I dislike how my gym does not have enough small plates (10 pounds, 5 pounds) and how it only has 2 sets of 2.5 pound plates and has nothing smaller than that. i would love to have 1/2 pound plates, maybe 3/4 pound plates and 1 pound plates. in addition i wish it had a reverse hyper machine.
Well ill give you an example of what i think of my gym which to me is the ultimate. first its big, with all the cardio and aerobics upstairs. they have two sets of dumbbells up to 150s, EVERY piece of Hammer Strength and TONS of Atlantis equipment. there are two large rooms of just leg equipment including 5 hack squats, 6 leg presses and 6 power racks. as you can see this gym is really equipped. they have a day care and a supplement shop, they make postworkout shakes too. nice large and clean change rooms. a mandatory rule to put ALL your weights away or you lose your privelages which everyone respects and does. they even have a couple tanning beds. you name it and this gym has it covered. i challenge anyone to improve upon this gym. oh and its 24 hrs and 20/month
Judging from others’ responses that contain opinions about music, there isn’t a lot of agreement on this subject. If it were up to me, I would have Haydn symphonies playing most of the time, but that would probably drive most everyone else crazy. I suggest varying the music in relation to the tastes of the clientele you happen to draw, so that everyone will be happy at least some of the time (and probably unhappy some of the time). Also, silence is golden – some of the time.
In my 50 years of working out, I've been at a number of good gyms -- Bill Pearl's and Vince Gironda's, to name two. At the time I was not at all hardcore. I wish these legendary figures had reached out to me more than they did to try and draw me into a more hardcore attitude. As it happened, I grew into it over time. But relationships with people are the essence of life for everyone, including gym owners. Don't limit your attention to those who already agree with your approach, but gently draw others in -- it will be most satisfying to both them and you.
I do have some other suggestios that a gym manager might consider.
1) the music problem. Why not offer a jukebox? no, seriously--think about it. You'd make money, everyone would have a chance to be happy with the music, and there would be a variety. Just make sure there really IS a variety--some metal, some pop, some industrial (actually, a LOT of industrial, for my preferences), and so on.
2) Many gym managers don't seem to care about the hygeine of their gyms. The bathrooms stink, the saunas are rank, and the locker rooms are covered in pools of standing water. I'd offer complimentary spray bottles of disinfectant in the weights area that members could use to spray down equipment. Nothing's worse than waiting for the crunch bench and seeing the guy who just finished leave a big hairgrease spot on the vinyl.
3) Wanna make extra money? Offer post-workout shakes on the premesis. I'd buy them, made fresh with whey, dextrose, and skim milk.
4) have a public bulletin board where you can members can post fitness-related information. Not spam, ads, or pictures of the family cat, but printouts of Nelson Montana's cardio article at T-mag, the latest spplement reviews, stuff like that.
I think it is most important that you take a step back and look at what your ultimate goal should be.
It shouldn’t be the bottom line, i.e. reducing operating cost to zero. This means don’t oversell the gym with rock-bottom membership prices, then hope that most people won’t show up to your crowded place. This means not paying your staff minimum wage and expecting them to delight members with their service and attentiveness. This means don’t skimp on equipment. Every gym owner has a budget, but within that budget you should be able to purchase effective free weights with a wide selection of plates (1 1/4s) and dumbells (up to 150), sturdy machines and cardio equipment. Stay up on the latest trends, and if effective , consider purchasing things like stability (Swiss) balls or hand grippers, or offering Spinning classes etc. etc. These things don’t cost much, but they please members.
Now what your real goal should be is to help members acheive their fitness goals. This will keep them coming back, more than just giving them a cheap place to gossip and watch TV while they do cardio. You may not be able to please every hardcore lifter like the ones who posted earlier. That is because most of your money comes from the average person who just wants to get in shape. Maybe a solution would be to have a late hour designated as “Hardcore” where you play death metal or hardcore rap or nothing and push big weights and grunt and scream. But back to helping the members, that means different things to different people. Be prepared to take the goals of the member into account, then make a workout plan for them. Hire qualified desk staff who, without being annoying, if they see someone doing something retarded, like lat pulldowns to the navel, will offer a suggestion. Some people will not need a program at first, don’t pester them, but do inquire politely how everyone is doing with their workouts. Answer questions. Encourage members to strength train effectively instead of only slogging away at cardio. This all sounds stupidly obvious, but if you do it, it gives you an advantage over even those massive chain gyms. That way when their equipment has depreciated and the member dissatisfaction is through the roof, they will come to your place.
One more thing, make sure it’s the cleanest place in town.
I think all of my peeves have been covered by others already. May I suggest a quick 10 minute introductory session to new members regarding gym rules and courtesy. (Not jumping in on someone’s bench, machine, etc. without asking first, staying out of someone’s mirror, wiping off benches, etc.) And don’t have the janitor vacuuming and throwing up a huge dust cloud while I am in the middle of my workout.
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ANYONE who gives unsolicited advice without asking first. I don’t care if you huge and cut, or just huge and fat. I don’t care how many letters you have after your name: Shut…Your…Hole.
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Folks that say they know what to do when you need a spot, then they practically lift the weight for you and try to turn a max PR attempt into a set of 10 to failure.
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People that complain of the noise when you free fall the weight down on deads.
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The staff gets pissy any time that I mention powerlifting. They have yet to explain themselves…
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Personal Trainers.
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The manager, who took first place in last year’s national twinkie curling competition.
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Did I say personal trainers?
My gym has 1 power rack. In this power rack are those ab straps where you hang yourself so you can do what is really hip flexion exercises. Its a gimmick ab device popularized in magazines. So I went to do squats last night but I had to wait because someone was hanging. I think I’m going to throw them out when no one is looking.
Get glut-ham raise bench and reverse hyper extension bench. Plus get some sandbags, kegs and thick bar barbells and dumbells. I work in a “dungeon” kind a gym in a small town in southern Finland and it is open from 6 am to 11pm and like it. And check the ironmind site for some cool and cheap exercise equipment.
Where to begin? Many issues have been covered. My main gripes with my gym are as follows. No chalk (this is a new rule, when I joined it was not an issue), lack of room (our dumbell area has great equipment and plenty of benches, if you can do your job in 2 square feet), don’t buy cheap plates (it is a pain in the ass to find matching plates in our gym the 45’s actually range between 38-48 lbs), don’t just sign up an obvious novice and then turn them loose, either they will get hurt or somebody else will and at the very minimum get pissed off at somebody jumping in on a piece of equipment being used or walking in front of a mirror, if a piece of equipment breaks fix it or get rid of it(we have a treadmill taking up precious space that has been broken for 8 mo.), try to get 100 lb plates, temperature regulation is also appreciated. Good luck!
Some outstanding ideas.
Eric, your #1 is a joke. But you know everything, so I guess that’s ok.
Chris, 5 hack squats and 6 legs presses? Boy now there’s money well spent! (NOT)
Akicita, the only use for that Montana article is to help wipe after a nice dump.
Dumbbell increments of 2.5 lbs. is always nice.
Yes, you got me. It’s true, I know everything. You couldn’t possibly fathom the stress of being omniscient…
there are two main complaints about the gym i go to and that is there is not a large enough range of plates, there either to small or to big and there are very few collars for bars etc, which is very irratating as you don’t want to cause yourself injury by dropping plates on your toes or other people for that matter.
good luck
thomas
How about making sure all the nuts and bolts on equipment is tightened periodically, that the squat bars are REAL squat bars(knurled in the middle),that the gym is heated properly, chalk should be allowed and the people that work there should be keeping a eye on the floor so that newbies don’t hurt themselves or bug other members.
Go to the Deepsquatter site, go into the archives and look under Louis Simmons/Dave Tate section, for an article called “What A Gym Really Needs” It list a lot of the specialized equipment they use, and while you may have to read a whole article on how to use a Buffalo Bar, I’m sure your more dedicated power lifters will appreciate the equipment.
I have worked out off and on for years, and I can tell you the one MAJOR shortfall of every gym I have ever been in. I am 5’1" tall and most of the equipment is far to tall for me. I can not use the lat pull down without standing on the seat to reach the bar, I can not do the inclined bench without someone getting the bar off of the pegs for me, and I almost injure myself to get the handles on the seated row. No, using those ‘booster pads’ is not an answer because they slide all over the place when you are really working hard and putting pressure on them. Add an extra 6 inches to each cable on the machines and have low pegs for the bars on every bench. Find someone who is five feet tall and make sure they can reach every bar and weight in your gym. It won’t hinder the tall people and short people will be MUCH happier!
Thanks for all the responses. Let me see if I got this from everything I have read here.
OK so according to the advice, open a gym with no music, no dress code, a full time cleaning staff, all free weights made for people from 4’6" tall to 7’11" tall, food, beverages, no moron’s for staff and a chalk pit? Did I miss anything?
Just a note, Our current gym is spotless as in clean. No piss on the floor and our showers don’t have green moving walls. We do not play music as it never makes anymore than one person happy. The trainers are far and few but we all lift heavy and read Testosterone. Did I mention my wife is one of the trainers and able to lift more than 90% of the guys. It’s small and private. The next one will be bigger and still private as in no crowds. All new clients are trained before being allowed to do anything. yes we use the shower to fill the water bottle but since we are a low carb style facility we keep the protein powder uncut.
Robert
Wow Robert. I never gave it much thought before, but the gym business is a lot more difficult, customer service wise, than I ever imagined. While there are some common complaints (music, hygene)listed in the string, there are also quite a few contradictions. My hat is off to anyone that has to catter to the gym masses on a daily basis.
This certainly has gotten alot of responses. This tells me that gyms out there are far from satisfactory for serious trainees.
Things about the “club” I belong to that I don’t like:
All benches are bolted to the floor. This is for “safety” purposes. It makes it impossible to do low incline work. Also, they have those stupid Iron Grip octagonal shaped plates. This screws up deadlifting, as when you set the bar down, it will torque forward or backward. Another “safety” deal. I understand the easy grip, but why the goofy shape? What is safe about that? They can easily make round plates with the grip. I think they simply want to discourage deadlifing or other serious training.
Some more: Get the “V” shaped dip bars, not those worthless Cybex combination dip/assisted pullup stations. Those suck. The V bars allow you to adjust the body to hit the tris or pecs, respectively. I see so many people doing those assisted pullups and want to say “get your ass over and do REAL pullups”.
Speaking of: it would be nice to find a bar high enough off the floor for tall guys to use. I have to bend the knees and they still almost hit the floor when at full extension. Another plus would be a pullup bar by itself, not simply one attached to a cable station. I get sick of having to work in with the cable crossover crowd. Put it in a corner, built into the wall. High enough so you have to step on a stool to grap on. I remember in my neophyte days in the late 70’s at Leaning Tower YMCA in Chicago. They had one like that.
Different types of handles, bars, ropes, chains, dip belts, platforms, stools, calf blocks, and swiss balls should also be available. I have to bring my own chain in to do weighted pullups or dips. The place has no dip belt.
Sadly, I think the old hardcore muscle gyms are gone. The industry today caters to those who “just want to tone” and do aerobics. Therefore the ten thousand treadmills and only one or two squat racks. I attribute this to the aerobics craze which has braiwashed so many, (particularly the ladies,) and lawyers. In today’s letigous society, gym owners eliminate risks potential injury, which could result in a lawsuit. Plus, today there are more lawyers, more government, more and more retarded regulations, and less and less freedom.
In summary, the best gym is one built on the basics. I’ve built my physique with basic free weight lifts, with an occasional machine movement tossed in. At 6’5" I have no choice. Most machines are worthless to someone my size.
Stick to the foundation–you can’t go wrong.
Everyone said it. My gym is in a strip mall. They jsut rented another section and made it a serious lifting room. Put in plenty of power racks, platforms, heavy dumbbells, and play hard core music. Have a separt room for cardio, I cannot stand to have people stair at me will I do cardio!