When it comes to designing a training program, whether for in-person athletes or remote clients, the goal remains the same: deliver exceptional value while scaling effectively.
At Connected Performance, we’ve honed our systems over the years to create high-quality, in-depth programs that minimize the time investment from coaches and allow scalability to serve hundreds of athletes at a time. All through our platform, Connect.
The Fundamentals of Program Creation
Before diving into the structure and specifics, let’s set the foundation.
Program creation starts with a clear objective: design a system that delivers the best possible results for athletes while allowing your business to scale rapidly and efficiently. At Connected Performance, we believe great programming should:
1. Be comprehensive and tailored to the athlete’s needs.
2. Be efficient to create and manage.
3. Use structured internal systems to maintain quality at scale.
4. Prioritize retention alongside acquisition for sustainable business growth.
Why Retention is as Important as Acquisition
The fitness and sports performance industries often emphasize the importance of acquiring new clients, but real success comes from balancing client acquisition with retention.
Retaining clients is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, and it allows you to build deeper, long-term relationships with your athletes.
High retention rates also help create a stable foundation for scaling your business.
Our approach:
We aim to keep athletes engaged throughout their entire athletic careers, giving them so much value that they can’t imagine leaving. This is achieved by offering:
- In-depth, tailored programs.
- Consistent, transparent communication.
- Objective, data-driven assessments to demonstrate progress.
When these elements are in place, clients stay longer, reducing churn and increasing the lifetime value of each athlete.
The Four Pillars of a Successful Training Program
At the core of every great training program are four key components:
1. Structured Internal Systems:
Your internal systems should be clear and scalable. From the initial onboarding process to program updates, having a structured workflow minimizes time wasted on administrative tasks and keeps operations running smoothly.
2. Comprehensive Program Development:
Athletes need detailed, individualized programming that addresses their unique needs. Your exercise library should be robust, and you should have the ability to modify programs as athletes progress or encounter challenges.
3. Frequent, Transparent Communication:
Athletes should feel like they are your only client. This means regular check-ins, updates, and conversations about progress and setbacks. Communication not only builds trust but also improves adherence to the program.
4. Objective Metrics to Demonstrate Progress:
Whether it’s velocity improvement for baseball pitchers, strength gains in the weight room, or flexibility advancements, you need to show your athletes that they are progressing. Data-driven assessments—using tools like Trackman, Rapsodo, or a Tendo Unit—provide tangible proof of improvement.
Leveraging Technology to Scale
One of the most significant challenges for trainers and coaches is maintaining high-quality programming as they scale their business.
For Connected Performance, the solution was to build a custom platform that allows us to efficiently manage and scale the number of athletes we serve. Here’s how we do it:
1. Exercise Library: Every workout starts with a collection of exercises. Our platform stores thousands of exercises, allowing us to build out individualized programs efficiently. Each exercise is categorized and stored for easy future use.
2. Workout Templates: To streamline the process, we create workout templates. These templates serve as starting points, which can be customized based on an athlete’s individual needs. With templates, we can assign a complete 4-week program to an athlete in a matter of seconds and adjust it as necessary.
3. Customization at Scale: Once an athlete starts a program, we closely monitor their progress and adjust the workouts as needed. Our system allows for individualized modifications without having to rebuild entire programs from scratch, saving hours of time while ensuring quality and personalization.
4. Copy and Paste Efficiency: When managing multiple athletes, the ability to copy and paste routines across schedules is invaluable. Whether it's warm-ups, cooldowns, or throwing drills, these common elements can be easily replicated and modified for different athletes.
Onboarding and Workflow
The athlete’s journey begins with onboarding, which is critical for setting expectations and gathering important information. At Connected Performance, we:
- Send welcome emails and text messages to outline the program and its goals.
- Administer detailed questionnaires and assessments to gather information on the athlete's movement patterns, strengths, and areas of improvement.
The key to successful onboarding is to ensure you collect all the necessary data upfront, enabling you to build a tailored program that aligns with the athlete's specific goals and needs.
The Importance of Assessment
You can’t create an effective program without proper assessments. As we like to say, “Prescription without assessment is malpractice.”
Your program should always start with an assessment of the athlete’s current abilities. Whether it’s a mobility test, a strength assessment, or a velocity reading, you need objective data to guide your programming decisions.
These assessments can be revisited throughout the training program, allowing you to track progress and make adjustments as needed. By leveraging these metrics, you can show tangible results to athletes and maintain their motivation.
Building an exceptional training program requires a balance of structure, customization, and efficiency.
By using structured systems, scaling with templates, and providing individualized attention, you can create a program that serves both in-person and remote athletes at scale. And remember, the key to success isn’t just acquiring new athletes—it’s keeping them.
When retention is high, your business will grow exponentially.
If you’re serious about creating an in-depth program that’s scalable, efficient, and data-driven, Connect is the platform to get there.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to expand your reach, focusing on these key areas will set you apart as a leader in the industry. Get started on our platform today or schedule a demo with one of our reps.