Like strong muscles, Fitness 101 keeps growing

KEARNEY – Patrick Haddix believes the third time will be the charm.

In 2003, Haddix opened Fitness 101 at 4105 Second Ave., or “up the hill,” as he calls it, near the Brown Shoe Fit Co.

Five years later, Fitness 101 had outgrown that space, so Haddix moved to 16 W. 21st St.

Last September, again in need of more space, he moved to 2803 N Avenue. The facility now has 10,000 square feet, nearly three times the size of his initial 3,500-square-foot location.

“This was the right place at the right time. My goal was always to have a ‘real gym,’ and I feel really good,” he said.

“Before, this place was so popular people had a hard time trying to find a place to park,” he said. The West 21st Street location had limited street parking, so members often had to park in nearby lots.

“Before that, I found it was hard to have a business on Second Avenue unless you’re right by a destination like Walmart or Target. Otherwise, people speed right by. Compared to that, downtown was great. It was a lot slower-paced,” he said.

Demand is a good problem to have. “I’d talked about finding a bigger place for 10 years, but in Kearney, it’s tough to find something that had a lot of square feet,” he said.

He said he “got lucky” when he secured his new building. “The location, just the way the building is set up, it’s just perfect, and being on a main road, I’m more visible,” he said. It also allows him to stay open 24 hours. Members get around-the-clock access.

Early in February, he put the finishing touches on the new site when new cardio equipment was delivered, allowing him to equip a rear area specially for cardio work.

“I couldn’t say no to this. It will give us the final last level of equipment I didn’t fully have.”

Looking back, he said he can “see the layers” of how his business has evolved to what it is today. That first location had 3,200 square feet, but its vaulted ceiling made it feel more spacious.

“My other locations were great, but over time, this became what I needed,” he said.

The new facility has 22-foot ceilings and office space upstairs. The five-year-old building is easier to maintain than the previous one that was a century old.

The bright space is equipped with treadmills, commercial tracks, exercise bicycles, dumbbells and equipment of all kinds, including older models that some members prefer. Haddix provides constant maintenance so that his machines hold up year after year.

This site also has a level that’s a few steps lower than the main part of the gym, so people who prefer to exercise with fewer people around can retreat down there to work out.

“The last building was 115 years old, and it had a few quirks,” he grinned. “Downtown was great. I’ve heard people talk. They really liked that space. I’ve heard many say that it was the first gym they ever joined.”

Haddix was practically born into the fitness business. “I’ve wanted to do this since I was four years old,” he said. His father taught physical education and coached at Overton High School. Haddix remembers how, in the early ‘80s, Overton athletes trained with weights.

“I’d goof around with those weights when I was just four or five. My dad coached football, basketball and track. It was a small program, but mostly I remember him working with the football program. I’d be out there getting water or goofing around. It just stuck. I was fascinated with all that stuff,” he said.

Later, his father became an administrator at schools in Wallace, but his emphasis on strength programs continued. “His programs were excellent,” Haddix said.

No wonder, then, that Haddix studied exercise science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

“I met Dr. (Don) Lackey and I told him, ‘I want to own a gym and be a trainer. I have a one-track mind. That was it,” he said. Lackey was chair of the department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Leisure Studies at that time.

Haddix and his wife, Laura, met in Wallace and became high school sweethearts. After their marriage, they moved to Lincoln where Haddix owned GNC, then a booming natural foods store franchise that focused heavily on vitamins and herbs.

Behind his GNC store, he put in a small gym, “but it didn’t work,” he said. He sold the business, returned to Kearney and, in 2003, launched Fitness 101 on Second Avenue. The rest is history.

Right now, Haddix has just one employee, trainer Cody Straus, who has been there for 13 years. “Other than that, I run the show,” the high-energy Haddix said.

Along with running the business, he does personal training with clients for eight to 10 hours a day. He serves clients from age 18 into their early 60s.

“My goal has always been to have a place where people feel like it’s OK to lift weights,” he said.

“Fitness has evolved into a whole bunch of things you’re not supposed to do, but I’ve always prided my gym on the fact that if you want to dead-lift 1,000 pounds, I can teach you. I can train you to do whatever,” he said.

He also provides physical therapy for people recovering from knee and hip replacements and other procedures.

“I’m not about numbers. My goal is that I want you to come train. Fitness 101 has special equipment and special levels of training. If you enroll, I want you to use the gym and tell your friends,” he said.

“My new facility is the missing piece. If people come, I want them to tell somebody. Word of mouth is very big for me,” he added.