Guice Hill is no stranger to hard work.
Born into a farming family in Humphreys County, he grew up working in the fields, cutting grass and all things a farmer’s kid has to do.
When he was 15 and still a student at Humphreys Academy, however, he discovered that his passion was growing muscles, not crops.
Hill started working out and soon became obsessed with all facets of the fitness industry.
He did research in his spare time about gyms and personal training.
Now 20, Hill is about to embark on something most entrepreneurs don’t do until much later in life.
He’s now a business owner.
Hill bought Body Works & Tan, which is a long-standing gym on U.S. 49 in Indianola.
“I’ve worked out since I was 15, and I’ve always wanted to open my own gym,” Hill told The E-T. “A few weeks ago, my mom called me and told me this place was up for sale and wanted to know what I wanted to do with it.”
Hill said he and his mom went to check out the gym.
“She loved it,” Hill said.
They both saw the potential. The gym is large enough, he said, to accommodate all the equipment he plans to get and also allow him to hold personal training sessions with members.
“I decided I’d buy this one and do the best thing I could with it,” Hill said.
Hill has been attending Mississippi Delta Community College for the past two years, and will get his degree in May. He has been a personal trainer and has been helping clients in the Cleveland area for the past year.
He still plans to pursue his degree in personal training, but Hill is anxious to get started working with clients in Indianola, where he recently moved to be closer to the gym.
He hopes to pass along all the things he has learned about fitness and nutrition to folks.
“I can sit down with them and talk to them about nutrition, training and everything like that,” Hill said. “It’s mainly me wanting to give my knowledge to other people so they learn better and do better for themselves… The main thing I’m excited for is just seeing people come in here and trying to better themselves every day…When I was younger, nobody really taught me anything, and I did all the research myself. I really just want to give back to people to come in here.”
On top of being a business owner and a student, Hill is still active in bodybuilding, and he will participate in his first competition in St. Louis this coming fall.
“When I was 15, I just started researching everything about bodybuilding,” he said. “I saw different things at each gym. There were some gyms that had certain things others didn’t. From there, I took it to learning everything I could about improving my health…Then I became a personal trainer.”
Body Works & Tan will retain its name, but it will convert to a 24-hour gym, Hill said.
“The reason I’m doing 24 hours is that I’ve been to a lot of places and 99% of the gyms are 24 hours,” he said. “Some people want to get up here early in the morning before work and some people, after work, they want to go home and get some food and come up here later in the evening.”
Hill still plans to have the tanning beds and saunas from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. each day, and he is excited about the potential for classes like aerobics continuing at the gym.
Most of all, he’s ready to get people enjoying working out again.
“Instead of people thinking, ‘I have to come to the gym today,’ make it, ‘I’m glad I get this opportunity to come to the gym,’ because I think most people think of coming to the gym as stressful and they don’t want to do it,” Hill said. “I want people to be able to enjoy it.”
Hill estimates the gym will open around mid-May.
