#421: 3 Ways to Get More Gym Members (That Aren't Ads)
Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast
Release Date: 01/15/2026
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.
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#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...
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#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...
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#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,...
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#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...
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#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...
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#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.
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#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...
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#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....
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#414: Communication Secrets to Improve Your Sales & Marketing with Michael Bernoff
Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast
If you’re still giving tours, dropping prices, and hoping people sign up, you’re leaving money on the table. Michael Bernoff, one of the best communicators in the world, shows you how to flip the script so prospects sell themselves on joining your gym. Using his Human Interaction Technology (HIT), you’ll learn how to lower resistance from the very first hello, control the direction of the conversation, and get people excited to take action without discounting or chasing. In this episode, Michael breaks down exactly how to match your prospect’s energy, use language that keeps you in...
info_outlineYour 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 everything
-
Why operational clarity beats “more leads” every time
This is the exact framework used by gyms that consistently grow month over month while everyone else stays stuck or burns out.
If you want more members, more revenue, and more profit without guessing, this episode will change how you think about growth.