Immortals Gymnasium Staff: Aaron DeSantiago (left), Kuljit Singh (center), and Luis Morales (right) photo by Crystal Navarro
At just 18, Aaron DeSantiago knew he wanted to bring a gym to his hometown of Delano. Years later, he’s turned that vision into reality—but not before learning firsthand what it takes to serve underserved communities.
“First, I needed to explore other areas that have been underserved in order to bring a true passion project to Delano,” said DeSantiago.
On January 11, Delano City Council Members and Community members gathered together to celebrate the grand opening of Immortals Gymnasium which is co-owned and founded by DeSantiago and others.
Fitness influencers, Christopher Cardozo aka “Professional Weak Guy’’ on social media, Patty a.k.a “Lean Beef Patty,” Rafa “The Iron Unc,” and the founder of Shonen Supplements Lepeng Gao, were all in attendance showing their support and eagerness to meet people.
Immortals also held their first powerlifting meet “The Shonen Strength Showdown” co-hosted alongside The Iron Office. They welcomed well over 36 athletes all competing in different weight classes.
Immortals is a partnering gym with Iron Valley Fitness, managed and operated by the same founders. This is the fourth facility the founders have opened in the span of four years and there are still plans on expanding outside of Kern County.
“We want to make sure that we fully serve Kern County. That is our first priority, once that is mastered we will expand and explore options outside of Kern” said DeSantiago.
DeSantiago hopes that expanding its facilities around Kern and other surrounding areas, will “create a stronger community [whose] physical strength and ability to have more of a physically expressed presence, can influence their mental and spiritual presence.”
According to an article published in the National Library of Medicine, “ people who exercise regularly have a better frame of mind.”
“[We as people] have the following mind, body, and soul. The one thing I can influence is people’s ability to train their body. I can legitimately say that we are making the community stronger through physical strength” said DeSantiago.
In the next couple of years, DeSantiago hopes that they can complete the last phrase for Immortals and truly capture its full essence.
Anthony Lucas, 24, and lifter describes the community one may find at Immortals and Iron Valley Fitness as “ever-growing, everything, fill with potential, community engagement and community outreach.”
Immortals Gymanisum is located at 1228 Main St. in Delano, CA. Iron Valley is located in Shafter, McFarland, and Wasco.
Meets Results can be found here https://liftingcast.com/meets/m36gin3mreyn/results.
