The Two-Brain Story: 10 Years of Solving Every Problem in the Gym Business

Feb. 13, 2026, is Two-Brain’s 10th anniversary—a full decade of solving every problem in the gym business.

In this special episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper tells the complete story of how Two-Brain Business became the biggest mentorship practice in the fitness industry.

The journey started long before 2016. In 2005, Chris opened his first gym, and by 2008, he was broke, running two struggling locations and looking for part-time jobs in the newspaper. He couldn’t find a single example of someone making a real living as a gym owner.

Then he found a mentor outside the fitness industry and started translating business lessons into gym-specific tactics. He published his first blog post on June 9, 2009, as a “love letter to future Chris”—sharing exactly what worked and what didn’t.

By 2012, gym owners were flying him to Fort Lauderdale to speak. He self-published his first book, “Two-Brain Business,” which went on to sell 26,000 copies, becoming the bestselling fitness business book of all time.

On Feb. 13, 2016, Chris officially launched Two-Brain Business with 52 gym owners who believed in the vision: make a difference, make a profit and make it home for dinner.

Today, Two-Brain works with thousands of gyms worldwide, publishes the industry’s largest data set every year and runs the biggest gym business summit in the world.

Tune in to hear the full origin story—and find out what’s ahead.

Join Coop at the 10th annual Two-Brain Summit, June 6-7, 2026, in Chicago; get your tickets with the link below.

Links

Two-Brain Summit Tickets

Gym Owners United

Book a Call

1:05 - 2005-2015: Prehistory

1:12 - Opening a gym

6:28 - Hiring a mentor

18:09 - Publishing book No. 1

20:24 - Becoming a mentor

28:32 - 2016-2018: Early days

29:23 - The first Two-Brain Summit

35:57 - Building the “State of the Industry” report

39:43 - 2019-2021: Growth & lockdowns

43:39 - Certifying professional mentors

44:41 - 2022-2025: Additions and refinements

49:18 - 2026: 10th anniversary

49:33 - Leaving the CEO role

53:11 - The 10th annual Two-Brain Summit