Community Needs: Building Stronger Men Through Fitness, Discipline and Connection

Part One of a Three-Part Community Needs Series

Men’s physical, mental and emotional health is the focus of September’s Community Needs series from the Lebanon Area Foundation, brought to the community by Lebanon Now.

The three-part series brings together local voices to talk about the different pieces of men’s health, from physical fitness and personal connection to navigating difficult life transitions and knowing where to turn during a mental health crisis.

The conversation comes at an important time for the Lebanon community. Recent data from the Lebanon Community Health Needs Assessment shows that the local area continues to experience suicide mortality rates above both regional and state averages. Men are also approximately five times more likely than women to die by suicide locally.

Part One of the series focuses on something that can sometimes be overlooked in conversations about mental health: the connection between physical activity, routine, confidence and community.

For that conversation, Lebanon Now sat down with Tim Cole, co-owner of The Gym 24/7 in Lebanon.

Creating Access to Fitness

Cole and his wife, Danielle, operate The Gym 24/7 along with a separate training facility. Cole holds a master’s degree in exercise science and advanced athletic certifications, and he has worked in the fitness industry in Lebanon for nearly two decades.

For Cole, the mission behind the facilities is simple: access to fitness.

He said one of the biggest changes he has seen over the years is the growing number of people from different ages and backgrounds who are making exercise part of their lives.

At one end are junior high and high school students filling the gym after school. At the other are people beginning their fitness journey much later in life.

Cole pointed to Danielle’s grandfather, who first began going to the gym in his 80s after never having worked out in a gym before.

“For us, that’s exactly what we wanted,” Cole said.

That same philosophy extends to younger people through Cole’s training facility and partnerships with area schools.

Rather than waiting for young people to come through his doors, Cole said he realized several years ago that he needed to go where they already were. Through relationships with local coaches and schools, he has been able to introduce more young people to exercise and strength training.

The goal is not simply to make them stronger today. It is to help make physical activity a normal part of their lives for decades to come.

“We want to lay that foundation early,” Cole said. “They really never know a life without exercise.”

Learning to Do Hard Things

Cole is also a USA Weightlifting national coach and works with athletes in Olympic-style weightlifting, which centers around the snatch and the clean and jerk.

But the lessons taught through structured strength training can reach well beyond the weight room.

Training requires consistency. Workouts build on one another, and skipping the work today can affect what someone is capable of doing tomorrow.

Cole believes that lesson translates directly into everyday life.

“The real secret sauce is pouring yourself into the things that you may not like, but you know are important,” he said.

Having a structured program also gives men something steady to return to during different stages of life.

Whether someone is 18, 25, 44 or 80, Cole said having a place to go, a routine to follow and something productive to work toward can provide an important foundation when other parts of life become difficult.

“You do one really hard thing and then every other hard thing after that is a little bit easier,” he said.

More Than a Workout

While physical strength may be the most visible result of time spent in a gym, Cole said the relationships formed there can be just as important.

For him, some of the most meaningful moments happen between workouts.

“My favorite part about what I get to do is conversation,” Cole said.

Those conversations are particularly important in his work with young men.

Cole said adults can sometimes spend so much time telling young people where to be, what to do and how to behave that they forget to simply talk with them and listen.

As relationships develop, those conversations can eventually include everything from relationships and family to politics, religion and the challenges they are experiencing in their own lives.

Cole believes young people need trusted adults outside their immediate families, even when they come from supportive homes.

“I think that the way we make kids strong is we trust them and we show them that we trust them,” Cole said.

The confidence that comes from lifting a heavier weight can happen quickly. Building the confidence to speak, ask questions, make decisions and handle difficult situations takes longer.

That, Cole said, is where relationships matter.

Getting Through the Front Door

For someone who has never exercised regularly, walking into a gym can itself feel like a major obstacle.

People may worry they will not know how to use the equipment, that they are too out of shape or that everyone around them will be watching.

Cole said creating an environment that reduces that intimidation has become an important part of The Gym 24/7.

He credits Danielle with helping transform the appearance and atmosphere of the facilities, particularly the entrances, to make them feel more welcoming to someone stepping inside for the first time.

He also credits their employees with helping create that environment.

Once someone gets through the door, Cole said they often discover something different from what they expected.

The people surrounding them are not there to judge them. They are working through their own workouts, their own goals and often their own struggles.

That shared experience can turn a place built around exercise into a community.

Physical Health and Mental Health

Regular physical activity does more than build muscle.

Cole said exercise can provide a productive outlet for stress while also supporting sleep, confidence and overall well-being.

For someone going through a stressful period, that hour spent exercising can become time set aside from everything else happening in life.

“Having that outlet,” Cole said, can make a difference.

Exercise can support better sleep, and better sleep can affect how someone feels and functions throughout the rest of the day. Seeing physical progress can also build confidence.

But Cole repeatedly returned to another benefit that cannot be measured by weights, repetitions or personal records: people.

He described working out alongside older members and having conversations he would never have in other parts of his life, including a recent lengthy conversation with a 75-year-old former Los Angeles police officer.

Those relationships are part of what keeps people coming back.

“It’s the people,” Cole said. “It’s the people that you form that bond with.”

A Bigger Conversation About Men’s Health

Physical fitness is only one piece of men’s overall health, but it can provide something many men need: structure, routine, confidence, an outlet for stress and regular interaction with other people.

It can also create opportunities for conversations that might otherwise never happen.

That is why the September Community Needs series is looking at men’s health as a whole rather than treating physical, mental and emotional health as separate issues.

Part One begins with building physical strength and community with Tim Cole and The Gym 24/7.

In Parts Two and Three, the conversation will continue with Michael Kerr of Lane Change and Pastor Kelly Rhoades, representing Lifepoint Church and Lifepoint Community Counseling, as the series explores support during difficult life transitions and the resources available when someone needs professional help.

The September Community Needs series is presented by the Lebanon Area Foundation and brought to you by Lebanon Now.