A powerlifting gym weekly email newsletter keeps your athlete community informed, your coaching expertise visible, and your gym top of mind between training sessions. When a VA runs the full production cycle-sourcing content, drafting, formatting, getting approval, and sending-the owner stays in front of their list without writing a single word. Powerlifting athletes read their email. They want meet schedules, PR shoutouts, programming notes, and gym news. Give them that, consistently, and the newsletter becomes one of your strongest retention tools. This SOP tells your VA exactly how to build and send it every week.

For the broader picture of what a VA handles, see what is a fitness virtual assistant.

Step 1: Set Up the Newsletter Structure and Template

Before the first issue goes out, your VA needs a template and a content structure. Build this once and maintain it weekly. Every issue should feel familiar to the reader-same sections, same format, predictable length.

Recommended weekly newsletter structure for a powerlifting gym:

  1. Opening line - one sentence, direct, no fluff. What happened this week worth mentioning.
  2. PR and meet result roundup - athlete shoutouts with names and lifts (with consent). Two to five highlights, no paragraph required-just the name and the number.
  3. Coach's note - a brief programming or technique tip from the head coach. Three to five sentences. Your VA drafts this based on notes from the coach or a standing topic list.
  4. Upcoming schedule - any changes to gym hours, open gym windows, or platform booking updates for the following week.
  5. Events and meets - upcoming competitions, registration deadlines, mock meet dates, or gym-sponsored events.
  6. One call to action - one thing you want the reader to do: book a session, refer a friend, register for a meet, check out a new program. One CTA only.

Platform setup:

  • Build the template in Mailchimp or Klaviyo with the gym's brand colors, logo, and font
  • Use a responsive layout that reads cleanly on mobile-most athletes read email on their phones
  • Set the sender name to the coach or gym name (not "Newsletter"), and use a real reply-to address the VA monitors

Template maintenance:

  • Your VA updates the template sections weekly-never rebuilds from scratch
  • Keep a Google Doc "newsletter master template" with placeholder copy the VA fills in each week
  • Archive each week's sent version in a Google Drive folder organized by month

Step 2: Source Content Weekly

By Tuesday of each week, your VA needs the raw material for Thursday's send. Most of this information already exists in the gym's communication channels-the VA's job is to collect and organize it.

Content sourcing checklist (completed by Tuesday EOD):

  • Pull the week's PR log from Trainerize or TrainHeroic-any PRs entered by coaches in the last 7 days
  • Check the group chat, Slack channel, or coach notes for meet results from the weekend
  • Confirm the upcoming week's schedule with the front desk or check MindBody for any hour changes
  • Review the gym's meet calendar for any registration deadlines or events in the next 30 days
  • Request the coach's tip topic for the week-maintain a running list of 10+ approved topics so the VA can draft without waiting on the coach every Tuesday
  • Check for any promotional content the owner wants included (new membership availability, open gym spots, apparel drop)

Coach's note sourcing options:

  • Your VA has a standing list of approved technique and programming topics the head coach reviewed and signed off on during setup
  • The VA drafts the coach's note using the topic, the gym's voice, and any reference material the coach provides (past posts, cues they use in training)
  • The coach approves the draft during the Wednesday review-not a full rewrite, a quick check

Athlete shoutouts consent:

  • Only include athletes on your confirmed consent list (same log used for social media)
  • If an athlete hit a notable PR but is not on the consent list, your VA skips them this week and follows up to add them to the list
  • Never include an athlete's total or competition result without their explicit confirmation it is okay to share

Step 3: Draft, Review, and Approve

Your VA drafts the full newsletter by Wednesday noon so the owner or head coach has time to review before Thursday's send window.

Drafting process:

  1. Open the Google Doc master template
  2. Fill in each section with the week's sourced content
  3. Write the opening line last-it should reflect the most notable thing in the issue
  4. Confirm the CTA is singular and clear
  5. Proofread for: athlete name spellings, lift numbers accuracy, correct dates, working links
  6. Copy the draft into the email platform and preview on desktop and mobile

Review workflow:

  • Share the Google Doc draft with the owner or coach by Wednesday noon with a comment: "Ready for review. Send planned for Thursday [time]. Please approve or revise by Wednesday 5 PM."
  • Owner reviews and comments directly in the doc or approves via a simple reply ("good to send")
  • If no response by Wednesday 5 PM, your VA sends one follow-up message-text or Slack preferred: "Newsletter ready to send tomorrow. Need your approval by 8 PM tonight or I'll send it Friday morning."
  • Do not send without approval

Common revision triggers to watch for:

  • Athlete name or lift number is wrong
  • Coach's note references a technique the coach does not actually teach that way
  • CTA links to a broken or wrong page
  • Hour changes in the schedule section are inaccurate

Step 4: Send, Monitor, and Maintain the List

Thursday is send day. Your VA executes the send, monitors delivery, and handles list hygiene on an ongoing basis.

Send-day checklist:

  • Confirm approval is in hand
  • Send a test email to the owner's address and one VA address-check on mobile
  • Verify all links work in the test email
  • Confirm subject line is finalized (format: "[Gym Name] Weekly - [short hook]", e.g., "Iron North Weekly - Three PRs, One Meet Podium")
  • Schedule or send to the full list at the approved time (Thursday between 8-10 AM performs well for fitness audiences)
  • Screenshot the send confirmation and log it in Google Sheets: date, subject line, list size, platform send ID

Post-send monitoring (Friday morning):

  • Check open rate, click rate, and unsubscribe count in Mailchimp or Klaviyo
  • Log metrics in Google Sheets: issue date, subject line, open rate, click rate, unsubscribes
  • Flag any unsubscribe spike (more than 3 in a single send) to the owner with the issue's content for review

List hygiene (monthly):

  • Remove hard bounces immediately-Mailchimp and Klaviyo handle this automatically, but your VA should confirm the bounce log is clean
  • Identify subscribers who have not opened a single email in the last 90 days-flag to the owner for a re-engagement decision or removal
  • Add new members to the list during onboarding (this step belongs in the client onboarding SOP, but your VA should cross-check the subscriber list against the active membership roster quarterly)

Monthly newsletter summary for the owner:

  • Issues sent
  • Average open rate vs. prior month
  • Best-performing subject line
  • Unsubscribe trend
  • List size change

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should the weekly newsletter be?

Aim for 300 to 500 words of body copy. Powerlifting athletes are busy and goal-focused. They read for information, not entertainment. Short is better than long. If a section has nothing notable this week-no PRs, no upcoming meets-skip it rather than padding it with filler. The newsletter should earn its place in the inbox every time.

Should the VA respond to replies from newsletter subscribers?

Yes, your VA monitors the reply-to inbox and handles routine responses: questions about scheduling, class times, membership inquiries. Any question requiring a coaching answer, a billing decision, or a sensitive client conversation gets forwarded to the owner or coach within 24 hours with a note: "[Name] replied to this week's newsletter-question about meet prep coaching. Needs coach response."

What is a good open rate benchmark for a powerlifting gym newsletter?

Niche fitness communities with engaged lists typically see 35-50% open rates when the list is clean and the content is relevant. If your open rate is below 25%, the most common causes are: subject lines that are too generic, a list with inactive subscribers dragging the average down, or content that does not match what athletes actually want to read. Your VA should test one subject line variable per month-question vs. statement, urgency vs. value-and track what moves the number.

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