It's a new day and the Texas sun shines bright on our exalted installation team. It's not even 9 a.m. and we’re already sweating but the fact is we’ve had this big installation on the books for months and I'm ready. More importantly, the Gym Pros team is ready. These boys don't falter for anything, not even this indomitable Texas heat. Today we’re headed right down the street to Webster, Texas to properly outfit a gym I know will be legendary in the Houston fitness community: The Dungeon.
And just like that we’re off! Straight to the beach, just kidding, straight to Webster. Which does happen to be close to the beach and you know this because Webster smells like the ocean. The trucks are loaded up (that's right two trucks today!), I told you this was a big install, but what's more is we’ll be making multiple trips back to Bolt HQ to re-up on our coveted fitness gear. Today we’re fortunate to have our Gym Pros dream team in perfect attendance: Delfino our installation manager and his dynamic duo of assistants: Alvaro and Mike. And just to shake things up we’ve brought in a ringer, Rodrigo. Rodrigo is a big guy, and I know he’s going to be a major asset to the team today. Last but not least we have our videographer Mr. Jackson Chamblee onboard.
If you’re familiar with my Gym Pros documentation then you know I'm riding with Delfino. He's behind the wheel of our lead truck this morning, and he’ll be our pace setter today. Not just as we cruise down 45 south but on this install as a whole. Delfino is a general in the Gym Pros Army. Private Mike and Private Alvaro keep pace behind us as we head south.
35 miles and 100 strip malls later we arrive at the site of what is and will be The Dungeon. We’re greeted by Tristan Phemister the co-owner and architect of this operation. I’ve met Tristan once before when he swung by our epic Bolt Fitness Supply showroom (6415 Allegheny St, Houston, TX 77021) to meet with our salesman Noel and pick out the gear for his facility. Noel told me Tristan was impressed with the quality and price point of our equipment (smart guy). Noel also reported that Tristan was very excited about the functionality of certain pieces in relation to their footprint. This is one of many arenas where Bolt bodies the competition: we have a truly next-level collection of all-in-one pieces that offer the full functionality of a gym in one stand-alone unit, I mean c’mon, Noel is a good salesman, but this Bolt Fitness Supply equipment practically sell itself!
Immediately we get to work unloading Delfino’s truck. Today’s install involves a lot of prep, we will start by installing flooring before we get to build the fun stuff. This flooring is no joke, each sheet is 6x4 feet, 3/4 inch thick, and weighs over 100 lbs, this is seriously high-quality stuff. How many of these would it take to stop a bullet? Serious question. I’ll ask the boss and get back to you on that.
This facility isn't huge but I'm certainly feeling the size more intimately as we begin to line the raw concrete of The Dungeon with our gym mats. This process takes some time, especially considering that they need to fit seamlessly together like a jigsaw puzzle. But hey we’re the Gym Pros professional installation team and these guys eat oversized jigsaw pieces for breakfast, speaking of, what's for breakfast? It's still breakfast time and we’ve already gotten a lot done. The aesthetic quality of The Dungeon is shaping up to be a no-frills “your-favorite-bodybuilders-favorite-bodybuilder” type of facility. This is a place forged for the culture by the culture, leave your pretensions and your social media following at the door, etc. Our equipment is going to look awesome in this place. The floor is complete, and it didn't take as long as I thought either. That shows how much of an amateur I am alongside the Gym Pros pros.
Now the fun stuff, we start by unloading the Cyclone Series Functional Trainers. These are the powerhouse pieces I was lauding over earlier. Tristen got 4. This man is not messing around. And fortunately, he’s also helping us place these pieces because they’re massive and so is he (he is strong). Once our initial haul has been unloaded, half the Gym Pros team goes back to Bolt HQ to reload the trucks. I had the option to go back but I’m going to stick it out here in The Dungeon this afternoon. There is no shortage of work to do and I want to earn my keep with this group of acclaimed installers.
We unpack the 5-100 lb Lonestar Rubber hex dumbell set and an equally vast collection of our Lightning weight plates AND a 20-110 lbs set of our Evolution urethane fixed ez-curl barbells. Each is accompanied by its corresponding weight rack and/or weight tree. This is Christmas morning for the weightlifting aficionado, especially when you figure every single weight is individually packaged and stills retains its fresh factory finish. This perfect sheen has yet to be betrayed by one single fingerprint. Until now, but it had to be done. The weights are unpacked, organized, and arranged according to Tristen’s vision.
While we organize (and recycle!) the small mountain of cardboard we just created a vehicle pulls up and out walks a man holding the largest orange and white striped bags I’ve ever seen. Water burger. Wait Whataburger. Whatever, it doesn't matter because Tristen just cemented his legacy in Gym Pros history with this one. He has very generously purchased the Gym Pros team lunch, and just in time too because our collective blood sugar was quite depleted after the work we just put in.
The second wave of Bolt gear arrives and after a brief (and well-deserved) lunch break, we get back to work unloading more equipment. The remaining truck is loaded with some smaller pieces from our Shock Series Selectorized equipment line (links below) as well as our 8-station Jungle Gym. This is the icing on the cake, this remaining piece will complete Tristan’s vision for the epic unveiling of The Dungeon. Bolt’s 8-station Jungle Gym is so large that it must travel in pieces, lots of pieces, and these pieces must be very methodically put together. This is where hard work meets experience and the Gym Pros team shines bright. After some careful maneuvering and surgical assembly the Jungle Gym is completed as it now sits as the centerpiece of Tristen’s dungeon.
All this, and it's not even 4 p.m.; the lion’s share of the work is complete. Tristen is pleased. I don’t think he was expecting we’d be this far along and the sun would still be this high in the sky. Frankly speaking, I didn't think we’d be either. I told my wife I wouldn't be home for dinner; that's how wrong I was. I hope she's still cooking.
We spend the next hour applying the finishing touches to this install but this job is a wrap. Tristen and his team thank us abundantly and we hit the road just in time for rush hour but we’re driving against traffic so I don't get irritated. As we drive the sun is hitting at that perfect angle that it pierces the windshield and I get irritated anyway. But then I stop and consider that today was huge, this installation was a massive success. I know we’ll have a repeat customer in Tristen and that makes me happy. I smile as we squint our way back to Bolt Fitness Supply Headquarters in Downtown Houston and close another chapter in the Gym Pros history book.
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