Built To Grow Fitness Business

Most gym owners don’t fail because of bad training or broken systems. They fail because they hold on too long to what used to work.

Old carpet. Outdated equipment. The same bootcamp model they’ve been running for 10 years. Meanwhile, competitors down the street are upgrading everything – equipment, tech, even how they greet clients at the door.

You don’t need to burn your gym to the ground and start fr...

Most gym owners try to do too much too early. They stack offers, bend systems, and take on anyone who walks through the door. The intention is solid, but the result is a bloated, confusing business that’s hard to run and even harder to grow.

The story of Boston Chicken makes the point. They built a billion-dollar brand on one product. Then they added more. Three years later, they were bankrupt.

The sam...

It’s easy to get caught up in the next shiny thing in fitness.

The industry is full of flashy new tools – TRX, EMF suits, battle ropes, vibration plates – you name it. And every few years, a new wave promises faster results, easier marketing, or a shortcut to success. 

And yeah, these things can be fun, and they might even work – for a while. But when gym owners build their entire identity around one o...

Success doesn’t start with money – it starts with what you believe you deserve.

When Tim made the choice to stop flying coach and commit to first class, it wasn’t about legroom or perks. It was about drawing a line in the sand. A personal standard. A way of saying, this is where I belong – and I’ll work to stay here.

In this episode, Tim and Randy unpack what it means to adopt a “first-class mindset,” ...

“It’s just group training with fewer people…”

That’s where the wheels fall off for a lot of gym owners.

They hear “semi-private” and think it’s just a slightly smaller group doing the same workouts, maybe with a different coach-to-client ratio. But that mindset completely misses the mark – and it’s probably why they’re struggling to charge more.

In fact, clients aren’t paying for fewer bodies in the room. They’re paying for individual...

There’s a difference between smart marketing and flat-out lying. And in the fitness industry, that line gets crossed way too often.

In this episode, Tim and Randy call out the rise of shady sales tactics – fake contests, fake scarcity, and scripted urgency plays. 

Most of the time, these moves come from a place of desperation, not strategy. Business owners backed into a corner start crossing lines they normally wouldn’t, assuming the...

A lot of gym owners reach a point where the business is running smoothly – team's in place, sessions are full, money’s good, systems are working – but the fire’s not there anymore.

The energy that used to come from walking into the gym starts to fade. Years of handling cancellations, complaints, and the noise from a handful of clients who make everything harder than it needs to be… can wear anyone down. Over time, it’s easy to f...

Most gyms run hard on energy – high fives, loud music, fast transitions. The experience feels great, and clients walk out tired and happy. But when the workouts aren’t backed by a system, the cracks eventually start to show.

Random programming might look exciting, but it isn’t scalable, coachable, or repeatable. 

Without a framework, coaches deliver inconsistently. Clients hit plateaus without knowing why. And when results stall, it’...

“But that’s how we’ve always done it…”

If you’ve ever said those words, this episode is your wake-up call.

In the fitness business, sticking with the same approach for too long isn’t just lazy – it’s a slow bleed. Whether it’s old-school bootcamps or prices you haven’t raised in years, refusing to change slowly chokes your growth.

Simply put: what worked in 2010 won’t carry you through 2025.

Everything is evolving – your clients, the m...

Most gym owners would never hand over the keys to their business… but they’ll hand over their programming without a second thought.

It happens all the time – coaches making up workouts on the fly, tweaking things based on how they feel that day. Before long, they’re the ones controlling the delivery of the most important thing the gym offers. Meanwhile, a lot of gym owners don’t even realize it’s going on.

<...

A lot of gym owners are grinding day in and day out – but if you ask them why they’re doing it, most don’t have a clear answer.

They’re running sessions, managing staff, staying late – doing all the things they think they’re supposed to do. But without a strong sense of purpose behind it, the work starts to feel heavy. Like you're spinning your wheels with no real direction.

That exact question cam...

Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse. Sometimes it’s quiet – just another late night, another underpriced session, another missed dinner with the kids...

That’s where Lane and Payden Montgomery found themselves, thirteen years into running a gym. On paper, things looked fine. But behind the scenes, they were burnt out and stretched thin trying to keep up with a business that was too big, too messy, and too dependent on them.

In ...

Most gym owners work for years to open more locations, get out of the day-to-day, and finally have some freedom.

But what if you get there, and it doesn’t feel the way you thought it would?

In this episode, Tim sits down with Gerry Washack for a late-night, bourbon-in-hand conversation at the Iron Circle Experience. After 20 years in the fitness game, Gerry’s built something most gym owners would be proud of.

He opens up about what it...

Most gyms don’t have a marketing problem – they have a follow-through problem. 

New leads pour in, but a few months later, half of them are gone. The team’s busy, the ads are running, but nothing seems to stick.

In this episode, Tim and Randy sit down with Joey Coleman, bestselling author of ‘Never Lose a Customer Again’, to talk about the one thing that’s missing in most gyms: a real rete...

What if the offer that promises to save your gym… ends up quietly destroying it from the inside out?

High-ticket programs can seem like a dream – sell a few big packages, bring in thousands of dollars fast, and feel like you’ve finally cracked the code. But in reality, they often come with way more work than expected.

Delivering those offers often means taking on a bunch of extra work: detailed nutriti...

If your gym’s offer menu looks like a Cheesecake Factory menu… you’ve got a problem. Too many options might feel helpful — but they often confuse your clients and stall your sales.

In fact, the most profitable gyms don’t offer more — they offer less. And it’s not by accident. They’ve found that a simpler, more focused approach makes it easier for clients to say yes — and easier for the business to deliver consistently.

In this episod...

“Referrals don’t work for us…”

If you’ve ever said that – or thought it – you might be running the wrong kind of referral campaign.

In this episode, Tim and Randy share a simple but powerful grassroots strategy called the Golden Ticket – a referral system designed to generate new gym memberships without paid ads or cold traffic.

Here’s the play: you give current clients shiny, high-value golden tickets ...

What if the biggest threat to your gym isn’t the competition down the street… but the agency you hired to help you grow?

In this episode, Randy and Zach uncover a harsh reality many gym owners are living without knowing it: by relying too heavily on marketing agencies to drive new leads, you may be slowly giving up control of your business.

They reveal how agency-driven six-week challenges and front-end promos offer a quick dopamine ...

Many gym owners believe they can’t raise prices because their clients “won’t pay that much.” But more often than not, it’s not the price that’s the problem – it’s that clients don’t fully understand the value behind what they’re paying for.

Most gyms put their focus on delivering great workouts, which is important. But that often means the deeper elements, like thoughtful program design, strategic progressions, an...