“He was known for being very intense; he was a very hard trainer,” Dobson said. “He kind of instilled that in me as a young man.”
Metroflex Gym: Home to Texas Bodybuilders
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By Leonardo Rosas
More than just a sport, bodybuilding can be considered a form of art as athletes take great measures to sculpt their physiques. The end goal? To have the most completely developed body come competition time. And for people serious about the sport, or even just weightlifting, there is perhaps no other place more fitting in the metroplex than the original Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas.
Branded as a ‘hardcore training facility’, the gym is widely known for pumping out some of the most elite bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman, Branch Warren, and Johnnie Jackson. Notably, Coleman is an eight-time Mr. Olympia winner, the most coveted title and toughest competition in the sport.
In the light of heroes and villains, the champions who’ve originated from this gym are now the ones the next generation of Texas bodybuilders look up to. Brian Dobson, Metroflex Gym owner and former bodybuilder, acquired the gym in 1987, a decade after the sport exploded into the mainstream, particularly through the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a six-time Mr. Olympia winner.
But Dobson had been weightlifting long before the gym exchanged hands. He started competing as a teenager and met Tom Platz, a fellow bodybuilder known for his leg development. Platz showed Dobson how to train hard.
“He was known for being very intense; he was a very hard trainer,” Dobson said. “He kind of instilled that in me as a young man.” Later, when Dobson was working in nightclubs, he got into powerlifting and even set a few records, he said. During this time, he had been collecting weightlifting equipment from garage sales and auctions for his own gym at home.
In his search for high-quality barbells, he called the number of a local gym. “When I called, the [owner] answered and was like, ‘Well, why don’t you buy this gym?’” Dobson said. Dobson considered it, but the asking price was too high for him, and they left it at that. The owner ended up calling Dobson back. “He was like, ‘Well, how much do you have?’” Dobson said. “And a couple of days later, I was down here cleaning this place up and straightening it out, and the rest is history really.”
Today, Metroflex Gym has multiple locations across the country, but the original location in Arlington, Texas stands above them all as a home to Texas bodybuilding champions.
Meet Leonardo Rosas
Leonardo Rosas is a senior at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he is pursuing a degree in journalism with a minor in economics.
Recently, he was a reporting intern at the Dallas Business Journal through the Dow Jones News Fund summer internship program. He now freelances for DBJ, contributing weekly.
He has also reported for UT Arlington’s student newspaper, The Shorthorn, and the Brookhaven Courier, the campus newspaper at Dallas College’s Brookhaven campus, where he previously studied. His work has been recognized by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.
Leonardo is focused on honing his skills as a journalist and gaining deeper insights into the Dallas-Fort Worth business community.
About AMA+UTA CreateCollab
Throughout the Fall 2024 semester, the Arlington Museum of Art is partnering with The University of Texas at Arlington and a senior-level digital storytelling class to explore a wide variety of contemporary themes inspired by the museum’s mission, values, and exhibitions.
Class projects include photo essays, one-minute documentaries, and one-minute podcasts about themes as broad as creating detailed flower arrangements, a life saving cat cafe, everyday heroes, and environmental art.
Associate Professor of Communication Erika Pribanic-Smith, who teaches the class, values opportunities to bring real-world experiences to her students.
“My goal is to give my students real-world experience in all of my classes, creating real stories using real sources,” said Dr. Pribanic-Smith. “Creating stories that will be published for the public to see, not just submitted for a grade, gives students extra incentive to put forth their best effort. Furthermore, working with professionals gives the students another layer of feedback to reinforce what they’re learning in the classroom. I prefer to work with organizations like the Arlington Museum of Art who will benefit in some way from the students’ content so that we are providing a service to the community.”
