Run a Profitable Gym – Details, episodes & analysis

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 Steven Pressfield
• “Drive” by Daniel Pink

Team Leadership (to go far, go together):

• “Be the Unicorn” by William Vanderbloemen 
• “Good to Great” by Jim Collins
• “Vivid Vision” by Cameron Herold
• “Leadershift” by John Maxwell 

Peer Leadership (share the mission beyond your gym):

• “Influence” by Robert Cialdini 
• “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller
• “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann 
• “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie

Tribe Leadership (influence your community at scale): 

• “The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell” by Michael Toms 
• “The Dichotomy of Leadership” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin 
• “Enchantment” by Guy Kawasaki 
• “Resilience” by Eric Greitens 
• “Tribes” by Seth Godin 

Plus, from Feb. 9 to 13, 2026, only, Coop is giving away free digital copies of his 10 books for gym owners.

Go to Gym Owners United (linked below), DM him with your biggest challenge, and he'll send you the right book to start with.

Links

Gym Owners United

Book a Call

1:56 - Your leadership diagnostic

6:31 - Self-leadership books

8:44 - Team leadership books

10:57 - Peer leadership books

11:58 - Tribe leadership books

Could your gym use an extra $5,000 in revenue this month?

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper shares three proven tactics gym owners can use to generate more revenue from clients they already have:

🏁 Tactic 1: Run a Hyrox simulation or similar fitness race event.
🏋️‍♀️ Tactic 2: Launch a specialty program, such as weightlifting or running.
⬆️ Tactic 3: Sell upgrades to hybrid memberships with group and personal training.

These three strategies combined can generate over $5,000 in additional gym revenue—with zero ad spend.

Chris walks you through step-by-step execution plans for each tactic, including their exact pricing formulas. He's even got marketing checklists that will keep you on track and ensure success.

Follow the steps and the revenue is yours.

To get a free copy of the “How to Generate $5K Without Paid Ads” guide, DM Chris in Gym Owners United, linked below.

Links

Gym Owners United

Book a Call

0:01 - Intro

1:19 - Hyrox simulation or event

10:56 - Run a speciality program

24:56 - Sell upgrades to memberships

35:34 - Get a copy of the guide

Industry data reveals that 2026 could be the best year gym owners have ever seen.

Revenue is up across every gym model, average revenue per member is rising, and even the lowest-performing gyms are earning more than they were a year ago.

In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris Cooper presents data from Two-Brain’s latest “State of the Industry” report and highlights 10 reasons gym owners should be optimistic for the year ahead.

He explains why personal training and small-group training continue to outperform during uncertain economic times, how predictable competition formats such as Hyrox are driving retention and revenue, and why gym owners are finally starting to charge what their services are actually worth.

He also looks ahead to some of the biggest opportunities for gym owners in 2026: closing the business knowledge gap and using AI as a tool to make human coaching even more valuable.

Tune in for the full breakdown, and to see the data for yourself, download the “State of the Industry” report via the link below.

Links

State of the Industry

Gym Owners United

Book a Call

0:25 - Revenue and recession proofing

2:24 - Opportunities with Hyrox and MetFix

7:13 - Success with small-group training

13:59 - Charging more and keeping clients longer

18:05 - Business knowledge and AI tools

Last week, Chris Cooper published a blog titled “How to Save CrossFit,” and the response was massive—affiliate owners, coaches and industry leaders reached out with questions and concerns.

Today, in this special episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Chris answers their questions.

Coop addresses why he deaffiliated from CrossFit and why the method must evolve, then he digs into a question many have asked him: Would he ever buy CrossFit LLC?

Chris also defines what real change would look like in a complete overhaul, including how to rebuild CrossFit Media, redefine the purpose of the Games, and offer affiliates real education and mentorship to help them succeed.

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes in this series: Chris will explain how affiliates can be saved and lay out a plan for the evolution of the CrossFit Games.

And if you missed the first part of this special series, it's linked below.

Links

How to Save CrossFit

Gym Owners United

Book a Call  

5:33 - First 90 days of complete change

10:21 - What about Europe?

14:42 - Is CrossFit in danger?

17:34 - Affiliates’ concerns

20:35 - Could Coop buy CrossFit?

Jeff Smith of Cannon CrossFit in Texas joins us on the show today. Before becoming involved with CrossFit, he was buying up buildings and holding them to develop cash flow assets. This is a super important episode as we discuss the keys to developing and growing your investments to include an array of options. Take notes and be sure to reach out to Jeff with any questions you may have!

Jeff and I both highly recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

In this Interview:

 

 What is a cash flow asset?
 The three ways that real estate investing makes you money
 The benefiting of getting started with an SBA loan

 

Plus:

 

 Understanding how cheap it is to own your own building - this is the calculator tool I use (make sure you choose "blended" under "payment types" to determine the real monthly payment).
 Why you should buy and hold instead of buy and sell
 Are mutual funds the best investment choice for my portfolio?

 

 

 

 

About Jeff:

 

 

Jeff grew up in Illinois playing just about every sport possible. Following his collegiate football career he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. 


Jeff was introduced to CrossFit by some of his buddies who were still in the military. It was an immediate fit for Jeff’s competitive drive and the community aspect allowed him to make numerous new friends following his move to Houston.  When Jeff is not involved at his gym, he enjoys teaching and mentoring others for how to develop cash flow assets. 

 

Timeline:

 

1:31 – Jeff Smith Introduction

4:41 – What is a cash flow asset?

7:34 – The three ways that real estate investing makes you money

9:08 – What is the first step to buy your first building?

11:48 – The benefit of starting with an SBA (Small Business Association) Loan

13:30 – Understanding how cheap it is to own your building rather than rent.   
15:52 – The ability to sublease your building and create extra cash flow

17:22 – Splitting your business into two separate assets

19:39 – Why are we recommending to buy and hold instead of buy and sell

22:05 – What percentage of a portfolio should be in cash flow assets

23:40 – Why mutual funds may not be the best investment choice

28:19 – Jeff’s experience investing in residential and commercial real estate

31:40 – Deciding between investing in residential versus commercial real estate

33:21 – Where to find a real estate investment group

35:00 – Investing in a franchise. Is it worth it?

38:05 – Investing in others with peer to peer investing

40:00 – Investing in the stock market via index funds

42:05 – Is it possible to turn your business into a passive income business

43:27 – At what stage does your time become too valuable to coach a class

  

  

Contact Jeff:

Jeff@cannoncrossfit.com

http://www.cannoncrossfit.com/

 

Is the old model of "hiring a full-time admin person"--or even hiring a GM for your gym--obsolete?

If you've hired a GM before, you've probably broken out their task list in advance; then calculated the time necessary to do the work; then evaluated their ability to execute. Right?

(If you haven't done this for all of your staff, including coaches, you need the Incubator.)

And you've probably read The Four-Hour Workweek, where author Tim Ferriss uses Virtual Assistants (VAs) to help him reduce his workload and automate replicable tasks. When I read it, the idea of using VAs to help in the service industry seemed like a pipe dream. After all, we're not fulfilling orders: we're greeting people at the door, calling them on Fridays, and writing them love notes.

The VA business has changed a LOT since Ferriss' book.  Virtual Assistants are everywhere, but the spectrum of help is broad--from highly-qualified freelancers to low-paid ESL speakers.

Ari Meisel's company, GetLeverage.com, sits between highly-qualified VAs and your business. GetLeverage.com believes in two steps BEFORE hiring a VA:

Optimizing your processes

Automating your processes

THEN hiring a VA, where possible.

 

In this Interview:

 How Ari battled Crohn’s disease and came out on the other side
 Optimizing the 80/20 rule to get the best results possible
 An example of how Get Leverage can take on a process and outsource it

 

Plus:

 

 Prioritizing which ideas you want to take on in your business and personal life
 What is most important when consider which tasks to outsource
 The top ways that a virtual assistant can help a CrossFit Gym

 

 

 

About Ari:

 

 

Ari started his career back in 2006 in the real estate industry. After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease: A highly debilitating digestive ailment, Ari was unable to lead a normal life. He lost weight, energy and the ability to work with any regularity. Through large amounts of trial and error, Ari was able to regain control of his life and beat this seemingly unbeatable disease and is now symptom free. 

 

Ari now runs a virtual assistant company called Get Leverage. Less doing and more living are the results of Ari’s amazing journey back to health happiness and wellbeing. Ari currently lives in New York City, where he spends every ounce of free time with his wife and four kids. 

Ari has written several books, including Idea to Execution and Less Doing, More Living.

Timeline:

 

0:58 – Ari Meisel Introduction

4:55 – What is an example of the type of work Get Leverage will do?

6:05 – Optimizing the 80/20 rule to get the best results

7:59 – Optimizing your time by creating processes

9:45 – An example of a weekly process and how it is handled at Ari’s company

11:19 -  Optimizing processes outside of work within your personal life

14:01 – The manual of being you. Creating and documenting your steps

16:31 – Prioritizing which ideas you want to work on in your business and personal life

18:05 – What is most important to outsource to a virtual assistant?

21:44 – At what stage should you outsource your primary service?

25:25 – What are the concerns most people have with using virtual assistants?

26:58 – What are the top areas that virtual assistants can help CrossFit Gyms

29:07 – How much autonomy over money and time should we give to a virtual assistant?

31:21 – Why Get Leverage uses Slack instead of traditional email

33:00 – Thoughts on the freelance lifestyle and Ari’s service

  

Contact Ari:

https://getleverage.com/

https://twitter.com/arimeisel?lang=en

https://www.fa

You probably have a great idea. I've never met an entrepreneur who didn't have at least one.

You might even know the steps to get there.

So why aren't you doing it?

If you're a fan of this podcast, you probably own a business.

You probably have an idea to make your business better.

You might not know the first steps. Or (more likely) you're probably chasing TEN ideas and finishing none.

This episode is dedicated to ACTION: doing the things that will make a difference. Knocking over the first domino. Shipping. Publishing.

When I started writing DontBuyAds in 2008, there was a severe lack of knowledge in the microgym community. We didn't know what to charge, or how to sell our services. I was guilty. So as I learned from my first mentors, I published everything on that blog (and then in Two-Brain Business, yada yada.) But in the new age of abundant information, there's a new problem: lack of filtering.

Believe it or not, you probably already know more than you need. The scope of opinion on how to run your business online is vast. Even when it's backed by comparison and data, the sheer volume can be paralyzing. I wrote, "Do You Know TOO Much?" last week, if you want to read more.

There are two parts to the "success" equation: knowledge, and action.

In my first four years spent mentoring other gym owners, I focused on knowledge: my seminars were crazy-long lectures; I sold courses online of my talking head. I no longer do either, because both stopped working for people.

Gym owners would attend these 16-hour knowledge dumps, go home and--take zero action. Or they'd buy an online course, watch a few videos, get overwhelmed, and stop.

When I founded TwoBrainBusiness.com, I took the opportunity to build our programs around what WORKS: mentorship, accountability, AND knowledge. Anyone who compares the 2017 program with the model I used in 2012 (or even 2015) will immediately see a huge difference in the updated delivery...and the results.

Why are TwoBrain gyms so successful? They're coached to take action.

How can I produce this much content, and still have time to take 5-6 phone calls lasting an hour every day? How did I write two books (Help First and Two-Brain Business 2.0) in 70 days? How do I focus on shipping when I have over 80 emails, 40 text messages, and hundreds of Facebook notifications every single day?

This is my strategy for Action.

I share this with TwoBrain gym owners on our regular calls, and I'm sharing it with you now. I know this will probably further the divide between gyms doing very, very well and gyms who aren't going to make it. Gym owners who take action will pull even further ahead of gym owners who don't, and this episode will make that divide even broader. I'm okay with that. To save The Movement, I believe some of us need to push even farther, and then model success for everyone else. Are there millionaire gym owners out there? You'd better believe it. Do they own multiple locations and have thousands of clients? Not most of them. What IS the difference between you and them?

Action.

Enjoy the podcast, and when you're ready to take your OWN action, click here to kick off the Incubator.