Gym growth is simple when you understand the only six metrics that really matter in fitness businesses.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper breaks them down so you can improve your gym:

• Average revenue per member (ARM)
• Length of engagement (LEG)
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Effective hourly rate (EHR)
• Net owner benefit (NOB)
• Client headcount

Using data from over 15,000 gym owners who contributed to Two-Brain’s 2024 “State of the Industry” guide, Coop presents the industry averages for each metric so entrepreneurs know exactly where they stand in comparison.

Then, he equips gym owners with specific tactics to improve each metric and explains why many gyms actually don’t need more members to generate additional revenue.

Plus, Coop dives deep into marketing with Two-Brain’s four-funnel system: referrals, content, social media and paid ads.

He even shares an exclusive preview of the clients-only worksheet Two-Brain gym owners use to audit marketing performance, and he provides actionable fixes for each funnel.

Tune in to learn how to track and improve the critical numbers in your gym business.

Want Coop’s $100K checklist? Head to Gym Owners United using the link below and send him a DM.

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2:14 - Average revenue per member (ARM)

8:23 - Length of engagement (LEG)

14:33 - Return on investment (ROI)

21:48 - Effective hourly rate (EHR)

27:14 - Net owner benefit (NOB)

32:47 - Client headcount

37:13 - Four marketing funnels

45:13 - Auditing and fixing your funnels

59:34 - Getting more leads

What’s stopping your gym from growing?

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Chris Cooper explains how gym owners accidentally limit their business growth and presents a four-level framework for leadership mastery.

The progression moves from self-leadership (controlling your focus and energy) to team leadership (getting staff aligned without micromanaging), peer leadership (influencing equals without authority) and community leadership (expanding impact beyond your gym).

The key insight: Before you can lead others effectively, you must first master yourself.

Fix the owner, fix the business.

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1:57 - Self-leadership

6:45 - Team leadership

10:30 - Peer leadership

14:23 - Community leadership

18:31 - How to grow as a leader

Overwhelmed by conflicting business advice? Cut through the noise with Chris Cooper’s proven system for building wealth as a gym owner.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris explains how to move beyond the passion-first mentality that keeps most fitness entrepreneurs stuck and broke.

He breaks down his four-phase roadmap for gym-owner wealth: Founder, Farmer, Tinker and Chief. These phases show you what to focus on right now, what to ignore and how to move toward financial freedom.

Coop also shares candid stories from his early years of gym ownership, including mopping floors personally and trapping his business in Founder Phase. Everything changed when he focused on fixing the foundation first, stopped trying to market a broken gym, and started doing the right things as a CEO and business owner.

Now as the CEO of Two-Brain Business, Cooper has helped thousands of fellow gym owners fix their businesses, too. He’s minted more than 60 millionaire gym owners, and hundreds more are earning over $100,000 per year.

It’s time to break free from day-to-day operations and start building wealth. Tune in to get the full blueprint.

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1:28 - Why gym owners get stuck

7:44 - Founder Phase

10:51 - Farmer Phase

14:34 - Tinker Phase

19:36 - Chief Phase

After consuming free Two-Brain content for three years, gym owner Tyler Ouwendyk signed up for mentorship. Less than a year later, he earned a spot on the Top 10 leaderboard for net owner benefit (take-home pay), which ranges from US$17,000 to $45,000 per month.

Tyler runs three facilities in a town of 30,000 people: two 24/7 access gyms with memberships capped at 400-500, plus a group training studio that launched with 52 members on Day 1 and hit 130 clients in eight months.

In this episode, Tyler shares the Two-Brain strategies that contributed most to his gyms’ success:

• Eliminating all discounts and sales.
• Raising prices to reach the top of his market.
• Creating proper onboarding systems.
• Adding goal reviews to drive retention and upsells.

He also explains how mentorship accelerated his growth through expert guidance and accountability.

Now, as a Tinker-level gym owner, Tyler’s focus is on building wealth through real estate, life insurance and other investments.

His advice to gym owners who are considering mentorship?

“Just do it. It's not a cost; it's an investment. You're gonna see the ROI right away.”

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0:50 - Getting results from free content

3:54 - Goal reviews in an access gym

9:53 - Why go from free to paid help?

13:43 - How mentorship added speed

17:54 - Opening a profitable new gym

Many gym owners burn out because they reinvent everything daily. In this episode, Chris Cooper shows you how to systemize your gym without killing your creativity.

He introduces the concept of “freedom within a framework”—the solution to decision fatigue, staff chaos and businesses that get stuck in the Founder Phase forever.

Coop explains exactly where to systemize and where to be creative in each area of your business:

• Marketing
• Sales
• Retention
• Operations
• Leadership

You’ll also hear how Two-Brain Business mentors help fitness entrepreneurs build solid systems that support their gyms’ growth without forcing a model or method.

Stop starting from scratch every day and start building the stable, profitable gym you want to run.

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0:19 - The problem and its solution

4:41 - Marketing and sales systems

9:26 - Retention and referral systems

11:53 - Ops and leadership systems

17:26 - Mentorship gives you freedom

Think you need a huge gym and hundreds of members to make serious money? These gym owners proved that wrong by generating $600 average revenue per member (ARM) in just 1,400 square feet.

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Mike Warkentin sits down with Jake Parton and Jenser Gomes from Evolver Fitness in Connecticut, who made Two-Brain's Top 10 leaderboard for net owner benefit (owner take-home) with only 90 members.

Jake and Jenser reveal how they built a high-ticket, high-touch personal-training model that keeps overhead low and maximizes profit.

They share their bootstrap approach to opening during the pandemic and explain how they lost 85 percent of their clients before rebuilding with systems that now allow them to work fewer hours while earning more.

Also up for discussion: their referral-based marketing strategy that eliminates the need for expensive ads and their extraordinary retention system that keeps clients for years.

Tune in to hear how these gym owners worked with a mentor to create the systems that transformed their business and allowed them to build a team of trainers to deliver high-quality service.

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1:27 - Key to high net owner benefit in a small gym

4:42 - Planning for high ARM

9:57 - Earning more for their time

14:47 - Acquiring and retaining clients

27:25 - Systemizing their business

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Chris Cooper reveals the monthly leaderboard for net owner benefit—what gym owners actually pocket from their businesses.

The top-earning fitness entrepreneur takes home over $45,000 a month!

So what are our elite gym owners doing that others aren't?

The Top 10 includes gyms from Belgium, Norway, Canada and Hong Kong, proving location doesn't limit earning potential.

The leaders also proved small gyms can dominate: One top earner has only 90 members, and another operates in just 1,400 square feet of space.

Chris breaks down the two key factors behind high net owner benefit for gym owners: consistency in delivery and total business excellence.

You’ll also find out which business models are driving these impressive income stats. Some gym owners focus strictly on one-on-one coaching, while others use semi-private training or a combination of high-value services to increase revenue.

Listen to learn about the marketing, sales, retention and staff-development systems that separate top-earning gym owners from those who are barely breaking even.

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1:58 - Top-earning gym owners revealed

4:43 - Keys to high net owner benefit

8:45 - Staff systems support growth

10:53 - Models with the highest NOB

15:56 - What all 10 have in common

Think you need 300+ members to run a profitable gym? The data says otherwise.

In fact, the average gym can generate an extra $45,000 per year just by keeping the clients it already has for two extra months.

In this episode of "Run a Profitable Gym," Chris Cooper cuts through the noise with hard numbers from the “State of the Industry” report—the most comprehensive data set in the fitness industry.

He walks through the six metrics every gym owner needs to make smart business decisions:

➡️ Average revenue per member (ARM)—earn more without adding clients.
➡️ Length of engagement (LEG)—keep members longer.
➡️ Net owner benefit (NOB)—your rewards as an entrepreneur.
➡️ Return on investment (ROI)—which expenses allow you to increase revenue.
➡️ Effective hourly rate (EHR)—are you a trainer or a CEO?
➡️ Client headcount—the lives you are changing with fitness.

Listen to hear all six metrics explained, then help build the next report by filling out the survey via the link below.

Links

"State of the Industry" Survey

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1:32 - Earn more per client

3:10 - Keep clients longer

6:17 - Take home more money

7:57 - Increase return on investment

11:11 - Earn more per hour