I want to thank everyone who took the time to fill out our biannual survey. Sending a survey twice a year allows us to make sure we are on track, anticipate any issues, and give everyone a chance to give feedback.
Here, I will reveal the results, and suggestions and also give you our comments.
Overall experience - we received 4.94 stars (out of 5)!
Top three keywords to describe Vero Strength:
Knowledgeable
Enjoyable
Committed
Quality of coaching - we received 9.7 out of 10 points!
When scouring through the results, we consider anything under an 8 to be a red flag and we only got one.
How likely would you recommend Vero Strength to a friend? 4.94 out of 5!
Favorite thing about Vero Strength? Here are the top trends:
Coaching and programming
Community and culture
Constant learning
Sense of belonging; no judgment
We got so many AMAZING, heart-warming comments and each of our coaches were named.
In terms of suggestions, we really didn’t see trends. However, I’ll discuss most of them below.
A few people want more events (social and fitness). We definitely slowed down on large gatherings the last two years due to COVID-19, but we have more events on the horizon, including an end-of-summer get-together on September 10 and our charity workout in November. You can count on The Dry Tri again in the winter/early 2023.
One person mentioned wanting a better class sign-in system and I’m guessing that others feel the same because compliance in signing up for classes is an issue. While we don’t have an alternative to MindBody online (which we use to run auto payments, reports/data, etc.) for class sign-up, if you download the MindBody app it makes it much easier than logging in through our website. So, if you haven’t downloaded the MindBody app, please do that ASAP. And PLEASE sign in! Don’t be that guy or girl.
We had a request for a stretching/mobility class. Mobility is important! That’s why we start every session with it and also program post-workout mobility on many days. We don’t have the bandwidth to have a separate class and we’ve tried several times in the past to have a yoga class, but attendance was low and we ended up canceling it.
We received individual requests in regards to programming like:
More cardio workouts
More Olympic lifting
More advanced workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Performing 1-rep max lifts
In terms of cardio, we program “just enough” cardio to not negate the strength work you do. Too much cardio is catabolic (it pares down muscle) and strength training is the focal point of our program.
As for Olympic lifting, we aim for once a week. The reason we don’t do it more often is that it isn’t really a huge indicator of fitness and because it’s technique-dependent, you don’t actually get stronger performing the Olympic lifts (like you would doing power lifts). The benefit is speed and timing. If you get stronger overall and practice the timing of the snatch, clean, and jerk here and there, you will get better at the Olympic lifts.
As for doing 1-rep maxes…when performing a max, the rate of injury goes up. And that’s not a chance we want to take. Our coaching philosophy is “do no harm.” If you’re lifting more on a back squat for three reps than you used to, you are getting stronger. And you are probably able to guess pretty closely what your 1-rep max would be. I’m not saying we will never work to a heavy single for the day, but we've seen some substandard form and mental stress when people are going for a max.
We had several suggestions that were very individual to the person filling out the survey (for example wanting us to focus more on low back health, check in with me more often, I need help with motivation, etc.).
We can help with any and all of your requests! We program for a group, making it a safe and well-rounded program and as close to personal training as we can get in a large group setting. If you haven't been in during any given week, we reach out to you. But, it’s not personal training. If you have personal needs, we are more than happy to set up a session with a coach to address those needs. Beyond that, in classes, ask questions. We don’t know you need something unless you speak up.
There you have it! Again, thanks for your feedback. We love what we do and strive to make our program the best one out there!
