Austin Fit Magazine > Articles > Fitness > Los Campeones Gym

Los Campeones Gym

By Drew Terry – June 1, 2024

It’s difficult to miss the towering sign painted on the face of a two-story commercial building while driving East on 290 toward Dripping Springs. The sign simply reads Los Campeones Gym. No images, no logos, just those words in black and white spanning what looks to be 25 yards in length. The owner, Tim Mantel, detailed a fascinating story of how the gym came to be, leaving a successful career in retail merchandising and a city that had nothing left for him.

Before delving into his own journey, Tim highlighted a powerful tool available to empower entrepreneurs in Austin with business training, educational events, and more. If you are an entrepreneur looking to start a business or need resources to help grow your existing business, don’t miss out on the Small Business Division on the AustinTexas.gov website, a hub of support and knowledge.

Tim Mantel had spent 30 years in executive-level retailing, and it was time for a change. While living in Minneapolis, working long hours and sneaking out of his office at Target headquarters mid-day to get in a workout before heading back to finish the day, Tim met a young and ambitious gym owner named Benjamin Loehrer. Ben was a professional bodybuilder and personal trainer in downtown Minneapolis. Ben became Tim’s trainer and coached him through a rigorous workout protocol during Tim’s lunchtime excursions. They became good friends.

I would fill my own tank by just being able to think about my own health. For me, the gym became this really special place. I never thought I would open a gym until I met Benjamin Loehrer.

In Tim’s words, they created an “incredible bond.” Tim could learn from Ben on the physical side while providing advice on the business side backed by decades of executive-level experience.

Eventually, Tim challenged Ben. He said, “Create a Master Franchise Agreement and protect the people who want to own a gym from business failure.” To reinforce his advice, Tim promised to open a franchise location once the Master Franchise Agreement was complete. “Five years later, after COVID, I called Ben and asked him how his Master Franchise Agreement was coming.” Ben replied, “It’s funny you ask because my attorney had so much free time during COVID that we wrote it… it’s done.” The Los Campeones franchise was born!

Tim was living in New York at the time, and a week later, Tim visited Texas and found the site for the first Los Campeones gym in Austin, TX. The lease was signed six weeks later and Tim, being a man of his word, started the process of opening the Los Campeones South location. This was around August 2021. By Thanksgiving, Tim had moved into the space and 90 days later, Los Campeones South wore the massive sign facing the highway and was open for business.

To help build out and manage the gym, Tim brought on a close and trusted friend he met in Manhattan, Matt Pappadia. After COVID disrupted Matt’s career as an occupational therapist, Tim watched his friend build a gym in his parents’ 2-car garage and grow his client base as a personal trainer doing 10-12 sessions in a day. “Matt is a culture warrior for fitness,” he said.

The Los Campeones North location in the shopping center on the northwest corner of I35 and East Koenig opened recently, and I was really interested in checking it out.

There was a huge gap, I think, in bringing in the best, from the best companies, on the gym floor.

As a team, Tim and Matt knocked it out of the park. The gym is meticulously organized and immaculate with equipment for just about everyone.

Bodybuilding

Functional Fitness

Olympic Lifting

Dumbbell Training

We’re going to get better every day because of the promise we make to people when they get in their car to come here.

Every member has the option to work with a trainer. Trainers are not employed by Los Campeones, rather, they “rent” space at the gym and run their own independent personal training businesses. They keep 100% of the proceeds from their clients, which is an attractive offer for ambitious individuals looking to grow their clientele. In speaking with Tim, it’s obvious he takes seriously the responsibility of providing every trainer at the gym with the resources they need to give their clients the best experience possible.

Tim and Matt have built an incredible gym and I look forward to seeing Los Campeones grow in the community and as a franchise.