The 'Kettlebell Guy' hand-delivers hard to find weights in New York City during the pandemic

• Marc Miller, aka "The Kettlebell Guy," has made a business out of delivering workout equipment to people who need it in New York City.
• Miller, a personal trainer, has been able to meet demand when many retailers are out of stock due to his deep connections in the fitness industry.
• He wakes up at 3 a.m. every morning to finish his deliveries in time for his own workout.

Move over, Batman — "The Kettlebell Guy" is the hero Gotham's gym-goers needs right now.

With businesses closed and online stores completely sold out of fitness equipment, Marc Miller, a New York City-based personal trainer, has become a one-man gym delivery service, rounding up pallets worth of heavy metal to distribute across the city to gym rats desperate for their weight-lifting fix.

All told, Miller estimates he's lifted (and sanitized) more than 20 tons worth of gym equipment, including dumbbells, plates, and his namesake (the nickname was first coined by Wall Street Journal reporter Jason Gay). He finds the equipment though a network of fitness industry contacts, word of mouth, and old-fashioned leg work.

People who know him as a personal trainer have spread the word of his uncanny ability to produce kettlebells on demand.

"The adventures I've been on the last few months, it's been absolutely surreal. You make your own fun, I guess you could say," Miller told Insider.

Miller came up with the idea to deliver gym equipment after requests from his clients

Miller was devastated when the threat of the novel coronavirus forced fitness centers across the city to close.

"When everything happened, my first thought was, I hope they don't shut down the gyms because it's the one source of sanity," he said. "I thought it was going to be two weeks. When I saw it was longer I was really fearful. I came home with tears in my eyes not knowing what we were going to do."

Miller is the co-founder and co-owner of Independent Training Spot, a fitness center with three locations city-wide. At first, like many personal trainers, he moved his training sessions online.

But then clients began asking him if there was any way to rent out equipment from the gyms, as waitlists for online retailers stretched for months. While a home workout is better than nothing, Miller said, there's only so far you can get by training with only your bodyweight before it starts to feel boring.

"What people don't realize is that you must have progression and progressive overload, if you don't have weight, volume needs to increase and exercise will have to change," he said. "Having a kettlebell is a game changer."

So Miller set out on a mission to keep the city well-stocked with weights.

The Kettlebell Guy uses connections, creativity, and a nonstop work ethic to maintain his supply of equipment

At first, Miller met the demand for fitness equipment by selling off his own supply of (carefully cleaned) weights from his gym. But he quickly realized he'd need a system to stay in stock. He began ordering new equipment to refill the gym just as he was cycling items out. Along the way, he had to get creative to keep as many channels of supply open as possible.

"I call it bounty hunting. You're not getting it from one source, you're getting it from anywhere you can find it," he said.

That includes buying from gyms that are closing down, wholesalers, manufacturers, and even from people's garages if necessary.

While Miller's offerings aren't cheap, the demand has been constant. Weights range from between $2.75 to $4 per pound depending on the type. He also charges up to a $25 fee for city deliveries, and at least $100 for anything an hour or more away.

"This thing you're buying, it doesn't have a shelf life, it's gonna be here forever," Miller said. "So the price of a fancy dinner, to get a nice kettlebell and a pair of dumbbells, that's just a reflection of all the work that goes into it."

"When you get stuff to the person, they just light up. They're so happy and grateful," he said.

Miller keeps a video blog of his adventures on his Instagram page, including his workouts in front of landmarks across the city.

His day starts at 3 a.m. with delivery routes, followed by his own gym session

Miller wakes up at 3 a.m. every morning, grabs his list of deliveries, and gets to work.

The weights are stored next door, in a gym being developed by the neighboring apartment building, for which Miller is offering his consulting services. Each day he uses a hand truck to painstakingly load up his Lexus for deliveries.

"It's not a pickup truck, so I have to know how much weight can go in each seat so I don't blow a tire," he said, although that's already happened once before.

Once the car is loaded, Miller sets out on his route, sometimes going as far as Hoboken before working his way through the city and back into Brooklyn. On weekends, he'll trek even further, to buyers in the Hamptons or residences as far north as Bear Mountain.

On a typical weekday, though, he makes eight to nine deliveries each morning before 6 a.m.

This early schedule is so he can make time for his own gym session from around 6 am to 7 am each day.

"Working out is like my religion," Miller said.

Then, Miller has a packed schedule of clients for his personal training services, which he provides virtually throughout the day. In between sessions, he'll make calls about equipment requests or opportunities. At the end of his workday, he'll prep everything he needs for the next, setting up tomorrow's clothing, backpack, extra phone chargers, and his delivery list, so it'll be ready to go in the morning. That leaves Miller with just enough time for him to catch up with his family before bed.

"At night I drive our nanny home, convince my wife I still love her, read the kids Dr. Seuss, and then I crash," he said.

The strenuous pace might be enough to burn out some people, but Miller said it keeps him inspired during the stress of the pandemic to stay busy.

"People I train at the gym have been cheering me on, so that's what I hear when I wake up at 3 a.m.," Miller said. "I like adventure, I like feeling needed. I'm not sitting at home bored, I'm out there living my life and exploring my city."

Despite his thriving new gig, Miller can't wait for the gyms to reopen

Although Miller is moving a huge amount of product, and doesn't intend to give up his new gig anytime soon, he said kettlebell sales aren't enough to cover his expenses. Prior to the pandemic, he and his partner were hoping to open a fourth location. Now he's just trying to make ends meet.

"I'll always be the Kettlebell Guy, because I stepped up to the plate when other people weren't able to. But we can't stay inside forever," Miller said.

As much as the adventures have been fun, and as much as he's enjoyed acting out an "I Am Legend" fantasy in the deserted streets in the wee hours of the morning, Miller said he's still anxiously awaiting the order to reopen the city and its gyms. It's not yet clear when that might happen.

But until then, if you need some metal to move, he's got you covered.

"I'm a entrepreneur, I'm a survivor, I'm a New Yorker," Miller said. "I work, that's what we know how to do."

Read more:

Gyms are starting to reopen — here's a look at what it's like to work out during the pandemic

How to safely go to the gym and reduce your risk of getting the coronavirus

What it's like to go to the gym in Sweden, where lockdowns never happened