitness and FitnessOnDemand serve as the foundations for a better life. Episode highlights - • Why lots of conversations with lots of people is the key piece to any puzzle in business, particularly around times of the pandemic and restricted access to job inductions, for example. • What happens now that we're out of crisis management and into a triage stage to see how you can move your business forward. • Why the member experience should take precedence when it comes to development in the coming months, and what you can do to enhance it. • How to balance the rules and regulations around the world regarding COVID, and what you can do to work with franchisees in order to maintain safety measures for members. • Why franchisee businesses today are more about the one, two or three-location operators instead of what it just to be with six, seven and eight-location franchisees. • Why it's never been more important to work with every element of fitness in educating the general public about wellbeing. • What the relationship is going to be between bricks and mortar gyms with digital initiatives, and how they'll complement each other long term. • What the different franchise options are at low or high level, for single locations or multi-site operators across the Lift Brands portfolio. • How the fitness industry is going to change over the next 12 months. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Ty Menzies…

Authenticity is key to long term success. A DJ, TV presenter and radio host who found fame on the BAFTA award-winning Made In Chelsea, Ashley James is a regular face in the British media. An articulate social commentator, activist and empowerment coach, she's using her platform for good, campaigning for body positivity, mental health and honesty on social media. This is a lesson in how to stay true to yourself, no matter what others think. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/n-PdgfT-bz8 Ashley James always wanted to be a presenter but didn't realise it was an option for years. Her first mini break can after hustling for a radio job, doing teas and coffees for her local station when she was 16. She went to university and did a graduate scheme with Abercrombie and Fitch. After moving to London and working various jobs, Ashley struggled with money but got her break with her first reality TV appearance on Made In Chelsea in 2012. She also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018. Ashley had been swept up in the world of a celebrity, but soon realised that it wasn't fame that would make her happy. She's since been working hard to follow her passions and show authenticity throughout her personal and professional life. A campaigner for mental health, body positivity and social media honesty, Ashley has appeared on both BBC News and Sky News to discuss topical issues and draw on her own past battles with self-harm, bullying and body dysmorphia. She's DJ'd internationally in Cannes, Ibiza, Marbella, Dubai and Thailand and at the Reading, Isle of Wight, Wireless, Citadel and Mighty Hoopla festivals in the UK. She's even shared the decks with Groove Armada! For more information visit ashleylouisejames.com Episode highlights - Why you shouldn't take negative feedback to heart, but continue to pursue your dreams and passions while taking constructive criticism on board. How changes in opinions surrounding lockdown affected social media activity for influencers and personalities that may have had fear of posting about certain topics. What the beauty is in owning your mistakes and why putting your hands up to something you don't fully understand is often the best way to overcome getting caught out. How to navigate clickbait online, and how to cope when clickbait articles are written about you or your business. Why you need to unfollow and mute people on social media, even if you like them in real life. How to deal with the challenges around body positivity and mindset, and what lifestyle changes will shift old habits or cyclical behaviour. Why it's important to be authentic online, especially when posting images, and why editing photos in certain ways only furthers the damage that our culture of snapshot social media can cause. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Ashley Louise James…

Evergreen business innovation tips from a world leader in sport technology. Whether it's a traditional school education or learning on the job, a growth mindset is key to personal development and discovering your strengths. This Escape Your Limits podcast guest has not only gone from student to teacher, but has educated himself on building a business along the way. This episode is a lesson in what it's like on the frontline of fitness at Loughborough University, with Mike Caine, professor of sports technology. For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Watch the full episode on YouTube – https://youtu.be/fM9c3zqbeS4 Before becoming a professor, Mike Caine was a student of Loughborough University and decided to return later in life as an academic. Studying maths, physics, and chemistry, he started falling in love with one particular field doing a degree in human biology. Mike followed his first-class degree with a scholarship to study for a PhD in sports science, while also starting his own company and embracing opportunities of taking a product to market. During his study, he also launched a business, bringing a class one medical device to market that helped people to improve their breathing. From then on, Mike has embraced life as a professional at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, sport and fitness. Progressive Sports Technologies operates from space in the Advanced Technology Innovation Centre at Loughborough University. Maintaining a small but highly skilled research and development team, they are primed to support unique project requirements through validation, research, and development support to the international sporting goods market and its related industries. Offering both tactical and strategic support, Progressive is an on-demand R&D service to suit requirements, fast. When you need extra resource to successfully deliver your project Progressive is there to assist. Episode highlights - How to find your way through all the opportunities out there, developing your understanding through learning and discovering your passion for a career, post-education. Why you'll need to find your balance between working long days and ensuring that you make time for family and your own hobbies as well as business. Why making money is often not the focus for product development, when there's a chance to make a huge difference in people's lives, especially in the medical sector. How surrounding yourself with the right kind of support, whether that's through colleague, family or friends, will empower you to learn and ultimately succeed in your chosen passion. What different paths you'll take if you're open to trying something you may not have previously thought of, whether it's in a professional sense or anything else in life. What the most important attributes to success are, whether you're an entrepreneur or employee. How important building the right team is, and why complementary skills and interests will build momentum more quickly while also leaving you more fulfilled. Why it's OK to fail and be open about it in order to recognise both your strengths and weaknesses. What's wrong with the current state of education and university access, and what can be done to improve it so that more people can learn, progress and succeed. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Professor Mike Caine…

The secrets of a humble but passionate path to success. Martin Seibold is a resilient business leader who has overcome many obstacles in fitness. Today he's overseeing LifeFit Group's six brands, including Fitness First, Barry's Bootcamp, elbgym, Smile X and The Gym Society. Passionate about the fitness experience and the atmosphere of the gym, in this episode Martin teaches us how to lead in times of crisis, lessons from the rise and fall of one of the biggest fitness brands in Europe, and the highs and lows of reopening after COVID-19. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/BaQfYlW4Lm8 Martin Seibold started out working in the family-owned gym of his parents. The facility was the first member of IHRSA in Germany, bought by Fitness First which took on the staff and achieved incredible growth both nationally and around the world.Martin's passion for fitness had been sparked. He joined as marketing manager and, within six years, the business has expanded to over 90 gyms. Martin has been living in the UK since 2006 when Fitness First founder, Mike Balfour, asked him to move, following eight years of success with the brand in Germany. Today, Martin is leading multi-brand strategies and teams around the world in implementing humble growth strategies for the long term success of the LifeFit Group. The LifeFit Group unites multiple fitness brands from the boutique, high-value-low-price and premium segments under one roof, including Fitness First, Barry's Bootcamp, elbgym, Smile X and The Gym Society. The Group is committed to inspire and support its customers to live their best lives through personal, fun and focused health and fitness experiences. For more information visit www.lifefit-group.com Episode highlights - What lessons Martin has learned as a business leader responsible for incredible expansion, and what he'd change if he could do it again. Why looking after people and partners, both internally and externally, is the only way to achieve long-term survival. Expansion isn't the only goal and it's easy to forget how important relationships are to success. How you can diversify your offering in the right places to ensure that the customer has exactly what they want in the right location, and ensuring a sustainable business. Why you need to assign specific teams to specific responsibilities, and not spread your resource over too many different skillset needs. How important it is to take interest in what your teams are doing in order to get the best out of them and support them. What merging cultures, strategies and teams together is like in practice when a business is acquired. Why buy-outs can be awful for members, leading to a worse service offering in the short term at least, but how it can also be used for good. What multi-brand strategies can do to provide flexibility in an offering, and how you can decide which responsibilities are based centrally and which need to be carried out by local teams. Why it's important to celebrate mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but being open and honest, or even laughing about them, means that you can learn from them to ensure that a problem doesn't get bigger. How you can manage and forecast in uncertain times, and what benefits there are to ensuring there's trust between operators and investors when it comes to a business model. Why this is not the time for cutting percentages here and there, but making substantial changes to how you work and the structure of everything that you do. How long will it take to get back to pre-COVID revenue levels after the pandemic passes. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Martin Seibold…

Using AI, this is how to stop someone cancelling their gym membership, before they even realise they want to. Through integrated artificial intelligence and machine learning using years of data, Ian Mullane explains how every fitness operator can stop guessing about gym member activity and actively predict what's going to happen. This episode was recorded before the pandemic. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/w5g2arKz57c Ian Mullane has a background in financial engineering and financial software. Not the traditional fitness professional, he's ditched the field of the hedge fund field of corporate life to turn his expertise to another sector. A passion for boxing was keeping him in shape. With some other likeminded enthusiasts, he wanted to open a 20,000 square-foot boxing club in a disused grandstand in the old Singapore Turf Club. His wife had different ideas, which turned out to be much more lucrative, and Ian was left with a 1000 square-foot to play with. Here, Vanda boxing club raised over $3m for charities through white collar boxing events, in one of the first boutiques in the city. Today, Ian is overcoming traditional challenges of attrition and growth using data sets to explore predicability on whether or not members will stay or leave. Through this AI and machine learning expertise, he's able to help operators around the world drive revenue. A revenue acceleration platform for the fitness industry, Keepme.ai is all about smarter member retention using artificial intelligence and machine learning. The platform identifies members who are close to cancelling and win them back before they even plan to leave. Through SaaS expertise, Ian and his team exist to help health and fitness businesses retain more members. Regardless of whether customers are big box or boutique, pay as you go or contractual, Keepme.ai equips them with the ability to accurately target and engage members, implement behavioural science approaches, and allows operators to truly understand the people they serve. For more information visit keepme.ai Episode highlights - What the simple explanations are behind AI and machine learning. Why bringing a huge number of decision trees together with the right algorithm will bring high levels of accuracy in probability for any data set. What the difference is in accuracy between statistical modeling and machine learning predictions. What the importance is for revenue in segmenting data and providing the correct results for each member depending on what they need. How far machine learning and predictive algorithms have moved on in recent years, and what the future holds for people with accurate data sets. Why "dirty data" in the fitness industry will provide challenges for some operators, but what off-the-shelf tools can be used to overcome this. How looking forward and being able to predict what's likely to happen is going to leave you at a better competitive standpoint than people only looking at historical data. The importance of having an API on any software that you purchase, for future developments even if you don't think you need the function now. How you can integrate your predictions with other sources such as purchase data to better understand everything about a member and supplement information. How you can understand what members you will keep and lose, and what members you should be focussing your marketing on to improve retention rates. Why better business isn't always about the upsell, and how downselling members at the right time will keep them in your business for the long term. What partners such as Myzone can do to indicate when you need to intervene and interact with members to avoid their interest dropping off, leading to a member leaving. How Google, Facebook, Amazon and other giants are going to make greater steps into fitness using data and machine learning than many traditional fitness businesses in future. What you can do to predict your own health or apply preventative measures based on data from fitness trackers, accessories and apps. How the offer weighs up for communities between the connected home environment of fitness compared to bricks and mortar. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Ian Mullane…

This is how to take control, turning negativity into positivity for good. Jessie Pavelka is an internationally-recognised health and wellbeing expert, known for his expertise in extreme weight loss. He hosts Obese: A Year To Save My Life and was a trainer on NBC's The Biggest Loser. In addition to his work helping people and businesses change lives, he's the ambassador for Cancer Research UK's Race For Life and England Athletic's Run Together initiative. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version - https://youtu.be/ZAS3Cq5e-44 Jessie Pavelka started out as a trainer in the early 2000s. He immediately knew that he wanted to be an independent changing lives instead of working directly for gym chains. It didn't take long before his focus shifted to extreme weight loss with his business partner to help clients better understand their needs making changes beyond the physical alone. Jessie also understood the importance of platform, and continued his journey as a fitness model to develop his personal brand and profile around his passion. In 2008 he got his first break on TV, adding production values and broadcasting experience to his list of abilities. During the coronavirus uncertainties, Jessie Pavelka has been teaching his clients all about control, consistency and connection to cope with everything that's happening in the world. His pathway to a better understanding revolves around the physical, mental, emotional and social needs of us all to feel more grounded and in control. In his business Jessie Pavelka believes that everybody can find true health through the four elements of: Eat, Sweat, Think, Connect. By disrupting your normal, Pavelka can help you achieve more than you dreamed possible. Pavelka Wellness is a wellbeing partner for a range of organisations, including technology giants Cisco Systems, helping employees become more resilient and healthier in a fast moving, dynamic world. Visit https://pavelka.co.uk and https://pavelkawellness.com Episode highlights - How lockdown and the issues around the COVID pandemic have been both challenging and opportunistic, and how anyone can react positively to both elements for a better business. What the uncertainty of the coming months has meant for the majority of people who are looking for finish lines, and why you need to embrace 'different' as much as you can. Why it's important to confide in people in your close circle to let them know how you feel during difficult times, but also to better understand yourself through their support. How you can understand your connection to yourself, connection to your team, and connecting to something greater than you. Identify what they mean to you in your own life, and use that to do better in every relationship. Why building your personal brand and profile in addition to following your professional passion is vital to not just personal development but long term business opportunities as well. How to manage the conflicting values between making work about genuinely helping people and also building yourself as a professional personality. In particular, why the modern world of influencers can fall foul of achieving this. What you can do to as someone struggling with weight or an entrepreneur struggling with burnout to understand the overall value of behaviour, both positive and negative. How you can understand your baseline; the standard of living that you start off with every single day. This is how you stop making things too complex, slow down, simplify and define how you want to live your life at a base level. How to shift mindset from reactive to proactive in business, and what you can do to improve your employees' mindset in addition to holding your own company accountable. Why giving employees creative space for reflection in some level of solitude is much more important than preventing them from breaking up the day and clock-watching. How you can show the human side of your business by not only looking after your people, but also understanding your customers' genuine needs and challenges, too. What you can use to help other people if you've already had a transformation of your own. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jessie Pavelka…

This is how to make LinkedIn generate more revenue for your business. In this episode, Shay Rowbottom explains everything from content creation, missed opportunities in video, revenue generation and the LinkedIn secrets to growth on the social media platform that isn't as B2B as you think. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version - https://youtu.be/0J8frpTL8u4 Shay Rowbottom started out as a musician trying to make it in the entertainment industry. She dropped out of college at 20 to focus on making art and performing, while holding down a waitressing job. At the time, she was very naive to business and social media. Looking for an alternative pathway to success, Shay made the best decision that she had at the time, even though it sounds counterproductive... She gave up on her dreams. Instead of music, Shay began working on video content as a freelancer for a very profitable blog and Facebook page, making money from Google ads. Here, she gained valuable experience and started to hone her newfound craft. She grew her company, gaining clients, learning the science of social media and licensing videos for an expanding group of entrepreneurs. Today, Shay has founded and sold a start-up, before pivoting completely to LinkedIn and inspiring audiences and other entrepreneurs to optimise every bit of content for the biggest effect. Shay Rowbottom Marketing is about more than just viral videos on LinkedIn. Her team offer DIY programmes and online bootcamps to improve your LinkedIn activity, with coaching sessions that will help you transform your business and close more deals. Alternatively, SRM will take more of an agency role and run an entrepreneur's LinkedIn profile for them, which is ideal for busy professionals. For more LinkedInformation or to schedule a call, visit shayrowbottom.com Episode highlights - Why content strategies from many social media platforms are more effective than you think when applied to LinkedIn, even if you think they're too informal in the traditional business world. How LinkedIn is a cleaner feed to grow and cultivate meaningful business relationships as well as develop personally, compared to other social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook. What content specifics, styles and treatments work in the newsfeed best when it comes to video on social media. What regrets Shay has about turning fully introverted to focus on her business, and how her hard work has paid off to give her more freedom today. Why if you're seeking approval from someone about the business decisions you make as an entrepreneur, you should probably cut your relationship with them in order to grow unrestricted. • How you can address your confidence issues and discover your feeling of value that you can provide to help others. What benefits LinkedIn offers for organic content with little competition, at levels that are unheard of on other social media platforms. • Why your LinkedIn presence needs to be seen as a constant source for good, adding value to an audience instead of being a grab for instant return on investment. What talking about your vulnerabilities and insecurities will do to your engagement and your business, even if you feel it may be to your detriment. What will make your LinkedIn Sales Navigator and direct outreach spend more effective, and what is just going to annoy your potential leads and prospects. How you can make subtle changes to your social media activity to get the best engagement and business opportunities from your activities. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Shay Rowbottom…

This is how to stop negativity in its tracks and keep progressing. In this episode, Jerzy Gregorek teaches the art of embracing delayed gratification and accepting the hard choices that will make your life better in the long run by far. A multiple world record holder, he came to LA in 1986 as a political refugee from Poland. Today Jerzy is helping celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs and everyone in between turn back the clock and become more youthful through mindful exercise and nutrition. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video episode – https://youtu.be/mR4ez4CCS3o Jerzy travelled to LA in 1986 as a political refugee from Poland. He's won five world weightlifting championships, founded the UCLA weightlifting team, and leads as head coach with his wife. Today he's helping people turn back the clock and become more youthful through a set of standards, teaching the understanding of how to make hard choices that benefit longevity and a positive lifestyle. The Happy Body is a nutrition and training programme by Jerzy and Aniela Gregorek. With mindfulness and movement at its core, it helps people break free of diets, fitness fashions and contradictory advice. The goal is to remove the feeling of powerlessness and depression that many fitness concerns cause, and empower you to engineer your own weight loss within precise timeframes. The 30-minute routine a day will leave you less stressed, injury free, and with a happy body for the long term. Visit www.thehappybody.com for more information. Episode highlights - Why it's important to be in the present moment and connect with what you're doing. How you can stay positive, even under the pressures of challenging climates and stressful schedules. What you can do to have patience, deal with irritations, control yourself and override impulses that lead to negative outcomes. Which ways you can make the present moment work for you in order to adapt and make things better. How transparency is the difference-maker in fitness, and why without it a business or entrepreneurial venture is just based on entertainment. What having standards for yourself, such as your ideal body weight, will do for your lifestyle and progression towards goals. • Why time is needed to achieve certain results, and why if you don't appreciate the time it takes, you'll never achieve the goal. Patience is key to progress. How to set yourself up on the journey to becoming better, and how to engage with life so that you're able to move and motivate yourself at any age. • What microprogressions and improvements you can make to keep yourself in the unknown and continually escape your limits. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jerzy Gregorek…

It's about helping people think differently to help themselves. In this episode, Tanni Grey-Thompson talks sport, politics, business, family inspiration and how we can make the most of opportunities in fitness post-COVID. A global ambassador of sport, Tanni is most famous for her world records, London marathon wins and Paralympic gold medals. However, it's her work in UK government that's inspiring change at the highest level to improve lives and raise the bar of how good we can all become in business and every day life. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video episode – https://youtu.be/nXoZianX7J4 Born with spina bifida and paralysed from a very young age of around six years old, Tanni grew up surrounded by a supportive family that always challenged her to try new things and explore the world. At 13, she found her love for wheelchair racing and went on to reap success after success in marathons, world record attempts, and multiple Paralympic Games. Today' Tanni is an ex-athlete, proud Welsh woman, a mum, a wife, a Parliamentarian and an inspiration to many around the world. Tanni has continued to be involved in sport and physical activity. She is chair of ukactive, and a board member of institutions including London Marathon, the Sportsaid Foundation, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Join In. In 2010 Tanni became an Independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, taking the title Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham. As a working peer, Tanni uses her experience and knowledge during debates in the House and she has spoken on a range of issues including disability rights and welfare reform in addition to sport. Episode highlights - • How we can take the positive aspects of working from home in how we continue to work after the pandemic lockdowns are lifted. • Why having an athletic mindset will enable to challenge yourself all the time and be better in other areas of life such as business. • Why doing the boring stuff, whether it's training, working or writing speeches, will enable you to make the most of your time to make a difference, when competing, selling or speaking in public. • What mindset you can take to appreciate the value of time in reaching your goals and working towards whatever your success metric for the future is. • Why everyone should try new things before they decide if they want to pursue them or not, making decisions from an informed position. • How even if you get stereotyped or stuck in one image from a previous success, there are more parts to what you can do and what you can achieve that people need to see instead of sticking with a single perception. • What you can do to prepare your children for the world and inspire them to make a difference, even under challenging circumstances such as living with a disability. • Why evaluation is key for any win, loss, success or failure. This will enable you to see where you made the most impact or where you may have missed an opportunity. • What societal challenges Tanni Grey-Thompson has faced as a disabled women and how she's overcome these challenges, or changed attitudes to educate ignorance. • Why fitness isn't taken seriously on a nationwide level and what the COVID-19 pandemic has done to highlight the need to embrace physical activity at all levels. • Why we like to think we're a nation of sports lovers but we're actually a nation of people who like watching big sports events. • How physical activity is more than just about gyms and leisure centres. • What we can all do as industries and communities in changing the mindsets of people when it comes to fitness and physical activity. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Tanni Grey-Thompson…

How to double down on long-term success through boutique fitness. In this episode, Barbara Chancey teaches us how there's more to fitness than repeating what's worked in the past. Discover the secrets of how to create an exciting and captivating fitness atmosphere, designed through the eyes of the instructor. Since founding Barbara Chancey Design Group, she has innovated with passionate design and operational excellence in more then 200 successful studios across six continents. This is how the fitness industry gets stronger after a pandemic. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video Version – https://youtu.be/8O8qfSQtTJg Founder of her eponymous design group, Barbara Chancey has been creating extraordinary fitness spaces for over a decade, bringing philosophy, branding and vision to life. With hundreds of clients in highly competitive markets, she's worked all around the world, helping boutiques, start-ups and redesign projects for commercial or residential opportunities. With her expertise in concept development and the design work itself, but also operational needs such as instructor training, equipment and amenities, there are few people better suited to explaining how we can recover stronger from a pandemic through full-scale understanding of the boutique business. Based in Dallas, Texas, the Barbara Chancey Design Group creates some of the world's most beautiful and successful boutique fitness studios. Through concept to completion work on business plans, pitch decks, floor plans, instructor training, operations, and design excellence, CDG specialises in gyms and boutiques, as well as expanding into luxury residential and exploring boutique hotels for fitness opportunities. For more information visit the Barbara Chancey Design Group website or email [email protected] Episode highlights - How a revolution in boutique spin studios was started from Barbara doubling down on her own ability and taking advantage of opportunity. What aspects of design had to be changed in order to motivate members and give them something they didn't realise they needed, long before the boom of brands such as SoulCycle came onto the scene. Why keeping the instructor happy keeps members happy, and what operators need to provide in order to improve classes and keep them selling out. How a studio is only as good as its worst instructor's worst playlist. Bring the creativity, bring the variety and you'll get the right attention. What themes instructors can run throughout their classes, and how they can make each session relevant and timely for engaging workouts. How lighting effects, magic and creativity mean that instructors can't wait to get up and teach, while members and clients can't wait to come back. Every single detail matters. What the key differences are between an inspirational studio, a competitive studio, a rebellious studio or any other niche approach to member attraction. How a gym, and particularly a boutique studio is taking its place as a community, a religion, and a passion that it needs to live up to every single time for members. Where the inspiration for incredible showmanship and lighting comes from, and how working with partners in other industries such as musicians on a world tour can massively impact the excitement. What pitfalls of service offerings you can avoid, and how you can protect your facility against as many pandemic risks as possible. Why it's important to train instructors for the day that it's not going to work, and how every good instructor can overcome any problem without any blame. How to price your business offering if it's a service by how much passion your client has and how easy it is to work with them, rather than entirely on how much money you get through affiliations and back-room deals. Why being remembered for your kindness can be so much more valuable for your business over the long term. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Barbara Chancey…

Your food isn't as healthy as you think it is. Here's why. In this episode, Eugene Trufkin leads a deep dive into the detriment of modern diets. He teaches us what we need to be doing to improve or boost our immune system, and reveals what you should be eating and where you should be buying it from. Misinformation and labelling scams are rife within the food industry. Author of The Anti Factory Farm Shopping Guide, Eugene explains the pitfalls behind chicken, beef, fish, and how their diets through the production process are affecting your own. It's not just meat either, as we also learn about how fruit and vegetables can impact our health negatively. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/VEt_Zz__wMs Eugene Trufkin was born and raised on an off-grid bio-dynamic farm in the Ukraine. He came to the US thinking that all food was sustainably sourced and manufactured before being enlightened by a seminar from Paul Chek. From that moment, Eugene starting questioning how all food was being produced compared to the sustainable and nutritious upbringing that he'd known. Today, Eugene is a trainer, author and entrepreneur, dedicated to helping people interested in attaining six-pack abs, eating a well balanced diet, and pursuing an anti-sedentary lifestyle. Through Trufkin Athletics, Eugene is dedicated to people interested in attaining six-pack abs, traveling, eating a well balanced diet, and pursuing an anti-sedentary lifestyle. There is more to fitness than fat loss pills and gym memberships. If this interests you, his website is for you. Eugene prides himself on leading by example. Everything you see him doing, you could easily do as well. Eugene has always wanted the most out of life, and his goal is to show you, through personal experience, that it's 100% possible. Visit http://www.trufkinathletics.com for more information. Episode highlights - Why it's almost impossible to source high-quality food in the US, and in many communities around the world due to misinformation and blurred lines of quality during production. How "free range" does not mean that chickens and hens have space to roam and live a healthy lifestyle that's beneficial to both animal and the nutrition of people consuming the meat after production. Why ethics and morality doesn't even have to come into the discussion surrounding raising animals for the meat industry, as many methods use marketing spin to hide the negative impact of production on the quality of food for the consumer. What "vegetarian fed" means on chicken meat packaging, and why they should be fed an omnivore diet to ensure that the resulting meat isn't causing inflammation concerns for anyone eating it. Why genetically modified corn and soy is often used as feed because 80% of a meat farming operation is the cost of food for the animals. How there are many underlying concerns in mindset or other aspects of life affect diets and cause a person to have obesity or other physical concerns. What foods cause nutrient deficiency due to low nutritional profiles leading to empty calories. Why farmers are not necessarily to blame for meat industry misinformation, and how they're scammed by companies and often put them out of business. How you're spending way more on NOT eating an organic and healthy diet, backed by statistics. What materials are not legally allowed to be used in food due to health guidelines and legislation, but can be fed to animals that will eventually end up as food, therefore affecting its nutritional profile. How it's not just meat that is affected by poisonous chemicals and nutritionally detrimental approaches; the fruit and vegetable market also has just as many pitfalls. What mindset and mental or lifestyle challenges create incentives for people to seek out food as a source of unconditional love, and why these "story gaps" lead to unhealthy lifestyles, stress responses, and weight gain. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Eugene Trufkin…

How to succeed in the next generation of hybrid athleticism. In this episode, we learn how coronavirus is impacting the fitness industry, how to create an online fitness business, and how to stay strong and resilient both mentally and physically. Kris Gethin is a successful fitness entrepreneur who's global ventures include a health club chain, a sports and nutrition business, and an online training company. He's the perfect fitness professional to lead a new wave of nutrition for the benefit of a better mindset, better bodies and longevity for the years to come. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version - https://youtu.be/IhMiRnAaUZc Was grew up in Wales, racing motorcross until a back injury put an end to his career. He was introduced to resistance training after he went through rehab, and discovered the benefits of taking the stress away from his spine and putting it onto his muscles. With a newfound passion for wellbeing, Kris studied international health and sports therapy to educate himself on the way to becoming a fitness professional. He worked on cruise liners as a massage therapist and personal trainer before setting up his own PT business in Australia. Since then, Kris has travelled the world, setting up partnerships with fitness institutions such as Bodybuilding.com and starting businesses such as his chain of gym academies and his nutrition company Kaged Muscle. [DETAIL OF GUEST'S BUSINESS AND WHAT MAKES THEM UNIQUE] Kaged Muscle is proud to be a supplement line of deep integrity. It sources the purest, most potent raw materials, performing rigorous laboratory and real-world testing. KM also adheres to third-party quality assurance practices, with an unwavering commitment to quality and safety. This is the foundation upon which Kaged Muscle was built. For more information visit https://www.kagedmuscle.com Kris Gethin Gyms is a fitness destination that provides customised and individual-centered fitness services to keep you equally motivated in and out of the gym. For more information visit https://www.gethingyms.com [EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS – FOUR OR FIVE BULLET POINTS (TIMINGS?)] How bodybuilding has led Kris on a journey of understanding, education and a sense of urgency through militant discipline. What morning routine leads to a successful business or how you can embrace circadian rhythms and human natural history to achieve whatever you need throughout the day. Why meditations, mindfulness and biohacking can complement your fitness routine and what effects these will have on your movement goals. How knowledge without experience is not useful to anyone, and why Kris Gethin will try any approach himself before recommending it to others. What effects lights and other sensory effects have on your cortisol levels, and how the outside world will bring you a lot more spiritual and mental growth. How the coronavirus lockdowns have affected gym chains and fitness academy in India, and what the differences are in the safety measures in place. What the benefits are of Facebook groups and online communities are during lockdown and why you need to ensure these are in place for your business moving forward. Why clients, members and communities have to spend more time these days filtering through content and courses that are being sold by people will little experience or qualifications in fitness. Why fast food restaurants have been open during the pandemic lockdowns but not gyms, and how the argument behind this can be reversed through proper education in fitness. What the benefits are of having a home gym set up, and how fitness is going to balance itself out again in the coming weeks. Why people think it's normal to harm themselves with the food that they eat instead of healing themselves with it, and what we can do to change that. How we can use our platforms to extract and promote more testimonials from people that have overcome difficulties to implement healthy living and long term fitness. How you can eat less but still retain more muscle, reduce inflammation and perform better. Why cardio will help you recover to build more muscle and succeed as a bodybuilder, even to the point of being able to retain muscle while still training for an IRONMAN triathlon. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Kris Gethin…

Someone may have obesity, but they're not obese. This episode is a lesson in language, understanding and mindset. Discover why you should be thinking about more than just getting back to normal after coronavirus; what the next big opportunity is for health and fitness and why most business will miss it, and why the fitness industry has not been delivering on its promises. A writer, consultant, presenter and billed as one of the 100 most influential people in health and fitness, Dr Michael Mantell has been at the forefront of wellbeing for over four decades. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/gS9TFba8Iec Escape Your Limits homepage – https://escapefitness.com/podcast Dr Michael Mantell is the co-founder Plus Size Certified. In addition to also being a writer, author, presenter and thought leader, since Dr Mantell earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, he has served as chief psychologist for San Diego Children's Hospital, created the nationally recognised Psychological Services programme for the San Diego Police Department, served on the faculty of UCSD Medical School, taught at the School of Public Administration at USC and served as the senior fitness consultant for behavioural sciences for the American Council on Exercise, where he helped author the Health Coach certification and the Behaviour Change certification. He is also a member of the Science Advisory Board of the International Council on Active Ageing. Plus Size Certified is an evidence-based, behavioural science-anchored, consulting and educational organisation. A business that does not support or promote any lifestyle, but rather instead helps to create environments that are accepting of all individuals, no matter their size. The Plus Size Certified Programme is a certification awarded to a business, building, professional service, or similar entity that wishes to support the physical and psychological wellbeing of persons living with obesity and overweight. The programme is based on standards created by Plus Size Certified, through a consolidation of medical, government and health research data. From making adaptable changes to a physical environment's fixtures and fittings, to anti-stigma and anti-bias training, our experts at Plus Size Certified will help ensure that a business becomes and maintains a safe haven for every individual of any size. For more information visit https://www.plussizecertified.org/ Episode highlights: The real actionable points to overcoming low frustration tolerances to the COVID climate, and how you can free yourself from negative thoughts to get through it. Understand your own self worth through physical, emotional, mental and spiritual capacity and how you can embrace your life as a corporate athlete or just grow to be a better person and grow. The difference between training and coaching, and which is more beneficial to growth and understanding in wellbeing. Why it's better to say that people have obesity, rather than that people are obese. Diet and exercise doesn't work on its own. We have to work on what people think. How there is no such thing as motivation and why progress is more about taking away the blocks to progress. Why the term "personal trainer" diminishes the experience and knowledge that most fitness professionals have, and what the better alternative is. Why it's important to be inclusive of everyone, especially in healthcare facilities and gyms, to remove bias and stigma so that a facility is inviting people in instead of making them feel unwelcome. What would happen if gyms became the aftercare centres for surgeries, and how this would truly embrace fitness as both recovery and prevention for long term conditions. Why someone can have obesity and be fit, or conversely be thin and by unfit. How a healthy lifestyle and self acceptance is much more important. What you can do as a fitness professional in order to promote holistic healthcare and really make a difference on a local level through the experience in yourself / your staff at your facility or in your business. How to create these integrated healthcare opportunities for yourself in order to create a real preventative approach. If you want to know why more effective long-term healthcare initiatives have not been put in place, follow the money. Cure is more lucrative for governments than prevention. We have to work as an industry to change this for as many people as possible. What will bring success from gym leaders thinking in the long term and how clubs can become more fully-functioning to touch the lives of more people. Why the next version of the gym is going to be about education and training, socialisation, camaraderie, preventative health and no longer just about lifting weights. How faith is anchored in trust and hope, and why this can lead you to a life of no limits. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Dr Michael Mantell…

Meet the man at Gold's Gym making the tough choices to grow stronger. President and CEO of Gold's Gym, Adam Zeitsiff, gives a sincere and open account of what's behind the brand that recently filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Having closed multiple locations for good as part of the restructure, and with some of the first gyms to reopen in locations after coronavirus closures, Gold's is now at the forefront of how we get out of the coronavirus climate and grow stronger on the other side. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video - https://youtu.be/fo32P_36zTs In his role as President and CEO of Gold's Gym International, Adam Zeitsiff maintains operating responsibility for the iconic, global industry-leader in health and fitness, including overseeing franchise growth and operations, along with the brand's portfolio of 130 corporately owned gyms with a team of 6000 employees. Gold's Gym is an iconic brand of fitness. With both company owned and franchise gyms, the brand has been active in 29 countries for over 55 years. From its beginning as a small gym in Venice, California, Gold's Gym has grown into a global icon with more than 700 locations serving three million people across six continents each day. Featuring personalised transformation plans, state-of-the-art equipment, certified personal trainers, a diverse group exercise programme and a supportive, motivating environment, Gold's Gym goal is to deliver the most dynamic fitness experience in the industry. Episode highlights - How COVID-19 can dramatically alter growth plans and lead a business to restructure dramatically in order to survive. What challenges pre-coronavirus had taken effect with Gold's Gym that had caused the brand to look to its future plans, and how the pandemic accelerated its response. What effects low cost fitness spaces had on Gold's Gym, and what pricing adjustments the business made to compete with that sector of the market. Which Gold's Gym around the world was the first to open after the coronavirus, and what they've been able to teach other franchises in other countries about how to implement safety methods and give confidence back to members. How important it is to look after your team and partners during a pandemic, no matter how many employees you have to put on furlough. What common factors there are across states and internationally, and how you can implement these trends in your fitness locations for maximum member benefit. What changes you can make to your gym of fitness studio in equipment, machine placement, staff codes of conduct, and the training on conversations your trainers and employees should be having with members. Why the pandemic has accelerated the use of digital and physical fitness initiatives for a hybrid offering that's here to stay. What lessons you can learn from years of app development to combine digital user experience with bricks and mortar fitness. How important home fitness is going to be after the coronavirus, but why it's not going to replace gym memberships but complement them. Why fitness is its own preventative medicine in order to help members in every aspect of their lives rather than just for aesthetics. How long it will take Gold's Gym to recover from the current climate and what the brand's future plans are to grow and diversify. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Adam Zeitsiff…

How to be adaptable to new market conditions in fitness after the pandemic. On this episode of the Escape Your Limits podcast, we meet Herman Rutgers, co-founder and ambassador of EuropeActive. With a who's who of the fitness industry on his job experience list, including positions at FIBO, IHRSA, Life Fitness and SATS (part of Health and Fitness Nordic), there's nobody better suited to preparing us for life after the coronavirus. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/bKp-9wJ0laA Escape Your Limits homepage – https://escapefitness.com/podcast Herman Rutgers is the co-founder and currently Ambassador of EuropeActive. He's also an international ambassador for Reed Exhibitions, consulting to support the global growth of FIBO, and has held influential or top level positions in an exhaustive list of fitness industry companies, both on the supplier and operator side. For two decades his own company, Global Growth Partners, has consulted and provided support, from corporate strategy to marketing and sales. Global Growth Partners (GGP) is a full service boutique investment banking firm providing hands-on strategic advisory services including mergers and acquisitions (buy-side and sell-side), capital-raising services (senior debt, minority and majority common equity and hybrid forms of capital such as mezzanine financing and preferred equity), business valuations and consulting to middle market companies and entrepreneurs across all industries. With a rich global network and expansive reach, GGP delivers boutique investment banking advisory and consulting services on a bespoke, individual level. For more visit globalgrowthpartners.com Episode highlights - How coronavirus has affected businesses and sectors differently in countries around the world, and what we can learn from different approaches and results. Why in many cases the lockdowns in place were started in order to protect the hospitals, due to high demand from people that got ill. Why it's more sensible in the case of the pandemic to be cautious and open a week too late instead of risking opening a week too early. How a membership system will protect the fitness industry compared with other sectors such as restaurants or retail, but there will still be casualties in business. What areas of the fitness industry is going to be hardest hit by the financial effects of the coronavirus, and how many are likely to close after the lockdowns are lifted from statistics in countries around the world. How the coronavirus could reinforce fitness as a healthcare system to raise the sector's position with governments for the future. Why changing behaviour, in any sense, is always about three things: the mind, the mouth and the muscle. Why we still need to find a way to appeal to the majority of populations that don't like to exercise, and why even fitness success stories such as Peloton are preaching to the converted. How partnerships will be key to moving forward for anyone in fitness to engage more people that are currently not self motivated or exercising. What Google, Facebook, Apple and other tech companies are planning for the future of fitness and wellness offerings. What the past 10 years can tell us about predicting trends for the future and which companies – both supplier and operator – will be still be around. How digital solutions can make or break a company depending on size of the company, development capability, quality of white labelled off-the-shelf solutions, or pricing plan. Will members and customers stop going to gyms now that they've experienced home fitness through digital offerings? What does the future hold for trade shows now that so many events and exhibitions have been cancelled and we're facing months without attendance, and how social distancing will be implemented for visitor safety. How camaraderie has grown since we've been locked down around the world, and why this will only go to strengthen the industry when we're facing business as normal again post-pandemic. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Herman Rutgers…

Simple strategies to save money and inspire sales. Even if your physical business is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, you should be doubling down on your digital presence. Dennis Yu, founder and CEO of BlitzMetrics, is offering valuable content strategies, sales techniques and an unmissable offer for the Escape Your Limits community – a free processes playbook from years of experience. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/p7sFkD-QIE0 Escape Your Limits homepage – https://escapefitness.com/podcast Dennis Yu is unique as a marketing expert, thanks to his engineer background. He helped build analytics function at Yahoo two decades ago, and implements a data and process-driven way to be able to drive marketing for businesses of all sizes in many different sectors. Over the years, Dennis and his team have been behind successful systems using Google, Facebook and analytics platforms for Nike, Jack Daniels, Golden State Warriors and many iconic brands. The playbook of strategy, analytics and processes from Dennis and is team is an easy reference for digital marketing that's effective for multi-national business and single operator gym owners alike. Email [email protected] with subject line "WE LOVE MATTHEW" to get your copy, or to enquire about any training opportunities. BlitzMetrics is a digital marketing agency that partners with schools to train young adults on how to drive sales through social media and digital opportunities. Everything that Blitz does is governed by process, meaning that new students can come on board knowing nothing, and learn how to generate leads and revenue for multinational companies. BlitzMetrics is trusted by and has worked with Rosetta Stone, Wall Street Journal, Golden State Warriors, Social Media Examiner, Escape Fitness and businesses of all sizes around the world. Episode highlights - How digital marketing should have an actionable playbook that anyone can follow, through processes and data-driven insights on any platform. Why now is the perfect time to transfer any advertising spend to digital to take advantage of how many people are at home engaging on social platforms. Why the cost of clicks or impressions on Goolge have dropped significantly, and why you should spend time identifying how you get take a different approach to marketing, even if your business is currently closed. What you can do to create moments that share insights of you as a person, and how these posts will get so much more interest online. The importance of structure in your marketing efforts for awareness, consideration, and conversion to drive sales, and what any business owner should be doing themselves towards this. How you can create tremendous loyalty and get people wanting to connect and message you through great content. How to share 15-second videos throughout your day that let people see the real personality behind your business. Why you should be creating content independently of social media platform, and then repurpose it for anywhere and everywhere. Also why you should reply with video instead of text. The importance of 'why,' 'how,' and 'what' content that will lead conversions and can house content that's been repurposed or created specifically for each stage. How you can simply let algorithms on social media platforms figure out when to get your content in front of people, rather than you having to decide on when you post what. How intelligent are the machines and systems behind social media, and where we're headed in the future. What the benefits are of building engagement through live broadcasts on Instagram, Facebook or even LinkedIn. Also how this will even notify other users on platforms when you start recording. How you can get free help with a checklist and processes for SEO, PPC, videography, content and advertising that will help your business grow. What's behind the social media censorship of posts and certain content, and how governments such as the USA, UK, Germany around the world are holding platforms accountable in different ways. Who's really the arbiter of what is fake news? How we're at the beginning of the end with how we know the world today, and what role social media will play in driving the next global superpowers of the future. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Dennis Yu…

What is the data on coronavirus telling us? Nothing. This episode will tell you why. Ian Mullane, CEO of Keepme.ai, leads us on a comprehensive conversation around pandemic data, its reliability depending on how it's gathered, and the widespread misinformation that's a result of changing metrics around the world. Through his years of insight identifying trends and quantifying risk, Ian tells us what the effect of the coronavirus on the fitness industry is going to be, and why we all need to be prepared. For more information on the Escape Your Limits podcast visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video – https://youtu.be/h31nYHa0aBw Escape Your Limits homepage – https://escapefitness.com/podcast For two decades, Ian Mullane worked with some of the biggest names in fintech, such as Thomson Financial and SS&C Technologies. Leaving his career as COO for Sundgard's Asia Pacific business, Ian has since founded and grown a number of businesses, including Locowise.com and Vanda.fit. A revenue acceleration platform for the fitness industry, Keepme.ai is all about smarter member retention using artificial intelligence and machine learning. The platform identifies members who are close to cancelling and win them back before they even plan to leave. Through SaaS expertise, Ian and his team exist to help health and fitness businesses retain more members. Regardless of whether customers are big box or boutique, pay as you go or contractual, Keepme.ai equips them with the ability to accurately target and engage members, implement behavioural science approaches, and allows operators to truly understand the people they serve. Episode highlights - How the pandemic is proving to be a catalyst to many factors for change in the fitness industry, and how it will expose many businesses or consolidate other areas. Why the numbers surrounding coronavirus are not reliable, and what effect the 24-hour news cycle has on our education surrounding COVID-19 and our confidence. What the likelihood is of further lockdowns around the world, and what effect this is going to have on business. What risk is likely as businesses open and communities increase contact, and what the fitness industry need to consider when social distancing measures are relaxed. How there are some products in our industry will face challenges in hygiene when the pandemic passes, with new levels of standards being implemented post-coronavirus. What rules and regulations the fitness industry is facing in areas of the world such as China that are now reopening following coronavirus closures, and how we can learn and predict how we need to act in the west. Why your cash flow forecast has to be the most diligent document that you have as a business, and why it has to be more accurate than you've ever considered before. Projections for the percentage many clubs and operators are going to lose in the way of members and cashflow, from a reasonable timeline and how it will affect your business after lockdown. How much of an impact home workouts such as Peloton will have on the future of bricks and mortar fitness, as more people create habits of exercising at home. What opportunities are going to present themselves in mergers and acquisitions following dynamic changes from coronavirus activity, and why some gyms and chains that get caught out will surprise us. How huge companies such as Google, Apple and Netflix are going to bring to the fitness industry, and how they could make a massive difference with little effect on their own balance sheets. Why this is the biggest opportunity that any business has to plan forward, once they are over any issues concerning cash flow. How you can get a bigger share of voice with your marketing efforts now, as many businesses have cut down their ad spend and even slowed post activity due to resource and budget restrictions. How machine learning and artificial intelligence can create models from the data around coronavirus activity to discover how members are likely to react around future black swan events. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Ian Mullane…