Learn the nuts and bolts of advanced group training. From creating great experiences, to addressing special needs and unique training modalities, to the business aspects of marketing and profitability.
This Specialization is For
Fitness professionals looking to elevate their expertise and enhance the quality of service they offer to clients. Designed as the next step for current holders of GFI-type certifications, and for CPT or FBA-C practitioners that wish to become great at leading group training and learn tailored business principles to elevate their offerings.
Why this Specialization
With this course, you'll gain the advanced skills and confidence to design and lead effective group training programs, help clients achieve success faster, and enhance your business acumen and the profitability of your programs.
Key Learning
- Program Design: Create effective group fitness programs that cater to diverse populations, including special needs clients, and incorporate strength-based training.
- Member Experience Enhancement: Utilize events, challenges, and digital offerings to increase perceived membership value and improve retention rates.
- Instructor Excellence: Master cueing techniques, understand learning styles, and develop a unique coaching persona to deliver engaging and effective classes.
- Business Strategy: Develop and implement successful small group training models for both virtual and in-person settings, focusing on growth and revenue generation.
- Marketing and Client Acquisition: Learn techniques to attract more clients for small group and semi-private training in the current economic climate.
From an Association Focused on Your Career Success
FBA develops education programs for in-demand skills, so you can build a long-term successful career delivering great results for your clients while enjoying a profitable profession.
100% Online and Self-Paced: Access the course materials anytime, anywhere, with 24/7 availability on any device. Benefit from videos with captions, searchable transcripts, and adjustable playback speeds.
Expert-Led Sessions: Learn from vetted top industry experts who provide actionable insights and strategies based on their extensive real-world experience.
Certification and Resume Enhancement: Build on existing certifications and gain specialized skills that will make you a more valuable asset to clients and fitness clubs.
Course Details
- 100% online.
- Self-paced, on demand, available 24/7 on any device.
- 2-year access to all materials.
- Enjoy the best online learning platform for video education.
Videos with captions, searchable transcripts and speed controls.
- No formal prerequisite.
Recommended to start: Training certification, FBA Certification and work experience. - No renewal requirement nor cost.
- Unlimited quiz retakes at no extra cost!
Final quiz: 20 questions in open-book format, requires 80% passing grade. No penalty for retaking it.
About FBA Specializations
The professional education to increase your skills and impact. FBA Specializations build on your current certification(s) and field experience to advance your career.
There is no formal prerequisite, although technical certification (such as CPT) and FBA Certification are strongly recommended as a foundation before starting the specialization.
Provide Your Clients a Higher Level of Service
Gain Skills and Confidence in Your Chosen Specialty
Vetted Education from FBA and Top Experts
Increase Your Value as a Trainer to Clients and Clubs
Why FBA?
As the Fitness Business Association, all our education has a focus on developing the skills for long-term success in the fitness industry. Our programs have the dual purpose of making you a confident and skillful practitioner in fitness, and to empower you with the tools and practices to succeed in your career or business.
FBA is the parent company of the SUCCEED! Virtual Conference, the largest and highest rated virtual conference in the fitness industry. With the backing of over 100 industry brands and major certifying organizations, FBA and SUCCEED! have served world-class video education to tens of thousands of fitness professionals.
The FBA Specializations take advantage of 1000+ hours of video education content in the FBA catalog, delivered by 300+ expert presenters. Each Specialization is designed by conducting an expert panel review of our education catalog to select the best and most impactful education for your career success.
Learning Support & Accountability
Support and accountability are important components of an online self-paced education program. FBA provides various tools to help learners solve questions, and stay engaged to complete the program successfully.
Here are 4 easy ways to get support when pursuing an FBA Specialization or Seminar:
- Discussion Forum
Ask questions and exchange ideas with other learners and FBA support staff. - Specialization Library
A powerful library of select FBA and SUCCEED! resources, FREE for learners in the specialization and seminar programs. - SUCCEED! Events and Conferences
Attend any of the several SUCCEED! events each year to participate in education, ask questions and exchange ideas with peers and experts. - FBA Education Support Team
If you ever struggle with a topic and need additional resources, don't hesitate to contact FBA support. Our support team is empowered to provide additional resources to learners from the vast FBA library of videos, articles and guides.
Use these accountability tools to keep you on track:
- Periodic Check-ins
The FBA Education Support Team will check in periodically to answer any questions. - Online Learning Success Tips and Self-Paced Calendar
You can learn your own way, or rely on the online success plan provided by FBA. We can help you plan your weekly schedule to find time to study and stay on track with your skill development.
Education in the Group Fitness Excellence Specialization
Video education from selected sessions recorded at SUCCEED! events.
Uncover crucial areas of small group training that need to be nailed down in order to grow and generate revenue.
Micah Logan is a career entrepreneur. His career started in the Fitness and Wellness Industry. Micah began his career as a Personal Trainer in 2003. Over the last 17+ years he has not only worked with hundreds of clients and trained more than 20,000 thousand hours, he’s also built one of Boston’s most reputable fitness and wellness companies. Next Level Fitness & Wellness is a small group training studio concept with multiple locations in Boston and the surrounding area. In 2020 Micah decided to Franchise his small group training studio concept and plans to launch the Franchise late 2020 – Early 2021. Micah is an Executive Board Member of MIFO (Massachusetts Independent Fitness Operators) association and a member of Association of Fitness Studios. In addition to his work in the fitness industry, as a small business consultant, Micah consults with small businesses of varying types to increase profits and to create sustainable business models. In January 2020 Micah became the CEO of a manufacturing company called HushFrame.
Micah has built an excellent reputation as a business owner, entrepreneur and small business consultant which was reflected in his training facility being awarded the prestigious Boston’s A-List top 5 for Personal Trainers in 2013 & 2014 and the Best of 2015 of thumbtack service award and was honored as #1 rated fitness company in Massachusetts by Top Rated Local for customer service 2019.
Discover how to constantly reassess and get clear on your group fitness strategy specific for your business and members.
Staci is committed to helping group fitness managers and club operators elevate their programs, instructors, and leadership. As an experienced consultant and strategic planner for both digital and in-person offerings, her clients range from large luxury health clubs and international companies to small studios.
She has designed world-class studios on a tight budget, launched signature formats, and built turnkey solutions for enhancing systems, leaders, and talent. Staci is also an established presenter, writer, and YouTube influencer, regularly interviewing thought leaders and fitness professionals on her channel. Staci is also a master instructor for Balanced Body®.
In this session learn the EXACT blueprint Dane Robinson used as a former regional director to scale a small group training brand for a major health club across 7 locations in Atlanta. (Fitpro Track)
Dane Robinson, a native of Baltimore, MD, is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and has held almost every job in the fitness industry from front desk to training, to regional management.
After spending 10+ years of leading major health clubs to boutique studio start-ups, Dane impacts HUNDREDS of people in private and group training classes in Atlanta, GA, and THOUSANDS of people across the country as a fitness coach for Daily Burn’s (US Today's Top 10 at-home workout platforms) episodic show “Daily Burn 365” in New York City.
Dane also serves as an on-demand trainer with Total Gym as a part of their “Total Gym TV” series and can be routinely found as a Total Gym Master Coach on the QVC network.
Join Jenna as she teaches you how to think creatively about the clients you see with conditions that exclude them from an open-level group class. Together you'll develop a plan so you can easily work with these special populations.
Jenna is a dynamic leader who offers education for your brain, body and business through professional coaching, movement experiences, writing, and speaking. The balanced alignment of this trifecta is the platform from which Jenna helps hundreds of fitness and wellness professionals access mindset shifts, physical resiliency and empowered individuality in their business practices.
Jenna is a seasoned Pilates Teacher Educator, a Small Business Coach, and a Certified Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She has evolved her small business from a multi-purpose movement center to an online educational hub and support system for wellness pros. Motivated by her own personal recovery from professional burnout, Jenna hosts online support programs, tours internationally with her speaking and coaching courses and hosts her wildly popular podcasts, Pilates Unfiltered™ and Moving.
Finding the right talent to hire was already difficult, so placing advertisements on a job board are no longer enough. In this session, we will discover creative strategies to seeking new talent, ensure they are the right fit for the long term as well as onboarding in an efficient and thorough way for their future success.
Staci is committed to helping group fitness managers and club operators elevate their programs, instructors, and leadership. As an experienced consultant and strategic planner for both digital and in-person offerings, her clients range from large luxury health clubs and international companies to small studios.
She has designed world-class studios on a tight budget, launched signature formats, and built turnkey solutions for enhancing systems, leaders, and talent. Staci is also an established presenter, writer, and YouTube influencer, regularly interviewing thought leaders and fitness professionals on her channel. Staci is also a master instructor for Balanced Body®.
Semi-Private training success is split between the benefits, programming, and presentation. During this session, we will dive into each to provide a unique blueprint to increase member retention and increase revenue.
With 20 years in the fitness industry, Josh has been fortunate to experience many platforms and maintain success in various economic times. As a graduate of Monmouth College Josh began his training as the first personal trainer for his college rec center. While working at Fitness Formula Clubs for 14 years Josh started as a personal trainer and spent the following 8 years as a fitness director. Passionate about growth and new styles of training CrossFit and Endurance training became calling, working at local Chicago boxes and training triathletes in Lake Michigan.
Currently, the Director of Training and Development for LifeStart Wellness Josh has found his fitness calling. He has a team of 120 employees which he oversees for education, development, on-boarding, strategy, and overall support.
Josh has been able to lead teams and be successful post 9/11, Great Recession and now a Global Pandemic. Josh says; “I am exactly where I wanted to be in my career. I am in a position that I can give back and support the community that has been there for me over the past 20 years”
Whether using our bodies or our voice, each part of the exercise we describe or demonstrate must be done strategically for a client to feel successful. If a private client or class participant isn't understanding the how and why of an exercise as effortlessly as possible, we are doing them a disservice. In this session, we will review relevant client learning styles and how to layer cues and exercises effectively for both you and your client's success. (Fitpro Track)
Staci is committed to helping group fitness managers and club operators elevate their programs, instructors, and leadership. As an experienced consultant and strategic planner for both digital and in-person offerings, her clients range from large luxury health clubs and international companies to small studios.
She has designed world-class studios on a tight budget, launched signature formats, and built turnkey solutions for enhancing systems, leaders, and talent. Staci is also an established presenter, writer, and YouTube influencer, regularly interviewing thought leaders and fitness professionals on her channel. Staci is also a master instructor for Balanced Body®.
Events and challenges provide members with opportunities to have fun moving together and pushing themselves with the motivation of your club and team. These special offerings increase the perceived value of their membership encouraging them to stay members for longer.
Staci is committed to helping group fitness managers and club operators elevate their programs, instructors, and leadership. As an experienced consultant and strategic planner for both digital and in-person offerings, her clients range from large luxury health clubs and international companies to small studios.
She has designed world-class studios on a tight budget, launched signature formats, and built turnkey solutions for enhancing systems, leaders, and talent. Staci is also an established presenter, writer, and YouTube influencer, regularly interviewing thought leaders and fitness professionals on her channel. Staci is also a master instructor for Balanced Body®.
While group fitness workouts have been going strong since the late 1970s, understanding how to create a successful group fitness program depends on knowing and implementing a number of key elements.
Mark Nutting, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT D, RCPT*E, ACSM HFD, ACSM CEP, Owner and Master Trainer of Jiva Fitness in Easton, PA, Author of The Business of Personal Training book for Human Kinetics (2018), PFP 2016 Trainer of the Year Legacy Award, NSCA 2009 Personal Trainer of the Year, NSCA Recognized Certified Personal Trainer Emeritus.
Mark holds 12 certifications in the field, 38 years in personal training and health club management, and has been educating and coaching Personal Trainers for 36 of those 38 years. Mark is a leading business coach for personal trainers and club managers.
Boutique studios are here to stay and they’re driven by the talent…YOU! The best boutique fitness instructors of any format implement many of the same hospitality and individual performance tools that you’ll learn in this lecture to implement anywhere you teach. Do you know what your class & talent are worth?
Noël Nocciolo, seasoned instructor and successful industry consultant, travels the world creating boutique indoor cycling programs & advising studio owners.
Noël developed a passion for helping instructors focus on vocal performance after hearing voice damage worldwide. Leveraging her performing background, 15 creative years in NYC and extensive resume, she provides simple education and tangible tools that significantly improve an instructor’s class.
If you want to get more clients and make more money from your fitness business in the new economy...skipping this Keynote is unforgivable. Vince will go over 5 ways to help gym owners and trainers like you get more small group/semi-private clients so you can grow the profits of your business and enjoy more freedom in your life.
Hey, my name’s Vince Gabriele, and my story in the fitness industry is a long one (20+ years)…so here’s the short version. It started in 2001 after I realized I was never going to play in the NFL. I was an average offensive lineman at Temple University majoring in business. After an injury-plagued career and with a strong love for the weight room, I turned everything I had into a career in Personal training.
My family thought I was crazy but I knew what I was doing. I got an internship at a gym called Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego. I worked my way up from being an intern to becoming a sought-after trainer in San Diego by NFL Athletes. I founded their football and NFL combine prep programs and while this was cool…I always had the dream of opening my own gym. I moved back to my home state of New Jersey with my wonderful wife, Vanessa, a Cali girl who also was in the fitness industry.
Together we started our first training business in NJ, Gabriele Fitness & Performance, in 2007. Before we opened our first location I trained people in my mom's basement, rented space in a local gym, trained athletes on 5 different local fields, and used various gyms in the local schools to get my business started. After a year of this craziness, we signed a lease for our first facility. We built a gym that was completely different from our competition—no other facility was like ours and that’s what created our success.
Together, Vanessa and I ran GFP and have helped 1000s of people in our community change their lives, lose weight, and live a more active life. I was just doing my thing as a gym owner trying to make a great life for my family. We reached 7 figures in revenue very quickly and I structured the business so that was able to never miss a bedtime for any of my 3 kids. I started getting phone calls from other gym owners asking me how I was having so much success. So I started to help them grow their businesses and my gym became the blueprint for countless gym owners…with many of them respectfully copying everything I was doing. A few months after this…My dad had a stroke—a really bad one—and I had to be out of my gym for over two months to be there for my mom and sisters. While I was gone…my gym continued to grow and have success…even when I wasn’t there.
That was my sign that I needed to move into teaching gym owners how to have a successful business that not only makes money…but still grows while they’re not there. Today my days are filled with helping gym owners build more successful businesses.
This 2.5 instructor pre-con workshop emphasizes capitalizing on your unique coach persona, understanding the biochemical journey of a member in a class, and how to create a replicable class experience without wasting energy. Based on research used to create Hollywood blockbusters and Dane Robinson’s experience coaching fitness on-camera, this is your Sold-Out Class Strategy!
Dane Robinson, a native of Baltimore, MD, is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and has held almost every job in the fitness industry from front desk to training, to regional management.
After spending 10+ years of leading major health clubs to boutique studio start-ups, Dane impacts HUNDREDS of people in private and group training classes in Atlanta, GA, and THOUSANDS of people across the country as a fitness coach for Daily Burn’s (US Today's Top 10 at-home workout platforms) episodic show “Daily Burn 365” in New York City.
Dane also serves as an on-demand trainer with Total Gym as a part of their “Total Gym TV” series and can be routinely found as a Total Gym Master Coach on the QVC network.
Traditionally, group workouts have been focused more on cardio, mobility or general exercise. But as the population becomes focused on longevity, the demand for strength-based programming is growing and intermediate/advanced level trainers can capitalize on this opportunity. How do you navigate participants at different levels of ability and experience? How do you manage access to equipment while delivering a safe & effective strength training experience in a group? This session will cover it all!
Logan Dube is currently the Director of Education for the Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certification. In this role they teach live & online certifications, build content and run the various tracks of the Mentorship program.
After 20 years playing soccer, including scholarship & international opportunities, Logan found a second career in the fitness industry, spending the last 2 decades in roles including personal trainer, fitness class instructor, studio owner/operator, club manager, multi-unit manager, educator and presenter.
FBA Education FAQs
Are there any prerequisites before I purchase this education program?
There are no formal prerequisites for adults pursuing FBA education.
Please keep in mind that FBA education like FBA Certification, FBA Specializations and Seminars is designed around the needs of fitness professionals working in the industry. Therefore, FBA education is tailored to fitpros that are already certified for training through a technical certification like CPT or GFI, and have some work experience. Learners that are not currently certified might struggle with the depth and complexity of the topics covered.
As a reminder, fitpros that are certified through a technical certification should be at least 18 years of age, be current with their technical and first-aid certifications, and be familiar with the appropriate scope of practice pertaining to their certification.
How long does it take to complete the education program?
All education becomes available on-demand when you start the program. Programs that lead to a certificate of completion such as Specializations and Seminars will consist of video education, and completed with knowledge checks and multiple-choice quiz(s).
Most Specializations are intended to be completed in about 3 weeks, and Seminars in about 1 week. However, you are welcome to take your time, or pursue faster progress at your convenience.
How is the program completed?
When pursuing a certificate of completion, after watching all videos make sure to complete any applicable knowledge checks and module quizzes. Follow instructions on the page that will show you which education elements are not yet completed. After all requirements are met, you'll see the option to submit a request for audit and be granted your certificate.
How can I retake a quiz or knowledge check?
There are no penalties for retaking any mandatory education elements. If you fail a quiz or knowledge check, take time to review your notes and the education content, and then simply follow the instructions on the page to start a new attempt.
Will this program expand my scope of practice for training clients?
FBA education is intended to increase your skills and effectiveness as a fitness practitioner, while respecting your current technical scope of practice.