New gym opens

By: 
Gray Hughes

The area has a new gym.

Barbell is located north of Hill City on Hwy 16/385 and has been open since May 2 and is owned and operated by Lindsey Busetti and Adam Hunsaker.

“We had planned on opening April 1, but because of COVID, everything kind of got pushed back,” Busetti said. “We are open 24/7, so that makes it a lot easier for people with families or who work off schedule jobs.”

Barbell has one of the best equipment kits in the Black Hills, Hunsaker said.

He said a lot of people would not expect that from a small-town gym, but it is “really, really legit” to train in.

The gym, he added, is equipped for everything — from general population to athletes, body builders and power lifters.

“We have, basically, a set up to handle any lifter,” he said. “Our cardio may be looked at as a little unconventional, essentially, but it’s actually just more progressive toward what modern day conditioning is going to be rather than a room full of treadmills.”

Hunsaker does the personal training at the gym, and there are people who are coming to the gym now.

The gym attracts people from all over the Black Hills, including those as far away as Sturgis and Summerset.

The gym offers coaches passes and online tools. It has training programs that can be bought and paired as part of a member’s membership or separately.

“On your smartphone, you’re going to have app access to training programs for whatever you want,” Hunsaker said. “As far as that goes, that’s really, really in depth. We don’t just have a membership but the tools that go with it.”

About a month into opening, Busetti said things at the gym are going well.

Every day, they’ve had at least one person sign up, whether it’s a monthly membership or a day pass.

“We’ve had a lot of day passes with the tourists lately, which has helped us out a lot,” Busetti said. “We are up to 42 members as of now, and I guess each day we have at least one (sign up), so that kind of keeps us going.”

By September, Busetti thinks the gym will be busier once the summer is over and the area gets through the COVID-19 pandemic and will adjust to whatever the new normal is then.

But this had to be one of the worst times to go into business, or for any business in general, Hunsaker said.

“Everything is roughly going to be pushed back a few months,” he added. “With the business model we have, though, and with what we have to offer in here, it’s going to be a really, really strong place to come. It will have people not just from Hill City but everywhere in the area. We are confident in the model we have.”

Busetti said the gym is cleaned twice a day; she cleans in the morning, and then the gym has someone that will come in and clean at night.

The gym does offer sanitizer and towel for each member so that they can wipe off the equipment before and after each use.

The gym does offer gloves, as well, to people who want to use gloves to work out.

The gym is very clean, Busetti said.

“At some point, when people do gain the comfort level back, like I doubt people will be masking up and wearing gloves and being so over conscientious of things,” Hunsaker said. “I know some people are more freaked out than others. We shouldn’t take it lightly. We should just do what we need to do. It’s accommodating to the people who are extremely worried.”

Hunsaker and Busetti want a place where people can come and be safe and comfortable.

Hunsaker said he does not expect the gym to be over-populated, and 10 to 15 people can comfortably fit in the gym.

“And we encourage members to do their part to clean the place up,” he added. “I’ve been watching people, and they’re pretty good about that. Everybody has it on their mind but keep in mind that after some months roll by and things settle down, it’s probably going to slip their minds, so we will always come in behind them and clean up.”

The gym came to be because Hunsaker trained Busetti last summer. Hunsker said Busetti had some interest in opening a gym closer to her.

Hunsaker said if they were going to open a gym, he wanted to make sure it had the best equipment packages available so that everyone could operate at the highest level.

“Obviously, bringing it here, community-wise, this is a good spot,” he added. “Based on the location, there isn’t really a lot of other stuff around here. The radius we are going to have is going to be pretty strong for the area we are in. It was definitely needed, I think, for this area, so we are really looking for the community to support us and join here because they were all expressing they wanted a club very badly. That’s why we have a good set up because I wanted to make sure we did.”

All the paperwork for joining the gym is done online, Busetti said, and the gym comes with all the tools needed to become fit.

“(Hunsaker) does have his tools for training online, as well, so that’s a plus,” Busetti added. “You can get a membership and the tools.”

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