Viking Strength and Conditioning owners, Tanner Applegate, Sheldon Williams and Darren King, can’t wait for the community to check out their new setup where Motion Fitness is currently situated after taking over the building’s lease to add a second facility. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
The fitness family at Viking Strength and Conditioning just got a whole lot bigger as the locally-owned and operated gym announced they’re taking over the building currently leased by Motion Fitness.
Sheldon Williams, Darren King, and Tanner Applegate, the owners at Viking, are looking forward to revamping the facility with a more local touch while also being home to the city’s largest fitness facility.
“We had the opportunity, working with Fort Pitt Developments Inc. and Motion Fitness, and we’re going to be taking over the facility Motion is in now,” said Williams, who’s also Viking’s president.
“It’s allowing us to expand the offerings of all of our members to focus on physical and mental health and bring a whole new atmosphere to the fitness industry in town.”
Williams explained Viking will be transferring all memberships to make things as seamless as possible for all members, with changes coming soon.
“When they leave on June 30 and come back July 1, they won’t know anything has changed, other than we’re going to be very focused on improving the experience for everybody,” he said.
All three owners would agree they never thought they’d be set up in the city’s largest gym, but after taking into account the results from a recent city-wide needs survey, there was a mental-health aspect that couldn’t be ignored.
“I think the last couple of years have taught us that both mental and physical health is something everyone is responsible for. No one else can take accountability or responsibility for your mental or physical health, but at the same time, people need resources,” added King.
“A survey from the community did seem to indicate a lack of resources, so one of the goals we have to provide that support was expanding our reach in the community.”
King also explained the team at Viking is always trying to break the stigmas surrounding gyms.
“A lot of people think a gym is a place for people who are already in shape, and that’s one of the common myths … a gym is just a place to start your journey, continue your journey, or perfect your journey; it’s not a place where people should feel there’s a certain bar (to reach) to get into.”
When it comes to the mental health aspect of fitness, King said a lot of people have a hard time knowing where to start.
“If you don’t know what to do in a gym, you’re probably not going to come to it in the first place,” he said.
“Not only do we offer programming, but we also offer classes where people can train in a group atmosphere. We offer one-on-one programming as well for people who are more comfortable working directly with someone.”
Viking member Jordana Heisler joined the gym this past February after a personal training session and talked about her mental health journey through fitness.
“I was very in the depths of postpartum depression and wasn’t finding internal happiness,” she said. “I thought moving my body again and getting out and seeing people again would help, and my mental, spiritual and physical health all improved. I work out in the noon barbell class and have long-lasting friendships from that. Everyone is so supportive; it’s amazing.”
Another member, Anthony Prosser, has worked out at Viking since 2017 and has nothing but great things to say about Viking as a whole.
“Viking is the best gym I’ve had the chance to train at and I’ve been training for 12 years at five or six different gyms,” he said. “As far as community, this is one of the few places people actually tend to know each other and we have some of the strongest people in Lloyd, which is why I came here.”
Viking co-owner Tanner Applegate, who founded the gym almost a decade ago, never thought he’d see this big of a change.
“We started with powerlifting and have grown over the years, and now we’re the biggest facility in town,” he said. “I never thought I’d see that, but I think our product has improved to the point where we can be successful in that market now.”
Going forward, Viking’s current gym, located at 6202 48 St., will be a dedicated 5,000 sq. ft. CrossFit box with everything else taking place in the old Motion building.
“We’re looking forward to having the sports performance and CrossFit in this build then all of our members, group fitness and private training will happen over at the new facility,” added Williams.
