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Run a Profitable Gym is packed with business tools for gym owners and CrossFit affiliates. This is actionable, data-backed business advice for all gym owners, including those who own personal training studios, fitness franchises, and strength and conditioning gyms. Broke gym owner Chris Cooper turned a struggling gym into an asset, then built a multi-million-dollar mentoring company to help other fitness entrepreneurs do the same thing. Every week, Chris presents the top tactics for building a profitable gym, as well as real success stories from gym owners who have found incredible success through Two-Brain Business mentorship. Chris’s goal is to create millionaire gym owners. Subscribe to Run a Profitable Gym and you could be one of them.
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Most gyms treat old members as if they’re gone forever—but Xtra Mile Fitness brought back 36 departed clients in one year. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Corey Lewis (owner of Xtra Mile Fitness) reveals how he reactivated 36 alumni—comprising nearly 40% of his “new” members—last year. Corey’s philosophy: The client journey doesn’t end when someone leaves your gym. To help you reacquire members, he lays out fundamental exit practices every gym should implement: exit goal review...
The future belongs to gyms that specialize. The data proves it: Small group training has a 7% higher profit margin than large group training, and length of engagement in niche gyms is double the industry average. Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper lays out how niching down will transform your gym. Yes, you can find and own a niche without kicking out existing clients. When you niche down, everything gets easier: Marketing becomes crystal clear, referrals become automatic, your s...
Buying a gym can be one of the best business decisions you’ll ever make or one of the most expensive mistakes of your life. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain Business CEO John Franklin and attorney Matthew Becker of Gym Lawyers PLLC walk you through exactly how to buy a gym without overpaying, buying a disaster or landing on legal landmines. Matthew has handled over $50 million in gym transactions, and John has personally bought and sold five gyms in New York City. In th...
If you burn out, your gym dies. That’s why taking care of your mental health is the best business decision you can make. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper explains why burnout happens to gym owners and how to prevent it. If you pour your energy into clients all day, manage staff, call leads, clean bathrooms and run your business, then go home and scrape the bottom of the bowl for whatever’s left for your family, you'll eventually run out of gas. Your clients will kno...
Most gym owners stay stuck because of fear. Fear of failure. Fear of confrontation. Fear of making things worse. But here’s what Chris Cooper learned after 15 years of mentoring gym owners: The only thing stronger than fear is love. You have to love the local people who need your help more than you fear publishing that Instagram post. You have to love your family enough to fire that coach who’s hurting your gym. Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris presents gym owners with a challenge: E...
The Two-Brain Summit is back for its 10th year this June in Chicago, and it’s bigger than ever before! Get your tickets via the link below and make June 6-7 the most valuable weekend of your entire year. Headlining the owners side, bestselling author Mike Michalowicz will teach you how to stand out and attract the right customers to your gym. You’ll also hear from fitness business experts such as: - Matt Souza of “The Sevan Podcast” and “Souza’s Show” - Street Parking co-founders Miranda a...
For almost a decade, CrossFit affiliate owners followed a misguided mantra: "CrossFit is done in big groups only." In 2026, we know this is false. CrossFit is an incredible tool you can use to get clients fit, and you can deliver coaching one on one, in semi-private groups, in small groups and in big groups. The more individual attention a client receives, the higher the rate. That's critical: High-value services such as PT help CrossFit gyms dramatically increase average revenue per membe...
What if every one of your clients paid $400 or more per month? You probably wouldn't need more clients, staff, equipment or space, right? In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper shows exactly how 10 top gym owners have solved the "need more clients" problem by earning world-class revenue from existing clients. In short, they price coaching services correctly and deliver monster value with premium services such as personal training, small group personal tra...
In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," fitness entrepreneur Daniel Purington reveals the system that produced these world-class stats at Woodslawn Fitness in Oregon: 170 members$350 average revenue per member36-month length of engagementDaniel serves his members in just 2,000 square feet of space and has capped membership: He accepts just four new members per month. To acquire the clients he needs to say at his cap, he doesn't run lead ads. Instead, he uses a clever Affinity Mark...
When gym owners need more clients, most jump straight to ads, social media or complicated marketing campaigns. Another path will produce much better results faster. In this episode, Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper shares the zero-cost strategy he used to fill a new program at his gym in less than a week: affinity marketing. Instead of chasing cold leads, use affinity marketing to leverage your best clients' connections: their family, friends and coworkers. Chris explains how to organize ...
Many gym owners hire the wrong mentor for the wrong reasons. They pick the cheapest option or someone who “really cares.” But "cheap" doesn't mean "effective" and caring isn’t enough. You need results when you invest in mentorship. Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper walks you through the Mentor Match exercise, a step-by-step process for identifying exactly the right mentor for you. The exercise reveals which coaching styles have actually worked for you in the past: Some people...
You have access to endless knowledge and resources, but you can’t seem to put it all together and fix your gym. Why? In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper walks you through the mind of a mentor—showing you exactly how they diagnose problems, prioritize solutions and guide gym owners step by step. He reveals the three reasons gym owners need more money: - Expenses are too high. - Number of clients is too low. - Average revenue per member (ARM) is too low. Many gym owners ...
Don’t let potential members slip away! Get the free “1-Hour Marketing Audit for Gym Owners” here. Joe Rouse ran Two-Brain's “1-Hour Marketing Audit” on his gym and uncovered gaps in his funnels—even after 12 years in business. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Mike Warkentin sits down with Joe, owner of Breakaway Fitness & Performance, to find out what he discovered using Chris Cooper’s free marketing audit guide. Joe thought his funnels were dialed in. The audit ...
Your gym is leaking leads. But you can fix it in 60 minutes with this marketing audit. Get a free copy of the 26-page audit workbook here. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper walks you through a complete one-hour audit of your gym’s marketing funnel—from lead generation to closing sales. He demonstrates the audit live with his own gym, Catalyst, revealing every problem he finds along the way. The audit covers four critical parts of the marketing funnel: Lead generation:...
The median gym owner brings home $61,000 per year, but the owners on Two-Brain’s latest leaderboard earn between $189,000 and $357,000 annually. What’s the difference? In this episode, Mike Warkentin sits down with top earner Ryan McStockard to find out exactly how he secured his spot on the leaderboard. In 2020, Ryan took zero income in some months just to keep the gym alive. Then, in 2021, he invested in Two-Brain mentorship and rebuilt everything. Now he consistently earns over $16,000 ...
The top gym owner on Two-Brain’s leaderboard takes home $29,767 per month. That’s $357,204 per year from a single gym location. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper reveals the Top 10 net owner benefit (NOB) leaderboard—showing exactly what elite gym owners actually take home each month. What sets these owners apart? Chris shares their top tactics, such as nurturing leads, selling high-value coaching services and focusing relentlessly on doing the basics better. Other co...
When your gym is stable and the fires are out, what's next? Two-Brain’s Tinker Mastermind provides an elite level of mentorship for gym owners who are ready to build wealth, scale their businesses, learn to lead and create lasting legacies. This is the fun part of entrepreneurship—the part where you have choices: build investment portfolios, acquire real estate, franchise your concept, create new businesses or simply pick your kids up from school every day. The possibilities are endless. I...
Stop trying to clone yourself when you hire coaches. Today on “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper explains why hiring for personality and training for skill is the smartest path to building a team that lasts. Most gym owners hire based on certifications and technical knowledge. Then they micromanage every rep, correct every cue and watch their coaches burn out within two years. But clients don’t care about perfect squat mechanics; they care about how they feel when they...
Feb. 13, 2026, is Two-Brain’s 10th anniversary—a full decade of solving every problem in the gym business. In this special episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper tells the complete story of how Two-Brain Business became the biggest mentorship practice in the fitness industry. The journey started long before 2016. In 2005, Chris opened his first gym, and by 2008, he was broke, running two struggling locations and looking for part-time jobs in the newspaper. He coul...
Different gym owners need different leadership books. In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper shares a simple plan to help you use the contents of any book to improve yourself and your business, and then he recommends specific books in each realm of leadership. Self-Leadership (to go fast, go alone): “Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty“The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin“Courage Is Calling” by Ryan Holiday“Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown “The War of Art” by Ste...
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To run a profitable gym, prioritize member satisfaction, offer diverse fitness programs, maintain top-notch equipment, and employ skilled trainers. Focus on customer retention, marketing strategies, and operational efficiency. Regularly assess and adapt offerings to meet evolving fitness trends and member needs for sustained profitability.
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Good stuff. Thank you 👍
I can totally relate. I am making the shift from trying to build my credibility by flaunting my knowledge to building an emotional connection with my clients.
Do you have any resources for how to implement Habits Based coaching for nutrition? This sounds good but I am having a hard time picturing exactly how this might look in practice.