WTF Gym Talk

Somewhere along the line, I've been pegged as "Don't you hate CrossFit gyms?"  "Aren't you against all the things that CrossFit gyms do???" This couldn't be further from the truth.   Here's how I address that misidentification. 

If anyone giving you business advice has ever put down marketing + branding and made a statement that sounds like "Don't worry about marketing, we're going to teach you how to have such an amazing service that your customers do the marketing for you." These people are fucking morons.  Here's why. 

Most owners think of PT First as a business play that can only be used with barbell-based group fitness classes, but it can actually be applied to any fitness model. 

My colleagues over at Best Hour Of Their Day had a big announcement that's a pretty big deal if you're a CrossFit affiliate and I need of business help.  And since that's the world I've been playing in since 2015, I definitely wanted to share in their celebration and had some thoughts of my own.   Please note:  This is not a hit piece.   This is comedic relief mixed with the ge...

Zach Eggen + Josh Werner are the owners of a MADabolic franchise located in Jupiter, Florida.   I flew down on the eve of their first Game Day to talk all things business, converting from CrossFit to MADabolic, and how Game Day will scratch the competitive itch of their member and prove the validity of the programming.

Tom Gallagher has been on the podcast a few times before.  He is co-owner of the subscription-based events company SweatNet with licensees all over the US, but he recently used his entrepreneurial instincts to kick off SkyCycle - a spin studio that operates on top of the roof of a smoothie bar here in Charlotte, NC. This is by far one of my favorite stories regarding microgym business success...

You're probably using the term "price raise" incorrectly.  I'm here to help fix that. If you want to level up your business IQ on the best strategies to raise prices, conduct price correction or even just knowing "How Much Should I Raise?" then head over to https://www.microgymuniversity.com/ and get enrolled in the only online business school for microgym owners. 

Sam Davis is a self-made entrepreneur who has posted up multiple W's on the board within the fitness industry.  Her most recent venture has brought her to the management and development side of Instagram influencers in the niche of fitness.   We jam on everything as it relates to IG influencers and how the microgym owner can tap into this market, use their own staff as influencers,...

Craig Patterson, the founder of Madlab School of Fitness in Vancouver, Canada, and the Madlab Group, is no stranger to my podcast or controversy.   Craig was around during the OG, startup days of CrossFit.  He knows where the bodies are buried and he's kept a lot of what knows to himself over the years as he's grown his own unique model for developing professional coaches and profitable...

HVLP = High Volume Low Price. This is a business model in the fitness industry that gets judged far too often for being "cheap". Planet Fitness being the most successful example of this business model. But most of us think they are successful because they are cheap.  And you couldn't be more wrong. 

Since creating the Instagram blog @respectthetempo, where I document my current workout routine (Tempo Training), my thoughts on fitness and programming, and other fuckery I see in the gym world - I've had a lot of time to think about what we are missing in traditional functional fitness workouts. These are two of the elements you're probably missing. 

On the 11th installment of Branding with Boris, we dive into core values, why they are 100% required in order to design your brand, and share some live examples of successful companies, their core values, and how they live them on a daily basis. If you're in need of brand design work and want to work with the best, head over to www.metconcreative.com.au where my man Boris does incredible work to b...

"Care about your members!" "Coach a great class and the rest will take care of itself!" "Marketing shouldn't be a focus for your gym, retention should be!" Let's please take a minute to audit the advice we are receiving on a daily basis from all sources - mine included. 

Yeah, I fucking said it. Disagree with my stance on this one?  Shoot me a DM on Instagram @wtfgymtalk and let's chat. 

When I encounter microgym owners who are constantly concerned with saving money on every professional service, product, etc - I know they are in immediate trouble. You opened a business.   Businesses need money. And you're trying to grow your business, which needs cash to grow, without spending any cash. This is backwards-as-fuck. 

One of the largest vulnerabilities of a CrossFit affiliate exists when a competitive/sports culture becomes toxic within the staff and/or membership.   The owners are left trying to encourage their members to pursue a better version of themselves, but a few of their coaching staff or members have decided to turn this commercial, group fitness business into their own athlete compound for their...

Heard this quote somewhere, and it struck a nerve.  After thinking more about it, it's probably one of the great statements that boils down as to why some of us are successful and others struggle to find success. 

Welcome back to another episode of Shoot The Shit, my long-form conversation podcast with awesome people in the fitness industry doing really cool things.  In this episode, I get to visit FitTown and BeachFit in Jupiter, FL with co-founder Andrew Frezza.  Andrew has created one hell of a business by providing two unique fitness offerings, inside of two unique buildings, located right nex...

If you've ever had the thought, "If I did this one thing, I'm sure I would be successful at it." But never pulled the trigger on that thing... This podcast is for you. 

MDV (Matt DellaValle) has been on the podcast before.  He's the Chief Fitness Officer for NCFit and has been the steward of their new fitness program NCFlex.  We jam on how our personal workouts today, look much different than they did in years past when we were both following CrossFit religiously, and what our personal beliefs are with some of the fuckery we see in the gym today. Check...

Andrew Charlesworth is well known in the CrossFit world - he's an instructor for CrossFit home office, owns his own CrossFit affiliate, and has been a die-hard follower of the brand for years.  While we've never met in-person, I consider him a colleague and always love talking shop with this guy. He came on the podcast with a challenge - how would I open a CrossFit gym today, from scratch? Gr...

Chris Howell has had an untraditional trajectory in the fitness industry, one that resulted in him opening up a boutique advisory shop for fitness companies.  While their scope of work was broad in the beginning, they've really narrowed down their approach to helping gyms design their space and get outfitted with the most unique equipment possible.  Check out their work and get in touch...

If you need more bodies coming through your door, make sure you have this checklist completed. 

Disclaimer:  CrossFit the methodology doesn't need saving.  CrossFit the sport doesn't need saving.   But CrossFit, the service delivery in the commercial market, is in need of saving...immediately. 

A rant about some of the fuckery that we see in the average microgym (and especially CrossFit affiliates) and how I view it now, versus when I didn't know any better back in the day. Hindsight is 20/20...but there's a lot of shit that we can get rid of, like right meow.