Managing The 1440

The photo I shared in the very first Forty Friday newsletter I published back in 2020.

This heading could be read a few different ways, and all interpretations would likely apply to where I’m going here…

Over the past 6-months, I’ve been working behind the scenes to make some big changes inmy business. These changes are informed by a decade of experience as a coach as well as a personal interest in returning to the basics of tried and tested strength training. 

I’ve shared many of these changes with you via this newsletter and on Instagram. Namely, a new layout in my gym to facilitate more efficient and more effective strength training, offering small group personal training, and finally a call to action for all of us to tune out the fit-fluencer noise and refocus our time and attention on the behaviors that drive real results.

All of this has been in congruence with my original mission of helping people make the most of their 1440 minutes each day with efficient and effective workouts in the gym. I’ve since explored how strength training - and specifically, strength training with a barbell - satisfies this mission, and it has been my focus to bring this message to my community ever since. 

When it comes to managing The 1440, my clients are my number one priority. These are the folks that I see and connect with every single week in my gym. They trust me to teach them how to lift safely and effectively, hold them accountable, and be there for them on good and bad days. Most importantly, they hire me to help them get stronger. These are the people who have made my dream of running a small business a reality, and I’m incredibly grateful for that. 

At times, I have become distracted by “multiple revenue streams” and the siren’s song of infinitely scalable online fitness programs. I resorted to sharing click-bait photos on social media in order to get attention and profile views, in the hopes it would help scale said online business. I’ve tried to do the “fit-fluencer” thing because I thought that’s what other “successful” fitness coaches were doing. 

I was wrong.

What makes The 1440 a real and viable business is the people who walk into my gym from Monday to Friday every week. We connect with each other through knurled steel and a chalky high-five between sets. We’ve laughed a lot and sometimes cried. We’ve put in the time and that’s what makes it real. The gym, in real life, is where the work gets done. 

What I used to see as a hobby business where people showed up to some strange guy’s home gym to try and get a good workout, has become the pursuit of becoming a professional strength coach and a weight room full of memories that I am incredibly proud of. That’s what The 1440 is all about, and my mission is to share that with as many people as possible. 

Learning how to lift weights and getting strong can change your life. I’ve seen it happen with my clients, and it has certainly changed my life. Through all these years, I’ve learned that the biggest opportunity I have to make an impact as a coach is in that weight room and working with people in real life. 

My focus on the in-person client experience requires me to scale back elsewhere. As such, Forty Friday’s will be published with less frequency going forward. This channel remains an important piece of my 1440 puzzle, and I will continue to share stories and lessons learned from the weight room and the pursuit of strength. 

Thank you for being on this journey with me. It means more than you know. If you’re interested in a similar pursuit, and you’d like to learn how to train with barbells, send me a message anytime.