In some ways, Josh Snyder is like other PushPress gym owners. He uses products like Core and Train to manage day-to-day operations and programming. But besides that, he’s not your typical fitness business owner.
Snyder owns FitNKC in Kansas City, MO and also founded a non-profit in 2018 called Bloc Life. Bloc Life offers fitness programs for veterans and first responders, as well as for adaptive athletes. The non-profit has formed partnerships with other gyms in the Kansas City area, in addition to several surrounding states. Its mission is to connect people to a gym nearby and get them started in one of two programs.
The first program, Adaptive Athletes in Motion (AAIM), integrates adaptive and traditional fitness members into the same classes. According to the website, “this creates more inclusive and rich communities of fitness lovers.” The second program, called Chalk Up for Burpees, is for veterans and first responders. It operates on the core pillars of Bloc Life: structure, support and accountability.
Bloc Life provides each person with a 90-day membership for free. After the initial time period, they move to a needs-based, subsidized membership. Since its inception in 2018, the non-profit has helped more than 200 adaptive athletes, as well as 80 veterans and first responders, to find gyms near them.
Switching to PushPress from Pike13.
For years before discovering PushPress, Snyder used Pike13 for managing FitNKC and Bloc Life. He was trying to connect the pieces for overseeing not only his own gym, but the other ones that offered Bloc Life programs.
He needed to onboard new athletes, manage check-ins, roll out programming, pay coaches, offer digital documents and more. His goal was managing it all from afar and Pike13 just wasn’t the answer.
Last year, Snyder made the switch to PushPress and said it immediately made his job easier.
“I use it to easily manage all of my athletes, as well as the staff,” he said.
Snyder’s Two Favorite PushPress Tools.
1. Staff App.
Snyder said the PushPress Staff App has been invaluable communication tool for him. He uses it for both his own team and the coaches at other gyms running the Adaptive Athletes in Motion program.
One feature he’s found incredibly useful is the ability to add notes about athletes. For example, a coach can indicate that an athlete has muscular sclerosis and limited function in her right arm. That way when she shows up to class, coaches are prepared with the proper adaptations. Snyder explained that this provides useful insight about every athlete’s unique disability.
Further, Snyder has also teamed up with Kansas University for research on the affects of CrossFit on people with various disabilities. Part of the research includes the athletes doing benchmark workouts at specific times. Snyder said the Staff App has made managing this project significantly easier.
2. PushPress Train.
For daily class training, FitNKC follows NCFIT programming. Snyder then makes the necessary adjustments for his AAIM participants. He said PushPress Train has made it effortless to deliver the programming, for his own gym and for his partner gyms as well.
“It’s very simple, and it’s simple to edit,” he said. “I love its track-ability, and how easy it is to find benchmark workouts through the Members App.”
Snyder also mentioned that many of his athletes are older and therefore don’t want the hassle of learning complicated apps. He loves that PushPress Train is intuitive and straightforward for everyone to use.
Pro Tip: Ready to find out how PushPress can help your gym run more efficiently and grow? Book a demo with our team today!
In Summary: Better Gym Management Software for Operations and Growth.
Josh Snyder has been in the fitness industry for 12 years. Over the course of more than a decade, he tried other gym management software like Wodify and Pike13. What he learned is that only PushPress allows him to run his gym efficiently, and manage his non-profit from afar.
Ultimately, Snyder believes PushPress has helped him scale the non-profit into even more gyms. Currently, plans include Adaptive Athletes in Motion expanding into three more gyms.
Snyder is confident that the expansion will be seamless and the future looks bright for him with PushPress in his corner.
“There’s always so much development,” he said. “They’re very smart and very responsive, and they simplify everything.”
