The boring work that grows a stronger gym

Hey Gym World,

Mateo recently caught up with Mike Doehla for his third time on the podcast. In the past, we’ve talked about building an 8-figure online nutrition business and knowing when it’s time to sell your gym.

This time, the conversation focused on something different but just as important: the small, consistent actions that keep your members engaged and your business growing.

Mike started Stronger U in his two-car garage while working a full-time job. He didn’t have a plan, and he wasn’t trying to build the biggest nutrition company in the world. He just wanted to help people who weren’t getting results elsewhere—and he was willing to do the repetitive work most people avoid.

That focus on helping people, combined with the patience to repeat the same actions day after day, is what allowed Stronger U to grow.

So whether you want to improve retention, scale your gym, or get better at serving your members, Mike’s approach offers lessons that are simple but easy to overlook.

Consistency beats clever strategies

In the early days of Stronger U, Mike spent his time on message boards and in Facebook groups answering questions about nutrition for free. He would respond during work hours, in the car, and late at night. It wasn’t strategic. He genuinely enjoyed helping people, and he liked seeing them succeed.

He also noticed something important. Most people were confused by nutrition, not because they lacked information, but because no one was meeting them where they were. Other programs either shamed people for their choices or made things more complicated than they needed to be. Mike, on the other hand:

• Refused to demonize food

• Focused on giving practical guidance that got results

• Didn’t try to impress them with science

What looks simple on the surface is actually the part gym owners often struggle with:

• Following up with members regularly

• Communicating clearly and consistently

• Having the patience to explain something for the fifth time that day

These aren’t glamorous tasks, but they create trust, and trust creates referrals and retention.

Results depend on connection

When Mateo asked Mike about retention, he said most problems come down to results. People leave when they stop progressing, and they stop progressing when they don’t feel supported.

Support requires connection. Connection requires empathy.

Mike noticed this is where a lot of gyms struggle. Technical knowledge is easy to find. You can teach someone:

• How to run workouts

• How to explain nutrition concepts

• How to coach proper form

Empathy is harder to find. It requires understanding what clients are going through and connecting with them in a meaningful way.

Many gyms we feature find top talent among members who already know the culture, believe in the method, and show the human qualities clients respond to. The right team isn’t always the most certified. What matters most is:

• Being relatable and approachable

• Listening, understanding, and motivating without judgment

• Knowing your gym’s culture and values inside and out

Processes create scale

As Stronger U grew, Mike started hiring coaches and quickly realized clients weren’t getting results because of him. They were getting results because the company had a system that worked.

A lot of gym owners struggle with this. If everything depends on you, the business can only grow so far. Mike had to step back, assign roles, and put systems in place to support clients even when he wasn’t involved. He set up a customer service team and implemented technology for day-to-day operations.

Letting go created stability. Stability created scale.

For many gym owners, growth happens when the gym can run without you handling every task. To get started, focus on:

• Clarifying roles and responsibilities

• Using tools to track progress and communicate with clients

• Documenting key processes so your team can run things independently

Repetition builds a reliable gym

Long-term results often come from repeating the same actions day after day. It might feel routine, but it lays the foundation for a dependable gym.

Mike told Mateo that keeping members engaged and progressing comes from sticking with the basics, even when the work feels repetitive: follow-up, relationships, consistent coaching, and accountability.

None of it is super exciting, and none of it gives instant results, but those small, consistent actions are what help members stay engaged and make progress.

For a nutrition coach, that might mean answering the same calorie question over and over. For a gym owner, it could look like:

• Checking in with the same member every week

• Reinforcing the same cues repeatedly

• Cleaning the same corner of the gym every day to communicate standards

TL;DR

Mike built Stronger U from a small side project into a global business by focusing on what most gyms overlook: consistency, empathy, and simple systems.

The same lessons apply to any gym owner who wants to grow a stronger, more reliable gym:

• Follow up with your members and keep them engaged

• Hire people who genuinely care and understand your gym’s culture

• Put systems in place so clients get results even when the owner isn’t handling every detail

• Be willing to repeat the same actions day after day, even when it feels routine

It might feel repetitive or “boring” in the moment, but over time, these everyday actions create growth, stability, and a gym that members trust and want to stay at.

hope this helps,

j

P.S. For more stories and actionable advice from gym owners and experts, check out Gym World to see what’s working in gyms like yours.