Exclusive Q&A with Doug Holland: Strength Training Insights and HIT Business Tips

Doug Holland is a strength training expert, accomplished power-lifter and owner of Intelligent Exercise.

Doug is famed for his relentless solo HIT business operation, delivering 120-sessions 50 weeks a year, and doing business “his way”; this means no software, cash only, and a do it my way or get the f*** out attitude.

Due to Doug’s hectic schedule, it’s difficult to find a time for us to podcast together. In lieu of a podcast, I reached out to my email subscribers to collect questions for Doug to answer in this blog post.

What follows are unedited, raw, no-holds-barred answers to your most popular questions.

BEWARE! This is NOT safe for work.

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ENTER DOUG HOLLAND…

1. Doug Holland’s Training Philosophy

Are clients set to a 1x or 2x per week schedule, or do you schedule based on the clients recovery and/or your availability?

85% of my clients train with me only once per week. The other 15% come in twice per week. This is based on many factors like scheduling, personal preference, and affordability.

Session length: Are you prescribing exercises based on individual client needs (3 exercises vs 7 as an example only) or based on a preset formula e.g. everyone does 4 compound upper, 2 compound lower, 2 trunk, 2 isolation upper, 2 isolation lower)?

Session length runs anywhere from seven minutes to twenty-five minutes. Every client has his/her own individual set of exercise order and equipment. Some clients do six or seven exercises, some do four to six exercises, and a few do only two or three exercises. This depends on many factors such as intelligence, willingness, strengths and weaknesses, and orthopaedic concerns.

There are no “cookie cutter” routines, except for the initial break in.

Can lower volume and frequency (maybe 4 total exercises performed properly done 1x weekly) be adequate for the majority of people?

Yes, lower volume AND frequency can and does work IF the trainee understands how to really get after it! An added bonus for the hard training individual is that there’s very little to none decompensation if the trainee is forced to take a long layoff. I have one female client who travels often for weeks at a time, and when she returns to the gym, I simply plug her right back in as if she never missed and she always performs at 100%.

I have a few clients who only leg press once per month. I have another client who only does two exercises every week.

Do you change workouts with clients based on specific reasons or have a few templates you cycle through?

All clients are given an initial A workout. When they have mastered the A workout, which can take two to six visits, I introduce the B workout into the rotation, and shortly thereafter, the C workout enters their world.

When the ABC train gets to rolling along smoothly, the A workout is only compared to the A workout, the B compared only to the B, and the C compared only to the C. A few clients even get a D workout!

Why do you use different cadences on different exercises? Is it for safety reasons (very slow cadence) and do you think a faster cadence with the correct resistance is still safe and also has benefits for stimulating muscle growth?

I am not obsessed with the perfect speed of movement EXCEPT on the pieces of equipment on which I have installed “sensitive cams”. Speed needs to be slow in order to experience the miracle! On other exercises, as long as the client isn’t yanking, heaving, dropping the negative, body contorting, etc, then I’m usually okay with it.

Do you do anything different from what you did 10 to 40 years ago?

Not really. I have always favoured big, compound movements and very low volume coupled with low frequency (one or two workouts per week). With my very strong and determined clients, I have dropped their volume down to the bare minimum of one to three exercises per workout. They never ask for more.

What is wrong with the resistance curves on certain machines, like the Nautilus Pulldown, and how should the curve be?

Sadly, most cams on Nautilus pulling exercises and rotary exercises are backwards; increasing the resistance so much towards the end range that most users cannot get to the true finished position of the exercise. The cams can either be re-shaped or trashed and replaced with newer and better cams.

I have done this with several of my Nautilus machines, including the leg extension, pulldown, rowing torso, pullover, hip adduction, compound row, etc. I even added a new counter weight to my Hammer Strength seated leg curl, so that all users are now able to get to the full range finished position.

A MedX sales rep once tried my Nautilus leg extension and commented that it was the best leg extension he had ever used.

2. Client Retention

Retention incentives vs quality of workout: If the workout always rocks, is that incentive enough to encourage both loyal clients and referrals from those clients?

No, I have no need to offer retention incentives. My business is totally word of mouth advertising, and existing clients must ask permission from me to send a referral. This business practice is possible if you have a waiting list.

How do you keep clients interested?

I keep my clients interested because I am highly interested in them doing a great job on each workout I take them through. This is why I do not do group training or one-on-two training. I only focus on one individual at a time. I take my interest and infect them with it.

Lawrence: Every HIT Trainer and business owner should REALLY take this answer to heart. To quote Doug on a podcast we recorded together “If your client is not REMARKING about the workout for 12 hours after, then you haven’t done your job properly.”

How much do you talk to clients about how you train and the benefits?

Absolutely! Every fucking day! Strength training leads to an easier life, as it builds physical and mental strength. Plus, physical strength is correlated with increased longevity. It’s the only form of exercise that can actually change the shape of one’s body in a favourable way. Building and/or maintaining skeletal muscle is the Fountain of Youth.

How do you train and communicate with senior clients (>75 years old)?

It’s easy for me, since I am now close to their age (I’m 64.5). Most serious older clients have enough life experience to listen, evaluate, and throw into the trash any trendy bullshit. They like the fact that I’ve been reiterating the same exercise philosophical phrases over the past 40 years.

If one of them is about to stray into some non-effective, waste of time “exercise “ program because his best friend raves about it, then I possess the knowledge and the dark humour to reel him/her back into sanity.

3. Business Practices, Handling Cash Payments and Session Pricing

What is your session price?

Current session price is $60 per session.

I’ve always found that cash paying customers will inevitably forget to bring cash at some point, how do you keep them consistent?

Every time I walk out in the hallway to greet a cash paying customer, I always do the repetitive motion between my thumb and index finger, which represents, “Pay me now”.

If they forget the money, I point them to an ATM location across the street. They always return with the money and place it underneath the fire extinguisher in my hallway.

Do you sell packages?

No, I don’t sell packages. I never have. And I don’t donate gift certificates to charity auctions.

When do you decide to increase rates for long term clients, and by how much?

In the past, I usually raised prices by five dollars per session every few years, but when the fake COVID bullshit hysteria arrived, I became more aggressive. Since I didn’t comply with the unlawful mandate to close my business, I was the only guy around who was open. No one blinked when I took a big price jump. A few clients openly criticised me and attempted to shame me because I refused the vaccine and refused to wear a mask. They were rewarded with an even bigger price increase.

Two High Intensity Business subscribers were clients at the time. They were immune to the price increase. Carson was driving over once a week 75 miles one way, and Derrick was coming in from a different direction for a 125 mile one way drive! These guys never missed an appointment!! There was no way I was going to increase their rate. Especially Carson because he always brought beer!

So now I’m existing in this weird nine tiered pricing system that only my Aspergers/OCD brain can decipher.

One more thing about price increases: when the time comes, inform each client individually. Don’t send out an announcement via email or newsletter, etc.

What is your cancellation policy?

My cancellation policy is 12 hours notice. If you cancel inside that time window, you pay.

4. Maintaining Interest and Avoiding Common Trainer Mistakes

I find my legs hurt from standing up training clients (they feel uncomfortable after about 3-4 hours) have you ever found this to be an issue? This has been a bit of a barrier for me lately, I am doing about 45-50 sessions a week at the moment.

Your legs hurt from standing up training clients? Really?! Is this one of my friends fucking with me? Damn, this is one I’ve never heard before. Perhaps you have some strange, unknown disease or an overlooked orthopaedic disfigurement. You need to get checked out. Hell, I’ve been standing all day everyday since I was 9 months old! Geeez! I can’t believe this complaint! My advice to you is to either toughen the fuck up, or shut it down and either find a desk job or a work from home job.

I once broke my first two toes on my right foot back in 1991. I never missed a day of work, although I did wear a bedroom slipper for a few days. Four days later, I lifted in a meet and squatted 520 pounds. 45 appointments a week a lot for you? Shit, I do 45 combined appointments on Monday and Tuesday alone! So toughen up!

You can start your “toughening up training” tonight by sleeping while standing.

I did my usual 12 hours today (it’s Friday, so it’s a shorter workday), then I went out to our farm and worked some more, without SITTING!

Lawrence: I suspect it’s a little easier when you have a high strength to weight ratio. Perhaps try wearing a weight vest while training clients for a month. Start with 1-2 hours and build on it each week. This may make standing much, much easier. Also, consider purchasing minimalist shoes and/or installing carpets.

Biggest mistakes you see or hear of other trainers making?

You really want to go there, huh?

Okay, here we go. Out there in the digital world, I see too many supposed high intensity instructors instructing “mild intensity training”. At least three different studios have the instructors constantly touching the the movement arm of the equipment through each and every repetition! Let the client lift the weight!! Sure, be there if he or she gets into trouble, but is there really a need for a complete set of assisted reps?! 

Also, do NOT stand directly in front of a client while they are exercising! That’s fucking creepy! A better vantage point would be off to the side and slightly behind the client. Now he can’t see you and he’s more apt to shut the fuck up and to concentrate on what he came in for.

Another thing that I keep seeing is what I call “Pollution of the Intended Purity.” A lot of trainers start their businesses off with the noble intention of doing it right, as in strict, one-on-one training. When they get mildly discouraged about slow business, rather than remaining patient and hustling harder, they fall into the trap of offering one-on-two training, or one-on-three training, until they finally stamp their ticket to a Straight to Hell passport by being seduced into offering group classes.

High Intensity Training is a very lonely pursuit, and it takes years or even decades to master with constant study. I’m not talking about the study of published research, I’m talking about on the gym floor study while observing events during workouts.

Talk to David Landau, Robert Francis, Tim Ryan, Tom Traynor, or Doug McGuff. I predict they will all agree.

Why did you decide to work solo and not have other trainers work there?

I work solo because I like it.

How do you stay interested in training so many people?

Remaining interested in working with clients never gets old to me. I can’t wait to get up early every morning to get down to business. The drive comes from knowing that I used to daydream about doing this for a living when I was as young as 15, and I worked hard at making it become a reality. And today I have a wonderful getaway to come to every day! My building, my equipment, my schedule, my rules.

Do you ever plan on selling your business?

I rarely think about selling the business, but if I did, the intended buyer would be extremely vetted to insure that he/she would not fuck things up.

Otherwise, when I die, the business dies.

One of my tattoos reads “Never Retire. Work!”

5. Combining Power Lifting with HIT Training and Doug’s Favourite Music!

How do you combine Power Lifting with HIT style training? Do you train any powerlifters with a HIT protocol? If not, how would you train powerlifters?

Very simple, actually. I take a typical powerlifting session and cut out all the unnecessary bullshit. I use very limited warm up sets.In fact, they’re not really warm up sets, but are low rep, non-taxing sets to make certain the lifter is on track with his form. I have renamed these “groove sets”.

For example, let’s say I have a lifter who is due to attempt a deadlift set of 6 reps with 435 pounds. I would have him do a light triple with 235, a single with 335, and another single with 375. He is now ready for the all important work set with 435 without wearing himself out on a typical warm up scheme.

If the second exercise of the workout is bench press, I have found that the work set of a deadlift most probably has him ready to jump into the main bench press work set with only one “groove set”. So, you have deadlift and bench press taken care of in around 11-13 minutes with time left over for accessory movements such as shrugs and dips.

The following week would be squat week, and the “groove set” scheme would mirror the deadlift “groove set” scheme. This saves the real work for the most important set. I have trained lifters in this manner since the early 1980s and it’s always worked.

When he was 16, I trained my youngest son to a national high school American record squat with one twenty minute workout after school on Friday every week. Squats were done twice per month, and alternated with deadlift on the following week. Bench press was the second lift in each weekly workout.

Who is your favourite punk rock band?

This question cannot be answered definitively! I go from here to there daily/weekly/monthly. I lived through the entire pre-punk and punk movement. First as a songwriter/guitar player for my band Doug’s Wad of Sound. We were fucking awesome!

Via my shoplifting skills, I had a free monthly subscription to Creem Magazine when I was between the ages of 12-17. Stooges were my favorite band, especially when Williamson came in on guitar for the Raw Power album.

The short-lived New York Dolls electrified me with the sound of Johnny Thunders’s guitar tone. Then both bands imploded in 1973 before the Ramones brought it back in 1976.

But…. But , in between, the Dictators emerged under the radar in 1975. Classic album. Andy Shernoff was and still is a great songwriter! He inspired me to write songs, which I did and still do. I had a few of my songs recorded by the Gizmos from Bloomington, Indiana while I was still in high school.

I Love this stuff! Please feel free to text or call me with further questions. My contact number is +001 318-458-1487.

Thanks again for thinking of me.

Doug Holland.

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Listen to podcasts with Doug Holland:

• 98 – Doug Holland on Powerlifting as a Hardgainer, Running a Lean High-Intensity Training Business, and Living a Spartan Lifestyle in the Modern Age
• 139 – Doug Holland – How To Start And Grow A Strength Training Business

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