New North Minneapolis fitness center has a unique origin story

Owners Greg Kimbrough and Norman Alston stand outside of their fitness center. Northside Barbell sits on the corner of 18th and Second Avenue North in the lower level of the building. The sign was welded by a good friend of Norman Alston's. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

By Azhae’la Hanson, Reporter

A self-proclaimed gym rat's small obsession has evolved into a fitness center on the corner of 18th and Second Avenue North.

Northside Barbell features a full-service gym, yoga classes, and the option to work with a personal trainer. Owners Norman Alston and Greg Kimbrough officially opened the fitness center at the end of March, an idea the long-time friends have had since they began bodybuilding several years ago.

And it has actual barbells from the Northside.

In 2020, Alston began trading fitness equipment online to build a home gym during the pandemic. He grew a special interest towards York-brand weights because they were the same weights a mentor of his used when he was a student at North High “At one point, the basement was full of them, the garage was full of them. And we even had a storage room dedicated only for workout equipment,” said Alston’s son, Darius.

Alston holds a York plate he collected during the pandemic, the same type of weights his mentor used when he went to North High School decades ago. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

Around the same time, Alston was diving into his hobby, North High had an entire weight room's worth of equipment they needed to get rid of. Alston showed up eagerly with his truck. Along with some York plates, he received all of the equipment free of charge.

Between the two of them, Alston and Kimbrough hauled all of the weights and machines into storage units while Alston organized his home gym. But over time, Alston thought it was pointless to pay rent to store the equipment where it would only collect dust. He might as well pay rent to store the equipment where he and the community can put it to good use. In November, the idea of Northside Barbell was born.

“At our gym, the equipment can continue to benefit kids from North, people who graduated from North, people on the Northside, and everyone in between,” Alston said .

Both business owners currently coach high school sports, and they are hoping to make Northside Barbell a fitness hub for the community, and a safe place for the youth.

Kimbrough stressed the importance of having a community gym, where trust and familiarity build an environment that encourages the improvement of the body and mind. For Kimbrough, lifting weights has served as an antidepressant, and an outlet for his emotions, which he notices are ever more present in the youth he coaches.

“Everybody's mental health is so fragile and damaged due to the pandemic, and all the things that went along with the uprisings,” Kimbrough said. “The world needs to heal. People need somewhere to put that energy. And I feel like this is one of the best forms of medicine out there.”

The duo have close to 40 years of professional personal training experience, having worked larger commercial gyms throughout their careers.

The fitness center has been a labor of love, and Alston leaned on his family to help get programming started.

“When he decided he was going to open his gym, I was there,” said Makeda Norris, Alston’s mother. “I want to do whatever I can to support my son's success.”

Makeda Norris teaches yoga at the gym. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

She said her son gets his passion for physical fitness from none other than herself. Norris used to be a nurse, and moved on to advocacy in health policy, equity, and researched the social determinants of health. When she retired just a few years ago, she scraped up the money to become a yoga instructor. Patrons can now take a class with Norris three times a week.

“We're here, we're from Northside, we’re Black-owned, and we're more than qualified to provide good quality personal training and care,” Alston said.

The fitness center is open 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.