I recently decided that I wanted to get in better shape and needed to work off the extra food I have been eating off of my 2 year old son’s plate that he leaves behind to go play with his trucks. Bob’s wife confessed she had the perfect personal trainer to get me back in the surfing shape I needed to be in. The company she referred is Synergy Fitness, in Mount Pleasant. I set up the time and awaited my first session. Not knowing the hidden business insight I have awaiting me along with the butt kicking workout of my life.

FACE TO FACE WITH MIKE

It’s the day of my first session and I am feeling confident since I have kept myself in pretty good shape with running, surfing, and healthy eating. I have plenty of preconceived notions of what the trainer will be like (a meat head), the things we are going to do (hit the gym), and all the fun things he is going to tell me (my body fat percentage and no carbs after lunch).

I was wrong.

30 MINUTES OF HELL

I met Mike in their surprisingly small studio with a small spinning class already underway. At first glance Mike is fit, but by no means a meat head. If you need a visual to help, think of Bob the trainer from the Biggest Loser (Chris loves this show), minus the tattoos, and in his twenties. The studio is surprisingly simple since there are very few heavy machines, weights, or guys screaming to get that last rep making me feel like a girly man at 160 lbs.

We get underway and I am wondering what we are going to accomplish in 30 minutes with such limited equipment.

30 minutes have gone by and Mike has killed every muscle I have in my upper half. The amazing part is we have used no weights other than what my own body provides and no machines other than a few bands and medicine balls. I leave feeling so tired that I honestly had to have Chris help me undress when I returned home. A few hours go by and the soreness has rendered me incapable of carrying my work bag upstairs or even lifting my son into his crib.

My second session works my legs in the same manner giving everyone at the {e} office plenty to laugh at when they hear me wince while sitting in my chair. The hardest part was trying to answer their questions of “What do you do at the workout?” and having trouble conveying the difficulty of the workout that has no weights, a couple medicine balls, and a jump rope.

CUSTOMER FOCUS, SIMPLICITY, & EXPERTISE

It was in trying to explain to people the workout that I realized how similar Mike’s workout process and philosophy is similar to the recipe for success so many companies have used to reach their success and what we strive for in shaping up our client’s work  at {e}, whether it be in UI design, copywriting, or development.

The Process:

• Reduce the distraction and noise of a typical workout and focus the key objective of the workout, to increase my endurance and muscle strength.
• Get more done in less time with a simplified process by reducing less machine setup time and switching.
• Keeping things simple by using my body weight for resistance allowed him to educate and prepare me for going it alone at home without my own gym.
• Focus on fewer factors either time or reps to measure the progress so you can make quick changes in the workout to adapt to my needs (and not a combination of reps and how much weight).
• Use simple technology to automate some processes to provide superior service and reduce waste, by using email notifications before each work out Mike does not have to call and confirm sessions and I don’t forget.
• Lastly, he was able to exceed my expectation by surprising me with what he had to offer from the simple studio and just by going outside to the grass area outside. Small and simple can pack a powerful punch!

Have some other examples? Please let me know. If you are looking for a killer workout see Mike at Synergy Fitness, in Mount Pleasant, SC. If your looking for some laughs, follow me along my way.