If you’re looking for an easy way to make money as a PT in 2023, you’re going to want to read this.

I could set the scene with a long emotional story that makes your heart sing and your eyes water with it’s great ending.

That would require me to be a decent writer and story teller, which I’m not.

So instead the root of pragmatic honesty is the one chosen for today.

The easiest way to boot your income in 2023 is nothing new or fancy…

In fact it’s literally the same thing a lot have repackaged for about 60 years.

You will make easy money by getting people hot & sweaty with the training you offer/advice/prescribe.

Seriously.

That’s all you’ve got to do.

When it comes to people training with you face to face, or even online for that matter.

They all come with a bias with what they think they need to do for the outcome they want.

This is firmly set.

Having people train in such a way that leaves them gasping for air while strewn across the nearest object fills them with joy.

You see they will FEEL like they have done something.

It’s one of the key elements to remember when it comes to training and programming for people.

Every client wants to feel a specific was as a result of their training.

It will be linked to what they think they need to be doing to achieve their desired result.

Giving people this will have them buy in more deeply to what you’re offering because it appeal emotionally.

Now it may or may not be what they need, however that’s not the point here.

The potential clients waiting for you to ask them for their patronage all want to leave a session ticking their expected boxes.

I use the hot & sweaty note above because most people starting 2023 will desire to shift their Christmas weight.

As much as people enjoy eating all the roast potatoes at Christmas they don’t want to look like one.

It’ll make any fat-loss style training an easy sell.

Regarding marketing images you’ve various options however if you’re using social media/online avenues then video is top trumps.

Specifically you’ll want a video of people training in such a way that conveys this idea – Sky high heart rate

Why?

Because people associate a high heart rate with working hard and burning fat and losing weight.

Throw together a short session to film that contains battle rope slams, some sort of jumping activity with a few press ups that leaves the participants a bit disheveled and people will flock to pay for the same thing.

You will also find benefit in mentioning that the average amount of calories (kcal) burned each session will be a minimum of 500.

Essentially anything related to them doing a lot of work that is hard/fatiguing is a winner.

Don’t believe me?

F45
Trib3
Hyrox
CrossFit
HIIT Gyms/Classes

All of these sell pretty much the same thing – HARD WORK

Yes some are more structured than others with more potential for variation.

However if you ask the people that go to these kinds of places what their favourite style of training is 9/10 times you’ll be met with with the answer of ‘conditioning’ or perhaps ‘met-con’ depending on their social semantics.

Here’s a suggestion regarding a set up for the above (in a face to face sense)

The Offer:
– 10 weeks of total training
– 2/3 40min sessions per week
– 1 nutritional group check up/Q&A each week (zoom or face to face)
– A PDF copy of all the sessions
– Discount off future group training bookings

A super basic offer for a group of perhaps 10-20 people at £200-400 per person (£20-40 per week, bargain)

You won’t draw people in with this though as what is listed above are all features.

What draw people in are benefits.

Specially deep emotional benefits that you know people desire.

For example –

Fitting back in to the Dress that turned heads at the Christmas party
Dropping up to 3 inches off their waist line
Shifting the festive 15 they gained ready for the spring and wearing their favourite cute clothes
Feel like the old you again & regain your confidence

You get the idea.

Of course the average participant tends to be female hence the examples lean more towards that crowd.

This will get people in the door, from here you’ve then got the opportunity to have them become long term clients.

One thing to remember is that people are very hesitant to commit to long term fitness goals.

It’s why 10 week training blocks work well.

They’re long enough to get a decent result, yet short enough that people don’t feel like they will be chained to them forever.

Ideally we’d like those that opt for this offer to stay for the year because we know the benefits to their life they will gain.

Average people are sadly hesitant to commit to anything that means they need to change their habits/behaviours.

It’s why you can always sell the message of training with you will get them hot & sweaty.

To average people that is their ‘get out of jail free’ card for living a life that may have less than great choices/behaviours in it.

Many use this style of training to justify their sweet treats, bottles of wine and nights out.

A lot of people are not really interested in getting jaw dropping results truth be told.

They just want to be ‘just above average’ within their peer group.

Meaning so long as they’re not the one in the WORST SHAPE they’re happy enough and will pay you for this feeling.

Oh yea, how would this translate online?

Pretty much the same as with face to face however instead of offering 40min sessions face to face you’d have two options.

Zoom Lead Sessions – pre recorded or live
Pre Programmed Sessions – clients to record them to send you to (plus tag you on socials where possible)

The price might need an adjustment to say £300 for the 10 weeks, as that £30 per week or just over £4 per day.

You’ll see a lot of sales people in fitness these days using the line – “You can have ‘insert result’ for the price of a daily coffee“

This makes it easy to afford and justify.

Once again remember that people BUY with EMOTION and use logic to justify their purchase after the fact.

Being getting the message about about your offer as soon as possible, meaning today.

Planet the seed and seek out people you know resonate/like the idea of hot & sweaty = hard work = results (fat/weight loss).

So when it come to making easy money in 2023 that’s one way you can do it.

Sell/appeal to people’s emotions and desires to shift the festive 15 and get back in to a shape that doesn’t resemble a Christmas Pudding.

Enjoy,
Ross

Bonus Tip – You might find making your fitness niche all about burning kcal through conditioning very lucrative.

Kettlebells, waste of time or a gift divine?

Like all bits of kit they’re a tool.

There’s a couple of unique elements that come with their use that is a byproduct of how they’re best used.

• Posterior chain bias
• Heavier at speific points of a lifting strength curve due to the ergonomics
• Power/CAT emphasis

Movement wise there’s nothing you can’t do with a barbell that you can’t do with a kettlebell.

Squats, presses, rows and all the classic lifts can be done 🤓

Two unique lifts to kettlebells are the swing, clean and snatch.

There can be a couple more potentially put in this group, although realistically the only reason the swing/snatch are unique with the bells is due to the shape of the bell and how it changes the leverages.

True dumbbells can do similar, however the timing and overall outcomes are not the same.

Through experience I’ve found a lot of people gain great benefits from the KB’s because of their speed/ballistic nature.

A KB snatch takes less skill to master than a barbell one 🏋️

The quick lifts with barbells are great, however not easy for people to learn.

Plus as we get older there is less room to learn the quick lifts with barbells and in some cases a reduced ability to perform them due to injury etc.

Not the case with KB’s and their quick lift variations.

Ranging from 4kg up to 48kg there’s a lot of room to grow.

Trying swinging a 48kg bell for 100 reps in an unbroken set or having the bell reach lower than sternum height and you’ll not find many that would call such training easy.

Throwing around a pair 32kg bells for a long cycle can be tough, aiming for 100 reps in sub 10min will reduce a lot of people to a hot mess on the floor.

Even grabbing a 24kg bell and looking to hit 200 snatches (100 unbroken per arm) within 10min is no easy feat.

Additionally they can be thrown in the boot of your car and taken on your travels around the UK if that’s a part of your job role 🤓

While I’d love to carry a barbell and plates in the car it’s just not going to happen on a regular basis, but a 32kg pair of bells can easily fit in the boot.

So regarding the main question, are kettlebells worth it or a waste of time 🧐

Kettlebells are most certainly worth their salt.

They’re a great tool for the open minded and owning 3 pairs (heavy, light, medium) can allow a person to change their life and become the physical specimen they’ve always wanted💪

If you’ve not ever really tried KB’s you really ought to.

Feel free too reach out and I’ll give you some tips/trick to get you started on your journey.

Enjoy,
Ross

OTM minimalism

I’ve just finished this exact training session.

1x Double Kettlebell Clean & Press, OTM (on the minute) for 30min.

It was simple, effective and felt good.

While resting between reps notes were made, so why not share them for those that need some guidance.

Programming wise you’ve got the option of using a H/L/M (heavy, light, medium) set up and rotation.

H – Single Reps
L – Triple Reps
M – Double Reps

All for 30min which means anywhere from 30-90 working reps.

Now this might not seem like a lot, however take note of the term working reps because those will be using loads of 85%+ 1RM.

Using the H/L/M will allow for either more work with the same weight or higher weights to be used, based on your goals.

Another idea that popped up was as follows: Clean + Press + Squat.

This would be for singles across the 30min.

With the three movements however the use of the 1/2/3 reps can also be applied – 1 clean, 2 presses, 3 squats, for example.

The order of the 1/2/3 would change which can result in these combinations –
1 clean, 2 presses, 3 squats
1 clean, 3 presses, 2 squats
2 cleans, 1 press, 3 squat
2 cleans, 3 presses, 1 squats
3 cleans, 1 press, 2 squats
3 cleans, 2 presses, 1 squat

It won’t seem like much however 30min worth of work will result in a solid base level of conditioning being built with a good foundation of strength.

You may also change the press variation for a push press or jerk if you’re looking to use heavier loads in the clean/squats.

One more idea was the use of 2 separate movements in a session.

Say clean & press with chin up – meaning 60min of work.

These can also follow the H/L/M set up which may end up looking like this.

H – clean & press
L – chin up

M – clean & press
M – chin up

L – clean & press
H – chin up

Or the chin up may stay light for all three sessions as the clean & press rotates through the HLM.

If time is a luxury you have then a third movement can be added, perhaps you go for clean & press, chin up and front squat with the above rotation.

H – clean & press
L – chin up
M – front squat

H – chin up
L – front squat
M – clean & press

H – front squat
L – clean & press
M – chin up

These could be done across 90min, or perhaps split in to 3 separate session across the day, say 6am, 12pm and 6pm for example.

Hit this 3 days per week and you’ll make some decent progress.

There is of course the option of playing with the timings to use a 30/20/10min set up to get in 60min of training across all three movements with the addition of the rotating rep sets up of 3/2/1 however that starts adding in extra variables that may lead to confusion.

In saying that here is how it may look for the curious:

H – 30min – singles
L – 10min – triples
M – 20min – doubles

H – 30min – triples
L – 10min – singles
M – 20min doubles

H – 30min – doubles
L – 10min – triples
M – 20min – singles

This doesn’t then take into account the loading or exercise variability which provides even more options and variations.

Just a little mind dump for you regarding some training ideas so that the next time you think you need more variation it’s actually easier to achieve than many think, it just requires a little time and patience/thought to set up – a few things people lack in this world of FOMO.

Enjoy,
Ross

1-2-3-4 = more

Every time a protocol floats in to mind I have a desire to get it written down ASASP 

The other night a notion of doing 1-2-3-4 for 3 sets to 10 sets came to mind.

8-16 weeks would be the length of the progression

2-3 sessions per week 

2-4 lifts 

That’d mean increase the sets by 1 each we from starting or having a repeated week once the sets are increased.

It’d give you 30 working reps initially and end with 100 working reps, which is a hefty chunk of volume to hit in one session with a decent load -* 7RM is a good starting point. *

Walking this morning allowed for some evolution of this to occur.

I started to think about how the H/L/M angle could be applied to this and here is what popped up.

• Lift cycling – amount (2/3/4) or variation (press,BP etc)
• Volume cycling – based on sets per day or ladder lift
• Intensity cycling – RM used would vary
• Density cycling – Reduced rest or time block guided

The reason for the variation is to accommodate a lifters training age, injuries, volume tolerances and so on.

Take for example people that can’t handle a large amount of volume or better put as workload 

It might be due to external factors such as life, specific time frames to train, etc.

Say the ladders will be set at 1-2-3-4 for 3 sets, to add some variability the RM loading might be what is tweaked session to session across a 3 day training week.

Here is how the set up may look:

• H – 5RM load – Monday
• L – 7RM load – Wednesday
• M – 6RM load – Friday

The range of these RM’s is close enough so that the stimulus will have a good crossover with sufficient drop/increase to manage fatigue 

Based on how much training time a person has a couple of compound lifts could be all they can do.

Here’s some suggestions for this abbreviated training option:

• Front Squat & Chin Up
• Deadlift & Close Grip Press
• Clean/Press & Chin Up
• Snatch & Bench Press

To a lot of people a pairing would have them feel as if they’ve missed out on hitting certain muscles, which is a fair gripe.

A solid 3 lift set up would be FS, Weight Dip & Chin or FS Close grip bench and weighted chin, you get the idea.

It’s worth keeping in mind that the above would be 60 working reps and bumping up to three movements takes this to 90, and then putting in a 4th makes it 120

It doesn’t seem like much to some, however it can easily be plenty.

That being said some people like down fewer movements.

Here’s a couple more examples of the HLM with some of the variables tweaked.

To cycle the workload (consistent RM) the set up may look like this:

• M – 60 working reps 7RM – Monday
• L – 30 working reps 7RM load – Wednesday
• H – 90 working reps 7RM load – Friday

A lift cycling option:

• H – SQ/BP/PU – 7RM – Monday
• L – OHS/IP/YR – 7RM load – Wednesday
• M – FS/DIP/Chin – 7RM load – Friday

Last an example density option:

• H – 30min limit – 50 Work reps 7RM – Monday
• L – 60min limit – 50 work reps 7RM load – Wednesday
• M – 45min limit – 50 work reps 7RM load – Friday

When it comes to training programs and protocols we’ve got a lot of options available to us, the issue is putting in enough time/effort/consistency to reap the rewards from them

There’s also the accumulation process of Toal workload that can be tweaked through the weekly progressions, for instance.

Week 1 – 3 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 2 – 4 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 3 – 5 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 4 – 4 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 5 – 5 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 6 – 6 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 7 – 5 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 8 – 6 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 9 – 7 sets of 1/2/3/4 – continue the process until 10 sets hit or return to 3 sets and add load

This also applies for a slower progression.

Week 1/2 – 4 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 3/4 – 6 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 5/6 – 8 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 7/8 – 5 sets of 1/2/3/4
Week 9/10 – 7 sets of 1/2/3/4 – continue process to10 sets or return to 4 and add load

This method would allow for a slow building process and potentially a higher RM to be used.

It can also be in conjunction with H/L/M rotations which provide even more benefits and consolidation opportunities.

I’ve always found with this style of ladder work it’s best suited to those that are very patient.

For those that like chasing numbers or novelty this can still be used (as per the variations above), however I’ll be honest and say it’s not the ideal fit for such people psychologically – keep that in mind.

If you’re looking to play with something a little different, give the above a go.

Enjoy,
Ross

A protocol in the works

I was musing over a training set up recently.

One that would be great at accumulating either 100 total reps in a single lift or 100 total reps across multiple

First thought was along these lines:

Clean & Press -5x16kg for 10 sets
Clean & Press -3x24kg for 10 sets
Clean & Press -2x32kg for 10 sets
All performed using an EMOM of 10min

This would mean 10 sets using the 16kg first, then on to the 24kg before finally finishing with the 32kg.

I was specifically thinking of double kettlebell clean & press.

Another thought that came to mind was using different lifts, perhaps swings for the 5’s, 3 for kettlebell racked squat and then 2 for the presses.

The order of reps doesn’t have to simply be 5/3/2 could also be 5/2/3, 2/5/3, 3/5/2, 2/3/5 or 3/2/5.

Changing the order will allow for the different loading options to promote slightly different overall stimuli.

Regarding this protocol on 1 lift the first that came to mind was the squat.

For the sake of easy maths it was a 60kg for the 5’s, 100kg for the 3’s and 140kg for the 2’s, easy enough on paper however taking the bar in and out of the rack would come with its own drawbacks because of time/set up.

One could use front squats yet that still requires set up/racking time.

For the 10 set people may suffer too much fatigue – this thought came to mind.

Also 10 sets of the same load may bore people, so I also thought along the lines of using the 30min EMOM in a load cycling fashion, meaning so min 1 – 5×60, min 2 – 3×100, min 3 – 2×140 and then it repeats 10 more times.

The issue here is again the set up and also the loading/unloading of the bars.

It’d make for people having to move very quickly and just not allow enough recovery each minute.

My mind wandered to the use of a clean into the front squat, this would work well as the set up time would be 0.

This means the loading/unloading is also easier.

For three barbell lifts the might be clean, FS, press (or push press), although this may end up becoming a complex.

Lastly I started to think about different bits of kit.

Weighted chins might be the 5 reps set, then clean & press for the 3’s and finally front squat for the 2’s would work well, the set up could her static loads and none would interfere with each other set up wise.

Of course there is also the option of adding load each set as well, which would make a single lift an ‘extended ramp’ and across multiple lifts would allow for a top set to be reached for each.

I’m going to trial this personally and see how it works.

Since doing similar over the past few months I’d like to see how this works.

I have a feeling the single lift will work well so I’ll be sure to document it all and share my findings.

The excuse everyone uses

“I don’t have time to train.”

This, along with potentially not knowing what to do, seem to be the common excuse people throw out for their struggle in fitness.

Somehow the idea that sessions need to be 2+ hours lingers.

While this could be the case if you’re a high level powerlifter or strength focused lifter that needs a solid 5min+ of rest between sets.

Or someone that has to get in so much volume that multiple sessions are required across a day 

For the average person there’s just no need for lenghty training.

A solid 45min (including warm up) can be more than sufficient.

The issue is that training would need to be focused, effort high and well planned because there’s no room for faffing about.

A lot of people now work in some form of remote capacity the restrictions on training don’t quite stack up as they once did 

This means people don’t need more time to train.

It’s potentially the case they need a different attitude. 

Dig though the documented lifting history that spreads across all of the lifters that didn’t have epic amounts of time to train and you’ll no doubt find some pearls of wisdom regarding how to set up successful training 

For those that have the luxury of training at home there’s GTG.

Greasing the groove means that across the day you’d perform a set of whatever movements/exercises you’ve set out. 

It might be 10 pull ups each time you go to the loo

10 pistol squats when you go to the kitchen 

10 single arm press ups for each lounge visit 

This will allow you to accumulate a lot of potential volume throughout the day. 

Alternatively you may choose to do alternate sets of 10 each hour of the day with each movement until you go to bed, so 6am pull ups – 7am pistols – 8am single arm press ups – 9am pull ups etc.

One additional method for training at home is to hit sets of say 3-5 with preloaded lifts for building your base strength 

 I’ve done this before. 

At one point a bar was set up with 140kg on it and daily 3-5 deadlifts would be done.

If time was there a set of 3-5 kettlebell clean & presses would follow this with anywhere from a 24kg to 32kg bell (maybe lighter if doing bottoms up presses or a variation).

Same was the case for a few weighted pistol squats or double racked KB FS 

Usually 1-2 sets of the above would be done daily.

No need for a warm up, just grab the load and go.

Some would say this is dangerous, however it’s the sort of thing you build up over time and the strength you accumulate through consistency is quite impressive. 

The doorway chin up bar I had didn’t allow for weighted chins so those would usually just be standard sets of 5 or so when I wandered under the bar.

This made building a solid base of strength effortless and very low in fatigue.

Keep in mind the caveat for these options is that the frequency of lifting exposure needs to be high as the volume is low

It’s not a method for everyone mentally.

Some need to get a pump and ‘feel’ as if they’ve done something, in which case an alternative method will be required.

Possibly an ‘on the minute’ protocol whereby the load, or reps etc increases each set until either the time is up or the target load, reps etc can be hit.

As an example, that could mean front squats for 20min starting out at 2 reps then adding 2 reps every minute with a static load, perhaps bodyweight loaded on the barbell 

Potentially the 20min might be 5min of pull ups, 5min of presses, 5min of squats and 5min of deadlifts, all on the min and increasing loads each time. 

Another option for say 20min of work is to take one lift and work to a daily max using 5×5 with increasing load, then dropping back to the 2nd or 3rd 5rep load and aiming for a set of 20reps 

Honestly there’s a a lot of time saving options.

The notion that someone doesn’t really have time to train is just not a viable excuse for the majority of people because at the most extreme of extremes you can even get something done in just 5min. 

Yes I’m being serious, in fact here is how it might look across a week of daily 5min trainings.

 EMOM – weighted pull ups x5-10 – add load each set 

 5min time block – double kettlebell long cycle 

 EMOM – front squat x5 – add load each set 

 5min time block – double kettlebell complex 

 Every 30 seconds for 5min – 10 press ups, 20 kb swings 

 5min time block – deadlift x5/3/2/2/2 – add load each set 

 EMOM – press variation – x5 – add load each set 

Would this turn you into the next Mr/Mrs O or have you breaking world records in sports 

No, however if it was followed consistently and there was the aim of adding load where possible to slowly nudge up strength over time while also eating sensibly then results would come. 

Also it’s only 5min 

Not a bad trade off for some basic health & fitness related progress in my eyes. 

In my experience everyone has this amount of free time somewhere in a day and if they don’t then they’re quite the exception (or suffering something truly nasty).

Of course when it comes to the above I’m coming at it from the point of generalisation – that being most people have 5min free.

A lot don’t like generalisations, usually because they soon realise they fall firmly within these realms and what objections/excuses are used start to become redundant.

If you’ve ever been short on time I’d love to hear what you did 

Please do share your thoughts below.

15 Min Strength Protocol

Despite how much I love training there’s some days where a full session of 60min just can’t be done.

Typically most of my own sessions now are anywhere from 25-45min in length.

On average it’s about 35min including the warm up.

A lot get confused about how this can be achieved, so to clear up a few things here’s how I program it for you to pinch.

I split up what I did yesterday because of time constraints both lasted exactly 20min.

AM Session
A1 – Front Squat 10×5
A2 – Weight Chin Up 10×5

PM Session
A1 – Weighted Dip 10×5
A2 – Weighted Chin Up 10×5

5 reps got completed every minute.

So Min 1 5xFS x60kg, min 2 5x Chin, min 3 5xFS x60kg, min 4 5x Chin, min 5 5xFS x70kg, etc.

In the weighted chins the load was an easy 16kg – no warm up was needed for this, just cracked straight on.

The front squats I started off at 60kg for 5, then repeated this on the 3rd min and added load ending at 100kg for two easy top sets of 5.

When is came to dips and chins in the PM the load was again 16kg and I was able to hop straight onto that without issue.

It’s a style of training that focused on increasing what you might call ‘baseline strength’.

That means you’re able to simply get cracking with various loads because your body and nervous system is ready for them.

I choose to increase loads as the time progresses and finish with top/working sets anywhere from 2-5 tends to be about right.

So if you want 5 working sets you’d have the first 5 sets of the 10 being ‘working warm ups’ and then the last 5 would be where you choose loads to challenge you and elicit overload/adaptive stimuli.

Pretty simple.

Today though I hit a person record for a lighting fast session – 15min including the warm up.

A1 – Snatch 1x 60kg every 30 seconds for 5min
B1 – Weighted Chin up 3-5x16kg every 30 seconds (this got spicy towards the end)

A total of 10min of work, and I used 5min initially to do sets of 3-5 on the snatch with 20, 30, 40 & 50kg to warm up.

I already know a lot of people will balk at this.

I will freely admit the volume isn’t that high however you could easily hit this 2-3more times in a day if the opportunity arose.

That would mean a potential volume spike of 20-30 snatches at 60kg and anywhere from 90-150 extra chins.

Now if you saw 40 snatches with 60kg and 200 weighted chins written down for a session you’d think – “Damn, that’s a lot.”

This can also be used for many other compound movements – Squats, DL, Presses etc.

When you’ve got a jammed day or just find yourself lacking in perceived time it can truly be a relief to know that you can still make a decent bit of progress provided you’re willing to train intelligently.

While this isn’t something everyone will want to do because they will think they’ve not done enough.

I can tell you from experience that this style of training does work well.

Like most things in this life it’ll require faith in the process, consistency and a good effort each session.

Enjoy,
Ross