In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper explains how the Top 10 gyms on the revenue leaderboard drive consistent, high-level monthly income. These gyms have moved beyond the "group only" model to add high-value services such as personal training, small-group training and semi-private training. Some gyms are generating significant revenue with challenges and special events that include gamification to drive retention. Chris shares what the top performers have in common—such as str...
Jun 30, 2025•17 min•Season 3Ep. 692
Erik Zeyher’s gym, Warlock CrossFit, generates over $200,000 in annual revenue from its semi-private training program. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Erik breaks down the exact steps he took to build a premium program that works across the board—for clients, coaches and the business. As Erik puts it, “It is aces.” Erik shares how he structures sessions, pricing and coach pay, and he explains how he generated internal buzz around the program to fill it fast. When his first semi-privat...
Jun 26, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 691
Small-group and semi-private training can dramatically increase your gym’s revenue, improve coach pay and boost client results. In this episode, gym owner and semi-private specialist Daniel Purington shares exactly how to build a high-revenue, high-retention semi-private program from the ground up. Certain prerequisites must be in place before you offer this service. If you miss steps, your program will flounder, you'll get frustrated and your members won't sign up for coaching that can help the...
Jun 23, 2025•24 min•Season 3Ep. 690
Does your gym really need more leads, or are you wasting the leads you already have? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” marketing expert John Franklin shares six simple strategies that will help you book more intros and close more sales without spending a dime on ads. Even small improvements in your lead-nurture process can produce huge returns—just one extra sale per month can add over $17,000 in revenue to a gym. John explains: How and when to contact leads. How to personalize lead nur...
Jun 19, 2025•31 min•Season 3Ep. 689
Today, Two-Brain Business founder Chris Cooper previews his new lead-nurture webinar and free checklist guide. If you’re chasing more leads but not seeing results, this training is for you. Learn how to stop wasting the leads you already have, get more leads to show up and improve your conversion rate by 21X. Ready to unlock hidden profit with 10 proven lead-nurture strategies? Attend the free training on June 17 at noon Eastern in Gym Owners United. Links Gym Owners United Book a Call...
Jun 16, 2025•4 min•Season 3Ep. 688
If you’re struggling to keep your gym afloat or feeling stressed about your business, this is the podcast for you. Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper shares a powerful message for owners who are exhausted, overwhelmed or unsure what to do next: You’re not alone. Coop explains how gym owners can turn things around and why “hope” isn’t a feeling. It’s a decision. Chris lays out the real reasons gyms fail and lists the key differences between those that thrive and those...
Jun 12, 2025•16 min•Season 3Ep. 687
Knowledge won’t grow your gym—action will. In this episode, Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper explains how to close the gap between learning and doing so you can move your business forward. For gym owners, the cost of inaction is high: wasted payroll, lost revenue, clogged marketing funnels and low retention. Chris has seen thousands of gym owners get stuck in a cycle of compounding mistakes—not because they lacked information but because they didn't have someone to help them sort through the info ...
Jun 09, 2025•10 min•Season 3Ep. 686
CrossFit Mondego has 429 members—and they’re not bleeding out the door. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Mike Warkentin sits down with one of CrossFit Mondego’s owners, Luísa Mesquita, to find out exactly how she and her partners transformed a gym with high churn into a 400-plus-member powerhouse with great retention. Luísa breaks down the key additions that fueled their explosive growth, including a data-driven referral funnel that consistently brings in new leads without ad spend. In...
Jun 06, 2025•38 min•Season 3Ep. 685
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper presents the leaderboard for gyms with the most paying members. Coop reveals what the leaders have in common: They all focus on improving business fundamentals—such as retention, staffing and repeatable systems—instead of chasing shiny objects such as ad campaigns. Another commonality: boosting average revenue per member (ARM) rather than just adding a ton of cheap, new members. To accomplish this, many have added high-value options such as...
Jun 03, 2025•12 min•Season 3Ep. 684
Gym owner Aaron Scott followed Two-Brain content for six years before finally signing up for mentorship. When he did, everything changed. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Aaron shares exactly how he doubled his revenue at CrossFit Structure in the U.K.—without dramatically increasing his client count. He reveals how implementing high-value onboarding, raising rates with confidence and improving back-end systems helped him grow monthly revenue from £7,500 to over £15,000. With mentorshi...
May 29, 2025•20 min•Season 3Ep. 683
If your gym isn't paying you at least $100,000 a year, you need to listen to this podcast—or check it out on YouTube to see the visuals . Chris Cooper shares the six reasons gym owners fail and provides the tools fitness entrepreneurs need to solve these problems. Coop was a struggling gym owner, too, and this is the exact video that would have saved him 15 years ago when he was struggling to pay the rent as an overworked, underpaid gym owner. The data-backed, battle-tested resources in this vid...
May 26, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 682
Robin Sowden-Taylor added Hyrox to his gym and credits it with bringing in 30+ new clients and thousands in extra revenue. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks with Rob, owner of ION Strength & Conditioning in Wales, who opens up his books and shares the exact ROI he’s getting from Hyrox. He breaks down what he’s paying, what he’s earning and how the program has improved lead generation and member retention—without changing his gym’s core identity. Rob runs Hy...
May 22, 2025•22 min•Season 3Ep. 681
Is affiliation worth it—or is it just another unnecessary expense? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper breaks down how to measure the true value of an affiliation or licensing agreement, using clear steps and real-world examples from brands such as CrossFit, Hyrox, CNU Stretch and Parisi Speed School. You’ll learn what affiliation actually gives you (and what it doesn’t), how it compares to franchising and where a brand fits into your gym’s business structure. Coop introduces...
May 19, 2025•16 min•Season 3Ep. 680
Staffing problems can destroy your gym’s momentum—and your sanity. But with the right systems and mindset, they’re solvable. In this episode of Run a Profitable Gym, host Mike Warkentin talks with gym owner Chris Williams about the staffing chaos he inherited when he bought his gym. Chris shares the HR disasters that nearly wrecked his business and lays out the steps he took to rebuild trust, create structure and increase professionalism. He explains how he turned a gym run by friends into a rea...
May 15, 2025•33 min•Season 3Ep. 679
Staffing is the biggest and most important investment you'll ever make in your gym. Get it right and your business grows. Get it wrong and everything stalls. Today, Chris Cooper unpacks the seven deadly staffing sins that create chaos, kill growth and keep gym owners chained to day-to-day operations. From hiring out of desperation to keeping people too long, each staffing mistake is pulled from real conversations with gym owners who’ve felt the consequences. You’ll probably recognize a few of th...
May 12, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 678
What if your gym was fully booked and highly profitable all summer long? While many gym owners brace for a summer slump, Debbie Rosslan ramps up with youth programs such as jump training, volleyball development, and speed and agility, which keep her gym full and profitable. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks with Debbie about how she uses kids camps to generate consistent revenue during the months of the year when many gym owners struggle. Debbie breaks down how...
May 08, 2025•19 min•Season 3Ep. 677
Summer is coming, and for many gym owners, that means holds, cancellations and a painful dip in revenue—but it doesn’t have to. The summer slump is natural if you don't take action: Clients go on vacation, they trade your programmed workouts for outdoor activities in the sunshine, and kids who are home from school force routine changes. But when clients stop coming to the gym consistently, they lose the momentum they’ve built, making it harder to get them to restart in the fall. Today on “Run a ...
May 05, 2025•18 min•Season 3Ep. 676
Gabriel Mayer-Bédard, owner of CrossFit St-Basile-le-Grand in Quebec, Canada, used semi-private training to generate over $200,000 in new revenue in just one year. Adding semi-private training also boosted his gym’s client retention, solved scheduling challenges, and produced higher pay and improved career paths for his coaches. In a semi-private model, about four clients train at the same time under one coach, and each client receives personalized programming and attention—making it a high-valu...
May 02, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 675
Tired of answering the same questions, fixing the same mistakes and doing everything yourself? In this episode, Corey Lewis, Two-Brain mentor and owner of Xtra Mile Fitness, shares how systemizing his gym with SOPs (standard operating procedures) has helped him save time, improve retention, onboard staff more efficiently and build a more profitable business. Creating SOPs doesn’t have to be painful. Corey reveals his quick hack for writing them in minutes with help from AI, and he explains why s...
May 01, 2025•23 min•Season 3Ep. 674
Want to earn $100,000 a year from your gym? Passion alone won’t cut it. You need a clear plan. Today, Chris Cooper introduces a proven, step-by-step guide: “The Gym Owner’s Checklist for Hitting $100K+ Annual Income.” Based on data from thousands of gyms worldwide, this checklist outlines exactly what you need to do to build a profitable, sustainable business. It’s broken down into six essential areas: - Get More Clients - Average Revenue Per Member (ARM) - Length of Engagement (LEG) - Effective...
Apr 28, 2025•11 min•Season 3Ep. 673
At just five months old, Emilie Towns’ gym is already averaging more than $450 per member per month. Instead of offering big group classes, Emilie built Ardent Fitness on a high-value foundation by focusing on semi-private and small-group training. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Emilie shares how her mentor helped her launch with clarity and confidence, and she lays out the systems that drive her success. She breaks down her onboarding process and pricing strategy, and she explains h...
Apr 24, 2025•27 min•Season 3Ep. 672
What if every client in your gym happily paid you $20 more per month? What about $50 more? Or even $100 more? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper presents the Top 10 leaderboard for average revenue per member (ARM), with the No. 1 gym earning $724 per client per month. He explains how these elite gyms have boosted their revenue by prioritizing client value over headcount. In fact, one gym on the leaderboard increased its revenue by 38 percent while reducing its client base by...
Apr 21, 2025•21 min•Season 3Ep. 671
When Theresa Straight signed up for mentorship, she was working 70-80 hours per week—coaching for 30-plus of those—and barely scraping by. Seventeen months later, she’s doubled her client headcount, doubled her average revenue per member and quadrupled her revenue. Theresa raced through the stages of Two-Brain mentorship and has reached the elite Tinker level, where gym owners are earning over $100,000 per year. Her focus now is on using her gym to support her family’s lifestyle and create a bri...
Apr 18, 2025•29 min•Season 3Ep. 670
Struggling to turn gym leads into paying members? Your sales funnel might need some first aid. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” marketing experts John Franklin and Matt Temby break down sales data from three gyms, identify gaps in their sales processes and explain how to fix them. The pair dial in on three key lead-tracking metrics: set rate, show rate and close rate. They explore why one gym has trouble getting leads to set appointments, why another has so many no-shows, and why a thi...
Apr 17, 2025•13 min•Season 3Ep. 669
If you own a gym, you must sell. That probably makes you uncomfortable, but Chris Cooper is here to remind you that selling is actually the first act of coaching. If you can't get people to sign up, you can't coach them to improve their health and fitness. Still, no fitness coach wants to feel pushy or slimy. In this episode, Coop explains how to sell while maintaining a philosophy of generosity and service. He lays out the Help First funnel, which has four sections: Introduction Conversation In...
Apr 14, 2025•21 min•Season 3Ep. 668
How can gym owners achieve financial freedom and retire comfortably? Traditional retirement plans are not always the best answer for gym owners, and relying solely on gym income can be risky. To tackle this question, Chris Cooper sits down with Joey Mure from “Wealth Without Wall Street,” a podcast and online community designed to educate people on how money truly works. Chris and Joey discuss how gym owners can become financially independent, invest wisely and build wealth beyond their gyms. Jo...
Apr 10, 2025•36 min•Season 3Ep. 667
Economic uncertainty is coming, but that doesn’t mean your gym has to struggle. In fact, the best gym owners use challenging times as an opportunity to grow, refine their businesses and come out stronger on the other side. In today’s episode, Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper lays out the exact steps gym owners can take to thrive during an economic downturn. Slashing membership rates is the wrong move—Chris shares smarter strategies for growing top-line revenue, from prioritizing high-value service...
Apr 07, 2025•23 min•Season 3Ep. 666
Struggling to pay yourself enough as a gym owner? James Harris of Brentwood Barbell went from barely scraping by to generating $30,000 a month in revenue—and today, he’s sharing exactly how he did it. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with James to unpack his journey from burnout to six-figure success. A former physical therapist turned gym owner, James reveals how Two-Brain Business helped him triple his revenue in less than three years. He also shares how...
Apr 04, 2025•31 min•Season 3Ep. 665
First-time entrepreneur Natalie Winslow opened her gym with the support of a Two-Brain mentor and brought her income from $0 to $100,000 in under a year. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym” host Mike Warkentin talks with Natalie, owner of The Gym at Tierra Verde in Florida, to find out the exact steps she took to build a profitable gym fast. Natalie shares how her mentor guided her to develop a solid plan for her business, including standard operating procedures that ensured the gym ran sm...
Apr 03, 2025•22 min•Season 3Ep. 664
CrossFit founder Greg Glassman is back with a new project: MetFix. In this exclusive interview on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain Business CEO Chris Cooper gets the inside story on Glassman’s latest venture—a program designed to attack chronic disease through its focus on metabolic health. Glassman explains why he believes sugar is public enemy No. 1, how broken science has misled the fitness industry and why MetFix is in a position to address problems that CrossFit can’t. He also shares his t...
Apr 02, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Season 3Ep. 663
