College athlete praises newly expanded fitness center experience

Oct. 16, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness.

Growing up as a student-athlete in Harrisburg, Beau Karst lived minutes from his go-to gym.

“And all through my high school career, I was there,” said Karst, who set a state boys high school pole vault record and now competes in the event for USD.

“It’s just been very, very good to me to be part of GreatLIFE.”

Karst is a regular at GreatLIFE’s Harrisburg location, which almost doubled in size this year. He continued to work out there regularly this summer before joining his college team.

“The people you meet there, especially the workers, are always really welcoming, and the equipment is always clean and working,” he said.

“Everything is new, and the renovation is absolutely phenomenal. I took advantage of that every single day, and it was a great experience. And the workers are the type who get to know your name and chat with you when you walk in. There are people I’ve met at the gym who have become good friends outside the gym.”

He’s also a big fan of the on-site Recovery Lounge, offering hydromassage beds, Hyperice products such as the Hypervolt massage units, vibrating foam rollers and spheres, and Normatec compression boots.

There also are saunas in the Recovery Lounge and both locker rooms in addition to newly upgraded cold plunge tanks in the Recovery Lounge.

“I’m a Recovery member, and the ice bath and sauna is my jam,” Karst said. “That’s where I’m at probably half the time I’m at GreatLIFE, either in the recovery booth or the ice bath taking advantage, so that’s been great.”

He and his dad also enjoy golfing together with their GreatLIFE membership, “and my little brother and I now go to the gym together,” Karst said. “He just started going with me — he’s an eighth grader — and said he loves it. I give him workouts to do, and then he goes off on his own.”

Josh Knoll, who leads the Harrisburg fitness center, has gotten to know Karst well and even watched him compete last year.

“That was just really cool because he’s at the gym all the time, and it was exciting to see him set the state record,” he said.

“I think the Harrisburg GreatLIFE facilities are a good fit for everybody, but we do have a lot of powerlifters and high school and college athletes coming in to use the equipment.”

The expansion “has been really, really good,” Knoll added. “Our new basketball court area and the additional turf space have helped a lot more people with training because there’s extra space. So we’re seeing increased engagement and having a lot more discussions with members about how to use the equipment.”

Want to check out GreatLIFE Harrisburg for yourself?

Stop in anytime, but especially Oct. 25 for a grand-opening celebration of the expansion in addition to the annual Boo at the ‘Burg event, offering a Halloween celebration for kids, plus drawings for free training and product samples from 5 to 7 p.m.

“We’ll have fun activities for kids —  a little candy station to pick from and mini-pinatas they can take at the end of the night, so it’ll be a lot of fun for families,” Knoll said.

“But if you’re interested, just swing on in and we’d be more than happy to show you around and tell you about the great things we have to offer.”