In This Issue:
INSTALLATION & DEALER SPOTLIGHT: Optimum Performance Sports & Direct Fitness Solutions
JOE KENN DISCUSSES THE ORGINS OF THE TIER SYSTEM: November Dynamic Discussions
LOOKING AHEAD: Upcoming events
INSTALLATION & DEALER SPOTLIGHT
Optimum Performance Sports (OPS) - Fort Wayne, IN and Direct Fitness Solutions (DFS)
Four years ago, Dr. Jason Russell, executive director of Optimum Performance Sports (OPS) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, started talking with Direct Fitness Solutions Account Manager Marla Toigo about his vision of a new OPS location. This facility would focus on both youth sports performance and adult fitness. It would be the first of its kind in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area—99,000 square feet featuring a 24-hour gym, full-size basketball courts, indoor track, café with healthy food options, and childcare. This location would also offer adult group workout classes, sports medicine and nutrition services.
In Dr. Russell’s vision, D1 athletes woulD train at this facility, so the strength equipment would need to not only be the highest quality, but also reinforce that this was a place for top-level athletes to train, so the presentation and branding was very important. That’s why Marla knew Dynamic Fitness & Strength would be the right choice as equipment manufacturer.
DFS has been an authorized dealer of Dynamic Fitness & Strength equipment for over seven years. As the largest distributor and service provider for commercial fitness equipment in the Midwest, their partnership has been an important part of Dynamic’s success. Marla has been with DFS since 2013, and has an extensive background in health and wellness that includes being CEO of the YMCA of Steuben County, Indiana.
As planning moved forward, Marla brought Dr. Russell and his team to Dynamic headquarters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to see the facilities. They toured manufacturing, operations and the Dynamic showroom. The tour helped lock in their decision, but more than anything, OPS trusted Marla’s judgement. “And obviously I was down the Dynamic route,” Marla said, “and I love your product.”
Color-matching the equipment to OPS’s brand—especially their particular shade of blue—was the biggest challenge of the project. Color-matching can be particularly challenging when applying across multiple mediums such as steel and urethane. The DFS and Dynamic teams went the extra mile to make sure OPS was happy with the final color.
Marla worked closely with Tor Lee, direct sales manager at Dynamic Fitness & Strength, and with Gavin Tambornino, render specialist, as the project moved through revisions. They in turn worked with Dynamic’s engineers and purchasing teams to keep the project moving forward.
“With any large project like this, there’s a lot of changes,” Marla said, “so we had to be nimble and it took that extra energy on my end and Tor’s end and Gavin’s end to make it right. In the end, you want the customer to be not only 100-percent excited but at a 150-percent level of excitement when they see the final rendering. We worked together as a team on everything.”
“Teaming with OPS and Marla at Direct Fitness Solutions has been great,” Tor Lee, said about the multi-year project. “Not only did we build a great partnership over the years, but we also established great solutions to assist the members and clients. We look forward to continually strengthening this relationship with DFS.”
The amazing facility is the third OPS location in Fort Wayne, Indiana and—as of this article—is preparing to open to the public any day now. We were thrilled to work with Direct Fitness Solutions on this project, and thankful for Marla’s knowledge of, and dedication to, the fitness industry. Together, we were able to be a part of bringing Dr. Jason Russell’s vision to life.
JOE KENN DISCUSSES THE ORIGINS OF THE TIER SYSTEM
November Dynamic Discussions
The new season of Dynamic Discussion continues on Wednesday, November 10. Join Coach Kenn as he talks about how he developed the Tier System Strength Training methodology. This athletic-based training system is used by strength coaches all over, at every level. Now, hear from House himself how he came up with the system.
Dynamic Discussions are live events you can join on Zoom. Submit questions for Joe to answer when you register, or put questions in the comments during the event. Be part of these awesome Dynamic Discussions by registering today, then join the event at 7PM EST/6PM Central, Wednesday November 10th!
LOOKING AHEAD
Upcoming Events
Looking out the window, it's a beautiful fall Wisconsin day. Come January, it will be a frozen tundra here--but we'll be in San Antonio, Texas to do a back-to-back shows of the NSCA Coaches Conference and the AFCA National Conference. If you plan on attending, make sure to stop by and try out our new and incredible Athletic Training Arms. We'll also have our hugely popular Inverse Leg Curl there, as well as some other goodies. Our team will be waiting to hear from you!
