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 Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper gives you a tactical action plan for getting ahead of the summer slump in 2025.

He breaks down practical strategies for improving summer retention and boosting revenue with seasonal programs, such as offseason athlete camps.

You’ll also learn how to offer remote coaching and travel prescriptions so you can keep clients engaged even when they’re outside the gym.

Tune in to hear a complete plan you can apply to your gym today and use every year to make summer a strong season.

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3:25 - Pre-sell fall engagement

5:00 - Seasonal programs and events

7:37 - Camps and programs for offseason athletes

9:06 - Remote training programs

12:29 - Vacation training plans

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-value service for both clients and gyms.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Gabriel outlines exactly how he launched the new service with the help of Two-Brain’s semi-private specialist, Brian Bott.

Gabriel explains how he set pricing and coach pay, sold existing clients on the service, and shifted his onboarding process to funnel new clients into the program.

Looking for a way to grow your gym without burning out? Gabriel’s story will show you what’s possible.

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0:54 - What is semi-private training?

5:43 - Selling semi-private training

10:27 - Session pricing and trainer pay

14:48 - Onboarding into semi-private

21:58 - Working with a specialist

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 systemizing even the smallest tasks—like opening the gym or cleaning equipment—can unlock massive growth.

He also walks through his process for presenting SOPs to staff to get their buy-in and create a better client experience.

Stop doing everything yourself. Tune in to learn how to buy back your time, reduce stress and run a more profitable gym.

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3:01 - How to create efficient SOPs

7:04 - Presenting SOPs to your staff

10:01 - When to review & update SOPs

14:41 - Examples from Corey’s mentees

17:52 - Buying back your time

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 Hourly Rate (EHR)
- Staff
- Finance

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the business side of gym ownership, this checklist will give you a clear path forward.

Join Chris for a live walkthrough and Q&A on April 29 at 12 p.m. EDT in Gym Owners United—linked below.

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0:01 - Intro

2:29 - Overview of the checklists 

3:48 - Client headcount, value & retention

8:13 - Owner pay, staff & finance

9:50 - Your next step

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 how the Prescriptive Model has helped her retain clients, reinforce value and consistently deliver results. She also shares how she overcame early sales fears to find high-value clients.

If you've ever wondered how some gyms can charge so much more than others, dig into this episode!

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"Help First"

The Prescriptive Model

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0:01 - $454 ARM in 5-month-old gym

3:32 - Small group vs. semi-private

11:24 - Running a semi-private program

14:27 - How to find high-value clients

22:18 - The Prescriptive Model

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 20 percent.

Chris also breaks down the Prescriptive Model, a client-centric strategy that aligns gym services with individual goals to produce better results.

Focusing on measurable results—instead of just workouts—builds trust, boosts retention and justifies premium pricing.

Tune in to hear why “more clients” isn’t always the answer and then start scaling your gym’s average revenue per member.

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The Prescriptive Model

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00:28 - Top 10 gyms for ARM

04:30 - Why you must be profitable

09:03 - Fewer members, more revenue

11:54 - Quotes from top gym owners

16:30 - Method versus model

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 bright future.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks with Theresa about the exact steps she took to grow a thriving business and get her time back.

Theresa breaks down the mindset shift that helped her transition from “coach” to “CEO” and shares key actions that fueled the gym’s growth: developing onboarding and retention systems, implementing goal reviews, and hiring staff.

Ready to grow without grinding yourself into the ground? This episode is for you. 

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The Stages of Mentorship

"The Golden Hour"

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0:01 - Theresa’s 17-month transformation

3:57 - Pre-mentorship struggles

9:34 - Quick wins in Stage 1

13:12 - Moving from coach to CEO

21:29 - Becoming an elite gym owner

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 third struggles to close high-ticket sales.

John and Matt walk through changes each gym could make to improve their sales, such as contacting leads faster and asking better questions during the sales consultation.

Tune in to hear real-world examples of sales-funnel remedies, then find and fix the weak points in your gym’s funnel.

To learn more about improving your sales process, check out Matt’s last two appearances on the show, linked below.

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Sales Process Overview

Handling Objections

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0:01 - Intro

0:39 - Setting more appointments

5:13 - Getting leads to show up

6:07 - Closing more sales

8:28 - Increasing high-ticket sales

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
• Invitation
• Conversion

It's a system characterized by honesty, and it allows gym owners to move from "selling" to "helping":

• If you are trying to get only what you want, you are selling.
• If you are trying to supply what they want and need, you are helping.

This mindset shift will make all the difference when a desperate person is asking you how to lose 20 lb. As a coach, it's your duty to tell that person exactly how to solve the problem and offer your expert help. 

If you remember that, you'll change more lives and close more sales.

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0:01 - Intro

0:33 - The Help First strategy

3:29 - How to start conversations

6:35 - How to extend an invitation

12:22 - Sales: the first act of coaching

14:30 - The Prescriptive Model

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.

Joey introduces alternative wealth-building strategies such as syndication, land flipping and infinite banking. He also breaks down legal ways to minimize what you owe in taxes and keep more of your hard-earned money working for you.

Gym owners, it’s time to start planning for your financial future—tune in to hear how.

Use the link below to access free resources and take the financial freedom quiz.

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Free Resources

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05:24 - Where to invest your money

12:45 - Passive income from your business

19:05 - Small ways to get started 

22:29 - How syndication works

25:28 - Infinite banking breakdown

32:41 - Free resources for listeners