Recharge Fitness is the only fully outfitted gym in Macon County. Owner Curtis Dallas estimates that 33,000 people who live nearby have no other access to a gym that is fully equipped, and offers a full selection of man-sized weight.
And Dallas would like to see that they have access. His passion for fitness is obvious; his passion for the gym community here is overwhelming.
The gym, which was previously called Body Confidence, was his favorite place to stay fit and spend time with the guys until June of 2012, when previous ownership was forced to close due to tough times and the economy.
“This was a total shock for me,” said Dallas. “Not only was it closing but it was closing by the end of the month! I had to find somewhere to go! I began looking at the other gyms close to my work and surrounding counties. After looking at all these fine gyms I realized something was going to be missing—my gym family, the people I saw on a daily basis for the last several years. Holy crap! Nobody to spot me, nobody to listen to my whining! What was I going to do?”
Dallas grew up in Macon County, graduated from MCHS in 1999, and still lives here with his wife and two small boys. He was a salesman for Interstate Batteries for 12 years, breaking sales records and earning a good living.
But with the gym he loved about to close down, he decided he would do something about it: “After a lot of praying and sleepless nights it hit me, I wanted to buy the equipment and start my own gym. The following week I approached the previous gym owner [Tim Johns], letting him know what I wanted to do. After negotiating for the next few days I did it. On May 25th I put cash in his hand. On June 4 we would be reopening as Recharge Fitness, a name that came out of my career in the battery business.”
Ironically enough, Dallas was let go from his sales position the very next month. “I just started a business; I have a family, a home to pay for! All I knew to do on the drive home was pray, so I did. Believe it or not a peace came across me and God said everything was going to be okay. So here we are, Recharge Fitness, a new business and a new corner.”
Fortunately, Dallas had saved enough to support the investment of starting a new business. And it is an investment—he has been putting every possible penny back into the improvement of the gym itself.
First things first—a new sign, visible from the gym’s position on Scottsville Road across from Sonic.
Dallas, who has training through International Sports and Science Association, holds a variety of fitness classes—designed for people of all fitness level—at the gym several times a week. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes are thirty minutes long on MWF at 7 AM and Tues Thurs at 6:30 PM, and Cardio Bootcamp is an hour on Mon and Wed nights at 6 PM.
The gym currently has “about all the free-weights a person could hope for,” as well as a women’s weight section, a large assortment of cable fitness machines, ellipticals, treadmills, and stationary bikes, and an assortment of other items such as yoga balls and kettle bells. “I’ve made some changes,” said Dallas. “It’s a work in progress.” He plans to continue expanding the offered equipment, and eventually, ambitiously, to make the place a 24-hour fitness center. In a 24-hr gym, members gain access with key fobs, and cameras take care of security. In the meantime, he has a few employees to watch the desk during the gym’s long hours, as well as family: “My wife helps me out a whole lot.”
For rates, hours, and other membership information, check out Recharge Fitness on Facebook, and Dallas encourages any interested person to come by, say hello, and try out the space.
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