The Brenkus File
1995: 8 Minute Abs
1 million-plus videos sold
It spawned a family of time-oriented workouts for legs, arms, thighs and buns.
1997: 15 Minutes to Fitness
30,000 units sold
Sequels are never as good. The follow-up to Brenkus’ eight-minute sensation, this program promised a full-body workout in just 15 minutes a day, packaged with suggested menus and supplements.
1997: Kathy Ireland’s Body Specifics and Reach
400,000-plus videos sold
Brenkus’ 8 Minute Abs notoriety earned him a spot designing exercise programs for the supermodel and Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover girl.
1998: There’s Something About Mary
Grossed more than $369 million worldwide
Like NFL quarterback Brett Favre, Brenkus’ 8 Minute Abs makes a cameo for laughs in the comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon.
1999: The Perfect Portions Plate
200,000 units sold
Designed for no-brainer portion control at each meal, the plate earned a spot on QVC and Home Shopping Network and was marketed for a time by the American Diabetes Association.
2004: Doctor’s Weigh
300 members in first year
Brenkus’ local attempt to take on the Weight Watchers/
Jenny Craig market. He sold the Chardon nutrition counseling clinic in 2006.
2008: Slim & Fit
Three locations
One location open in Concord, with two franchises sold in Birmingham, Ala. Could this be Brenkus’ next
8 Minute-style success?
Take a piece of advice from Jaime Brenkus: “If you’re getting into business, don’t buy a fitness club.”
Brenkus has spent nearly 25 years in the fitness industry as a trainer, an entrepreneur and, most notably, the creator of the iconic 1995 exercise video
8 Minute Abs. With his current venture, the weight-loss studio franchise Slim & Fit, Brenkus says he’s setting out to correct the “terrible mistake” today’s fitness clubs have made by focusing on membership numbers rather than personal results.
Brenkus says the 200 million “deconditioned” (a fancy word for out of shape) Americans is the audience to go after. “The only reason most women work out is to lose weight,” he says, “and it’s amazing that fitness clubs haven’t made that their first priority.”
His approach combines the nutritional counseling of a program like Weight Watchers with the fitness training of a traditional gym, delivered in a one-on-one coaching style. The setting is private, the method is accountability-focused, and the results, according to Brenkus, are significant. He says clients at his Slim & Fit location in Concord, which opened in 2008, have lost an average of 1 to 2 pounds a week.
“We have this intimidated but willing audience who would never set foot in a fitness club but needs and desires to lose weight,” he says.
A Cleveland native, Brenkus’ career has taken him to both coasts making exercise videos like his own
8 Minute Abs and Kathy Ireland’s
Body Specifics plus designing products such as the Perfect Portions Plate, a sectioned tray that teaches proper portion control. In 2004, he founded another local weight-loss clinic called Doctor’s Weigh, which focused solely on nutritional counseling, but sold it in 2006 to create Slim & Fit.
Brenkus believes the concept has nationwide franchise potential, and he’s partnered with franchise consultant Robert Needham, who is based in Pelham, Ala., to help him do it. In addition to Brenkus’ studio in Concord, the pair has sold two Slim & Fit licenses in Birmingham, Ala., and is close to finalizing one in Westlake. Brenkus estimates each 1,500- to 1,750-square-foot Slim & Fit location requires about $75,000 to open, which he says is about half the cost of a typical weight-loss or fitness franchise.
Brenkus has the numbers on his side with a $58 billion U.S. weight-loss market and obesity affecting more than a quarter of all Americans.
“You can make more money if you focus on the client as an individual,” Brenkus says. “He probably has 10 other family members who need to lose weight, too.”