Seeing the work and dedication from their community of gym members, however, means all the more to the Toomers.

That type of thinking is what has driven the Toomers to continue to build on New Ulm Fitness, located at 509 20th North Street in New Ulm. In an effort to help others “find their strength,” New Ulm Fitness has been rejuvenated recently with an expansion.

The gym first opened in February of 2014, with many things around it being homemade by Jeff Toomer, such as pull-up rigs, boxes and racks. Anytime the gym made money, it went right back into the facility.

The goal to expand the gym has been with Jeff Toomer for years, and it’s now something he’s committed to.

Submitted photo A look at the new training room at New Ulm Fitness, which was built specially for classes at the facility.

“I knew I wanted to expand,” Jeff Toomer said. “I didn’t quite know this would be it, but I also had my eyes open for my own building. I had taken Adam [Reinhart], my landlord, to two different locations and said, ‘Hey, how would we fix this up?’ Because I would have hired him to do the renovations and that kind of stuff. After a couple of years of me, I suppose he kind of took it as a threat [laughs]. No, but he’s always been so good to me. Anytime I wanted to destroy this place, ‘Yeah, that’s the next guy’s problem, no big deal.'”

After a while, Reinhart offered to do the addition, with the rent changing by square footage. With that, the floors and walls were redone and the building saw almost another 5,000 square feet added on to it in total, nearly doubling the gym’s size overall.

New Ulm Fitness is quickly growing into one of the premier places to go to not just work out, but develop confidence, capability and long-term health.

“This isn’t a fad,” Jeff Toomer said. “We want people to be here for the rest of their life and it’s not just that that runs our business. If they stay strong, they don’t end up in a nursing home, they don’t end up falling downhill very fast because of that. If they do get hurt, they’re going to recover faster. So what can we do to keep that at the forefront of this.”

Getting strong and staying strong is important to the Toomers, but so is community.

Submitted photo A look at the gym before new flooring and mats were put down, which turned into a Viking-themed weight room.

Jeff Toomer said New Ulm Fitness members work well together and have been more than willing to help him continue to improve the gym.

“When we brought in — this is only like 5 [thousand] of our 7,000 pounds of steel plates that we’re gonna have — I had a member willing to drive me and his truck up there to pick everything up and bring it back, and I had members helping me bring them in,” Jeff Toomer said. “Our members have been amazing. That’s the whole point of this place. I want a community where when someone needs help, we all step up. That’s kind of the idea of this place and we just want to expand that offering, get to a point where it’s not just a class-based facility.”

Brandy Toomer said the gym is also good with strength training for recovery after an injury. Many machines in the gym have the ability to split into two, working one side at a time. For example, one with a knee injury can still work out the other leg, which is crucial to retaining muscle through injuries.

Brandy Toomer, who teaches a special class for breast cancer survivors at the gym, said that’s something she and her husband preach.

“That’s kind of what we’re trying to get out to people, too, is that just because you have a setback doesn’t mean you have to quit all together,” Brandy Toomer said. “That’s the same with my breast cancer survivors — it doesn’t have to be full, intense, high-intensity training, you can come in and work specific movements and you don’t have to push or feel out of breath. Just working those muscles is going to get you recovered faster or feeling better.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau In addition to the gym being built on recently, many new machines and weights have been added to make New Ulm Fitness an even hotter spot for gym goers.

The gym, which started without any machines as a CrossFit gym, now has 12 plate-loaded machines and each one has a special QR code attached to it to help members better understand how to safely and effectively opperate the machines.

All of the machines have been added to the gym over the last five years, but the biggest new add-on has been a 3,000-square foot room in which classes are taught. The gym also has a new entrance and separate men’s and women’s bathrooms with a shower in each one to go with the spacious new training room for classes.

The gym blends strength training, conditioning and endurance for people of all fitness levels, but it’s seen an added interest in body building and created extra work for Brandy Toomer, who is now an Organization of Competitive Bodybuilders professional bodybuilder.

Her growing interest in bodybuilding was called an inspiration to expand the gym by her husband and it’s seen her get more personal training requests also, as to be expected.

Brandy Toomer said the gym has seen growing interest with help thanks to partners on the nutritional side of things.

“Along the way we’ve created such great partners, too,” Brandy Toomer said. “All-Star Nutrition [out of Mankato], all their supplements and their help with vitamins, all that kind of stuff, even meal plans if they really wanted. Also, DexaFit in Mankato, they have been such great partners, so getting people that body scan so they really get the in-depth look at their bone density and things that matter.”

The Toomers are more than happy to help gym members and answer questions, continuing to drive a community-first mindset, but they also want to keep gym members accountable and on course. Gym memberships are open to those 16 and older, but Brandy Toomer also trains younger athletes in a structured setting.

Functional fitness classes are offered Monday through Friday. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays have 5 a.m., 6 a.m., noon, 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. classes. Mondays and Wednesdays also offer a 5:30 p.m. class. Tuesdays and Thursdays offer 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. classes.

Information on gym hours, which will soon be expanded, can be found on Facebook or Instagram by searching New Ulm Fitness.

While it continues to grow in more ways than one, Jeff Toomer said New Ulm Fitness isn’t about being the biggest gym, it’s about being the most meaningful one.