In todays climate it’s extremely hard to find young men doing great things in our community! Its a lot of peer pressure out there and sometimes this can lead our youth down the wrong path! That’s until I came across two phenomenal brothers Markeefe and Joss Connally! These are two talented young men that opened up their own fitness business called, Goat Exercise! I’m thrilled to introduce you to their exciting new venture that has initiatives and principles that drive them both with their fitness regimen!
At Goat Exercise they are dedicated to empowering individuals to achieve their health and wellness goals through a holistic approach to fitness! During our conversation, I learned about the core elements of their program including senior mental and physical well-being, lifestyle choices and why they wanted to start their business and a few challenges along the way they wanted to share. Step inside to learn more…
What was the inspiration behind Goat Exercise?
Joss: My experience being in sports and seeing my mom, grandma doing fitness inspired me. I’ve always been interested in physical fitness. My major is Exercise Science and I want to get my PHD in Physical Therapy.
Markeefe: I saw my parents doing physical training and my grandmother was one of the first African American females to own a training facility in the Atlanta area. We thought it would be a good idea to partner together. We really care about people and their well being.
What made you want to work with seniors?
Joss: From being in college and learning about fitness, I knew I wanted to help seniors be more healthy through exercise. Plus their daily living starts to decline, so with exercise, its good for their physical and mental well-being. That’s why I was intrigued. I want to get them back to doing things they used to do.
Markeefe: Seniors have a lot of life and enjoyment left in them. Sometimes they have nagging injuries and it hinders them. I wanted to give them more of a happier life. We teach them balance and so much more. We have fall prevention and teach them how to use their muscles. We just want to help them live a better life with less pain.
How do you ensure the safety and well-being of your members during workouts?
Joss: We insure the safety through ACS guidelines it outlines all the recommendations of what and what not to do. We also play it by ear and watch to see what’s safe for the seniors.
Markeefe: We have taken courses with HIPPA any information we gather it is confidential. We take great care in knowing particular things about our clients. We also have disclaimers in place. For an example we have a client with a pace maker. So we know to take it slow and easy with her. We pay attention to detail and know of common things. We always have someone in the facility that is qualified.
Do you have personalized training or group sessions?
Joss: We do offer personalized training through the facility. We have senior fitness evaluations to improve their health. We also offer group classes for all the seniors. We give one on one attention if they request that. We come in and focus on stretching, core, cardio and water aerobics. We also have two programs. Senior fitness where we manage the fitness, and senior classes for all in a group setting.
Markeefe. Everyone is given a survey. After that we study each individual. After that we monitor and track the progress of each senior. We also do tests to see how the seniors are coming along. If they have any pains we can modify the workouts.
Were there any challenges of getting the business launched?
Markeefe: I don’t look at it as a challenge anymore. I’ve studied and enjoy the obstacles. God puts obstacles in front of you for a reason. Building and branding was another obstacle. Examining our brand and finding our identity was also a challenge. We had to figure out how to make a facility see a benefit from our business. Because of our age and the way me may appear, may have people look at us a bit different u ntil they see what we can do. It’s a win, win situation.
Joss: I would say challenges and roadblocks was getting our foot in the door.
For further info visit: Goat Exercise
