I wanted to dispell the myths, hype, and misinformation that we are flooded with everyday. So I’ve decided to enlist the help from leaders in personal training, health, and fitness realm who have already changed hundreds if not thousands of lives. I want to introduce Shane Doll who will tell us how he has been able to reach and change so many lives.
Shane Doll is a certified Charleston personal trainer, fat loss expert, speaker, and founder of Shaping Concepts Personal Training Studios. The success of his personal training studiomodel has gained nation wide recognition in the fitness industry including a cover
story in Personal Fitness Professional magazine. For more information you can
visit his website at www.shapingconcepts.com.
By Shane Doll
At Shaping Concepts Personal Training Studios in Charleston, SC. we
specialize in helping our clients see a body transformation through unique burst
training workouts and simplified nutrition strategies. The philosophy of the
company is one of using a modified Primal Blueprint or Paleo type diet of
mostly whole, natural foods, in combination with 30 minute functional strength
training and cardiovascular workouts. Our approach is one of taking everything
back to the basics and simply working on teaching our clients step-by-step
lifestyle changes.
We believe the best way to facilitate personal change is to
avoid overcomplicating things. Far too many people set out to get in shape,
lose weight, or improve their health with the idea they have to make drastic changes
all at once. Not only does this decrease the likelihood of sticking with a
program, it also leads to unrealistic expectations.
The success of our business model was built around this idea of helping clients
make one small change at a time and building upon the completion of short-term
goals. There is a systematic approach of focusing on two or three objectives at
a time instead of a complete lifestyle overhaul. For example, we may have the
client simply focus on eating a supportive nutrition breakfast before even
looking at making other changes in their diet. Everything is structured around
the idea of using small changes to in essence create building blocks of
success. 
The same philosophy of “building blocks” is used for exercise program design.
Regardless of the individual’s goals and objectives we focus first and foremost on helping clients move better. The idea is that if you avoid building a solid foundation of core stability and movement patterns, there will always be a point where the individual can no longer progress due to limitations. While health clubs and gyms have turned mostly into places where exercises are done while sitting down and you can watch TV’s on cardio
equipment, we take a completely different approach. Our fitness training facilities
more resemble old school gymnasiums with individuals doing bodyweight
calisthenics, free weights, and functional exercise.
Our Charlestonpersonal training programs are catered to middle age adults who want to change their shape but have struggled with dieting attempts and traditional health club workouts. The thirty minute burst training workouts are ideal for individuals over the age of thirty-five due to the hormonal responses produced from short-duration, high intensity
efforts of all out exertion.
The effectiveness of burst training workouts and supportive nutrition can best be supported by our client success stories. This is exactly how I market and promote the business. Not on hype and empty promises, but rather on the achievements of our actual clients.
While many personal training studios promote everything from
sports performance, rehab, senior fitness, and other niches, we simply look to
be the best at body transformations for middle age adults. I believe that being
specialized and not trying to cater to everyone has been one of the keys to our
success.
The best piece of advice I can give to personal trainers or
aspiring studio owners is to focus on being a coach to your clients. I don’t
refer to our team as “personal trainers” but rather as “professional fitness
coaches.” There is a big difference in my opinion. Personal trainers simply provide
workouts while a professional fitness coach takes a vested interest in helping
their clients be successful. The personal touches, going the extra mile, and
genuinely showing that you care cannot be replaced by any amount of savvy
marketing or price discounts.
When you develop strong relationships with your clients and
they know you care about them, everything else takes care of itself. As fitness
coaches, our ability to produce results for our clients is directly correlated
to the ability we have with inspiring and motivating them. Far too many
trainers focus their time on learning new exercises and turning workouts into “circus
shows” to try and impress their clients. The reality is trainers would be
better off learning behavioral modification techniques and ways to keep their
clients accountable.
One of my biggest mentors, the legendary strength coach Dan John has a quote
that pretty much sums up how to help your clients achieve success. He says we
should teach our clients that “little and often over the long haul” is the
secret to achieving their goals. While there will inevitably be set-backs, low
points, and obstacles along the way for everyone, it’s those who simply stick
with it that come out on top. I couldn’t agree with that more.
This is the philosophy I’ve used to build my business and
I’ve come to the conclusion that the more people you can help stick with it to
see results, the easier it is to find others who want to do the same. Once the
word gets out, people will come looking for you. The bottom line is if you help
enough people get what they want, you’ll get what you want. Live by this credo and
success will take of itself for you as well.
