Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Bosch.
Hi Luis, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I want to start by introducing myself. My name is Luis Roberto Bosch. I’m the proud owner and master trainer of Iron Tiger Gym in Smithville. Iron Tiger Gym’s purpose is different from what you would expect. It’s a sanctuary for those who need peace, those who suffer from anxiety and depression, those who feel like misfits, those who are in turmoil in their personal lives, and those who feel like they don’t belong and need a home. I created the gym to teach others my most effective form of medicine and therapy: gym life.
The roots of the Iron Tiger are found in my childhood. I was always small in stature. This leads to being bullied frequently or people attempting to take advantage. This created mental anguish that would linger for many years for me. At 14, I began training like all the anime characters I grew up watching. Hundreds of push-ups, wall sits, sit-ups, squats, shadow boxing. Anything I could do in the safety of my bedroom when I inevitably could not fall asleep for another night. Summers were spent alone. Books, video games, and movement were my friends for many of my early years.
In my sophomore year of High School, I found the weight room. I had never played organized sports up to this point, but I had gained some confidence with my newfound athleticism. Football was okay, but I was treated more like a practice dummy. Cross-Country was fun but boring. Soccer and Track were an absolute blast for me. Speed was the game’s name there, and I was fast then. What resonated the most with me was Powerlifting. There were big weights on barbells, loud clangs, grunts, strains, chalk everywhere, and muscle. I pleasantly learned that I was just as strong as kids who were twice my size.
I weighed an all-time high of a buck ten (110 lbs). I squatted close to 300 pounds on my first Powerlifting meet, and not only that, I ended up placing top 3. I had the taste of victory I needed to get hooked. Lifting became my day-to-day after that. Practice at 6 am, lift during the school day, and do extra lifting before practice for another sport. I slowly realized something: the kids that picked up on me before weren’t doing it anymore. The feeling of dread and anguish didn’t have a hold of me like it did. The weights allowed me to purge my feelings when I was upset or angry. The weight room became my home away from home. Where I felt I could always excel, where I was always accepted, no matter what—my sanctuary.
I advanced to regionals each year in High School and competed in Powerlifting. I was awarded Smithville High School’s best male lifter three years in a row, only to be topped by earning the title Iron Tiger my senior year. The Iron Tiger of Smithville High School is the person who can lift the most pound-for-pound. I earned this by lifting 9 times my body weight in a series of lifting tests. The record still stands to this day, 15 years later. It’s the reason for the name of my gym.
After High School, college was the name of the game. To which I ended up never actually finishing. I attended 3 different colleges: West Texas A&M, Blinn College, and Austin Community College. It was a little bit backward, but then again, classwork was never a particular strong suit of mine. My anxiety and depression quickly reared its head. I found myself confined to my dorm room or returning home when possible. I eventually realized that I had lost what empowered me: lifting. The distractions of college life made me forget about what made me feel complete. After throwing in the college towel, I moved back home in 2012 with a plan. I want to become a personal trainer, learn the business, and open my gym—a CrossFit one, to be exact. The sport of CrossFit had gained so much popularity for its unique blend of all sports that it was hard not to be attracted to the idea of it. In the meantime, I worked at the Smithville Rec Center at the front desk. It wasn’t exactly a commercial gym, but there was a weight room. And no trainer that worked there. I set my eyes on filling a role that never existed there. I earned my CrossFit trainer certification within several months of moving back home. This was the first step in my creation of the Iron Tiger Gym.
The next step is to learn the business. Where better to learn that than a commercial gym? Smithville Rec Center was close to home and convenient, but I wouldn’t learn the ins and outs of how a gym functions only there. I expanded my scope of work to include being the Personal Trainer of Any-Time Fitness, La Grange. There, I absorbed as much knowledge as possible about the gym business. I also began to expand my training schedule by training people at the Smithville Rec Center. All while still juggling my front desk position. Eventually, I had enough clients to be a personal trainer exclusively for both locations—mornings are in La Grange, and afternoons are in Smithville.
I met my Ex-wife soon after I officially moved all my training business to the Smithville Rec Center in the summer of 2013. She was a married stay-at-home mom of two looking to get in shape. After a couple of months, just getting into shape was not enough for her. She set her sights on the Texas Shredder Biniki Contest. During this training period, she and I began to have a relationship. We moved in together in the fall of 2014, as her marriage hadn’t been what she wanted for herself any longer.
The years 2014 to 2016 were pivotal in Smithville, Texas. The growth of Austin finally hit our tiny town as new businesses seemed to spring up overnight. Honey’s Diner and Amy’s Ice Cream were two of those businesses. No longer a green Personal Trainer, I had zero issues keeping a full schedule. I would train people from 5 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday always seemed to alternate for my “half-day,” which was still at least 6 personal training sessions. My ex began working at Honey’s as their morning manager soon after its establishment. This is how I met the owners, Steve and Amy Simmons. They were extremely encouraging of my business growth, offering several locations in Smithville that could house a gym. This was my opportunity to finally achieve what I had been working at opening my gym. I began working on a business plan with the guidance of several of my clients with backgrounds in business.
Months later, I finished a full-fledged, comprehensive business plan with pro forma, revocation costs, equipment costs, building layout, etc. With the game plan in hand, it was time to acquire the funds needed. Of course, this was a challenging feat. The bank wanted a downpayment of 40% of the total costs. I was floored. In my years of training, I made a little money, but not what I call a lucrative sum. I didn’t get to that point to walk away. I consulted with a couple of clients assisting with the business planning and the owners of Honey’s about what the bank needed. The term ‘Angel Investor’ was new, but that’s what they became to my freshly started business. Iron Tiger Gym was about to be born at 316 Main Street.
Iron Tiger Gym officially opened its doors for business on April 7th, 2017. All I’s are dotted, all T’s are crossed, and every line is signed. My Ex and I were married soon after the opening. Hell, we even moved into her dream home at the end of the summer that same year. The changes in our lives happened fast and furious. And, of course, as every business owner knows, there are always challenges. One of the most memorable challenges of the first summer was Hurricane Harvey. Our roof held water, and with the days of constant downpouring, the inside of my gym looked like there was no roof. Water dripped from seemingly every light fixture, ceiling tile, and little tiny crack you could see. We ultimately had to shut down for cleanup and roof repairs for a few days.
The following year, we had a crazy ending to February and the beginning of March. My grandfather, Luis R Bosch, on my Father’s side, had passed away. He had dementia and Alzheimer’s for numerous years prior. Just two days after my family and I said goodbye to my Grandpa, we went to the hospital to greet the newest addition to our family of 4. Stella Grace Bosch was born on March 8th of 2018. Life seemed to be going great in those days. The gym seemed to be doing alright in our little community, but there were limitations. At this point, I was the sole trainer of Iron Tiger Gym. I was also the only person that worked on-site. My Ex stayed home and did all the bookkeeping, accounting, and administrative work. As all small business owners know, this is a supreme struggle. I attempted to have trainers in those days, but they never seemed to stick. But the work she and I did spoke for itself. People were happy to have a place to come work on themselves, to socialize, to have fun. My passion for training others was recognized when I won Best Health/Fitness Instructor in Bastrop County for the first time.
My Ex eventually wanted to work other jobs. She was bored of staying home and working on the computer. She expanded her scope to several jobs, including electrician, security camera installer, wood-pellet plant operator, and many others. This left me to run things at the gym alone. Running a business is challenging in itself. Was I running one alone? Extraordinary hard. I solely wore all the hats. I was the trainer, the administrator, the receptionist, the janitor, and everything in between. Looking back, it felt as if I was drowning. My dream was no longer what it once was. It became work. I had lost my passion for training. At best, I describe my actions as going through the motions: all show, no heart. The gym started to reflect how I felt. It became unclean, machines needed maintenance, and the finances became rocky.
This was only exacerbated when Stella grew sick in October of 2019. She had a respiratory infection that baffled nurses and doctors alike—no flu, strep, positive tests, but very visibly sick. We didn’t know that this was our foreshadow of the COVID-19 national pandemic. Stella was sick until January of the following year. Soon after she recovered, COVID-19 was publicly announced. We finally learned what Stella had been fighting off for all those months, but we didn’t know how it would affect the gym. As shutdowns were announced, we knew it was only a matter of time before we were also ordered to shut down our business for public safety. Stress levels grew at home; fights became more frequent. My Ex’s health began to decline at this time. Out of fear, she asked and pleaded with me to find a different job that would provide health insurance for her and Stella. I considered becoming a fireman but saw this as giving up on my dream. I wouldn’t say I liked the thought of no longer owning Iron Tiger Gym. She procured a job with an electrical company in Austin in frustration and spite.
When the shutdown finally ended, and I returned to my gym, it did not feel the same. The same friendly faces I could find each day before were gone. It was a ghost town for a period. My anxiety and depression were in full tilt. My training had dwindled to almost no at all. Personal training was the only that kept the gym alive at that point. Our memberships had been cut by 60%. There was the constant fear that I wouldn’t be able to sustain my business; to top it off, my marriage wasn’t in great shape either. I was in a sinking ship of my creation. Yet, somehow, against all odds, I yet again won Best Health/Fitness Instructor in Bastrop County for 2021. This was a saving grace I didn’t know I needed—something needed to be done to fix anything then. I started with my home life. I attempted to talk to my Ex, only to be shooed away or given a task to complete. I attempted marriage counseling. I tried whatever I could research and apply. Nothing worked. At the end of Summer 2021, we received news that our home would be sold. We rented my Ex’s dream house, which would now be lost. We were forced to move into a small two-bedroom, two-bath house with our family of five. She would leave for work before the kids, and I were up, but she started staying later and later at work. I eventually learned that she had been having an affair for months with a co-worker. My heart was finally broken. I couldn’t stay with her once I learned the truth behind her actions.
I was lost. I showed up to the gym with sadness, disgruntled, unkempt, unable to hide my broken heart. With my girls in tow, I moved onto my family’s property, just on Smithville’s outskirts. I am not proud of how I dealt with things initially. I drank my sorrows away each night. I gave what I could to my girls but wept each night when I realized I no longer provided them with a whole family. I had many thoughts I will not repeat, but I regret having. The gym had become more active at this point. There were whispers of what was going on with me. I needed help. I was fighting a losing internal battle. I leaned into my gym.
The place I had created, the place I had held up, now supported me mentally and emotionally. People at the gym who knew of my situation listened, offered advice, or hugged me. There was this beauty I had never seen before in my gym. People supported each other with their hardships. People formed bonds and connected through similar personal experiences. My opening up and being vulnerable sparked others to do the same. Iron Tiger Gym was no longer a place to lose fat or get fit. It became a place where people could heal from their trauma and inner battles. A place where people could find comfort among peers. Something different.
For a while, things stabilized. I began slowly climbing out of the darkness I had fallen into with the help of people at the gym. I refocused on my healing and running the gym. It was unfortunately spun on its head again. My gym didn’t have a lease at its current location anymore. I wanted to renew and hold my fantastic location, but a rumor caught my ear. My Ex had decided to have a fling with my gym landlord. It was my final straw. I could not handle it anymore. I needed out. I plotted Iron Tiger Gym’s escape from 316 Main Street. Limited spaces were available in Smithville, but luckily, I met a few key people to assist the escape over the years. I procured another space at 100 Main Street, just down the street from my old location. It needed work and a little TLC before it was a usable space. I pulled double duty, handling my daily work volume and then organizing the move with my spare time. Amid what seemed to be constant chaos, I was awarded yet again for Bastrop’s Best Health/Fitness Instructor. This added fuel to my fire, which I desperately needed. The preparation work was complete. It was time to move.
I closed the gym for 5 days and successfully moved my entire business to 100 Main Street with assistance from the community. Iron Tiger Gym re-opened October 31st, 2022. Since the gym’s move, memberships have more than doubled. In addition to myself, I can proudly say that we’re now a small team of 4 at Iron Tiger Gym—three of the best personal trainers in the area and our lovely administrator. The gym’s future seems much brighter these days, but there’s always something else on the horizon. Since our move, 316 Main Street has been sold to a commercial gym. How this will affect Iron Tiger Gym is unknown for the moment, but I’ll be keeping a watchful eye on them. The Iron Tiger saga will continue.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely numerous. I may have overanswered the first question and answered this one already. Lol
Thanks for sharing that. Could you tell us more about your business?
Iron Tiger Gym is a unique fitness gym founded by myself Luis Roberto Bosch in Smithville, TX. What sets Iron Tiger Gym apart is its profound purpose – it serves as more than just a fitness center; it’s a refuge for those battling anxiety and depression or seeking a sense of belonging. I am the owner/operator and predominately function as a Master Trainer. My teaching methods include techniques from my experience in Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, CrossFit, Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy, and many years of research and continued education. I’m most proud the Iron Tiger Gym is more than a gym to our members. It’s a safe place that’s 100% judgment-free, and anyone can come to work on bettering their body, mind, and heart. I would love your readers to know that gyms can offer so much more than just a better butt or a six-pack. Gyms can be an unlikely refuge from the stresses of life; you can be with like-minded people actively doing the same as you, trying to be better than they were yesterday.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of my favorite childhood memories was one of my birthdays. I am trying to remember which one, but my Pop took me to Best Buy and on a shopping spree. I made out like a bandit. I snatched an N64, 5 or 6 games, and an extra controller. I played with that console for many, many years. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the freaking best.
Pricing:
- Monthly Membership + Sauna = $60 + Tax
- Monthly Membership = $50 + Tax
- Monthly Auto-Renew Membership + Sauna = $55 + Tax
- Monthly Auto-Renew Membership = $45 + Tax
- Christmas Special, 3 Month Membership + Sauna = $100 + Tax
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theirontigergym.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irontigergym/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irontigergym2017
