May 22, 2025 • 21 mins
Robin Sowden-Taylor added Hyrox to his gym and credits it with bringing in 30+ new clients and thousands in extra revenue.
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks with Rob, owner of ION Strength & Conditioning in Wales, who opens up his books and shares the exact ROI he’s getting from Hyrox.
He breaks down what he’s paying, what he’s earning and how the program has improved lead generation and member retention—without changing his gym’s core identity.
Rob runs Hyrox classes alongside his existing strength-and-conditioning model, filling underused class times while generating additional revenue and community engagement from Hyrox events.
If you’re considering affiliation or looking for a new revenue stream, tune in to hear exactly what Hyrox delivered for ION Strength & Conditioning.
Links
Hyrox in a CrossFit Gym
Gym Owners United
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1:02 - ROI on Hyrox affiliation
6:13 - Rob’s pricing and retention
11:15 - Extra revenue from events
12:52 - Is it difficult to get started?
16:30 - Adding Hyrox to a CrossFit gym
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
what is the value on hyrox affiliation you're going
to get exact numbers from a realgym today this is run a
profitable gym i'm your hostmike borkman and please hit
subscribe wherever you arewatching or listening if you
spend money on something youshould make more money so does
it make financial sense toinvest in hyrox and offer that
sort of training we're going tofind out today you're going to
(00:22):
get answers from ion strengthand conditioning in wales which
is owned by robin soden taylorhe graciously said he would open
his books and give you exactdata from inside his business so
you can make smart decisionsinside your gym.
We're going to get right intoit.
Rob, welcome.
How are you?
SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
I'm great, thanks.
Good to be on the podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (00:42):
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
I am very
SPEAKER_02 (00:44):
excited about this.
SPEAKER_00 (00:46):
It's been a valuable tool for me for over the years.
So yes, it's a great, greatopportunity to chat about a
topic that I think is pretty hotproperty at the moment.
SPEAKER_02 (00:55):
Yeah, this is going to be your chance to pay it
forward because you're going tobe able to tell people with data
how to make better decisions intheir business.
So I'm going to tell you thisright off the top.
UK, Hyrox affiliation costs£120a month or£1,440 a year.
That's$160 US or$1,910 US peryear.
We're Rob, do you see ameasurable clear investment on
(01:19):
that spend?
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (01:21):
ROI, pardon me?
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Yeah, without a doubt.
For us, we've been affiliatedfor just over 16 months now.
Initially, when we affiliated,it was£90.
We've got two trainingfacilities in the UK and Wales.
The one facility we've had forjust over 11 years, for a large
part of that time, we wereCrossFit affiliated.
I made the decision about twoyears ago to not renew the
(01:47):
affiliation, just in terms ofrising costs, being very keen on
building our own brand very setwith what we want to achieve.
But for me, it was really seeingthe Hyrox brand escalating
pretty quickly.
There's a real buzz about HighRocks and we've certainly seen a
bit of a peak in the UK andcertainly in Wales where we're
(02:09):
based in 2025.
We're hosting, like a lot ofcities now around the world,
we've got a big High Rocks eventcoming to our capital city here
in Wales and it's been held inthe National Rugby Stadium which
hosts 80,000 spectators.
It's going to be a fantasticvenue for it and that's
(02:29):
happening at the end of themonth.
So, you know, we've really, youknow, seen a lot of growth
within our Hyrox leads,certainly over the last six
months, which, you know, we candive into.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Yeah.
So, even with a 25% monthlyincrease in affiliation fees,
you're still seeing a great ROIon this.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
A hundred percent.
SPEAKER_02 (02:50):
And so much so that it dwarfed the CrossFit ROI.
Is that correct?
Is that why you made that
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
switch?
I didn't initially make thedecision to de-affiliate or not
renew my affiliation withCrossFit to go straight into
High Rocks.
I felt that we just naturally,for us, had just outgrown the
need for an affiliation withCrossFit.
But like I said, we don't spenda huge amount of money on our
(03:15):
marketing budget with socialmedia, paid ads and that side of
things.
So for me it's been i've seenthe hyrox affiliation as a part
of our marketing budget and it'sbeen very worthwhile we've seen
the benefits through the thelead generation
SPEAKER_02 (03:29):
Okay, so it wasn't a one-in-one-out switch that you
made.
You traded one for the other.
And to be fair, listeners,CrossFit affiliation is not all
that expensive.
It's more costly than Hyroxaffiliation, but you can
certainly do the ROI to figureout.
We're not talking about CrossFittoday.
We're talking about Hyrox.
So I'm going to ask you this,Rob, because you told me this
before the show.
What percentage of leads areasking about Hyrox now, and what
funnels have you got to capturethese leads?
SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
Yeah, so for us, as I touched on, you know, we've
got an event coming to ourcapital city later this month.
And in 2025, we have just seenthe leads coming in through our
website and through socialmedia.
It's up as high as 42%.
SPEAKER_02 (04:10):
Of
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
total leads or high rocks?
It's just being peopleinterested in trying and
sampling Hyrox.
For me, I'm very set on, I seeHyrox as being a nice addition
for us.
I'm not looking to build a wholebrand that I own around Hyrox,
(04:34):
but it's just, it's fitting inwell to, you know, an
all-inclusive approach that'sgreat for members to have
something to put their fitnessto the test in a good community
spirit environment.
SPEAKER_02 (04:47):
So if I lay it out for you like this, you're paying
120 pounds a month for HighRocks affiliation and that is
generating essentially 42% ofyour leads, correct?
Yeah, correct.
Yeah, so that's a no-brainer.
If you could spend, you know,120 pounds or 160 US or whatever
it is to get half your leads,that's going to be a huge ROI.
(05:08):
So, this is kind of looking likea no-brainer, but let's get
further in.
Let's dig into ROI.
How many new members have youacquired this year because of
High Rocks?
What is that number?
SPEAKER_00 (05:16):
So on average, we get around 30 to 35 leads a
month.
This is in our facility.
So we've got our model at ION.
We're a class-based trainingfacility.
We have a higher membershipbase.
So we've got 450 members in ourone facility.
In our second facility, that'sonly two years old.
So that's in the growth stage.
That's in around the 160 mark.
(05:39):
But for us, talking about ourolder facility, we're generating
around 30 to 35 leads a month.
In two 2025 alone we've had 31new members that have joined
from initial hyrox inquirieslike we don't run a specific
hyrox membership um from amembership perspective you know
that that's the hyrox classesare just included in our full
(06:03):
membership our unlimitedmembership that we we have and
also our our 10 class pass whichis also our higher value
membership option should peoplebe interested in that
SPEAKER_02 (06:12):
okay so now i looked at your website it says your
full rate for your full pass is85 Is that accurate?
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
Yeah, so full membership is£85.
Yeah, we keep it very simplewith our approach.
We have a full membership andthen a basic membership, which
is for our main models ofclasses.
We run a 30-minute class, a45-minute bootcamp-style class,
and then a 60-minute strengthand conditioning class, which is
the most popular class.
Our full membership includes allthose classes alongside some
(06:40):
speciality classes likebarbells, our Olympic lifting
class, our ladies-only strengthclass, and our high rocks
classes.
SPEAKER_02 (06:48):
Okay, so I just did some math while you were talking
here.
And if you've got 31 new membersfrom High Rocks and each of them
is paying 85 pounds a month,that is 2,635 pounds, pardon me,
in monthly revenue one month,right?
And you're paying 120 pounds amonth.
So again, listeners, we're justlaying out some obvious ROI that
(07:09):
Rob is getting at his gym.
If these members, the 31 that heacquired, spend just six months
in his business, He's looking at15, almost 16,000 pounds.
Now, I know this is evencrazier.
So, Rob's asked about his lengthof engagement.
He holds people for 26 to 28months.
So, this is great.
(07:29):
So, now we're talking aboutforce multipliers.
So, he gets a new member throughHigh Rocks, 85 pounds, pardon
me.
He's going to hold them for 26to 28 months.
You're looking at over 70,000pounds.
Have you done this math, Rob?
No.
SPEAKER_00 (07:42):
Yeah, so it's something that we track hard,
obviously being part of TwoBrain as well.
The metrics for me is somethingthat I look at hard each month.
For me, obviously, the new leadsthat have come in this year, the
new clients that we've had, yes,it's around the 75k mark that is
of the value to the business,but obviously there's a churn.
(08:04):
We have members that's leavingeach month, so it's not like
it's just adding 75k to the topline, but it obviously has been
of extremely valuable for us youknow we have a decent churn rate
it sits around 33 3.5 percent soit's something again a big focus
for us is is working on ourretention but you know i can
certainly see at this moment intime the hyrox wave is certainly
(08:28):
flying well um and you know it'sit's it's been a great addition
to us as a business and also asa community as well so it's uh
you know i i do see that it'sbeen very valuable and you know
seeing this more and more gymsgetting part of it, being part
of the High Rocks brand as beingbeneficial.
SPEAKER_02 (08:49):
Yeah, but you look at this, listeners, even if
everyone he acquires stays forjust one month, he's still
winning on the annual fee.
If everyone stays for sixmonths, he's big time winning.
If people stay for his length ofengagement average of 26 to 28,
this is like a lottery win,right?
So again, these fees are verysmall.
They don't ask for a lot inreturn.
And Rob's making a ton of cashon this.
(09:10):
The ROI is pretty incredible ifyou look at this.
Now, again, your churn might beworse.
You might not be able to getthis exact numbers, but these
are real numbers from inside areal gym.
So I want you to see them.
Now, talk to me.
So that's just membership stuff.
Talk to me about special events.
What else do you do tocapitalize on that High Rocks
affiliation?
SPEAKER_00 (09:27):
Yeah.
So as I think a lot of HighRocks affiliated gyms are doing
more and more of, they run HighRocks simulation events.
And there's been a big growth ofthese events popping up all
around the place.
I think probably the challengeHigh Rocks have a little bit at
the moment is in they're in suchhigh demand.
It's actually quite hard to getplaces in some of the events.
(09:49):
Yeah, they sell out.
They sell out so quickly.
So...
You know, what we've been tryingto do is, certainly over the
past couple of years, we runquarterly High Rocks style
events.
Some of them are High Rockssimulation events that replicate
the event themselves.
We also run similar events interms of probably not the exact
same, making it, you know, lessrunning based.
(10:11):
But one of the things we alwaysfocus it around is more the
partner workout, the pairsworkout, the team workouts,
because for me, as I touched on,it's not just about from a
business perspective, it's alsoabout what it brings to the
community.
And, you know, we, our last highrock simulation workout or event
we ran was last month where wehad over 110 competitors taking
(10:33):
part.
You know, my approach to it is Ireally want to make a bit of a
spectacle for our members andour area by partnering with
local brands, having vendorscoming in and really trying to
make a good competition, anevent out of it, a real good
community day.
So, you know, it's somethingthat we, we do charge for, we
mix it up a little bit.
(10:53):
We've done a number of eventswhich have been all the money
raised has gone to charities.
We've done ones that have beenfree events just to really drive
an in-house team environment.
And we've done a number ofevents which have also been paid
events, which also brings somegood income into the gym that
allows us to reinvest into whatwe're doing on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_02 (11:15):
Did you say to me before the show that in one of
your events, a paid one, youtook in about£2,000?
SPEAKER_00 (11:21):
Yeah, so the last one that we ran was a big
success.
We had good numbers.
And they're events that runpretty smoothly.
We're very set in terms of if weput on events and if we put paid
events on, that we want to makesure these events run
professionally at a high levelthat gives members and also we
open it up externally tonon-members, that it gives them
(11:42):
a real taste of the competitionenvironment.
It allows them to put theirfitness to the test.
So I think people do see thatit's worth the spend and
everyone has a great day andenjoys the environment
SPEAKER_02 (11:56):
so listeners High Rocks events the official ones
the big deals they are sellingout very fast I know I'm in
Canada I know people are liningup already to figure out when
the announcement or whenregistration is open for the
Canadian event this is the caseall over the world right now
that means these one-off eventsthat Rob's running which are
they're not the big officialHigh Rocks events but they're
simulations and so forth thereis a huge market for stuff like
(12:17):
that and Rob is acquiring 110people in his last one and again
now here's Here's the cool part,he ended up with£2,000 of
revenue out of that.
annual affiliation fee for HighRocks is 1,440 pounds.
So, he already covered that withone event.
He could run four of those ayear.
And then at that point, if hedoes the same thing and partakes
in 2,000 pounds, that's almost5X revenue on the affiliation
(12:40):
fee to say nothing of hisrecurring monthly revenue.
So, again, we're looking atclear and obvious ROI.
Are you getting return on yourinvestment?
The obvious answer here is yes.
So, Rob, give me the quickbreakdown.
Is– and I just want to know interms of like the ease of this
hyrox affiliation is it hard toset up and get get approved or
(13:00):
how does that go is it a prettygreasy thing or is it very like
complicated and annoying
SPEAKER_00 (13:04):
it's very straightforward it's simply
signing up to the affiliationand it's as simple as that
you're affiliated within youknow probably half an hour with
a credit card
SPEAKER_02 (13:14):
swipe and you're done
SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
with a with a credit card swipe and you're done so
it's it's you know is itregulated could it be done a
little bit better in that regardpotentially but you know
certainly for us we need knowhow to you know to the the way
we want to do things and youknow it bringing bringing high
rocks into our trainingfacilities has been has been
(13:35):
beneficial i think i i am verykeen on saying that it's it's i
just see it as you know anopportunity for us that's been
really beneficial from amarketing perspective you know
it's really helped that you knowit's really added something to
our our community for a timebeing but i'm very set that i
don't want to build a wholemodel at ion around um an
affiliation or a brand like HighRocks because I think it is in
(14:00):
the fitness industry there arepeaks and troughs with certain
training modalities and you knowfor me it's very much we're keen
on building our own brand andyou know that's the priority
first and foremost but I meanit's you know how we run the
classes how we run the programas such it's been very easy to
integrate into our classenvironment as I touched on
(14:21):
we're a class based trainingfacility you know our peak times
probably like a lot of othergyms our early mornings earlier
evenings where our 6.30 classeswere a little bit quiet that's
where we've changed them more tospeciality classes where we run
a on Mondays we run a barbellclass an Olympic lifting class
(14:42):
on Tuesday and Thursday that'swhere we run our high rocks
class Thursday we run a ladiesonly strength club and then on
the weekend we also run the highrocks classes but also it's
actually I'll drop this inbecause for me it's our morning
classes we've got the luxury youhave an indoor class and then
we've got a small outdoortraining area outside the gym
(15:04):
which you know we put in postpost covid and you know we're
able to run our iron 60 ourstrength and conditioning class
inside and then outdoor in thesmall training area we run the
high rocks classes and it ispumping we've got tomorrow
morning we've got 64 peoplebooked in to take part in the
outdoor high rocks class whichis like I said we were always
(15:25):
run it as pairs pairs workoutsit brings a great feel but as
you touched on it's it's lowskill exercises it's easy to
manage the high numbers and it'sit's a great workout there's no
getting away from that andthat's why people really enjoy
the the high rock style oftraining
SPEAKER_02 (15:42):
so i'll ask you this you gave me the exact breakdown
of how the program runs at yourgym you've obviously you're
branding yourself as ion and youare a thing and you offer
training and coaching but you'vealso got this high rocks
affiliation where you can offeradditional programming streams
and outside of what else you'redoing but again you're not hyrox
ion you are ion strength andconditioning and hyrox is just a
thing that you do you can alwayschange that and not renew if you
(16:02):
see fit the roi ever changes youcan pump that out and do
something else you are buildingyour own brand because there is
a cost to changing your brand soif you build a strong brand you
may not want to tie it on tosomeone else but you've got this
great program that's filling upother places or low volume areas
we have that kill it or fill itmentality if your classes are
dead you either have to get ridof them or fill them you're
(16:23):
filling them with some hyroxoptions you having a great time
with it.
And all of this sounds like acomplete no-brainer.
Again, let me ask you this.
You were a CrossFit affiliateand there are many CrossFit
affiliates out there.
How easy is it if you're aCrossFit affiliate to just start
doing high rocks training?
SPEAKER_00 (16:39):
I think that's been the challenge over the years.
And, you know, when we, ournatural progression has probably
been post-COVID.
That's the period in terms ofour brand that's really kicked
on, helped us kicked on, becauseit was really that time that I
really identified who our targetmarket was, time-precious
individuals, busy work lives,busy family lives.
(17:00):
So we very much built ourtimetable around it, having the
30, 45 and 60-minute classes toallow members the opportunity to
get regardless of how much timethey have available and have an
effective workout.
You know, we also have probablymoved away over the years from a
lot of the high-end gymnastics,high-skilled exercises
(17:21):
associated with CrossFit, andwe're very basic in our approach
in terms of strength andconditioning.
It's built around thefundamentals, like in our Iron
60 class, on a Monday we squat,on a Tuesday we upper-body
push-pull, on a Thursday we haveour upper-body volume day,
Friday we pull from the floor,we hinge.
And for me, and also with theHigh Rocks, it's about educating
(17:43):
people as well.
And, you know, a lot of people,you know, join ION to take part
in the High Rocks classes.
And it's about trying to educatethem to the benefit of, you
know, introducing strength andconditioning to their training
regime, which is really goingto, you know, help them develop
as, you know, for their HighRocks training and their events,
rather than just thrashingthrough, you know, continually
doing simulation, High Rocksimulations all the time.
(18:05):
So, you know, our core programis our strength and
conditioning, um, classes um andyou know for me it's the high
rocks has just been an excellentfeeder into the uh the the the
main the main core core classesthat we have at ion
SPEAKER_02 (18:20):
and there it is it becomes part of your funnel
where maybe people join for highrocks and they start doing
something else like you've gotadditional programs if they want
to take that further becausehigh rocks is the same thing
every time which is not a badthing but it is the same thing
every time if someone wants toexpand their fitness journey
other options in your programwork here's what i believe rob
you're going to tell me if youagree with this or not i believe
that if you run a crossfitaffiliate it or a strength
conditioning gym, I believe thatyou can offer high rocks
(18:44):
training without getting anyadditional equipment because you
could just start doing, like ifyou have kettlebells, dumbbells,
a few other things, you couldoffer the training style.
Even if you don't have everysingle thing in high rocks or if
you don't have sleds that youlike to have distance, you can
still figure out a way to dothis in your facility even if
it's not the official thingbecause again, we know you don't
(19:04):
train to run a race by runningthe race over and over and over
again.
You do various different thingsto prepare you for that race so
that's my belief Rob do youagree with me?
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
Totally and that's where we've seen it's just been
such a smooth transition intoour daily program it's you know
it's a style of program that'slike I said it's low skill
exercises so the coaching aspectit makes it easier to manage the
higher numbers in classenvironments you know the energy
that it provides around thefacility is fantastic but also
(19:35):
you know as you touched on allthe equipment most functional
fitness CrossFit style gyms willhave this, the equipment already
available to them.
So it's not like there needs tobe a huge amount of investment
into buying new kits and otherbits and bobs.
It's almost, as you said, you'rethere ready to go.
And like I said, it's been verymuch for us a no brainer.
(20:00):
And as we've seen the return ofinvestment, you know, from the
get go.
SPEAKER_02 (20:04):
Okay, so we just laid out how to run a High Rocks
program at your affiliate or gymand now we're just going to
close this off by going over thenumbers again.
High Rocks affiliation costs,Rob, about 120 pounds a month or
1,440 pounds a year.
That's 160 US or 1,910 per year.
He has 31 new members this yearfrom High Rocks.
He's getting close to 40% of hisleads who are asking for High
(20:27):
Rocks.
They are staying at his gym for85 pounds a month and his length
of engagement is 26 to 28months.
Rob, am I correct again insummarizing this?
This is a 100% no-brainer foryou to add Hyrox at your gym.
SPEAKER_00 (20:40):
100% and I think that the numbers speak for
themselves really, don't they?
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
They absolutely do.
Thank you so much for openingyour books and sharing, you
know, confidential data to helpother people make great
decisions.
I really, really appreciate itand so will our listeners.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
not a problem at all.
Like you said, to the start istwo brains had a big influence
over me over the past years.
And, you know, I, I feelstrongly about helping others
in, uh, in our space and ourindustry to, uh, yeah, find ways
of improving their, theiroverall business.
SPEAKER_02 (21:08):
And you've given them an incredible tool to do
that today.
Thank you so much.
That was Robin Soden Taylor.
This is run a profitable gym.
Thank you for watching andlistening.
Please hit subscribe whereveryou are.
And now here's to brain founder,Chris Cooper with a final
message.
SPEAKER_03 (21:21):
Hey, it's Two Brain founder Chris Cooper with a
quick note.
We created the Gym Owners UnitedFacebook group to help you run a
profitable gym.
Thousands of gym owners justlike you have already joined.
In the group, we share soundadvice about the business of
fitness every day.
I answer questions, I run freewebinars, and I give away all
kinds of great resources to helpyou grow your gym.
(21:42):
I'd love to have you in thatgroup.
It's Gym Owners United onFacebook or go to
gymownersunited.com to join.
Do it today.
Hey!
what is the value on hyrox affiliation you're going
to get exact numbers from a realgym today this is run a
profitable gym i'm your hostmike borkman and please hit
subscribe wherever you arewatching or listening if you
spend money on something youshould make more money so does
it make financial sense toinvest in hyrox and offer that
sort of training we're going tofind out today you're going to
(00:22):
get answers from ion strengthand conditioning in wales which
is owned by robin soden taylorhe graciously said he would open
his books and give you exactdata from inside his business so
you can make smart decisionsinside your gym.
We're going to get right intoit.
Rob, welcome.
How are you?
SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
I'm great, thanks.
Good to be on the podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (00:42):
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (00:43):
I am very
SPEAKER_02 (00:44):
excited about this.
SPEAKER_00 (00:46):
It's been a valuable tool for me for over the years.
So yes, it's a great, greatopportunity to chat about a
topic that I think is pretty hotproperty at the moment.
SPEAKER_02 (00:55):
Yeah, this is going to be your chance to pay it
forward because you're going tobe able to tell people with data
how to make better decisions intheir business.
So I'm going to tell you thisright off the top.
UK, Hyrox affiliation costs£120a month or£1,440 a year.
That's$160 US or$1,910 US peryear.
We're Rob, do you see ameasurable clear investment on
(01:19):
that spend?
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (01:21):
ROI, pardon me?
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Yeah, without a doubt.
For us, we've been affiliatedfor just over 16 months now.
Initially, when we affiliated,it was£90.
We've got two trainingfacilities in the UK and Wales.
The one facility we've had forjust over 11 years, for a large
part of that time, we wereCrossFit affiliated.
I made the decision about twoyears ago to not renew the
(01:47):
affiliation, just in terms ofrising costs, being very keen on
building our own brand very setwith what we want to achieve.
But for me, it was really seeingthe Hyrox brand escalating
pretty quickly.
There's a real buzz about HighRocks and we've certainly seen a
bit of a peak in the UK andcertainly in Wales where we're
(02:09):
based in 2025.
We're hosting, like a lot ofcities now around the world,
we've got a big High Rocks eventcoming to our capital city here
in Wales and it's been held inthe National Rugby Stadium which
hosts 80,000 spectators.
It's going to be a fantasticvenue for it and that's
(02:29):
happening at the end of themonth.
So, you know, we've really, youknow, seen a lot of growth
within our Hyrox leads,certainly over the last six
months, which, you know, we candive into.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Yeah.
So, even with a 25% monthlyincrease in affiliation fees,
you're still seeing a great ROIon this.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
A hundred percent.
SPEAKER_02 (02:50):
And so much so that it dwarfed the CrossFit ROI.
Is that correct?
Is that why you made that
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
switch?
I didn't initially make thedecision to de-affiliate or not
renew my affiliation withCrossFit to go straight into
High Rocks.
I felt that we just naturally,for us, had just outgrown the
need for an affiliation withCrossFit.
But like I said, we don't spenda huge amount of money on our
(03:15):
marketing budget with socialmedia, paid ads and that side of
things.
So for me it's been i've seenthe hyrox affiliation as a part
of our marketing budget and it'sbeen very worthwhile we've seen
the benefits through the thelead generation
SPEAKER_02 (03:29):
Okay, so it wasn't a one-in-one-out switch that you
made.
You traded one for the other.
And to be fair, listeners,CrossFit affiliation is not all
that expensive.
It's more costly than Hyroxaffiliation, but you can
certainly do the ROI to figureout.
We're not talking about CrossFittoday.
We're talking about Hyrox.
So I'm going to ask you this,Rob, because you told me this
before the show.
What percentage of leads areasking about Hyrox now, and what
funnels have you got to capturethese leads?
SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
Yeah, so for us, as I touched on, you know, we've
got an event coming to ourcapital city later this month.
And in 2025, we have just seenthe leads coming in through our
website and through socialmedia.
It's up as high as 42%.
SPEAKER_02 (04:10):
Of
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
total leads or high rocks?
It's just being peopleinterested in trying and
sampling Hyrox.
For me, I'm very set on, I seeHyrox as being a nice addition
for us.
I'm not looking to build a wholebrand that I own around Hyrox,
(04:34):
but it's just, it's fitting inwell to, you know, an
all-inclusive approach that'sgreat for members to have
something to put their fitnessto the test in a good community
spirit environment.
SPEAKER_02 (04:47):
So if I lay it out for you like this, you're paying
120 pounds a month for HighRocks affiliation and that is
generating essentially 42% ofyour leads, correct?
Yeah, correct.
Yeah, so that's a no-brainer.
If you could spend, you know,120 pounds or 160 US or whatever
it is to get half your leads,that's going to be a huge ROI.
(05:08):
So, this is kind of looking likea no-brainer, but let's get
further in.
Let's dig into ROI.
How many new members have youacquired this year because of
High Rocks?
What is that number?
SPEAKER_00 (05:16):
So on average, we get around 30 to 35 leads a
month.
This is in our facility.
So we've got our model at ION.
We're a class-based trainingfacility.
We have a higher membershipbase.
So we've got 450 members in ourone facility.
In our second facility, that'sonly two years old.
So that's in the growth stage.
That's in around the 160 mark.
(05:39):
But for us, talking about ourolder facility, we're generating
around 30 to 35 leads a month.
In two 2025 alone we've had 31new members that have joined
from initial hyrox inquirieslike we don't run a specific
hyrox membership um from amembership perspective you know
that that's the hyrox classesare just included in our full
(06:03):
membership our unlimitedmembership that we we have and
also our our 10 class pass whichis also our higher value
membership option should peoplebe interested in that
SPEAKER_02 (06:12):
okay so now i looked at your website it says your
full rate for your full pass is85 Is that accurate?
SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
Yeah, so full membership is£85.
Yeah, we keep it very simplewith our approach.
We have a full membership andthen a basic membership, which
is for our main models ofclasses.
We run a 30-minute class, a45-minute bootcamp-style class,
and then a 60-minute strengthand conditioning class, which is
the most popular class.
Our full membership includes allthose classes alongside some
(06:40):
speciality classes likebarbells, our Olympic lifting
class, our ladies-only strengthclass, and our high rocks
classes.
SPEAKER_02 (06:48):
Okay, so I just did some math while you were talking
here.
And if you've got 31 new membersfrom High Rocks and each of them
is paying 85 pounds a month,that is 2,635 pounds, pardon me,
in monthly revenue one month,right?
And you're paying 120 pounds amonth.
So again, listeners, we're justlaying out some obvious ROI that
(07:09):
Rob is getting at his gym.
If these members, the 31 that heacquired, spend just six months
in his business, He's looking at15, almost 16,000 pounds.
Now, I know this is evencrazier.
So, Rob's asked about his lengthof engagement.
He holds people for 26 to 28months.
So, this is great.
(07:29):
So, now we're talking aboutforce multipliers.
So, he gets a new member throughHigh Rocks, 85 pounds, pardon
me.
He's going to hold them for 26to 28 months.
You're looking at over 70,000pounds.
Have you done this math, Rob?
No.
SPEAKER_00 (07:42):
Yeah, so it's something that we track hard,
obviously being part of TwoBrain as well.
The metrics for me is somethingthat I look at hard each month.
For me, obviously, the new leadsthat have come in this year, the
new clients that we've had, yes,it's around the 75k mark that is
of the value to the business,but obviously there's a churn.
(08:04):
We have members that's leavingeach month, so it's not like
it's just adding 75k to the topline, but it obviously has been
of extremely valuable for us youknow we have a decent churn rate
it sits around 33 3.5 percent soit's something again a big focus
for us is is working on ourretention but you know i can
certainly see at this moment intime the hyrox wave is certainly
(08:28):
flying well um and you know it'sit's it's been a great addition
to us as a business and also asa community as well so it's uh
you know i i do see that it'sbeen very valuable and you know
seeing this more and more gymsgetting part of it, being part
of the High Rocks brand as beingbeneficial.
SPEAKER_02 (08:49):
Yeah, but you look at this, listeners, even if
everyone he acquires stays forjust one month, he's still
winning on the annual fee.
If everyone stays for sixmonths, he's big time winning.
If people stay for his length ofengagement average of 26 to 28,
this is like a lottery win,right?
So again, these fees are verysmall.
They don't ask for a lot inreturn.
And Rob's making a ton of cashon this.
(09:10):
The ROI is pretty incredible ifyou look at this.
Now, again, your churn might beworse.
You might not be able to getthis exact numbers, but these
are real numbers from inside areal gym.
So I want you to see them.
Now, talk to me.
So that's just membership stuff.
Talk to me about special events.
What else do you do tocapitalize on that High Rocks
affiliation?
SPEAKER_00 (09:27):
Yeah.
So as I think a lot of HighRocks affiliated gyms are doing
more and more of, they run HighRocks simulation events.
And there's been a big growth ofthese events popping up all
around the place.
I think probably the challengeHigh Rocks have a little bit at
the moment is in they're in suchhigh demand.
It's actually quite hard to getplaces in some of the events.
(09:49):
Yeah, they sell out.
They sell out so quickly.
So...
You know, what we've been tryingto do is, certainly over the
past couple of years, we runquarterly High Rocks style
events.
Some of them are High Rockssimulation events that replicate
the event themselves.
We also run similar events interms of probably not the exact
same, making it, you know, lessrunning based.
(10:11):
But one of the things we alwaysfocus it around is more the
partner workout, the pairsworkout, the team workouts,
because for me, as I touched on,it's not just about from a
business perspective, it's alsoabout what it brings to the
community.
And, you know, we, our last highrock simulation workout or event
we ran was last month where wehad over 110 competitors taking
(10:33):
part.
You know, my approach to it is Ireally want to make a bit of a
spectacle for our members andour area by partnering with
local brands, having vendorscoming in and really trying to
make a good competition, anevent out of it, a real good
community day.
So, you know, it's somethingthat we, we do charge for, we
mix it up a little bit.
(10:53):
We've done a number of eventswhich have been all the money
raised has gone to charities.
We've done ones that have beenfree events just to really drive
an in-house team environment.
And we've done a number ofevents which have also been paid
events, which also brings somegood income into the gym that
allows us to reinvest into whatwe're doing on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_02 (11:15):
Did you say to me before the show that in one of
your events, a paid one, youtook in about£2,000?
SPEAKER_00 (11:21):
Yeah, so the last one that we ran was a big
success.
We had good numbers.
And they're events that runpretty smoothly.
We're very set in terms of if weput on events and if we put paid
events on, that we want to makesure these events run
professionally at a high levelthat gives members and also we
open it up externally tonon-members, that it gives them
(11:42):
a real taste of the competitionenvironment.
It allows them to put theirfitness to the test.
So I think people do see thatit's worth the spend and
everyone has a great day andenjoys the environment
SPEAKER_02 (11:56):
so listeners High Rocks events the official ones
the big deals they are sellingout very fast I know I'm in
Canada I know people are liningup already to figure out when
the announcement or whenregistration is open for the
Canadian event this is the caseall over the world right now
that means these one-off eventsthat Rob's running which are
they're not the big officialHigh Rocks events but they're
simulations and so forth thereis a huge market for stuff like
(12:17):
that and Rob is acquiring 110people in his last one and again
now here's Here's the cool part,he ended up with£2,000 of
revenue out of that.
annual affiliation fee for HighRocks is 1,440 pounds.
So, he already covered that withone event.
He could run four of those ayear.
And then at that point, if hedoes the same thing and partakes
in 2,000 pounds, that's almost5X revenue on the affiliation
(12:40):
fee to say nothing of hisrecurring monthly revenue.
So, again, we're looking atclear and obvious ROI.
Are you getting return on yourinvestment?
The obvious answer here is yes.
So, Rob, give me the quickbreakdown.
Is– and I just want to know interms of like the ease of this
hyrox affiliation is it hard toset up and get get approved or
(13:00):
how does that go is it a prettygreasy thing or is it very like
complicated and annoying
SPEAKER_00 (13:04):
it's very straightforward it's simply
signing up to the affiliationand it's as simple as that
you're affiliated within youknow probably half an hour with
a credit card
SPEAKER_02 (13:14):
swipe and you're done
SPEAKER_00 (13:15):
with a with a credit card swipe and you're done so
it's it's you know is itregulated could it be done a
little bit better in that regardpotentially but you know
certainly for us we need knowhow to you know to the the way
we want to do things and youknow it bringing bringing high
rocks into our trainingfacilities has been has been
(13:35):
beneficial i think i i am verykeen on saying that it's it's i
just see it as you know anopportunity for us that's been
really beneficial from amarketing perspective you know
it's really helped that you knowit's really added something to
our our community for a timebeing but i'm very set that i
don't want to build a wholemodel at ion around um an
affiliation or a brand like HighRocks because I think it is in
(14:00):
the fitness industry there arepeaks and troughs with certain
training modalities and you knowfor me it's very much we're keen
on building our own brand andyou know that's the priority
first and foremost but I meanit's you know how we run the
classes how we run the programas such it's been very easy to
integrate into our classenvironment as I touched on
(14:21):
we're a class based trainingfacility you know our peak times
probably like a lot of othergyms our early mornings earlier
evenings where our 6.30 classeswere a little bit quiet that's
where we've changed them more tospeciality classes where we run
a on Mondays we run a barbellclass an Olympic lifting class
(14:42):
on Tuesday and Thursday that'swhere we run our high rocks
class Thursday we run a ladiesonly strength club and then on
the weekend we also run the highrocks classes but also it's
actually I'll drop this inbecause for me it's our morning
classes we've got the luxury youhave an indoor class and then
we've got a small outdoortraining area outside the gym
(15:04):
which you know we put in postpost covid and you know we're
able to run our iron 60 ourstrength and conditioning class
inside and then outdoor in thesmall training area we run the
high rocks classes and it ispumping we've got tomorrow
morning we've got 64 peoplebooked in to take part in the
outdoor high rocks class whichis like I said we were always
(15:25):
run it as pairs pairs workoutsit brings a great feel but as
you touched on it's it's lowskill exercises it's easy to
manage the high numbers and it'sit's a great workout there's no
getting away from that andthat's why people really enjoy
the the high rock style oftraining
SPEAKER_02 (15:42):
so i'll ask you this you gave me the exact breakdown
of how the program runs at yourgym you've obviously you're
branding yourself as ion and youare a thing and you offer
training and coaching but you'vealso got this high rocks
affiliation where you can offeradditional programming streams
and outside of what else you'redoing but again you're not hyrox
ion you are ion strength andconditioning and hyrox is just a
thing that you do you can alwayschange that and not renew if you
(16:02):
see fit the roi ever changes youcan pump that out and do
something else you are buildingyour own brand because there is
a cost to changing your brand soif you build a strong brand you
may not want to tie it on tosomeone else but you've got this
great program that's filling upother places or low volume areas
we have that kill it or fill itmentality if your classes are
dead you either have to get ridof them or fill them you're
(16:23):
filling them with some hyroxoptions you having a great time
with it.
And all of this sounds like acomplete no-brainer.
Again, let me ask you this.
You were a CrossFit affiliateand there are many CrossFit
affiliates out there.
How easy is it if you're aCrossFit affiliate to just start
doing high rocks training?
SPEAKER_00 (16:39):
I think that's been the challenge over the years.
And, you know, when we, ournatural progression has probably
been post-COVID.
That's the period in terms ofour brand that's really kicked
on, helped us kicked on, becauseit was really that time that I
really identified who our targetmarket was, time-precious
individuals, busy work lives,busy family lives.
(17:00):
So we very much built ourtimetable around it, having the
30, 45 and 60-minute classes toallow members the opportunity to
get regardless of how much timethey have available and have an
effective workout.
You know, we also have probablymoved away over the years from a
lot of the high-end gymnastics,high-skilled exercises
(17:21):
associated with CrossFit, andwe're very basic in our approach
in terms of strength andconditioning.
It's built around thefundamentals, like in our Iron
60 class, on a Monday we squat,on a Tuesday we upper-body
push-pull, on a Thursday we haveour upper-body volume day,
Friday we pull from the floor,we hinge.
And for me, and also with theHigh Rocks, it's about educating
(17:43):
people as well.
And, you know, a lot of people,you know, join ION to take part
in the High Rocks classes.
And it's about trying to educatethem to the benefit of, you
know, introducing strength andconditioning to their training
regime, which is really goingto, you know, help them develop
as, you know, for their HighRocks training and their events,
rather than just thrashingthrough, you know, continually
doing simulation, High Rocksimulations all the time.
(18:05):
So, you know, our core programis our strength and
conditioning, um, classes um andyou know for me it's the high
rocks has just been an excellentfeeder into the uh the the the
main the main core core classesthat we have at ion
SPEAKER_02 (18:20):
and there it is it becomes part of your funnel
where maybe people join for highrocks and they start doing
something else like you've gotadditional programs if they want
to take that further becausehigh rocks is the same thing
every time which is not a badthing but it is the same thing
every time if someone wants toexpand their fitness journey
other options in your programwork here's what i believe rob
you're going to tell me if youagree with this or not i believe
that if you run a crossfitaffiliate it or a strength
conditioning gym, I believe thatyou can offer high rocks
(18:44):
training without getting anyadditional equipment because you
could just start doing, like ifyou have kettlebells, dumbbells,
a few other things, you couldoffer the training style.
Even if you don't have everysingle thing in high rocks or if
you don't have sleds that youlike to have distance, you can
still figure out a way to dothis in your facility even if
it's not the official thingbecause again, we know you don't
(19:04):
train to run a race by runningthe race over and over and over
again.
You do various different thingsto prepare you for that race so
that's my belief Rob do youagree with me?
SPEAKER_00 (19:12):
Totally and that's where we've seen it's just been
such a smooth transition intoour daily program it's you know
it's a style of program that'slike I said it's low skill
exercises so the coaching aspectit makes it easier to manage the
higher numbers in classenvironments you know the energy
that it provides around thefacility is fantastic but also
(19:35):
you know as you touched on allthe equipment most functional
fitness CrossFit style gyms willhave this, the equipment already
available to them.
So it's not like there needs tobe a huge amount of investment
into buying new kits and otherbits and bobs.
It's almost, as you said, you'rethere ready to go.
And like I said, it's been verymuch for us a no brainer.
(20:00):
And as we've seen the return ofinvestment, you know, from the
get go.
SPEAKER_02 (20:04):
Okay, so we just laid out how to run a High Rocks
program at your affiliate or gymand now we're just going to
close this off by going over thenumbers again.
High Rocks affiliation costs,Rob, about 120 pounds a month or
1,440 pounds a year.
That's 160 US or 1,910 per year.
He has 31 new members this yearfrom High Rocks.
He's getting close to 40% of hisleads who are asking for High
(20:27):
Rocks.
They are staying at his gym for85 pounds a month and his length
of engagement is 26 to 28months.
Rob, am I correct again insummarizing this?
This is a 100% no-brainer foryou to add Hyrox at your gym.
SPEAKER_00 (20:40):
100% and I think that the numbers speak for
themselves really, don't they?
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
They absolutely do.
Thank you so much for openingyour books and sharing, you
know, confidential data to helpother people make great
decisions.
I really, really appreciate itand so will our listeners.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
not a problem at all.
Like you said, to the start istwo brains had a big influence
over me over the past years.
And, you know, I, I feelstrongly about helping others
in, uh, in our space and ourindustry to, uh, yeah, find ways
of improving their, theiroverall business.
SPEAKER_02 (21:08):
And you've given them an incredible tool to do
that today.
Thank you so much.
That was Robin Soden Taylor.
This is run a profitable gym.
Thank you for watching andlistening.
Please hit subscribe whereveryou are.
And now here's to brain founder,Chris Cooper with a final
message.
SPEAKER_03 (21:21):
Hey, it's Two Brain founder Chris Cooper with a
quick note.
We created the Gym Owners UnitedFacebook group to help you run a
profitable gym.
Thousands of gym owners justlike you have already joined.
In the group, we share soundadvice about the business of
fitness every day.
I answer questions, I run freewebinars, and I give away all
kinds of great resources to helpyou grow your gym.
(21:42):
I'd love to have you in thatgroup.
It's Gym Owners United onFacebook or go to
gymownersunited.com to join.
Do it today.
Hey!
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