Located roughly an hour away from Cedar Rapids, Jesup, Iowa is a quaint small town (1.78 sq. miles) of under 3,000 people. Named after Morris Ketchum Jesup, former president of the American Museum of Natural History and one of the founders of the YMCA, Jesup is a small town through and through.
Yet in the middle of this small town is (fittingly enough given it’s namesake) gigantic gym and fitness warehouse facility — Jesup Gym Equipment.
Started in 1984 by Rex Reinhart and his wife Jean, Jesup Gym Equipment began as a residential garage gym and evolved into the largest discount fitness warehouse in Iowa.
Proponents of Body-Solid from the outset, Jesup’s warehouse is filled with Body-Solid strength equipment: dumbbells, benches, machines and more. Just don’t ask Rex or Jesup for Endurance by Body-Solid treadmills, Jesup doesn’t sell cardio. You won’t find treadmills, ellipticals or bikes at Jesup – all strength.
What really sets Jesup Gym apart is their one-of-a-kind gyms. Not only a discount fitness warehouse, Jesup features an indoor and outdoor gym facility.
The indoor facility is open to the public and features a pay as you go pricing model. There’s no membership or contract required, simply show up with a single dollar and the gym is yours.
The fun isn’t just inside, Jesup also features a huge outdoor facility that is also open to the public. Better yet, the gym is open every single day (even holidays) from sun up until sundown. The outdoor facility was built and designed for workouts with ropes, tires, steps and more to achieve a great workout, outdoors. Best of all: it’s free!
The real purpose of this blog however wasn’t to detail the great work Rex and Jesup Gym Equipment does but to focus on a recent video posted by Rex on Jesup’s Facebook page.
Jesup’s owner, Rex turned 60 earlier this month and celebrated the only way he knew how — putting up 320 lbs for 5 reps on a Body-Solid Incline Leverage Press:
Watch: https://www.facebook.com/jesupgym/videos/10153750788426043/
In the video, Rex explains issues with his health that have precluded him from performing some of what he’d like to do in the gym but how they hasn’t kept him down. Now at age 60, he can still lift with the best of them. This is a fantastic video to watch if you ever doubt the old adage that “age is only a number”. Rex is truly an inspiration to both business owners and fitness enthusiasts both… Happy Birthday, Rex!
