Amid Coronavirus, Joliet Gym Gives Equipment To Members

JOLIET, IL — The rise in cases of the new coronavirus across Illinois and into Will County last week initially dampened Brandon Kelly's spirits. The owner of Undisputed Strength learned that his Joliet gym at 1736 Essington Road was forced to temporary close its doors.

But Kelly, who grew up in Joliet's Cathedral area, did not want his gym members' exercise routines to go to waste, especially during this time of uncertainty. So Kelly decided to let all of his gym members take Undisputed Strength's exercise equipment home with them.

"By Friday, it was basically stripped to the bare bones," Kelly told Joliet Patch.

Members of the Joliet gym loaded up their vehicles with Kelly's kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, sleds, battle ropes, rowing machines and jump ropes.

"Just about everything that wasn't nailed down by me," Kelly remarked.

Kelly didn't require his customers to put down any money as deposits, and he did not make them sign any legal waivers promising to return the exercise equipment within a certain time frame.

(Joliet Patch article continues below Brandon Kelly photo.)

"It is based on an honor system," he said. "We trust these guys, and, believe it or not, they need it more than we do right now, whether it's for stress relief or just a challenge."

The largest items that members of his gym came to take home were the rowing sleds and a fan bike, Kelly said.

Amid the nation's ongoing health crisis, Kelly wants to make sure Joliet-area residents are continuing with their regular exercise regiments, even if they can't frequent his gym.

"I've developed a pretty cool online training program for all our members," he said. "I don't want them to think that we're not there for them.

"It might be a scary time for them, for a lot of people, including myself, but we can't let fear dictate our life right now. We still have to be moving forward."

On Sunday, the total number of U.S. deaths from the coronavirus reached 400 and there are now more than 32,000 confirmed cases. There are now 21 confirmed cases in Will County including one death.

Given that "there's no answers" as far as how long businesses, schools, sporting events and other large public gathering places will be shut down because of the coronavirus, Kelly said, exercise and mental fitness are more important for people than ever.

And that's why he gave away thousands of dollars of Undisputed Strength's gym equipment last week to his members for their personal use for the time being.

"Business is adapting to grow on a virtual concept," Kelly said. "Just like restaurants, we don't know when we could reopen."

This is Undisputed Strength's ninth year in Joliet.

"We have a ton of support from our members because we're not a traditional big-box gym. We're more of a community and an extension of our family," Kelly told Joliet Patch.

In January, Patch covered Kelly's ribbon-cutting event in Shorewood for his second business, Undisputed Nutrition, in the shopping center near the Mariano's grocery store.

Kelly urged customers to monitor the Facebook page for Undisputed Nutrition as far as whether his nutrition and supplement store will be open in the coming days for walk-in traffic.

"We have a lot of health supplements people can need right now," he said.

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