Run a Profitable Gym

Jim Wendler is one of the best-known names in modern powerlifting. Thanks to his association with Westside Barbell, EliteFTS and his book, you probably think you know a lot about him already. In this episode, we go deeper than the Wikipedia page to talk about Jim's mentors, his values, and his concept of "freedom."

On August 12, 2011, Jason Brown and Danielle Bjorkman went for coffee. By September 19, they owned an affiliate together.The CrossFit gym was their first bond, but not their last. Within that first month, they started a relationship and moved in together."I don't like to gamble, but if there's one thing I'll bet on, it's myself."6:35: "No one outworks my husband. And I'm sure he'd say the same thing about me."8:39: Living on credit cards14:00: How the Browns spend a typical day doing the things they LIKE15:14: Jason talks about BoxProgramming.com (more to come on this)17:26: How defining roles helps partners respect one another19:15: Knowing the RIGHT roles for staff22:38: How paying others makes you the time to make more money27:00: Danielle talks about where she gets her huge ideas, like the WOD & Wine, Bright Spots and #CEOSaturday29:20: What to do when you have GREAT IDEAS and NO TIME35:57: Danielle gives advice on surviving business startup as a couple37:40: How to disagree on business decisions and still thrive39:51: Removing doors in the gym to make a better experience for members40:50: How to avoid bringing the job home43:00: "Does money help?"45:10: Creating the time to improve your relationshipRecorded on April 21, 2016.

People who do Obstacle Races want three things:1. Something new2. Something they can do with their friends3. Something that scares them a little.They can find all of those things in CrossFit, of course, but many don't know it yet. Rich Borgatti sits at the nexus between Obstacle Course Racing and CrossFit. In this episode, he talks about the overlap; how to train racers; and how to get them into your gym.

Dr. Ryan DeBell is founder of The Movement Fix.He's been doing CrossFit for 9 years. When he opened his clinic, Dr. DeBell began traveling around to CrossFit gyms with a little two-hour presentation to help lifters. After he published a watershed post, "The Best-Kept Secret: Why People Have to Squat Differently," he was invited to bring his paid seminar to over 20 boxes. That was two years ago; he's already booked for 30 weekends in 2016.This podcast presents a fresh perspective on some prevalent dogma in our community. You'll see topics like "butt wink", the "perfect" squat and foam rolling in a new light!4:15 - "Can you have too much mobility?"6:10 - Two types of stability11:45 - Different methods of abdominal bracing, from wall balls to heavy cleans15:10 - Learning and "muscle memory"17:00 - Why your squat doesn't look like mine18:30 - The Real Purpose of the "Butt Wink" (link to blog post)25:20 - "Are the ones we see on TV just the ones who didn't get hurt?"26:00 - Dr. DeBell's personal warmup process28:50 - How your body adapts to foam-rolling34:30 - The REAL definition of "muscle tone"43:00 - How can we test people at intake? What's best?48:00 - The scope of practice for coaches50:00 - What's covered in "The Movement Fix" seminarDr. DeBell's podcast is excellent. You'll find it here.In "Critical Questions", I turn the tables and suggest the NUMBER ONE QUESTION you should be asking your clients, your staff--and yourself.Recorded on April 12, 2016.

F your Funnel.Why start your marketing plan with the people LEAST likely to want your service, and then try to filter out 90% of your audience? It's like cutting down a whole tree to find the right twig.Instead, start from a seed. Build a tree on which EVERY branch bears fruit. That's Affinity Marketing.Affinity marketing starts with your SEED clients: those perfect members who are most tightly connected to your brand. Then we move outward from the center: helping those people who are most tightly connected to your perfect client. Then, ring by ring, we identify the spheres of influence owned by the client.I give a few examples in this podcast, and then diverge into psychological and behavioral retention strategies.

You should be able to make a great living from 150 clients.The "low-rate, high-volume" approach doesn't work. Every week, I get on a phone call with a gym owner who sums up their failing business this way:"I just need more clients." Usually, they don't.As strong gyms begin to absorb weak ones, owners on the cusp of success are finding their way to our mentorship at an increasing rate. In many cases, one of the first orders of business is to increase rates and eliminate discounts.Usually, the gym owner is nervous about raising rates. Sometimes they realize it has to be done to save their business; these are the lucky ones, because the burden of choice has been removed from them. But with the strategy I'll outline below, the process is NEVER as bad as they think, and usually results in a large immediate gain.Shannan Garcia purchased Adamant CrossFit when the gym was at a low point. It had a great community, led by a charismatic coach...but wasn't even breaking even. Her plan was to wait a few months, then gradually raise rates. But we decided the change presented the perfect opportunity to make the business sustainable. So over the course of a weekend, Shannan implemented a multi-part strategy to make the gym sustainable long-term.You'll see the outline of that strategy below. But first, listen to Shannan's story, and ask yourself, "What do I really have to lose?"

Pieter-Jan Buysmans is the owner of CrossFit Hasselt in Belgium.He's also an innovator. When a back injury sidelined his career as a professional snowboarder, Pieter found CrossFit. Now he owns two gyms, and his systems are so dialed he ran both remotely for six weeks after a recent surgery.This time away from the day-to-day operation gave him weeks to pursue new ideas and growth--the things we call "CEO Time" in Two-Brain Business. But he's been pursuing the idea of Heart Rate Monitoring for over a year.In this second of two episodes on Tech, Pieter walks through using heart rate monitors from two perspectives: as a coach and as a gym owner. Are they effective training tools, or just a nice novelty? We're going to find out.

Ray Gowlett is a professional MMA fighter, motocross racer and research skeptic.His lab contains almost 600 subjects (it's a high school) and Ray is constantly seeking new ways to teach and coach. Many of these kids are high-level athletes; just as many don't want to be in the class at all. He's always trying new things, but this cross-pollination of students means every innovation has to satisfy two standards:1. It has to make people fitter;2. It has to make people happier.Sound familiar?Ray coined the phrase we repeat at Catalyst often: "Exercise until you're happy." It's the base of the hierarchy he teaches students. He also teaches research skepticism: how to read and rank the value of "research." Imagine a generation of people who believe what they read on Facebook: that's what's coming, except for the students in Ray's classes.I introduce this episode with the question, "Are we measuring 2016 results with 2001 technology?" CrossFit coaches are the champions of objectively-measurable fitness, and exercisers become addicted to having a "score." But other gym chains, like Orange Theory, are beginning to nibble at our lunch: giant scoreboards focusing on one correlate of fitness draw huge crowds. We can be defensive, or we can do better.This episode is the beginning of that conversation: how do we leverage tech to enhance fitness? Will measurement and feedback help us reach higher levels...or is it only useful to get clients in the gym more often?In "Coach's Confessional," I talk about the one of the (very few) mistakes I HAVEN'T made myself, but see all too often in struggling gyms: the "lifetime membership." It's a monkey's paw, and I'll explain why.My next seminar is April 16 in Charlotte, NC. Get signed up!

Larris Hutton is a Major in the US Army, a JAG lawyer, and a box owner. He has a unique model: fewer clients with higher value in a smaller space.CrossFit Prelude provides full-time careers for his coaches. Larris' box isn't one of the most expensive in the area, but his ARM is very high. And he does it all in 1100 square feet.How? He believes a box owner should behave like a LEADER instead of a COACH. In this interview, he'll tell us the difference.In "Critical Questions," I talk about the difference between seminars, systems and mentoring. Our next seminar is April 16!

In this episode, I talk with Jason Ackerman about selling two of his gyms and setting up his third. More and more, entrepreneurs are purchasing gyms from others, or buying out their partners, or selling their gyms. To help, I provide a Gym Valuation Tool (thanks to RigQuipment) and then answer the question, "Should I De-Affiliate?" (answer: no.)