These are the benchmarks we use with gym owners every week, drawn from the Gym Owner Network: 500+ gyms mentored across 16 countries. Headline figures: 2 to 3% monthly attrition, 18+ month average member lifespan against an industry standard of around 9, and £130k average new revenue added in a member's first year.
Most gym owners run on feel. They know whether the month felt good. They rarely know whether the gym is on track or slipping, because they have nothing to measure against. This page is the something.
One rule before the numbers: these are averages and benchmarks from real member gyms, never guarantees. Your numbers will be your own. The point of a benchmark is to show you where to look, not to promise you a result.
How we built these benchmarks
Every figure on this page comes from gyms inside the GON network, gathered through mentorship work between 2024 and 2026. Most are small group PT gyms or gyms transitioning to the model. That matters, because model changes the benchmark. A £20-a-month access gym and a 1:6 coached gym live in different worlds, and comparing your small group gym to industry-wide averages will mislead you in both directions.
Where we quote an industry standard, we're describing the wider independent gym market, so you can see the gap the model creates.
What is a good gym attrition rate?
For a small group PT gym, good attrition is 2 to 3% of members lost per month. Across the GON network, that's where well-run gyms sit. Many independent gyms run at 5 to 8% without knowing it, because they track cancellations by feel rather than by number.
Attrition is the health metric. Get it wrong and nothing else matters, because marketing pours members into a leaking bucket.
Two things about measuring it properly:
Measure monthly, as a percentage of total members. Lost 6 members from 120? That's 5%. Do the sum every month, same day, same way.
Trace it upstream before reacting. A bad attrition month is a symptom. The cause is usually one of: members going quiet before they cancel (nobody noticed), a product problem in specific sessions, or a pricing change handled badly. Find the cause before you fix the symptom.
At 2 to 3% monthly attrition, roughly a third of your membership turns over in a year. At 6%, it's more than half. That difference is the difference between compounding and treading water. For a deeper walk through measuring and fixing churn, see our guide to gym attrition rate.
The proof it's beatable: MARCHON, the performance gym founded by GON co-founder Ollie Marchon, has run attrition as low as 1%. That's an outlier, and it shows the ceiling.
How long should members stay?
Across the GON network, average member lifespan is 18+ months. The industry standard for independent gyms is around 9. That gap is the small group model working: members who are coached individually, in capped sessions, by coaches who know them, stay roughly twice as long.
Lifespan is attrition's mirror. At 5 to 6% monthly attrition, average lifespan maths out to around 16 to 20 months only if you're acquiring constantly. Sustained 2 to 3% attrition is what pushes real average stays past 18 months.
Why it matters commercially: lifespan drives lifetime value (LTV), and LTV sets what you can afford to spend to acquire a member. A gym whose members stay 18 months at £250 a month can outspend and outlast a gym whose members stay 9 months at £120, in the same town, forever.
What revenue should a small group gym do?
The gyms that come to us typically sit between £5k and £40k a month. The pattern at every level is the same: revenue lower than the coaching quality deserves, because the price is set by feel and the owner delivers most sessions personally.
The benchmark that matters more than headline revenue is revenue per coaching hour. A 1:1 session at £40 earns £40. A 1:6 session at £22 a head earns up to £132. If your coached hours are earning under £60, the model or the price is the bottleneck, and no volume of leads fixes it.
On growth: the average GON member adds £130k in new revenue in their first year of mentorship, and most recoup their investment within 60 days, usually from a single price change. We publish that as an average from real members, not a promise. What it tells you: for most under-priced small group gyms, the fastest revenue lever is not marketing. It's the price of the existing product.
Two named examples from inside the network:
- XO Fitness (Chris & Harry): best-ever month of £8k after eleven years, to a £30k month with £8k profit, twelve months later.
- Sam & Tristan (CTPT Canterbury): cut from 110 members at the wrong price to 30, rebuilt the model, grew to 230 members in a facility four times the size.
Both were model and pricing rebuilds first, marketing second.
The five numbers to track every week
You can run a healthy gym on a handful of figures. If you've never tracked a KPI, start with these:
- MRR (monthly recurring revenue). The heartbeat. On track or slipping against target, not just up or down.
- Monthly attrition %. Target 2 to 3%.
- Average member value. MRR divided by members. If it's falling while members grow, you're buying volume with discounts.
- Revenue per coaching hour. The model-health number. Under £60 means look at ratio or price.
- Leads to members conversion. Only diagnostic once the first four are healthy. Most owners start here. It's usually the wrong place to start.
Data, then context, then implication. No drama.
Frequently asked questions
What attrition rate is normal for a gym?
Independent gyms commonly run 5 to 8% monthly. Well-run small group PT gyms run 2 to 3%. If you don't know yours, that's the first fix: count members lost each month and divide by total members.
What is the average gym member lifespan?
Around 9 months across the independent gym industry. GON network gyms average 18+ months. Model and coaching ratio are the biggest drivers of the difference.
How much revenue does a small group PT gym make?
The gyms we mentor arrive between £5k and £40k a month. The model itself supports strong six-figure to multi-six-figure annual revenue from a modest footprint, because revenue per coaching hour is two to three times 1:1 rates.
What KPIs should a gym owner track?
Start with five: MRR, monthly attrition, average member value, revenue per coaching hour, and lead-to-member conversion. Weekly, same format, so you can see on track or slipping at a glance.
Where does your gym sit?
If you read these numbers and realised you don't know yours, you're the reason we built this page. Most owners we meet are winging their numbers and a little scared to look at the bank. Clarity is kindness, including with yourself.