From broke gym to making $1.3M/year: what changed?

Happy Friday Gym World,

Imagine this: you open a personal training gym in 2018 with $450 in your bank account and $250K spread across 15 credit cards. You work 17-hour days, pay off the debt in a year, and finally feel like things are turning around.

Then the pandemic hits. Your doors stay shut for nearly two years, your wife loses her job, and the money dries up. Everything you built is hanging by a thread, and survival feels like the only goal.

That was Anthony Amen’s reality not long ago. Yet today his gyms, Redefine Fitness, have already made $1.3M so far this year across two locations. One of them doubled revenue in just five months, and expansion along the East Coast is on the horizon.

From our conversation, four business decisions stood out as the biggest drivers of growth, and Anthony breaks them down in the interview below.

If you’re short on time, here’s the recap 👇

1. He took a risk when others played it safe

New York had some of the toughest and longest restrictions during COVID, and gyms were hit hard:

• Months of forced closures

• Strict capacity limits when open

• Trainers without steady work

Anthony tried to adapt with outdoor classes and at-home training, but by the second year the gym was broke. He wasn’t making money, his team wasn’t making money, and his wife had lost her job too.

So, he leaned into risk. Anthony and his staff advertised that Redefine Fitness would no longer follow restrictions, knowing the fine could be $10K for every person inside.

It was a huge gamble, but ultimately, it saved the business. People flooded back to the gym, and since then it has grown by 50 percent year over year.

2. He raised his rates every year

Redefine Fitness only offers personal training. Sessions cost $120 for 45 minutes or $160 for an hour, which puts it at the premium end compared to most gyms we feature. There’s also an automatic 10% price increase every year built into the model.

But it wasn’t always like that.

For the first five years, Anthony never raised rates, and he says it’s one of his biggest regrets. I made the same mistake at one of my gyms and learned the hard way that to run a sustainable business, your prices have to keep pace with rising costs like rent, payroll, and utilities.

Once Anthony committed to raising prices, he noticed several advantages:

• Fewer clients to manage → but stronger margins

• More attention per member → better results and retention

• Clients who respected the service → fewer problems and complaints

Price changes can feel uncomfortable, and there’s always the risk of upsetting a few members. But avoiding it only makes things harder down the road. Two ways to make it easier:

• Write it into the contract so members know what’s coming

• Pick a cadence → one annual increase or smaller 2–4% bumps throughout the year

3. He invested in his team

Perks like salaries and benefits are rare in the fitness industry. At Redefine Fitness, nearly 20 full-time trainers across both locations receive:

• A salary starting at $50K/year plus commissions and bonuses

• 401(k) matching

• Health, vision, and dental benefits

• Aflac coverage (supplemental insurance for things like accidents, illness, or disability)

• Paid time off

• Weekly education to keep developing their skills

Trainers work in shifts with predictable schedules, and when they’re not coaching, they handle admin and operational tasks.

Anthony also created the first state-registered Fitness Instructor Apprenticeship Program in the U.S. in partnership with a local college. It combines a year of coursework with on-the-job training, and all of his trainers take part. The program is also open to anyone outside the gym, creating a steady hiring pipeline and a way to stand out in the market.

This kind of setup is impressive, but it didn’t start that way. In the early days, Anthony hired independent contractors, class instructors, front desk staff, and tried running the gym more like a big box facility. That led to turnover, headaches, and pulled him away from the personal training model he believed in.

When COVID forced the gym to shut down, Anthony reset his entire staffing approach. And like many of the top-earning gyms we feature, once he invested in his staff, things changed:

• Hiring got easier — applications come in nonstop

• Trainers stayed longer because they were treated like professionals

• Members got consistent, high quality coaching instead of constant turnover

4. He chose spaces that sell for him

Anthony is a big believer that the gym itself should do part of the selling, and I agree.

When people walk into a gym, the space sets the tone. If it looks sharp, people show up differently, dress better, and expect a higher level of service, which makes it easier to sell a premium package. Redefine Fitness is a perfect example:

• In a shopping center that looks sharp from the outside

• Bright, clean, and inviting on the inside

• Spacious and professional throughout

But Anthony’s first location was nothing like that. It was a former tanning salon in a rundown strip mall, fixed up with paint, flooring, and some basic equipment. Still, the gym averaged about $40K a month in revenue.

In April, Anthony moved across the street into a nicer shopping plaza. He invested $300K to make the new space look beautiful, and within five months, revenue doubled to around $80K a month.

From the outside in, every touchpoint shapes how prospects perceive your gym. Ask yourself:

• When someone pulls up, does the exterior look clean and inviting?

• As they walk in, does the entrance feel professional and cared for?

• Once inside, does the space feel organized, well lit, and aligned with the level of service you’re selling?

TL;DR

Anthony went from opening a gym in 2018 with $450 in his account to enduring years of setbacks and shutdowns, and now runs two locations that have already brought in $1.3M this year.

What turned things around wasn’t luck. It was a handful of smart, deliberate choices:

• He stopped avoiding price increases and built them into his model

• He invested in his trainers so they’d stick around and deliver consistent results

• He upgraded his spaces so they matched the premium service he was charging for

• And when the business was on the line, he leaned into risk instead of retreating

Now, Anthony’s focused on refining his systems and processes. His long-term vision is to build a global empire, starting with a third location and expansion along the East Coast.

For more insights, check out Anthony’s full interview on the Gym World YouTube channel, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

until next week,

j