Next Gateway Classic April 21, 2012! |
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About Future Fitness & Monsta Clothing Owner Tony Curtis |
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I started working out at 17-18 years old and was influenced by bodybuilding magazines. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a major influence on my wanting a career in bodybuilding. Once I saw that first picture, I pretty much knew it. And the first time I went to the gym and got that first pump feeling it was pretty much on from there.
The first two or three years I did teenage bodybuilding contests. I did contests at 18 and 19 years of age. Those were my first experiences with actual bodybuilding after training for a few years. I continued to work out after my teenage years and after five or six years of working in an unrelated field decided to compete again in bodybuilding and also started to do some powerlifting and did quite a few powerlifting shows. That was the early 80s and about the time I starting thinking about owning a gym. I’ve lived in Lake City my entire life and know a lot of people. After 25 years in this sport, that being over half my life this is all that people have been able to equate me to is working out. They have known that from a teenager to where I am now that Tony Curtis works out, he has competed, he has powerlifted, he owns a gym, he promotes shows, and he is a judge. And I think they know that I do everything I can to make everyone feel comfortable when they come into my gym and that I support all types of people working out.
The Future Fitness Gym Business
Back then there were a couple of gyms in town, but not many gyms in
operation to gather ideas about how the business worked. I asked the
guys what they did and how they did it. Then one of the gyms came up
for sale. I purchased it with a friend. The rest became history. That
was 15 years ago. Then about 10 years ago I bought out my friend’s
share of the business. I continued to grow the business and got more
into it competing in more powerlifting meets and supporting athletes in
the gym.
At one point I owned three gyms at once. I’d purchased Pete’s Gym in Gainesville, Florida and operated it for several years. It was called University Gym back then. Plus, for a time I owned a women’s’ facility here in Lake City, Florida. I’ve had Future Fitness throughout it all and it has been good to me. I’ve been very fortunate. If it hadn’t been for the people, and friends, and everybody that supported me through this whole scenario I would never have made it. I feel fortunate to have been in the business and still hope to have plenty more years in it.
We came up with the name Future Fitness by brainstorming for a neutral sounding name that would lend itself to making everyone feel comfortable and be inviting. We didn’t want it to sound too aggressive or be one of our names. It needed to be a serious sounding business name, but comforting for those coming in and not feel overwhelming. Future Fitness is welcoming to everyone including my bodybuilders and powerlifters. And it has worked well for me as we have a varied group of people from high school age to there 80s. I’ve worked hard to keep all the different types of people getting along in the gym. I have really serious powerlifters and bodybuilders, and average people that for instance want to lose some weight and get in shape, the older people, many women, middle-aged, and younger people. And that is a lot of mix to put in one facility. Especially considering many facilities these days are not allowing bodybuilders, and especially not powerlifters because a lot of times those types of people run off your casual lifters and your people who are there strictly to get a workout before going home from work, etc. It has not been easy, but has worked.
My pricing structure has basically been the same for 15 years. I don’t use contracts or charge start-up fees. I charge a flat rate of $30/mnth or a client can purchase six months for $100. I don’t do bank drafts or reoccurring credit card charges. I think some gyms really start pricing themselves out of the market. People are starting to catch on to that sort of stuff and realizing it can cost a lot to be a member of a gym. This is especially true considering most people that join some gyms don’t workout. Keeping my prices at a reasonable rate has allowed people to come and go and feel comfortable about that. I’ve kept my overhead down really low and I’ve always had the philosophy that I want my paying members to use my gym. I don’t want your money if you aren’t going to use the facility. I don’t make a lot of money and that isn’t what it is about. This is a passion something I have loved and enjoy and something I’ve been doing for a lot of years. And I want others that come in to have that same experience and not feel like they are getting ripped off or paying all this money for something they are not using. I don’t want them to fail to come in and for me to be making money off of them anyhow. I’d feel funny about that. For example, you have Bill Brown over here that you have been bank drafting his account for the last year. Then you see him somewhere in town and you know what he is thinking, “my god, I’ve been sending that guy money for a year and I haven’t even seen him.” I’d be thinking the same thing seeing him! God, I’ve just been taking this guy’s money. That just is not my desired approach to doing business. A lot of companies do and that is fine, but I think this approach has kept Future Fitness successful. The people that use my facility, I believe enjoy what we have here.
Bodybuilding & Powerlifting Judge Tony Curtis
About 10 years ago I started judging for the National Physique Committee (NPC) in Florida. I’ve also been a state weightlifting judge for the high schools.
When training to become a state level judge it can take several years trying to get within the 80-90% criteria matching the other judge’s athletic competitor evaluations to qualify. A lot of people give up after thinking they are going to be able to qualify as a test judge for only a couple of shows and qualify to be on the panel. That isn’t the way it works. We all take it very serious and the NPC only qualifies judges that are serious and do it right. That is what the athletes deserve is to have people judging that know what they are doing that take it serious.
I’m looking to earn my national license within the next few years. In that you go through a process of judging athletes and a written test where you have to pass both within a certain percentile to get your license. It is pretty rigorous. I don’t believe it is what a lot of people would expect it to be. Some might think you are merely chosen to judge on the national level, but you do have to pass the tests that are not easy at all.
National shows include the annual NPC Junior Nationals, Nationals, USA’s, Jr. USA’s, and more. There are quite a few national shows at a whole other level of judging. The athletes are more difficult to judge as at that level of competition the athletes are very good.