After lots of excitement, planning, and effort, we are so proud to announce that the expansion at The Athletic Club is complete. This has been a labor of love for our incredible members for quite a while. We are beyond excited to share it with you.
Today, I want to go over the specifics of this expansion! I’ll explain what’s different, explain why we did it, and answer a few of our most frequently asked questions.
What happened to El Jimador?
This is usually the first question people ask. This was honestly one of the most incredible parts of the whole experience. It worked out for everyone in a great way.
In business, usually someone gets the short stick. This time, these changes were a blessing to all the businesses involved. We at The Athletic Club needed to expand, needed more parking, and wanted to increase the quality of our offerings to our members. Our friends at El Jimador shared these feelings for their patrons.
It was a team effort. Nobody was “pushed out.” In fact, The Athletic Club owner Fermin Ortiz organized a new lease for El Jimador over several months for them, working in tandem with our El Jimador friends to ensure that the process was smooth and beneficial to everyone involved. Their new location is now 1205 FM-1431 Marble Falls, TX 78654.
This was a growth opportunity for both businesses that ended up with each business having more parking, bigger facilities, and (hopefully) a better experience for their patrons.
What’s Different with the Expansion?
It’s a solid question. What, exactly, is different? I’ll explain it this way: we’ve added more machines, more space, more parking, more locker rooms, and more features for our members.
We were already the largest gym in Marble Falls at 20,000 square feet. And now, we’re a full 4,000 square feet bigger than that!
We’ve spent years figuring out what machines are most popular, and we’ve duplicated them so you don’t have to worry about finding space for your favorite exercises. For instance, we nearly doubled our treadmills to a total of 14. We also went from 3 stairmasters to 5.
These are just a few examples. We’ve done a similar thing with strength and conditioning. We just added another full dumbbell set that ranges from 5 pounds to 100 pounds (in addition to our existing 60-piece set that goes from 5-125 pounds).
We also added a bunch of fresh, exciting new machines that are completely new to our facility. We added a Jacob’s Ladder, a fresh new batch of circuit equipment, a massive 8 stack cable, and much more.
Plus— here’s a huge bonus— we practically doubled the amount of parking! Even when our facility is humming with activity, you should be able to comfortably find a place to park. We also resurfaced the parking lot, fixed some logistical issues, and overall just made it all better.
Let’s say it this way: there’s hardly a part of your facilities that has not been improved with this expansion.
So, Is It Crowded Now?
The short answer: no. It’s not crowded. In fact, it’s even more spacious than it was before!
From the very beginning, we designed this around the user experience. We’ve all been to gyms where all the equipment is just crammed in. You can hardly do anything without getting uncomfortably close to someone else.
Nobody likes feeling like sardines in a can. We don’t, either.
Sure, we have over 100 pieces of weight equipment, 55+ pieces of cardio, and 280+ dumbbells. But we also have something pretty rare in modern gyms: walking space.
There are several expansive, open areas designed for stretching, body exercises, and more. Plus, each machine is placed where it feels comfortably spaced. When you come in, rest assured that it feels spacious and comfortable— not cramped and claustrophobic.
Why Did We Expand?
That’s an easy one— we did it for you! Our members have been incredible. We wanted to give you a gift. This community is such a blessing. As a thanks to years of patronage and support, we were just thrilled to be able to bring these improvements to your facility.
Plus, we’re locals too. We’re family owned and operated, and we’re all gym goers! So we’re probably as excited about these improvements as anyone.
What’s with the Giant Hammer?
Ah, yes.
The giant hammer.
For those who might not know what I’m talking about, we commissioned an 8-foot tall “Thor’s Hammer” style sculpture that sits out front in the parking lot. Once this gigantic sculpture appeared, we, naturally, got a lot of questions. So, here’s the story behind it!
We did some business with a gym a while back that hosted World’s Strongest Man competitions. One of the world’s strongest men carried a small version of that hammer as a prop. It’s about 3 feet tall. Still comical, but not absurd. He’d use that in his presentations.
Well, we just couldn’t resist buying this little hammer. In fact, we loved it so much we commissioned a gigantic version of it from Fisher’s Iron and Metal. They’re also a local, family owned and operated business (welders). We’ve done work with them for years. Unsurprisingly, they did a great job like always.
Does The Athletic Club Really Have 5 Locker Rooms?
Yes, we do. We now have four main locker rooms (two for men, two for women), and a fifth spare. That fifth one is a unisex, single use locker room, complete with shower, toilet, changing area, sink, and so forth.
Come check out the new Men’s Room and the new Women’s Room. We’ve made some exciting additions.
So… Surely This Raises my Rates, Right?
That is the inevitable question, isn’t it? “Sure, so all this sounds great. And when are you going to hike up my membership rates to pay for it?”
And this is the most exciting news of all.
We’re not!
I’m going to say that again. And this time, I’m going to bold it and italicize it.
Your rates are not going to go up with this expansion.
We designed these exciting changes simply to provide a better experience for you. Everything, yes, everything is included at no additional cost to all existing members. Just consider it a gift. Our community has been so great to us, and we wanted to do what we can to return the favor.
What’s Next?
We aren’t finished with improving your facility. This expansion is just another step in our lifelong mission to provide you with the best experience we can. And if we’re doing our job, that’s a mission that is never “finished.” At no point will we lean back, relax and say, “ah, that’s good enough.”
Instead, we will continue to prioritize our members. We are constantly looking for ways to improve, and we have some exciting opportunities to look forward to in the future.