You’ve joined a new gym, and you’re excited to begin your fitness journey. The problem is you’re not sure where to get started. All the equipment on the gym floor looks a little intimidating, and you have no idea what kind of workout would be best to help you accomplish your goals.
Sound familiar?
If so, you’re not alone.
Here at Alloy, we’ve seen that happen in other gyms a thousand times, so we developed a solution to ensure it doesn’t happen with us.
We call it a Starting Point Session.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of a starting point session, how it helps our members establish and achieve goals, and what you’ll get from the session.
First Things First – What is a Starting Point Session?
The idea of a Starting Point Session is unique to the Alloy franchise. These are 15 to 30-minute sessions during which a new Alloy member meets with the coach to set goals, analyze their needs, perform fitness assessments and measurements, and determine their personalized fitness prescription.
Here’s how a Starting Point Session works:
1. The Initial Intake Appointment
New Alloy members don’t just sign up at the front desk and go on their way. Instead, new members make an appointment before they arrive at the gym. When they show up, our Director of Training greets them and takes them into a private room, where the Starting Point Session begins.
2. Needs and Goals Assessment
Next, the Director of Training and the new Alloy member get down to business: discussing the new member’s goals, needs, and concerns.
The Director of Training will take a comprehensive health history (including an injury history) and help the new member clarify their fitness goals.
This part of the Starting Point Session is critically important because it allows the duo to work collaboratively to create a fitness, health, and nutrition plan to help the new member meet their goals.
3. Fitness Assessments and Measurements
- Body Composition
During this meeting, the new member will also complete Alloy’s proprietary InBody composition analysis, which is used to assess a new member’s fitness and body composition and provide a baseline for measurement over time.
Here’s how it works:
InBody is a non-invasive screening tool that measures lean body mass (the weight of everything in the body, except for fat) and dry lean mass (the weight of the body’s mineral and protein content). This is a very important benchmark for clients because as your body converts fat to muscle, weighing is not a good indicator of progress. The reason is muscle weighs more than fat, but the volume of muscle mass is actually a lot smaller than fat.
These measurements provide a more accurate analysis than body weight or BMI measurements and allow the new member and their trainer to track progress effectively.
- Functional Movement Assessment
The next step of the Starting Point Session is a Functional Movement Screening or FMS.
During the FMS, an Alloy trainer will walk the new member through exercises designed to measure things like mobility and flexibility and establish benchmarks for the client.
The FMS is important because it allows trainers to measure a client’s functional movement, identify sticking points (like old injuries), and create a customized workout plan for that individual.
4. The Sample Workout
Next, the member and the trainer will work together to complete a sample workout.
During this sample workout, the new member will experience Alloy’s unique functional fitness workouts and get introduced to some of the equipment on the floor. It’s a great way to get familiar with the gym and learn more about how Alloy’s personal trainers do things.
5. Delivery of the Personalized Program and Recommendations
Once the Starting Point Session is finished, the new member and the Training Manager will sit down together and review the member’s new personalized prescription for their very own fitness and nutrition program.
Because the program recommendations cover variables like lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise, they’re designed to provide a functional fitness approach and help members meet their goals.
Why Alloy Offers Starting Point Sessions
Plenty of gyms sign you up and turn you loose. So why does Alloy provide a more prescriptive approach? Put simply, we believe in setting our members up for success.
From the beginning, we’ve been a brand focused on putting the “personal” back in “personal training.”
We know people do better, go further, and hit their goals more when they have personalized attention and support.
We see our Starting Point Sessions as an extension of that philosophy. The Alloy brand promise for clients is to “Look good, feel great & live life to the fullest” Instead of taking your money and leaving you on your own, we work with you to establish a comprehensive fitness plan that helps you get where you’re going.
Benefits Of The Starting Point Sessions For Members
- Accountability
Accountability is a significant issue at the gym. If you don’t feel driven and motivated to do something, you probably won’t. Because Starting Point Sessions immediately pair new members with their personal trainer and small group, they offer a jump-start of accountability that keeps members coming back.
- Motivation
Nobody enjoys being put in a box. It’s not an effective approach to fitness, either. After all, why should your workout plan look exactly like someone else’s? Our Starting Point Sessions provide a highly personalized jumping-off point that emphasizes the importance of individuality from the start. When members have a fitness plan designed just for them, they’re more motivated to work hard and crush their goals. In addition, the small group of 6 clients and personal trainer develop a tribal family atmosphere that is supportive and motivating.
- Community
The gym can be a lonely place. That’s one of the main reasons our Starting Point Sessions are so important – they help new members establish a community from the moment they walk into the gym.You work out with a small group of 6 clients, each with their own personal training program. New members work one-on-one with a training manager and have time to go through a workout collaboratively. What is the result? You feel less like the new kid on the first day of school and more like part of the tribe.
Alloy – Your Partner in Functional Fitness and Personal Training
Stop slogging toward your fitness goals alone. At Alloy, we pride ourselves on working with our clients to create a collaborative, holistic environment that keeps people accountable, motivated, and excited about the journey ahead.
Want to learn more about our process or our Starting Point Sessions? Find an Alloy location near you now!
