Escape Your Limits & LIFTS

Whether it’s Kobe Bryant, The Rock, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Ferruggia knows that you need to think like an athlete to make the difference in your life. Whether working out, fixing your diet, getting enough sleep or embracing personal development, you can always improve. This episode is a lesson in how to be a better entrepreneur, employee, boss, dad and athlete, from a world-renowned strength and conditioning specialist. Watch the full episode on YouTube  Jason Ferruggia grew up inspired by real life and fictional athletes such as The Ultimate Warrior, Bruce Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wolverine and any larger than life figure. His dad was interested in bodybuilding, and Jason gravitated towards lifting, motivated to train in-line with the innovative ethos of Dorian Yates at the time. He went to college with the intention of one day hosting SportsCenter on ESPN or directing films, as a communications major. However, it didn’t take long before he got bitten by the iron bug and ended up on pace to making a six-figure salary training people at 19 years old. Later on, he fully invested in his own personal development and moved to California, reinventing himself in the birthplace of physical culture. He’s since been training people in the ways of functional fitness and a basement CrossFit approach long before it became popular, but it’s always got results. As a world-renowned strength and conditioning specialist and host of the Renegade Radio Podcast, Jason Ferruggia aims to give you as the listener or reader the knowledge to build your body, strengthen your mind and optimise your life. He has contributed to broadcasts and publications such as Men’s Health, Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Huffington Post, LiveStrong, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Shape, Entrepreneur, and shows on ESPN and CBS. For more information visit jasonferruggia.com   Episode highlights: Why it’s sometimes important to reinvent yourself for the purpose of personal development and reboot your self-limiting beliefs. How you can differentiate between information sources to take what’s useful and reject what’s not, whether it’s physical training or personal development and other approaches to education. Why high level athletes may not be anywhere near as familiar with the importance of nutrition as you may think. How struggles in your past can be used for short term motivation, but why continuing to do this long term will be detrimental to your mental health. Corporate athletes and how your activity in the boardroom should be fuelled by the same thing as Kobe Bryant on the court. What movements, drills and workouts you need to make the most of your time with a busy schedule, while still giving yourself time to recover. Why your diet will not only shape you, but the types of foods often mean you can eat what you like as long as you’re concentrating mainly on real foods and single ingredients. Which rep ranges and volume options are the safest for your body and central nervous system when lifting and working out. The importance of sleep and why it will help every aspect of your fitness and daily life. Why you need to pay attention to your body and journal every detail to test what works for you and how diet, sleep, activity and everything else will bring benefits or detriment.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jason Ferruggia…

As well as UFC fighters, celebrities such as Chris Hemsworth and many athletes, Da Rulk is responsible for training heroes – firefighters, Navy SEALs, SWAT team members and other first responders. His inspirational ethos of “always can” allows him to cultivate a team mindset that proves that while fitness isn’t easy, anyone can do it.   Watch the full episode on YouTube  Da Rulk has an impressive list of credentials including a BSc in kinesiology and certifications in strength and conditioning. His list of clients is even more remarkable, courtesy of elite military personnel, mixed martial artists and first responders. But it’s his humble nature that makes Rulk even more influential. He knows that fitness is hard, and his method of working out – Raw Functional Training – makes you embrace the grind and push through it to succeed in anything. The fundamental part of RFT is building on great foundations to help your future self. For example, as an entrepreneur if you don’t have those fundamentals of hard work, discipline and character, you’ll see those holes in your business later.   RFT – Raw Functional Training – is about empowerment and finding the internal fortitude to push past any challenge, either as a stand-alone system or a workout ethos to enhance what you do in other disciplines and activities. The key for Da Rulk and his clients is keeping it fresh and varied across the board. His philosophy in fitness is all about finding your footing to put the right foot forward every time. Inspiring and motivating, it’s a moving philosophy that’s all about finding purpose and driving through adversity. You always can. For more information visit darulk.com   Episode highlights  How making a difference instead of chasing money is something that comes with age, but understanding and appreciating this from a younger age will be a game changer in any business venture. Why if you don’t have the fundamentals of hard work, discipline, and character in your business early on, you’ll see those holes later in your venture. When the hardest part is for any trainer starting out, and why it builds the character that fine-tunes the success in the future. How stress can affect your performance, even if you’ve prepared for an event, and how you can teach your body to regulate itself under any circumstance. Adaptation is key. The secrets of why understanding body movements and getting your body moving in certain ways can progress you faster and mitigate injury. Why it’s important to remove barriers of entry to a healthy lifestyle, whether that be financial, weight, location or any other challenge. How the accomplishment of fitness and events can bring a high that becomes addictive alongside the physical benefits of training. Why purpose is the biggest driver to avoid quitting anything. You need to find substance to any reason. Why the purpose of a trainer isn’t to smash every client; it’s to improve clients from where they’re at. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk. How important it is to educate trainers as well as clients, and why many trainers are thrown too deep into the industry too quickly. How if you make finding a way forward into a habit, no challenge will get in your way. Why finding the right mindset can inspire those around you as well as enriching your own need and purpose. The positive impact can influence so much more than just the fitness space and mindset of others.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Da Rulk…

An internationally renowned icon of corrective and high-performance exercise kinesiology, just one conversation with Paul Chek, founder of the CHEK Institute, is never enough. A previous guest on the Escape Your Limits podcast, Paul returns to offer more insight into strength, spirit and our place in the universe.  This episode will challenge your beliefs while helping you to embrace others that you didn’t even realise you had. Paul’s full mind, body and soul approach to fitness and wellbeing is enlightening and inspirational, and we’re lucky to get a second bite of the apple.   Watch the full episode on YouTube Paul Chek is a world-renowned expert in the fields of corrective and high-performance exercise kinesiology, stress management and holistic wellness. For over 30 years, Paul’s unique, integrated approach to treatment and education has changed the lives of many of his clients, his students and their clients. By treating the body as a whole system and finding the root cause of a problem, Paul has been successful where traditional approaches have consistently failed. Paul is the founder of the CHECK Institute and the P~P~S Success Mastery Coaching Program. He is a prolific author of books, articles and blog posts.     The CHEK (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) Institute, based in California, offers fitness and healthcare professionals a uniquely integrated and holistic approach to health, fitness and wellbeing. These methods are truly holistic, viewing the body as a system of systems – a fully integrated unit where physical, hormonal, mental, emotional and spiritual components must be considered. For more information visit chekinstitute.com     Episode highlights:   What exactly is potential, and how your finite amount of energy should be concentrated on your goals instead of frittered away on distractions. Why pathologies are not effective pathways to long term success, even if it seems to be a good source of motivation at the time. How eating a poor diet is eroding your physical ability over time, and how it will catch up with you at some point. Why you need to get to really know yourself before taking on a big achievement to discover whether you’re undertaking something for you or to prove something to someone else. The importance of baseline health and how, if you’re not ready, the stress of any competition will take over. What is the belief that’s leading to the behaviour that’s causing the limitation? Discovering the ingrained reasons for your problems can be hard to uncover but will revolutionise how you think about what has caused you stress and anxiety in the past. How you can figure out direction, even if you don’t know what your goal is, by understanding what your biggest nightmare is. A negative vote can lead to just as much positivity long term. You are 50% of every relationship, which means that any problem is 50% your fault. Even when you think you’re not at fault, you can find ways to work towards a solution. How you may climb the ladder of success, only to find that it’s leaning against the wrong wall. Don’t let your ego drive your success. Let your heart guide you. Why listening to this episode will help you reach an elusive, empathetic stage that helps you discover the majesty and beauty of the whole game of life. What joys you will bring to yourself and everyone around you by realising what an investment in honesty, love and support will bring.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Paul Chek…

In this emotional and honest episode, we hear how our guest went on a journey of recovery and pain relief, creating an international business by accident in the process. Following a motorcycle accident, he developed a therapy tool that’s helped everyone from stroke patients to CrossFit icon and fittest man in the world Mat Fraser benefit from an improved quality of life and better performance. For a lesson in beating pain at its own game, along with an insight into recovery and the next generation of fitness, meet Dr Jason Wersland, founder of Theragun.   Watch the full episode on YouTube – https://youtu.be/radT6GFBK14   Jason Wersland grew up on a farm in Utah, embracing the resourcefulness of day-to-day life and watching his neighbor, a chiropractor for the Utah Jazz basketball team, who inspired him to follow the same career path. To begin with Jason worked for people for free to learn the ropes of the chiropractic industry, and it didn’t take long for his skills to develop along with a real dedication and enjoyment to recovery, performance and mobility. However, following a motorcycling accident Jason sustained a lot of soft tissue damage, suddenly going from athleticism and working on clients to being a patient himself and not being sure he’d recover. He created a tool that used vibration and percussion to increase blood flow and aid muscle recovery. Following his injury and subsequent recovery, Jason first began using Theragun on clients in 2009, and then he included it in his clinic and began working on pro athletes with it in 2011. He launched Theragun as a business proper in 2016 and released the first commercial product. Now Jason is still a practicing chiropractor in addition to growing his business, working on everyone from stroke patients to pro athletes. Even today it’s Jason’s attachment to his work, sharing the benefits of Theragun, that drives him more than traditional chiropractic approaches.   Theragun is the world leader in percussive therapy for targeted muscle activation, pain relief and full body recovery. A health and wellness company, Theragun was founded on the core principle that the more our bodies can move, the richer and more fulfilling our lives will be. Theragun is at the forefront of revolutionising muscle treatment. As the world leader in this space, the business continues to innovate with modern solutions for muscle pain relief, performance enhancement, and faster recovery.   Highlights How injury and restrictions can cause anyone – everyman or athlete – to fall into a story that limits what they think they can do, and how bodywork and understanding mechanics can help free these limitations. Why the emotional state of anyone can be a huge contributing factor in any physical issue that a client may be facing. How you can overcome getting starstruck if you have the opportunity to work with celebrities by realising they’re just like us, with the same issues that they need help for like any other client. What Jason did to overcome muscle atrophy from an impinged nerve following a motorcycle accident, and how this paved the way for the invention of the Theragun. How pain travels around the body, and why vibration can bring release of discomfort and immobility, even from muscle and nerves that you thought were completely unrelated to each other. Why the speed of pain pathways can be overridden by vibration and percussion to stimulate the brain using a different nervous system pathway. How creating a new market space can be met with ridicule until the venture is validated, and what happens when more manufacturers start to enter into the space. How international studies and research opportunities have boosted Theragun’s credibility, and how these initially started out as simple anecdotal studies before developing to case studies around the world. What the trends and opportunities are in this emerging market, and how business can share information organically to ride the incoming wave of success in the meditation, stretching and recovery sector.

Wendy Coulson is responsible for developing thousands of instructors in the fitness industry. Through a passion for collective leadership in the global giant that is Les Mills, her position as CEO for the UK and Ireland is built on brilliant branding insight, innovation, staff engagement and trust. Through these incredible efforts she’s helping lead the charge towards a fitter planet. Watch the full episode on YouTube   Wendy Coulson left school and started in the management development scheme of the banking sector. During this time, she qualified in group fitness and PT, spending weekends upskilling herself and eventually deciding it was a better option to follow fitness as a career born from passion. She got a job in Fitness First, opening the chain’s eighth club. Her experience in banking established core skills and competency that she brought to the fitness industry during years on both the supplier and operator sides  Wendy is passionate about collective leadership and everyone coming together, contributing as part of a team in developing each other and reaping the rewards that arise with continual success.   Les Mills is an entrepreneurial, innovative company with the purpose of creating a fitter planet. It began in 1968 when Les Mills set up a small family gym in Auckland. Three generations on, there are now millions who work out with Les Mills every day, all over the world. These workouts are licensed by 19,500 partners in 100 countries. Les Mills supports each of these partners to build relationships that extend beyond memberships, providing them with research, marketing and new workouts every three months. Their tribe of 135,000 certified instructors bring Les Mills workouts to life. Every day, programmes, such as BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT, BODYBALANCE, RPM, LES MILLS GRIT and more, pack out fitness studios around the globe. The future of fitness is merging physical and digital. Les Mills is leading the way with immersive training and workouts on demand.   Episode highlights : How some things in fitness change such as budgets and the importance of social media, but many challenges stay the same such as retention, membership growth and industry disruption. Ways in which fitness has become more accessible beyond anyone’s expectations with the growth of the home fitness market. The importance of purpose, and how fitness can make a difference in everyone’s lives. How creating good content in collaboration with others brings better progress in changing anyone’s life and pushing towards a fitter planet. Why it’s important to find out how you can align your business with the interests and visions of others in order to find synergy and move forward together, rather than compromising either partner’s approach. How feeling fulfilled and challenging yourself will create the drive for you to achieve anything, personally or professionally. Why pay is not everything, but feeling valued and getting recognised for the difference you’ve made is important. How using research on group exercise is the strongest way to improve retention rates alongside your profit and loss, taking away the fear of losing members for operators even when their member acquisition rates are strong. Secrets of group fitness that’s seen occupancy rates go up to 90% for classes across the board. How to appeal to the ‘right’ demographics and how you can set goals to achieve exactly where you want to be at every level, whether it’s about percentage of membership attending classes, recruitment, training, positioning, staff rewarding or environment decisions. Are you fulfilling the basic human needs of instructors in order for them to create the best possible experience for members? How traditional clubs can compete against the boutiques and individual operators. Why home fitness may be the key to engaging the majority of the population that doesn’t workout, providing a comfortable experience in a familiar environment, before channeling them into a traditional location.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Wendy Coulson…

With FightCamp, Khalil Zahar has not only created an incredible product that’s valued by MMA, boxing and martial arts athletes worldwide, but he’s grown his venture to build and nurture a community like no other. This ‘Peloton of boxing’ is a martial arts-centric, full body workout programme backed by world-leading technology to bring physical and mental benefits to anyone, pro fighter or family fitness fan.    Watch the full episode on YouTube – https://youtu.be/7EMCebwnlzo   FightCamp is a story of evolution following Khalil Zahar’s personal journey in learning how to box. He fell in love with the sport and saw quick progression and improvement until he reached a plateau.   Not being able to find a dedicated way to efficiently track his boxing progress and see tangible improvement, Khalil originally founded Hykso, a company that produced sensors and software to track punches and effort metrics – number or type of punches and speed – during boxing workouts.   Through continual development and not being scared to release early versions for valuable feedback, Khalil has improved his offering time and time again, building his FightCamp business around a genuine need from both professional athletes and the fitness community in general.     Khalil’s initial venture was a product but he’s since built a community. At first, his Hykso punch sensors and app didn’t have anyone telling you what to do; there were no tailored workouts and there was no social ecosystem. Hykso was tailored to the pros looking to improve over time. With FightCamp, it’s a whole different experience. Building on the Hykso functionality, you can track your own metrics but also compare results with other members who have completed the same workout. There’s a sense of gamification that comes with the leaderboards, and engaging workouts.   The FightCamp Gym puts the best elements of a world class boxing gym directly into your home. Powerful and motivating workouts, expert-led instruction and elite trainers combined with premium equipment and the same training tech used by the pros.   For more information visit www.joinfightcamp.com       [EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS – FOUR OR FIVE BULLET POINTS (TIMINGS?)]   Why choosing the right name is vital to your business success, especially making sure potential customers and partners can spell the business name correctly, easily. How a business can evolve from a personal need or requirement to pursue a passion efficiently. The journey of progressing the efficiency of algorithms in data sets and why it’s important to compare them with known quantities to ensure that you’re learning and spotting trends that will benefit your offering. How to translate physical movement – in this case hooks, jabs, and straight punches – into data, even when it can be confusing to the human eye. Similarly, how the tech may not be the problem, it may be the ambiguity of a definition. Why it’s so much more effective to build a community and implement elements of gamification in a business venture instead of purely providing a service or single product for athletes. What changes have occurred in the home fitness market compared to around a decade ago, and how trends have changed behaviour to transcend age groups. How to define the next generation of fitness companies, and how they diversify into media, entertainment and other markets well beyond fitness alone. Why historical and current stories surrounding your core business proposition’s culture and community can add the extra value on top of your offering. How you can convince investors in the value of your product, even if you’re one of the first to market with a venture that hasn’t been proven before. Why more companies are controlling distribution as much as possible because of the raised expectation of brands, and how there’s more onboarding needed than ever. How Facebook ads and social media commerce can still be very effective for your business, even if you’re not concentrating on the day-to-day activity on your platform profiles. Why no data indicates the definite direction to take in business, and you can’t always rely on user feedback, but both can complement your gut feeling about taking the next huge leap for any venture. The future of fitness in the home, and how technology is leading the way for both digital workouts and physical events around the world.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Khalil Zahar…

Bill Parisi is a pioneer of performance in sports and athleticism. His understanding of how to coach for speed, power and agility is at the core of his world-class programming. Now, he’s diving deeper into what the human body is capable of through a new fascination with fascia and how it inspired a new level of physical ability. Unlocking the secrets of better athletic achievements, day-to-day posture and even how fascia training can help fight cancer, this episode is a lesson in resilience and how our bodies are more like plants than machines. Watch the full episode on YouTube   An all-American in track and field, Bill Parisi went on to start his youth training franchise at age 24, having now trained over 650 thousand athletes with his world-class programming and presentations, from NFL teams to huge industry icons such as Nike. After an injury brought an end to his Olympic javelin dreams, Bill was $50,000 in debt and started his entrepreneurial venture by buying a van and driving around to take on clients in fitness. From here, he focused on speed development, opening his first club of 3000 sq-ft as an early adopter of functional fitness equipment. His business grew at an incredible rate, bringing in $973,000 in three years. Bill is a pioneer of performance. He’s not only invested in the athletic future of a nation, but has just released a book which includes groundbreaking research on fascia and how it can improve speed, power and injury prevention.   Performance Proven. More than 650 thousand athletes have used the Parisi Speed School systems to build their athletic skills. With 90+ locations in the United States and worldwide, Parisi Speed Schools use a curriculum based in science and sports psychology to help every athlete reach their potential. For more information visit parisischool.com and fasciatrainingacademy.com    Episode highlights: How a passion for performance and being wiling to try something new can lead to running the highest grossing facility in the world and expanding to change lives with fitness. How tailored training at a young age as opposed to just playing sports, even as early as seven years old, is showing to be beneficial in progressing youth performance in gross motor skills, movement literacy and motor vocabulary sessions. Why opening rituals, closing rituals and goal setting are vital in improving youth understating in fitness and performance. The importance of delivery of information in successfully achieving progression goals, whether they’re in sports or fitness instruction. Why it’s not always about physical attributes in fitness, as mental resiliency is incredibly important to long term success in any sport. How you will always benefit from continuing to learn and considering yourself as a student. The enlightening nature of learning about fascia, and how it inspired a new depth of discovery – enough to write a book purely on the subject and training surrounding it. Why fascia means that kangaroos expend more energy walking for a mile than hopping for a mile, and how this information can be used to unlock ‘free energy’ in the human body for the ultimate performance. The athletic difference between body types and what drives an individual, whether they’re fascia-driven like a cheater, or muscular-driven like a rhino. Functional fitness defined as omni-directional, sub-maximal loading and how it’s the best way to train and develop your fascia for a new level of fitness and sports achievement. The deep dive into fascia at a cellular level, and how this information will benefit coaches of any level to improve the performance of clients, athletes and teams.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Bill Parisi…

A pioneer of fitness in Asia, Eric Levine has a passion that’s driven him to truly understand members, customers and clients. His career over four decades has taken him from positions where he would have worked for free because he loves fitness and knows how to get results through genuine care, to growing hundreds of clubs in multiple countries around the world. This episode is a lesson in adding value in every aspect of your business. Through branding, marketing, empathy and impressive results, you’ll hear how to motivate different cultures and communities for universal fitness success.   Watch the full episode on YouTube     Growing up in Montreal, Eric’s father was a businessman and an athlete – a national water polo and volleyball player. His family was all about health. Eric was even bought a weights set when he was just 12 years old. At 16, Eric’s first job in fitness was in a chain of spas as a non-certified trainer. He fell in love with the industry. From such an early age, Eric appreciated that business and success was all about the needs of the member and not purely based on what the club had. He went from making $6000 to $60 a month for the experience of travel and training in the Caribbean and around the world. It’s here he started truly learning the trade, branding, methods of customer retention and other secrets that would lead him on to future successes in every sense.   Eric Levine has been described as the “best of the best” by fitness industry icon, Mark Mastrov. He has over four decades of experience in 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym, California Fitness, Crunch, UFC GYM and other iconic brands around the world. This episode is a deep dive into every element of fitness, from finding the right location and efficient branding, to sales secrets and personal training strategies. Eric was one of the early pioneers of the Asian fitness industry, launching successful clubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Australia. Hear about the early days of famous brands and the challenges of culture, new territories, finding the right location and silencing the doubters. Today Eric is consulting for companies, lending his insight on picking locations, branding, sales, retention, personal training and ancillary revenue streams around the world. Find more details on http://ericlevineglobal.com   Episode highlights:  The importance of support within both professional teams and family environments to achieve success beyond monetary value. How you can discover what’s a priority in any culture to understand what motivates them and what they need from your business proposition. Inspiring confidence in new territories that may not be familiar with equipment, machines or programming approaches. Hear about the early days of California Fitness and why visualisation is key to finding success in any environment, even when nobody else believes that your venture will work. The difference in traditional American clubs and the cultural approach in the east. How the international change provided the opportunity to do something totally different. Why branding is everything, and why if a club goes off brand then customer and member retention will suffer for it. How countries such as China don’t have social media like we’re used to, so the fitness industry needs to rely on traditional techniques to grow business. Why social media is not just about taking a picture for yourself, but about creating followers that want to tell their friends and invite them to join in the experience of a fitness location. Ways that you can prepare yourself mentally, physically, spiritually for the challenges that come from pursuing success and dedicating your life to achieving your goals. How to deal with unexpected legal issues in the fitness and gym membership environment, and how to support your staff if things go wrong. Why meditation, like the power of yoga, will be the next big growth market that takes off to benefit members and change lives.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Eric Levine…

Mark Mastrov has done it all in fitness and beyond. Building an empire, including one of the biggest chains in the world, his involvement in brands and markets such as 24 Hour Fitness, UFC GYM, Crunch, NFL associated training centres, NBA ownership, eSports and countless others prove his model for success works and his work ethic cannot be beaten. Humble but determined, Mark Mastrov has written the manual on making money in the fitness business. With simple systems for personal training, operations, sales and management, he’s backed his teams around the world to grow careers and profit margins time and time again. There’s no better to talk to for episode 100 of the Escape Your Limits podcast! Watch the full episode on YouTube   Mark was told that he’d need to keep his knee in shape for his whole life after an injury in college. He started working at a small gym in return for free membership and soon fell in love with the business. An opportunity arose to invest in the gym with money he borrowed from his grandmother, which was the catalyst to building a career that would change the world of fitness forever. Following the development of programming software to manage gyms, Mark split the business to give the software side to his partner while he kept the acquired gyms and continued on a path of innovation. This saw him start creating new experiences for anyone that wanted to work out or work professionally in fitness. He has since gone on to build some of the biggest brands and cultivate the careers of countless fitpros around the world. With endless successes under his belt, this episode of Escape Your Limits delves into his past, the current state of fitness and what we can expect for the future.   Mark Mastrov is a pioneer of revolution and one of the greatest minds in business. Building one of the biggest fitness chains in the world servicing 3.5 million members and selling it for a record 1.6 billion dollars, he inspired culture as the foundation of a fitness empire that’s touched every corner of the industry. Launching more careers and developing more entrepreneurs in fitness around the world than anyone else, his name has come up on this podcast time and time again from guests attributing success to his influence. The man behind 24 Hour Fitness, UFC GYM, Crunch, NFL associated training centres, NBA ownership, eSports expansion and countless other entrepreneurial journeys that have grown ahead of the curve, please celebrate the 100th episode with us, welcoming the Godfather of Fitness, Mark Mastrov, to the Escape Your Limits podcast.   Episode highlights -   How taking advantage of opportunities that may have not originally been of interest can lead to creating a legacy founded on an ingrained ability to succeed. The development of software and first mag stripe sign in functionality that told operators whether members owed money or were up to date on payments before being allowed to enter the gym. The importance of business models and how the turning point of reoccurring revenue helped build the business into profitable progression and new credit line potential. Why collaboration is key and helping each other out can only improve the industry as a whole, even if it’s through talking to competitors. Success is all about execution. The importance of being able to give up control when you grow a business. You need to trust your staff and allow them to do the job, because you can’t do it all. How sales processes play such an important part in the consistency of service, and how Mark Mastrov developed these managerial programmes in the days where they hadn’t previously existed. Why Mark Mastrov chose to shelter his team from distractions and external issues such as legal complications, so that they can concentrate on their roles in providing the best experience for members and customers. The philosophy that a business is an upside down pyramid. Mark believes that he works for his employees, and it’s not the other way around. What the future of the fitness industry looks like for low cost, mid-market, high end, boutiques and franchise opportunities and ventures. What challenges come with international expansion, whether language differences and messages lost in translation, or political differences that arise from trying to promote teamwork between particular countries, and how to ‘crack the code’ with different markets or cultures. Why you need to decide on and write down your BHAGs – big, hairy, audacious goals – and how they’ll drive you to succeed in anything you do, whether it’s business or personal at any stage of your life.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Mark Mastrov…

Rick Richey not only owns the WeWork of fitness but has co-founded the first studio in the world to use technologies that help fight cognitive stress, anxiety and sleep deprivation. His mission? To restore your body, reboot your mind and reshape your system. Used by NBA players, UFC and Bellator fighters, and other professional athletes, ReCOVER NYC also offers the value of great recovery to anyone in search of better wellness. This episode of the Escape Your Limits podcast is a lesson in longevity. Watch the full episode on YouTube Dr Rick Richey is a master of understanding how the human body works for the healthiest, natural results from any effort. He not only owns a chain of gyms with some of the best trainers that New York has to offer in the WeWork of fitness, but he’s pioneering self-care with the world’s first recovery studio. Host of the official podcast of the National Academy of Sports Medicine and co-host of the Omnia Fitness podcast, meet Rick Richey, owner of Independent Training Spot and co-founder of ReCOVER, on this episode of the Escape Your Limits podcast. Independent Training Spot is designed for entrepreneurial personal trainers and physical therapists to develop their own businesses and brands of training. The mission is not only to help any trainer start their own business but to help them continue to build it on their journey or venture. In addition, if you’re an individual seeking out a trainer, ITS is a great place to start your search. It’s home to some of the best fitpros that NYC has to offer. In early 2017, Rick Richey and Aaron Drogoszewski had the realization that there was nowhere for people to go purely for purposes of recovery. In early 2018, ReCOVER opened as NYC’s first recovery studio, a concept that has sparked a recovery revolution and is changing the way people function.   To contact Rick email rick@recovernyc.com, or to hear more, download the Omnia Fitness podcast for industry business insight or the NASM CPT podcast for human movement science, concepts, flexibility and other exercise-related subjects.      Episode highlights -  How to manage the cost of a fitness business in one of the most expensive areas in the world, along with the biggest challenges you may not have thought about. What a WeWork style innovative fitness business venture offers to PTs and how it provides more opportunities than high-end gym spaces for trainers and clients. Training business models compared to membership models and how the risk versus rewards weigh up. Why it’s a good idea to give something away for free, even if that particular customer doesn’t come back. How your location’s cleanliness and storage efficiency will be linked to perceptions of a trainer/operator’s organisation and trustworthiness in the bigger picture. Why staying friendly and having a good relationship with people who work with you is paramount to an enjoyable environment and responsive team. How the body only benefits from a workout when it recovers, and how anabolic and catabolic states make a difference on the body’s condition. The new technology that’s allowing customers to alter bainwaves and reach a relaxed lucid dream state without feeling like they’re even asleep. Benefits on the body that can come from varying air pressure up to 23,000 feet high, and how it will improve workouts. Why the digital fitness space is going to continue to grow, and how it will access the majority of populations who don’t work out in traditional fitness spaces.   Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Rick Richey…