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The art of fitnessDate: 13.01.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
Trainer's club finds niche amid Mellwood galleries
Travis Murphy knew he was taking a risk when he became one of the first tenants of the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center more than 11 years ago.
Yet Murphy also saw the merit in opening a full-service fitness center nestled among the artist studios, specialty shops and gallery space.
Instead of creating works of art with oil paints or mounds of clay, Murphy wanted to teach people how to sculpt themselves.
"Each one person is like an individual canvas," he said. "When we reinvent ourselves (with fitness), it's a form of art to me."
Crafting a fit physique can also be a lifesaver, which Murphy, 35, knows all too well.
Once a "little, bitty boy" from Greencastle, Ind., Murphy started lifting weights and training himself aerobically as a freshman at Indiana State University.
"I grew. I trained. I lifted," said Murphy, who turned his 152-pound body into 228 pounds of lean muscle mass while earning a bachelor of science in exercise physiology.
"My lifestyle was conducive with my major," he said.
His lifestyle, which led to competitive bodybuilding, also gave Murphy a sense of accomplishment and security.
Growing up as the eldest of three children with a single mother, "it was kind of like 'three hots and a cot,' " he said.
"I remember rotating two pairs of pants so no one would notice I didn't have anything else," Murphy said.
Murphy also recalls having to act as if "I was dad" for his siblings, since their father was out of the picture.
The constant lessons in survival motivated Murphy, who eventually ended up in Louisville, where he worked as a personal trainer for various fitness centers.
After several years, Murphy tired of paying an ever-increasing percentage of his earnings to gym owners who "rented" their space the way some beauty salons do to stylists. So he set out on his own and opened Absolute Fitness on the second floor of the Mellwood Center.
Murphy's initial intentions were fairly simple: He wanted to provide a customer-service-driven fitness salon that treated members like more than a swipe of their membership cards.
Even though he is paid additionally to do personal training, Murphy aims to make all members feel that their fitness experience is tailored to them by providing fitness expertise and nutrition advice.
Members only have to ask, as evidenced by the training logs -- a mix of members who pay for personal training services with members who opt to work out on their own but have been provided workout regimens created by Murphy -- lying on a rack at the front desk of the club.
"In essence, all my members are my clients," Murphy said, "whether they pay for personal training or not."
In reality, Murphy's members are also the reason his fitness facility continues to thrive.
Close call
On Sept. 4, 2006, Murphy nearly died after dislocating his spine and neck, breaking his ribs and bruising a lung in a horrific motorcycle accident in Frankfort caused by gravel on the roadway.
"The doctors said if I hadn't been as fit as I was or as muscular as I was, I'd probably be a quadriplegic," Murphy said. "Either that or I'd be dead."
Murphy's muscular trapezoids acted "like Styrofoam" and cushioned his spinal column, which was about 2 millimeters away from being severed immediately after the accident.
While he was in the hospital, Murphy said, his members stepped up and attended to his business affairs, keeping the gym open, making sure he paid his bills and promoting the burgeoning business.
Even more importantly, they provided Murphy with emotional support as he healed.
Nancy Camp was simply returning the kindness Murphy offered when she was in a car accident this past summer.
"I just really credit Travis with keeping me in such good shape, which really helped keep me from being more seriously injured," said Camp, a Louisville resident who is "just about kissing 60" and has trained with Murphy for about four years.
"I've had other trainers, but to be honest, he is the first I've ever recommended," Camp said. "When you recommend someone, you're putting your name out there, so you'd better be sure of what you're recommending or who you're recommending."
Members like Camp make Murphy "feel totally blessed. I'd marry all of them, if I could," he said. "Hell, I am married to them. All I know is that without them, I wouldn't be here. It just totally changed my life."
The accident, said Murphy, "has made me a better man."
Make that a man on a mission.
Promoting fitness
Murphy's ultimate goal it to provide a fitness facility for those who can use it most, from overweight parents whose kids need familial role models to individuals who will reap life-saving rewards from modifying their lifestyles with fitness and diet.
"The object is to stimulate, not annihilate. I uplift people and get them on the right track forward," he said.
Murphy has capped his membership at 500 people and projects he'll meet that quota later this year.
As his member base grows, Murphy plans to add a day care, computer room, spinning studio and a group aerobics room.
He currently runs the gym with the help of a part-time employee and conducts most personal training sessions but wants to add more personal trainers to his sparse staff.
"I'll even go on record and say that any trainer who wants to train in my facility will pay $200 a month. That's it. Period. The rates will never go up," Murphy said.
The only caveats: Personal trainers can train people in the facility so long as they are members of Absolute, and the trainers must first pass muster with Murphy.
"I'll admit I'm picky," he said.
Art of motivation
Murphy also has a discriminating eye that has meshed well with his fellow tenants. Much of the available wall space is dedicated to an ever-changing gallery showcasing the work of Mellwood's artists.
"Instead of putting up pictures of people flexing or motivational sayings, it's my way of giving back to the artists," Murphy said.
And, he added, it's a subtle way of ensuring his members understand they are -- in essence -- works of art themselves.
"That's the approach I take," Murphy said. "That's what I promote."
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