What started as a “quick idea” between friends has turned into Okmulgee’s newest 24-hour fitness hub – MugTown Fitness.

Co-partners Randall Fuller, Trent and Allison Braziel and Chris Baumann said the idea came together fast – really fast.

“He had the building,” Trent Braziel said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, come check out this building and see what you think. Maybe we can make it a gym.’ And it just kind of organically – we both came here, looked at it, and started working. It was just a quick idea that just happened.” “It was either that or a haunted house,” Randall Fuller added. “Yeah, gym makes more sense.”

Fuller, who owns about 300 rental and commercial properties in Okmulgee, also owns the building that now houses the gym. “This was a building that I wasn’t able to rent,” he said. “For some reason I didn’t feel like I needed to drop my price. Then I realized – a gym would work out as long as we did it like it needed to be. It’s a good location. It just made sense.”

The partners said they worked roughly 16-hour days for nearly two months to bring the idea to life.

“We don’t play,” Fuller said. “We knocked down walls, poured concrete, pressure-washed layers and layers of paint off the brick – everything you see, we built. There were no outside contractors.”

Braziel added, “We probably put together everything for the most part in close to two to two-and-a-half months.”

— A House of Gains

The result is a 5,000- to 6,000-squarefoot facility featuring cardio and leg equipment, a full boxing ring, tanning and red-light therapy, men’s and women’s showers and an outdoor alley for sprints and tire flips.

“We wanted to bring that raw brick texture back instead of just paint,” said Braziel. “It turned out pretty sweet.” The boxing ring, he said, was another spur-of-themoment move. “It was just another quick idea,” Braziel laughed. “Randall was like, ‘I love that boxing stuff.’ He knew somebody that had the gear for it the mats and canvas – and he built that whole frame in the alleyway. We welded the frame, painted it, laid plywood, foam mat – it was a big team effort.”

— Community & Cleanliness First

The partners emphasized they want the gym to be for everyone.

“At first, we thought this is gonna be a man’s gym, but we want everybody,” Fuller said. “I think we tackled what we needed to tackle to get that to happen.”

Fuller emphasized that the facility was designed for safety and cleanliness. “We have twelve cameras all throughout and outside,” he said. “Before you pull in our parking lot, you’re already on camera. We have towels throughout, spray bottles, wet wipes, disinfectant sprays – that matters.”

The gym is open 24/7 and members enter by phone app or key fob. “No one can just come up here and access,” Fuller said. “People don’t open the door for other people. Safety first.”

— More Than Just Weights

MugTown Fitness already offers tanning, red-light therapy and a sauna.

“We have a stand-up bed, a lay-down bed, both 220s and a 110 red-light therapy bed,” Fuller said. “City code said you can only take it to 88 degrees Celsius – that’s 190 degrees Fahrenheit – but it goes all the way to 110 Celsius, which is 240. It gets hot. I did 22 minutes and was dripping.”

The gym’s leaderboard of the week encourages friendly competition. “If you beat somebody, post a video on our MugTown page on Facebook and write your score,” Fuller said. “It’s healthy competition.”

Outside, the alley doubles as an open-air workout space. “You can come out here and flip the tire, do sprints up and down the alley,” said Braziel. “At night, all the lights are on. We want to put ropes and wall-mounted pull-up bars out here too – just add to it.”

— Local Pride, Local Vision

Fuller said owning property is one thing, but building something the community can use means more. “This was about more than filling a building,” he said. “It was about creating something lasting something that brings people together and keeps them healthy.”

And in just two weeks, MugTown Fitness has already hit around 200 members. “We have people who come just for tanning,” Fuller said. “And what I like is we don’t up-charge. It’s one membership fee not an up-charge at all.”

— Join the Movement

Memberships are handled through the gym’s Facebook page, which lists prices, waivers and discounts for first responders and emergency service workers. Members can pay via QR code, Cash App or in person.

“You can get a day pass for $10 or a week for $17,” Fuller said. “Try it out first and see if you like it.”

Looking ahead, the owners plan to add pickleball courts upstairs once the required fire suppression is installed.

For the partners, the real success comes from seeing people use what they built. “We have people coming in with their kids,” Fuller said. “As long as they sign the waiver, if they’re 10 or 12 and see mom and dad lifting, I’m fine with it. They have to be with you. We promote that – we’re all about this.”

Inside or out in the alley flipping tires, MugTown Fitness has quickly become a place where Okmulgee shows up – not just to work out, but to work together.