Muscle motivation: Gym owner leads business turnaround by example

Staying fit is an all-the-time priority for Zech Fagan, but to maintain that mindset, he's changing up the routine at least one time.

Fagan, the new owner of Anytime Fitness in McKinney, is training for the NPC Heart of Texas Men's Physique Championships on September 10 in Dallas.

A workout buff since he was a teenager, the 33-year-old Fagan needed a change. He wanted to push himself like never before, and his first-ever bodybuilding competition was the perfect motivator.

"I'm doing it because I was bored," he said. "You get bored in that routine, just like anything in life. I needed something to get that fire back, and this competition is what's doing it."

The event will be held at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas and will feature varying levels of competition for men, women, teenage and wheelchair competitors. The actual competitions include ones for physique, bodybuilding, bikini, figure and fitness.

Fagan started training two months ago with a goal to get smaller, not bigger. He had a bodybuilder's shape but chose to enter the physique competition, during which he will strike a few poses and try to impress the judges with definition instead of bulk.

By changing his eating habits -- cutting out fast food, most carbohydrates and large portions -- and intensifying his daily workouts, Fagan has gone from 240 pounds to just under 200 in two months. His new build changed things up and went hand-in-hand with his gym philosophy, one he implemented as soon as he took over Anytime Fitness in December of last year.

"I don't want someone to look at me and be intimidated," he said. "This gym is for the average Joe, the person who doesn't want to go to the huge gym where they've got the big bodybuilder guys with small tank tops grunting all the time. Intimidation is the biggest thing; some people just size a place up and won't even go inside because they're intimidated."

While Fagan just recently decided to tone down his size, his attitude has been the same since he bought the gym. His approach seems to be working. Anytime Fitness, located at 4600 Eldorado Pkwy., has been open for about three years but had only 240 members about eight months ago.

It was close to $12,000 in the black and almost shut down. The gym now has more than 700 members, many of whom have become friends with Fagan.

"I'm real close to my members," he said. "I've got a lot here who are going to go to the competition and root me on. They've seen me changing, so they know I'm getting ready for it."

Fagan dreamed of owning a gym since his high school buddy introduced him to working out 17 years ago. Before Anytime Fitness, he owned a smoothie and supplement shop, yet the entire time wished it was a gym.

"I've always stuck with fitness, no matter what bad things happened in my life," he said. "So, I knew it was something I was meant to do. I like helping people and encouraging them. If I see someone changing, I tell them they look great because people need that so they stick with it."

He and the other trainers at the gym try to spread that attitude to its members. And while the upcoming competition is his own mission, he said it accompanies his other drive to turn the gym into a place people want to be.

"There's nothing worse than going to a gym and seeing a personal trainer who's out of shape," he said. "If you don't live the life and put the time in, how is somebody supposed to believe in you? If you know what it takes -- the sacrifice and dedication -- and you look the part, people will follow your example."

Fagan works out six days a week, working every muscle group at least twice a week, some every day. He does 30 minutes or more of cardio three times a week. And though his workout routine may seem expected for a gym owner, Fegen doesn't do it to show off.

"If you can get in it and really push yourself, you can achieve any goal you set," he said. "When I started working out, it changed me. My whole attitude changed, and when you have a good attitude, good things can always happen."

Anytime Fitness is open every hour of the day and Fagan is there for most. He was at work at 1 a.m. one day last week figuring out ways to make the gym better, more inviting. He hopes that with further growth, he can purchase the adjacent building space to add an aerobics room and more equipment.

Fagan said whether he places in next month's competition doesn't matter much because just working toward it is his victory. That's the simple message he's trying to get across to his members and other people in his life -- dedication leads to success.

And fitness can be an all-the-time fuel for that dedication.

"I want to push myself to the extreme in everything I do," he said. "I think fitness is on the up, but it could be even more. It transfers into every area of your life."

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