Libsyn Directory

#407: The Truth About Employee Performance No One Talks About

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Release Date: 07/17/2025

#424: What It Really Takes to Scale a Gym Business

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

The fastest way to scale your gym isn’t working harder. It’s building systems that work without you. In this episode of Behind Gym Doors, Mike sits down with the founder of The Hot Room, a fitness brand that grew from 1 studio to 7 locations, stayed profitable, built a cult-like culture, and is now expanding into franchising. We break down the real systems, discipline, and leadership decisions that allowed her to scale without burning out, without breaking culture, and without losing control of the business. Most gym owners get stuck in chaos: More tasks → More stress → More fires →...

#423: 3 Ways Gyms Grow Revenue (Part 3: Retention)

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

The fastest way to grow your gym isn’t more leads. It’s keeping the members you already have. In this episode of GSDGYMS, we breaks down Part 3 of the 3 Ways Gyms Grow Revenue series: Retention, the most overlooked, most profitable, and most misunderstood growth lever in the gym business. Most gym owners are stuck in a cycle of: More ads → More leads → More churn → Same revenue. If your gym is growing but your bank account isn’t, this episode explains exactly why.

#422: You Don’t Need More Gym Members to Make More Money (Here's Why)

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Your gym might be busy…and still not making as much money as it should. Most gym owners think increasing revenue means getting more members. That’s usually the slowest, hardest, and most expensive way to grow. In this episode of Behind Gym Doors, Mike Arce breaks down the second of the three real ways to grow your gym and the one most owners avoid: 👉 Increasing revenue per member. Most owners believe: • Raising prices will cause cancellations • Members won’t buy add-ons • Selling higher tiers will hurt the culture But the truth is the opposite. The...

#421: 3 Ways to Get More Gym Members (That Aren't Ads)

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Your gym doesn’t have a lead problem. It has a leverage problem. Most gym owners think growth only comes from running more ads. In reality, that’s just one of three levers you can pull and it’s usually the weakest one. In this episode, I break down the three real ways to get more gym members (and more revenue) without just lighting money on fire with marketing. You’ll learn: The 3×3 growth grid we use with gyms scaling profitably Why most gyms are stuck only pulling one lever How to grow faster without increasing ad spend How referrals, retention, and conversion multiply...

#420: The Only 2 Gym Metrics That Predict Profit (Not Leads or Sales)

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Your marketing might look great… …and still be losing you money. Most gym owners track leads, cost per lead, close rate, and show rate... then wonder why their bank account tells a different story. In this episode, I break down the only two numbers that actually determine whether your marketing is profitable, and why gyms that understand them make better decisions around ads, discounts, retention, and growth. This framework is used by gyms consistently producing $30k–$50k+ per month in profit. It’s simple. It’s measurable. And it removes guesswork entirely. If you’re running ads,...

#419: Gym Owners: Your Real Marketing Job in 2026 (It's Not What You Think)

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Most gym owners think marketing is about getting more leads. Last week, a gym owner told me he spent $8,000 on Meta ads and got 147 leads. His agency sent charts, graphs, the whole victory lap. So I asked one question: How much revenue did it produce? He didn’t know. And that’s the real problem in 2026. It’s not the owner. It’s not the agency. It’s that almost nobody knows what the job actually is. In this episode, I break down the gym owner’s real job as the head of marketing, the only three ways revenue can grow, and a simple framework to identify which lever your gym should...

#418: $1.6M Gym's Marketing Playbook

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Most gym owners think marketing means ads, posts, and promotions. That mindset is exactly why most gyms stay stuck. In this episode, we go inside the actual 2026 marketing playbook of MTK Muay Thai Kickboxing, a gym business doing roughly $140,000 per month, to show what real marketing looks like when it’s built to scale. This isn’t theory. This isn’t surface-level tactics. And this definitely isn’t just ads. You’ll see how marketing touches product, pricing, retention, events, culture, and team structure—and why gyms that understand this grow differently. If you own or manage a...

#417: LIVE Gym Owner Marketing Training

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Most gym owners think higher competition means higher risk. In this episode, we walk through real numbers from Crowned Boxing to show why that belief often leads to missed growth, stalled momentum, and unnecessary caution. This conversation breaks down ad spend, retention, lifetime value, and decision-making in a way every gym owner can understand... without hype or theory. If you’ve ever paused ads because “it felt like the wrong month,” this episode will challenge how you think about growth.

#416: Lessons From the Best

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

In this final episode of the season, Mike Arce reflects on a fun and successful season of interviewing exceptional gym owners. He highlights the impressive statistic that 40% of the gyms he works with now generate over $1 million in annual revenue, a significant achievement given that less than 0.5% of gyms typically reach that milestone. The episode dives into the key factors that differentiate the most successful gym owners, focusing on three core areas: Customer Experience, Sales and Revenue & Team Building. This episode also features a special sponsored message from Inception...

#415: High Ticket Sales For Gym Owners With Scott Carpenter

Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Scott Carpenter turned six failing gyms into a multi-million dollar fitness business and he did it without competing on price or workouts. His secret? Selling transformation, not just training, and building a model that keeps clients committed for years. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on the high-ticket sales systems, mentorship approach, and retention strategies that gym owners can put into play right now. You’ll see exactly how to position $2K–$10K memberships, deliver results in the “165 hours” outside your gym, and use price to filter for the most committed clients....

More Episodes

Mike Arce sits down with Adam Kifer, CEO of Relentless Media and author of “The Relentless Marketer,” to unpack why most gym owners fail at paid ads and how to fix it by leading better, thinking bigger, and leveling up your team.

This episode is a deep dive into the real reasons your leads don’t convert, your ads stop working, and your team underperforms. From coaching culture to marketing psychology to building internal belief systems that scale, this is the mindset reset most fitness entrepreneurs need, but rarely get.

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(02:18) Why Average Thinking Is Costing You Growth

(05:40) How to Level Up Your Team’s Thinking

(09:03) Paid Ads vs. Performance Leadership

(13:27) Building a Coaching Culture in Your Studio

(18:50) Marketing That Makes Members Feel Seen

(22:42) What Most Owners Get Wrong About Sales

(27:14) The Power of Internal Belief Systems

(33:01) How to Make Your Team Obsessed with Winning

(38:44) Training for Skill vs. Training for Identity

(45:16) Final Advice for Leaders Who Want More