06/11/2026
Tuesday, I had the opportunity to spend some time with KQ2’s own Chris Roush - KQ2 at Club Fit (airs Sunday). He was there working on a story about our 15-year anniversary of being open for business. First, I can’t say enough good things about him; just a great guy who does a lot for the community. He’s covered several stories at our gym over the years and even stopped by Bode to use my classroom for career day a few years back. St. Joseph is lucky to have him on the ground doing so much.
During the interview, Chris asked me, “What’s in store for Club Fit over the next 15 years?” Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead; but I have spent time thinking about the next few years and how Club Fit continues to evolve.
At our core, we’ll always be a 24-hour gym loaded with iron and weights. That’s who we are. But I also wanted to lean into that identity and build on it. So, we’ve started bringing in some more unique equipment that you don’t see everywhere. Some are newer designs in the lifting world, and others are throwbacks that, for whatever reason, faded away. We want to move as far away from cookie cutter box gyms as we can and keep our own niche and identify.
Here are a couple examples of what we’ve already added:
First, the Temple of Gainz Lat Pullover machine. The Nautilus versions were centerpieces in many gyms throughout the ’70s and ’80s, heavily used by Arnold and Dorian Yates; who once called it the “squat for the upper body.” By the late ’80s and ’90s, they started disappearing. Did they stop working? Of course not. I think it had more to do with companies being bought out over the years and some things left on the cutting room floor. Recently, some mid-tier companies have started bringing them back at more reasonable prices (as far as commercial gym equipment goes), often as imports that they slap their company name on.. It’s an outstanding machine for hitting the lats and upper chest, and in just a few weeks it’s already become a big hit with our members.
Next is the Mikolo Linear T-Bar Row. I made the mistake of removing our chest-supported lying T-bar row, which resulted in some death threats, breakup letters, and a challenge to a joust at the Renaissance Festival off 59. But seriously we had a few people that missed it, so out of desperation, I brought this in and despite being one of the least expensive pieces we own, it’s probably the most often used. After digging around, I found that hardly anyone in the U.S. is selling this right now, and the company itself is out of stock. It’s more of a home/garage gym piece, so I was a little concerned about durability but so far, it’s holding up great. I’ve found some better-built versions overseas if it comes to that, but I’d be surprised if many gyms have something similar.
I’ve got a few more pieces on my radar and will highlight them as we continue adding to the lineup over the next year or so. As a teacher by day, my pockets run as deep as a pair of daisy dukes, so we have to pace it out a bit and slowly add a little by little.
Appreciate everyone who continues to support Club Fit. We’ve got some fun things ahead
