July 2015

July 2015

Complete Fitness has been open for 3 years now. Many of you know our story and how we started out as a Tryon Gym, and as Todd Tryon was downsizing, I had the opportunity to step into ownership. During this time we have experienced steady growth and the joy of working with clients like you.

Thank you for your business and trusting us with your health and fitness needs. It has been our honor to serve you in that capacity, and we look forward to providing you with many more years of great service.

I am committed to providing the finest fitness coaching and results in our area. A major part of that mission involved making continuous improvements and reinvestments in the business.

As a result, I am excited to announce some new and exciting changes.

But, before I do, I first want to share my story of Complete Fitness and the direction we’re headed. For many long time clients, you are likely familiar with some of what I’m about to share. For those of you who are new, this will provide insight into my journey and passion for health and fitness.

Background

I got my first weight set from Sears at 11 years old. I remember buying all of Lou Ferrigno’s (Incredible Hulk) workout booklets and doing every body part every day. I was zealous to say the least. After being an athlete in high school, I spent my first year of college at the School of Mines thinking I was going to be a mechanical engineer. As fate would have it, I got injured playing football and spent time rehabbing in the weight room and my passion for fitness was born.

After transferring to SDSU my sophomore year and switching majors to Exercise Science, I started down the path of competitive bodybuilding. In 1996, shortly after college, I became part owner of PowerHouse Gym. Ironically it was in the same location that Complete Fitness is in today. I was pursuing my dream of becoming a competitive bodybuilder and working my way up through the ranks.

Throughout this time I got off track with my values and started selling steroids to support my dream. On November 20, 2001, I was arrested for drug trafficking. It was the best/worst day of my life. The best because the lie was over and I got to really figure out who I am and who I was created to be. The worst because of the consequences I had to pay for my poor choices. I ended up spending 3 ½ years in prison and losing every material possession that I had. I spent this time building a relationship with God and invested in myself by reading and studying the Bible and other books that developed my mindset. (Pretty crazy stuff I know.) If anyone be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away and behold all things have become new. That is me. J

I got back into fitness working at the Cliff Avenue Tryon Gym. I remember my wife Melissa and I were living in my in-laws’ basement with our oldest son Noah, who was 3 at the time. That first week I trained one person for free. I was like “God, how is this going to work?” Over the course of time, we started building things back up. I’m not going to lie and say it was without struggles. There were many times that I was so frustrated and discouraged that I wanted to give up. Through faith and patience I worked my way up through the Tryon Gym organization and helped Todd manage what went from 2 locations to 9 in 6 years.

The Marion Road location, which is now Complete Fitness, was taken over and totally gutted in 2008. Since then there have been many changes to paint schemes, layouts, and equipment. I am constantly trying to improve and stay in the forefront of the industry, which brings us up to today. I have always wanted Complete Fitness to be something different. Our tag line is “Unlike Any Other Gym.” I know there are gyms that have all brand new equipment a few blocks down the street, but I also know that people make the difference. I believe our staff is second to none. Not only in their knowledge of how to get the best results for our customers, but that they genuinely care.

I could tell you story after story of how our staff goes above and beyond to share a word of encouragement with someone who is down or just having a positive attitude in a difficult world. I just attended an event with a group of Fitness Professionals in Florida and I said the best way I can tell you to stay ahead of the competition is to create an environment where people leave feeling better than when they came. It’s always about how can we add value to people.

That should give you a taste of how we are where we are at today. Every one of our team has overcome great obstacles in life just like you have in your own life. We are still growing and have not arrived by any means. We are on this journey called life with you and excited about the future!

Our Mission

To make a difference in peoples’ lives by getting them healthier physically, mentally and spiritually.

Our Values

1. Faith, Honesty, and Integrity
2. Personal Responsibility
3. Be Passionate and Determined
4. Hard Work and Continuous Self-Improvement
5. Be a Pioneer: Don’t Follow Others, and Do the Impossible

What’s Next?

With our business identity clearly stated and communicated, let me share how I will be reinvesting in the business to improve your experience, results, and expand our services.

1. Updating Our Training Model. In order to continue to help Sioux Falls’ area residents we need to reach more people while providing great results. To do that, my first step is to transition to a “Semi-Private” model. For our purposes, Semi-Private is defined as a group of 2-5 people training at the same time. This allows us to reach more people while maintaining quality and a personalized experience.

The Semi-Private model provides you with:

• A focus on programming and constantly challenging you to increase performance
  • The workouts will change and progressively get harder throughout the month
• A focus on building overall strength
  • Strength is the key to increasing your metabolism and dropping body fat
  • With a maximum of 4 clients to 1 coach we can safely help you build strength and lean muscle
• More workout times and greater flexibility in scheduling
• An improved level of accountability to your coach and others in the group
• A lower cost than 1-1 personal training but the same great benefits

If you have questions or are interested in trying out the new semi-private personal training just ask one of us. This is for the person that wants to take their fitness, and body, to the next level. You can upgrade your current training membership to include 1 or 2 semi-private sessions per week. We are more than happy to have you “try it out” for a week or two to see if it is the right fit for you.

2. Online Booking. Effective July 13, you will have the ability to book your sessions online and make changes to your schedule through our MemberMe App. For instance, if you want to make a change to your training time, you can simply go in through your account and make the changes instead of wasting valuable time playing phone tag with your trainer to check availability.

For initial set up for online booking, please see one of us and we will get it activated. We are also updating our 24-hour key card system. Bring your key card to us and we will update that at the same time we activate your online booking.

An added benefit of the online booking is that you will not be locked into a specific time slot. For instance, you can train on Monday and Wednesday after work and Friday morning before work, or if you have the day off, pick one of the mid-morning sessions. All you have to do is look online at the training schedule and book into any session that works best for you. With the increased flexibility it removes the “time” obstacle for you to get the best results from your fitness program.

3. Increased Accountability. As an added benefit to increase your results we will be implementing progress checks every 6 weeks. Over the years I have found that clients who participated in progress checks achieved far better results and are happier with their overall training experience.

This is at no additional cost to you and will include the following:

• Body composition testing and measurements
• Overview of your nutrition
• Discuss what’s working, what’s not, and how we can improve
• Goal setting and action steps

4. Trainer Support Specialist. We have added Heather to our team for this crucial role to fill some gaps that we have been missing. This position is designed to:

• Hold you accountable to your goals
• Perform progress checks
• Provide additional email and phone support outside of your workouts to answer questions and help you through any challenges you might have
• Help our fitness professionals stay organized and on top of the day to day tasks

As we continue to grow and expand here are some of the things you will continue to see and expect.

• Hiring and retaining the top coaches in the area. I have always prided myself in building a strong team to provide you with expert knowledge, friendly personalities, and a genuine concern for you and your success. You are all very familiar with Travis and Jane, and I hope by now, have met Jesse. All are passionate about fitness and helping you achieve your goals. Stephanie is our admin and works behind the scenes handling the day to day operations, updating the Facebook page, marketing, and keeping us organized so we can do what we do best.

I will be adding additional fitness coaches and support staff. I require highly personalized coaching, a strong educational background, and a desire to motivate in order to ensure your success with our services. The #1 thing I look for is a genuine heart to serve people. I ask you for your trust and willingness to be flexible in working with all the Fitness Professionals we have or will bring on.

• Improvement in the facility. As you may have noticed we are constantly adjusting things trying to get better. Upgrades to flooring, fixing and repainting walls as needed and adding things like the logos on the wall are just a few things we have done and will continue to do.

• New equipment purchases. I strive to maintain our reputation as a professional facility dedicated to your fitness results by providing all of our clients with access to high quality exercise equipment. As I continue to add unique and specific programming to our facility, and expand the number of clients we serve, I will make reinvestments into the equipment. We have added the Rogue Fitness racks and changed that area to create more space. We will upgrade equipment as needed to stay current with what is going on in the fitness industry and provide a safe, fun environment for you to workout.

The last thing I want to do is invite you to a special event coming up Saturday, July 18, just for you. It is called Complete Fitness Member Appreciation Day. It will be held from 10:30 am – 1:30 pm. There will be food, prizes, fun events and inflatables for the kids … and us adults. Please help us by registering in advance so we know how many people to plan for. Look on the Complete Fitness Facebook page for registration details.

Thanks again for your business and support. We are going to do our part to continue growing and expanding. We are excited for your future with us at Complete Fitness. The staff and I are truly grateful for the opportunity to serve you.

Always here to help,

Randy Hartz

P.S. If you have any other suggests on how I can improve our services, please let me know. I value your feedback. I am always looking at “How I can serve you better?”