Two-Brain’s No. 1 gym for client count—700-plus members—is going to contract on purpose, cap membership and raise rates.
It’s a series of very strong moves by Torben Keller, owner of CrossFit North 579.
And it’s a far cry from the we-want-everyone-no-matter-what trap so many gym owners fall into.
Torben runs a monster gym in Denmark.
He’s got 15,000 feet of space in two buildings, he has more than 30 staff people, and he has 741 members.
He’s at the top of this list:
But Torben is going to trim that giant number slightly by getting rid of punch cards so his clients get better results. Torben, like many other owners, has found that sporadic, “I might work out on Tuesday” attendance doesn’t build momentum or get clients to their goals.
So instead of just selling more punch cards, Torben will drop the option and focus on helping people build habits that will greatly improve fitness and health. He’s also going to cap his client count, and he’ll use consultations to help clients get results faster:
“What is your goal? Perfect. Here’s exactly how we will accomplish it together.”
From there, he’ll invest heavily in his staff to ensure they’re elite. To do that, he’s connected with Two-Brain mentor and gym owner Oskar Johed, who, with partner Karl Solberg, developed a detailed coach ascension plan for his gyms in Sweden.
When you regularly evaluate coaches who are working to build long-term careers, you move closer and closer to delivering A+ service to every single client. And you can charge more because clients accomplish goals faster. The client wins, the coach wins, and the business wins.
As the value of the coaching at North 579 improves, Torben will raise his rates to reflect that value—and his business is already one of the more expensive gyms in a country where people aren’t used to paying premium rates for fitness services.
Torben and others such as Two-Brain mentor Rune Laursen are literally changing the fitness culture in Denmark by showing people that coaching is worth far more than $50 or $60.
Elite Gym Building
Torben’s plan is fascinating because it’s so far from the schemes cooked up by inexperienced gym owners who focus only on headcount—I was one.
When you just want “more clients,” you can make a lot of mistakes. Chief among them:
- Offering discounts.
- Taking the wrong clients.
- Rushing new members through onboarding.
- Ignoring retention.
- Passing on coach development in favor of “crowd management.”
Those errors generally combine to gut a gym’s membership—eventually if not immediately.
Sure, a sale or wild promotion might add 40 people in one month. But then the discount ends and the “fitness tourists” move on to the next gym that’s offering a slashed rate.
Or the new people break the gym’s systems, and long-term members leave because everything feels broken.
Or the new people feel overwhelmed because they didn’t go through a one-on-one on-ramp and got tossed into classes. Frustrated and confused, they fade and fail to renew memberships.
It happens all the time.
The lesson here from Torben and CrossFit 579 North?
More isn’t better. Better is better.
And you can only pursue “better” when you have a clear vision for your gym and a detailed plan to support it.
No matter how many clients you have, you must have a precise plan for your business. If you don’t have one right now, book a call here to start creating one with help.
And if you want to dig into Torben’s business, he reveals all on “Run a Profitable Gym.”
