Stay ConnectedWe’ve already helped 3,000 gym owners become more profitable, and we’re the #1 gym mentorship program in the world.
This channel (presented by Two-Brain Business) is packed with business tools for gym owners and CrossFit affiliates. We provide actionable, data-backed business advice for all gym owners, including those who own personal training studios, fitness franchises, and strength and conditioning gyms.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode was recorded before the early June events regarding CrossFit Inc. and the statements made by Greg Glassman.
Known for his bushy brown beard, hairy physique and that one time he got naked at the CrossFit Games, Lucas Parker is one of the biggest fan favorites of the CrossFit Games.
After making his Games debut in 2011, Lucas returned for five straight years, earning a career-best finish of 14th in 2015.
He shared with Sean Woodland how he developed his love for movement, why he grew his signature beard, the memorable moment when he gave Kristan Clever quite a view during the Camp Pendleton event and what he's learned after all his years of competition.
Links:
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Free Tools
Book a Free Call
Contact:
Instagram: @toqueluc
Timeline:
2:09 – Falling in love with movement as a kid.
5:49 – Lessons learned from coaches and mentors.
9:43 – Finding CrossFit via actor Jason Statham (who doesn’t do CrossFit).
12:40 – Becoming a competitor.
14:44 – Learning to roll with the punches in his Games debut.
16:36 – Why the beard?
18:05 – Going “full Lucas” at Camp Pendleton.
22:44 – Dealing with setbacks in 2013 and 2014.
25:34 – Handing the reins to a coach.
28:45 – Withdrawing from Regionals in 2017 and taking a year off.
32:20 – Returning to a completely altered CrossFit Games season in 2019.
36:54 – Becoming “more of a sponge and less of a hammer.”
38:14 – Why he trains alone.
40:55 – Lessons learned along the CrossFit journey—and what he still wants to learn.
Marketing has always been challenging. Throw in a pandemic, months of closure and murky, varied reopening plans, and it's no wonder gym owners are unsure what to do.
Colm O'Reilly is the owner of CrossFit Ireland, a certified Two-Brain mentor and the Two-Brain Marketing team lead. He joined Mike Warkentin to discuss Facebook ads in the post-COVID era: what works, what doesn't and how to decide what to spend on digital ads.
Links:
The 7 Best Gym Management Software Platforms: Our 2020 Review
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Book a Free Call
Timeline:
4:07 – Is there a magic bullet?
6:38 – Why you shouldn’t go for the quick cash grab.
11:59 – What to spend on Facebook ads right now.
16:40 – Why lead nurture is more important than ever.
19:13 – Developing leads post-COVID: Don’t fear the phone.
21:41 – The future of Facebook advertising post-COVID.
26:27 – When to boost your ad spend.
28:12 – What does a good ad look like?
33:29 – How the Two-Brain Marketing course can help you get more leads.
35:11 – What kinds of pictures work best in ads?
36:54 – Lead magnets post-COVID.
39:58 – The top metrics you should be tracking.
Have you ever wondered why you haven't been able to achieve your dreams despite how much you want to? Why you just don't do it, even though you know you have the potential?
Michael Bernoff calls that your "average"—the force inside you that keeps you from challenging the status quo and actually taking the steps that would bring you success.
Michael is the founder of the Human Communications Institute the author of "Average Sucks: Why You Don't Get What You Want (And What to Do About It)." He joined Chris Cooper to talk about how your average is holding you back and how to redefine it.
Links:
Michael Bernoff and "Average Sucks"
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Book a Free Call
Free Tools
Contact:
Instagram: @michael_bernoff
Chris@twobrainbusiness.com
Timeline:
1:47 – Defining your average.
4:50 – How your average controls you.
6:18 – How to improve your average.
10:35 – Playing the small game.
12:32 – Changing the average with addition, not subtraction.
14:13 – Upgrading your identity.
17:25 – The comparison trap.
23:34 – Dreams vs. wants.
29:26 – The step between the average you have and the average you want.
34:12 – What COVID-19 can teach you about your business.
38:19 – Changing the psychology of expectations.
Carolyne Prevost may be one of the best all-around athletes in CrossFit. Not only has she competed at the Games, but she has also won 11 national championships in four different sports.
She has competed in soccer, taekwondo and professional hockey, and she currently works as a high-school math, science and physical education teacher.
She spoke with Sean Woodland about the benefits of being a multi-sport athlete, her hockey career and how she’s helping students—especially girls—build self-confidence through fitness.
Links:
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Free Tools
Book a Free Call
Contact:
Instagram: @cprevost27
Timeline:
3:34 – Growing up playing every sport under the sun.
9:03 – Playing hockey for the University of Wisconsin.
15:22 – How it feels to win 11 national championships.
16:46 – The letdowns of going pro.
18:46 – Working to establish a new women’s pro hockey league.
22:22 – Becoming a CrossFit competitor.
29:10 – Adapting to the new format of the CrossFit Games season.
33:39 – Her rookie Games, dealing with the pressure of the cuts and getting rhabdo.
38:45 – The Games season and COVID-19.
41:11 – Why become a teacher?
45:46 – Teaching girls to love what their bodies can do, not just what they look like.
What exactly is online coaching? What is it not? And is it as valuable as in-person coaching in the gym?
Two-Brain Business online coaching specialist Josh Grenell joined Mike Warkentin to shed some light on the subject. He talked about how true online coaching differs from Zoom group-fitness classes, why it's more valuable and how to sell it. He also shared tips for increasing efficiency as an online coach.
Links:
Progression Fitness
COVID-19 Resources
Online Trainer Brad Overstreet on How to Deal With the New Fitness World
The Secrets to Success With Online Coaching: Josh Martin
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Book a Free Call
Timeline:
2:34 – What is online coaching?
6:18 – What isn’t online coaching?
8:35 – Does online coaching get results?
11:23 – The value of online coaching.
12:49 – Online coaching and workload: increasing efficiencies.
17:05 – Managing time and setting boundaries.
19:49 – How to find clients for online coaching.
27:34 – The biggest challenges of online coaching.
31:41 – How to keep clients from canceling by offering customized online training.
36:17 – The number-one things new and experienced online coaches should do right now.
What's easier: getting a new client or keeping a current one? Smart gym owners know it's the latter, but unfortunately, the data shows that gyms are only keeping clients about half as long as they should.
If you don't want to stay stuck on the treadmill of constantly seeking new clients, you've got to focus on retention—and that means focusing on the client journey.
Here, Chris Cooper explains how motivational interviewing, goal reviews and the "learn, design, deliver, refine" model can help gym owners forge deeper connections with clients and retain them for the long term.
Links:
Precision Nutrition's Five Whys
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Book a Free Call
Free Tools
Contact:
chris@twobrainbusiness.com
Timeline:
2:46 – The retention treadmill.
6:30 – “Learn”: No-sweat intros, motivational interviewing and the five whys.
14:55 – “Design”: Prescribing the solution to your clients’ problems.
22:16 – “Refine”: The most overlooked part of the retention process.
26:36 – No-sweat intros vs. motivational interviewing: When to do which.
36:19 – How goal reviews improve retention and revenue.
44:35 – Who should perform goal reviews.
If when all is said and done, Cole Sager is remembered for his character more than his fitness, he's just fine with that. But that doesn't mean he's not fit.
Cole has been to the CrossFit Games six times in his career and finished in the top 10 thrice. His best career finish was 5th in 2018. He also received the Spirit of the Games award in 2017.
He joined Sean Woodland to talk about his time playing division one college football at the University of Washington, how to beat the odds and overcome self-doubt, and why his dad decided to name him after a fictional character portrayed by Tom Cruise.
Links:
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Free Tools
Book a Free Call
Contact:
Instagram: @colesager35
Timeline:
1:24 – Training for the Games in a season upended by the coronavirus.
4:49 – On being named after a Tom Cruise movie character.
6:32 – The small-town mentality and growing up playing football.
8:55 – From high-school star to college walk-on.
16:25 – Abandoning NFL ambitions for CrossFit Games dreams.
21:27 – How Cole qualified for Regionals just a few months into CrossFit.
26:43 – Maturing as a CrossFit athlete.
31:44 – Lessons learned from his debut CrossFit Games in 2014.
35:01 – Dealing with the pressure of being a repeat Games athlete.
38:39 – Winning the Spirit of the Games award in 2017 and why being a positive role model is so important.
42:41 – Lessons learned from the new structure of the CrossFit Games: No room for error.
45:48 – Why Cole is OK with being known for his character more than his fitness.
We've always said that microgym owners sell coaching, not access, and never has that been clearer than during the COVID crisis. Your clients aren't getting barbells and cues—so what are they paying for?
Certified Two-Brain mentor and Two-Brain Coaching co-founder Josh Martin says coaches need to look at the bigger picture. At his gym, CrossFit For Glory, coaches take the "sleep, eat, move and manage" approach with clients. The true value of coaching, Josh said, is in helping a client move closer to his or her goal—and that takes more than a training plan.
Here, Josh talks about how trainers can redefine their services to meet clients' needs during and post-COVID and how to value those services.
Links:
CrossFit For Glory
COVID-19 Resources
Your Gym 2.0
Expensive or Free: How to Charge What You're Worth
Two-Brain Coaching
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Book a Free Call
Contact:
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
3:41 – How has the primary role of a coach changed since COVID?
4:37 – “Sleep, eat, move, manage.”
11:31 – What clients need right now (it’s probably not Fran).
16:27 – How to sell new services with confidence.
21:21 – Reassessing the value of coaching.
25:26 – It’s all about relationships.
29:41 – The hidden opportunity in the COVID crisis.
Over the last few weeks, Chris Cooper has talked about how to rebuild your business post-COVID and how to repackage your services to your clients' individual needs. Now it's time to talk about how to bring these new services to your clients.
In this live webinar recorded on May 17, 2020, Chris discussed motivational interviewing, how to structure goal reviews to improve length of engagement, how the prescriptive model differs from upselling and why you should be expensive or free.
You'll also get a crash course in content creation and audience building.
Links:
COVID-19 Resources
Your Gym 2.0
Your Gym 2.0: The Four Cornerstones
Your Gym 2.0: Selling Your New Services
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Book a Free Call
Contact:
chris@twobrainbusiness.com
Timeline:
5:50 – Revisiting the prescriptive model.
7:43 – Motivational interviewing.
12:11 – Updating client prescriptions via goal-review sessions.
17:26 – How often should you be doing goal-review sessions, and who should do them?
26:41 – How to promote your new services and the importance of affinity marketing.
34:29 – Be expensive or be free: the difference between information and coaching.
42:14 – Expensive or free in practice: CrossFit.com and TwoBrainBusiness.com.
55:18 – Establishing trust by producing content.
59:17 – How to come up with good content ideas.
1:11:54 – How to get better at producing content.
Steph Hammerman is one of the most well-known adaptive athletes in the CrossFit world. She is the first Level 2 coach with cerebral palsy. She's a cancer survivor and has completed a hand cycle marathon. She also owns Hammer Driven Fitness in North Carolina.
Here, she talks with Sean Woodland about growing up with cerebral palsy, beating cancer, how she uses her voice to advocate for others, how she got into CrossFit and why the societal perception of adaptive athletes still has a long way to go.
Links:
Hammer Driven Fitness
COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Free Tools
Book a Free Call
Contact:
Instagram: @stephthehammer
Timeline:
2:50 – Growing up with cerebral palsy.
5:11 – Finding her voice.
10:05 – Advocating for others.
14:27 – Getting—and beating—cancer.
23:24 – How Steph got into fitness.
27:08 – Switching from hand cycling to CrossFit.
33:04 – Competing at the Crush Games in Miami.
35:19 – Becoming a coach to adaptive athletes and able-bodied athletes alike.
37:28 – Changing the societal perception of adaptive athletes.
39:54 – How to treat adaptive athletes at your gym.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
