Former athlete creates roving fitness truck to bring gym to someone's doorstep
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A transformer is rolling through the streets of Central Texas — not like the robots you see on the movies. It can quickly change into a fully-equipped gym.
The founder of this gym on wheels called All in Fit said he hopes this will help reshape how people approach workouts and transform them into a better version of themselves.
"I've been an athlete all my life, so I've always been in the gym. I've always been in the field," Marlon Smith, a former division one college athlete who played basketball and football growing up, said.
Smith has made his own transformation. The University of Texas at San Antonio alumni went pro after graduating and joined the Ottawa Redblacks, a Canadian football team. However, a lingering back injury forced Smith to reinvent himself after playing professional football for three years.
"It's been a part of your life, like most of your life. And so when that ends, 'Who are you?'" Smith said. "I was looking for the next thing to do, and fitness was a natural thing."
Smith's passion for sports helped the Texas native find his new locker room — this time in the outdoors. He said he decided to start a company to help bring out the athlete within everyone.
"You don't have to be Tom Brady or LeBron James or Michael Jordan. It's really a mindset, it's a commitment," Smith said.
The injury forced Smith to take a new path and transition from a professional athlete to a business owner. During this time, Smith found he faced similar struggles with people working to sustain a family, career and a healthy lifestyle. When he saw the parallel, he came up with a plan to become a trainer and share with his clients the support he had as an athlete.
"When I started seeing the benefits of convenience, accessibility, that's when it clicked for me. This is what I was destined to do," he said.
He helped create All In Fit, a mobile gym that can go straight to someone's doorstep.
"This is my new football team," he said. "This is what I'm supposed to do."
Smith said he and his crew can host group sessions, community fitness events and make house calls.
"For people who say they don't have the time to work out, what I say to that is it's hard to make that excuse when we are at your door," Smith said. "If we can eliminate that excuse, you're that much closer to being to where you want to be."
Pricing varies if someone would like to book the truck for a workout. A drop-in starts at $35 per class, while a four-pack of sessions is $120 per month. An eight-pack of classes is $200 each month, while the fee goes up to $250 per month for unlimited access.
A "small group" up to 12 people can also schedule a private workout with the truck, which starts at $37.50 per person per session.
There is no way you don't leave without getting a good sweat because this truck comes equipped with all the weights and machines you are used to seeing at the gym.
Packed inside the walls of the truck are barbells, squat racks, a pull-up station, a rower, sled and adaptable gym tools to work every part of the body. These workouts are for all fitness levels, ages and body shapes. Each class lasts 50 minutes.
Mobile fitness trucks have been around for years, and neighbors may have seen different versions around Austin.
Smith said the skills he learned in sports helped him find a new career.
"You've got to find a way to kind of recreate yourself, so to speak, but take those lessons that you've got from being a pro athlete or being a collegiate athlete and apply them to the next thing," Smith said. "Once I found my new locker room, a new team and tribe, it was like, I never stopped playing. I still feel like an athlete, even though I'm not on the field anymore."