Well the gym that I go to is kind of small and there are too many things that throws off your focus. It seems like most kids my age go there around 14-19, not to mention a lot of attractive girls. It throws me off sometimes, its almost as if they’ve turned the gym into a social event to gossip. That’s why i prefer going around 8:00pm because it closes at 10:00pm and most people will be gone by then.
Its not a strong weightlifting vibe that you get when going there to me. But I do anyway. I would prefer a gym where everyone there sounds like their about to cry when lifting weights and a gym that’s full of mass monsters. lol I guess I just can’t let loose when I’m around the young girls at my gym.
I got to a typical 24hour fitness because of the flexible hours, its full of people who think working out is the cool thing to do but don’t do shit. Their are a few bodybuilder guys, but they stick together as a group and are foreign-polish I think- Its alright I guess I want to move up to a Olympic weightlifting gym eventually.
Their are hot women everywhere and especially the gym, you just got to stay focused and realize your trying to get something done at the gym. I don’t have much time when I’m working out so I try to make sure I get my key exercises done.
I go to a small commercial gym. The first third of the gym is treadmills, ellipticals and all that other stuff, the middle is full of machines, and the last third of the gym is where all the free weights and plate loaded machines are. 2 Benches, up to 100lb dumbbells, one squat rack, one cable crossover, 2 adjustable benches, and one portable decline bench, and like one incline bench. No bumper plates, no platform, no plyo boxes, but they let you deadlift and they don’t care about the noise of the plates dropping.
My gym is the best gym in the world. It has an exclusive membership policy. You have to have my approval to work out in it, since it’s my home gym, actually it’s in the back of my chiropractic office.
I have a weight sled, power blocks up to 125, a westside power rack, monolift, platform, wpo power bar, buffalo bar, cambered squat bar, safety squat bar, deadlift bar, texas power bar, almost all of Ironmind,s grip stuff, sumo jump stretch platform, bands, chains, safety chains for monolift, over 200 pounds of plates, collars and some stuff I’m probably forgetting.
I have a few guys that work out with me from time to time.
-FDU @ Madison’s University Gym
Its a small gym compared to most standards, but the olympic lifting gym is amazing. 10 platforms, 8 eleiko mens bars, 3 womens eleikos bars and then 3 eleiko competition bars, and tons of plates and such. We have a reverse hyper and 3 GHR’s. Great place to train. Got 2 great coachs there, one a 1980 olympian.
-The Barn
Its one of the most hardcore places I’ve been to. Its got 6 platforms in an old barn, been there since 1989 or so. They have 5 or 6 eleiko bars both mens and womens and a few older york bars. Plus tons of plates and its a pretty nice place to train. One of the coachs at the place, I assume one of the founders, is a Senior International level coach.
[quote]wangster wrote:
I go to a small commercial gym. The first third of the gym is treadmills, ellipticals and all that other stuff, the middle is full of machines, and the last third of the gym is where all the free weights and plate loaded machines are. 2 Benches, up to 100lb dumbbells, one squat rack, one cable crossover, 2 adjustable benches, and one portable decline bench, and like one incline bench. No bumper plates, no platform, no plyo boxes, but they let you deadlift and they don’t care about the noise of the plates dropping.[/quote]
Holy crap you just described the gym i go to.
Mines located in a Mall. So not alot of ppl go there, cause as they all said to me “dude, its a mall. you chill. and eat stuff here. not bust your gut”. But then again, i can pinch their tummies just by placing my palm on em.
Oh btw, my gym has stuck up Personal trainers. I am bigger than some of em, and also, they do squats on a. Dare i say it:Smith machine. The other branch of this gym is somwhere else, its a whole huge complex, but the Weight room is over crowded with equipment. Also its full of fat ladies and tiny guys who steal your rack when you go pee, and do 10pound squats with really, really bad form.
Also, they were playing X-mas Songs today when i went this morning. Yeah, Rudolf, Frosty, Santa were all there doing their thang. (It was distracting).
One main cardio room with dozens of treadmills, dozens of elipticals, etc. Also has all the generic machines…dip machine, hip adduction, leg extension etc.
A secondary cardio area on the top floor adjacent to the indoor track. On the other side of the building, there is also another area with all the standard machines as well as dumbbells from 10-50, an incline bench and a flat bench. Lots of girls and skinny guys up there usually. I get some weird stares when I do Turkish Get Ups.
The main weightlifting area is on the bottom floor, nice and close to the locker room.
: 10+ Bench Press
: 2 Incline Bench Press
: 1 Decline Bench Press
: 3 cable stations
: Four power racks each with a platform in front. Has both bumper plates and straight iron.
: Dumbbells up to 125 with tons of benches.
: All the generic stuff, leg press, hack squat, calf raise, ab crunch, leg extension etc.
: Fixed barbells
: Padded area for crunches etc.
My only complaint is that we don’t have GHR or Reverse Hyperextension.
Then there’s a pool, archery room, rock climbing, and three basketball gyms each with two full sized courts.
Might be other stuff that I haven’t seen…place is huge.
My “gym” is now turning into a “fitness center” (complete with “no grunting” sign), so I’m sure it’s current configuration will soon change, prompting me to do the home gym thing. For now, it has enough to get the job done:
2 Power racks
3 Squat racks
4 Flat benches
2 Inclines
1 Decline
Several benches of various configs for DB stuff, that are BOLTED to the floor. This is very annoying.
DBs to 140#
Assload of Hammer Strength stations
2 so-so cable stations.
The requisite overabundance of cardio equipment.
Allows chalk.
Well, i just changed gyms because the one i was at sucked, the people sucked, and it was way overcrowded. I’ve been going to the new place for a few weeks now, and there’s almost never anyone there. Once in a while there’s some fat woman working the threadmill, or some skinny kid killing his arms with bicepcurls… but other than that, zip, nada. There’s 1 sqaut rack, and 2 benches. There’s also a room with dumbells and a few benches. So far, they’ve never been in use when I’ve been there, so I’m very happy. I’ve been going from anything between 2pm, to 8pm.
There are however a lot of people playing racket ball and that sort of crap, but the weight room is all good.
I’m happy!
I do expect traffic to increase a bit over new years… there’s always some fuckers that get gym memberships for christmas, and of course the people that have a new years resolution to start working out. In my experience, 90% of them won’t last two months (at most).
I recently moved, and therefore changed gyms. I couldn’t be happier with my new surroundings! The upstairs is for cardio and MMA classes. There’s probably 10-12 treadmills, 8-10 bikes and 4-6 olyptical machines, with 2 seperate rooms. 1 for Muay Thai, and the other for BJJ. The downstairs is mostly free weights, with 4 flat benches, 2 incline and 2 decline. 2 sets of DB’s from 10-120lbs. 3 seperate cable crossover machines, multiple free benches and preacher racks, 4 different rowing machines, 4 pec deck machines(at various angles) and get this…an entire room dedicated to legs! 3 power racks, decline and hack squat machines, standing and seated calf raise machines, and variety of hamstring curl and leg extension machines. The absolute best part, is that for an additional $100/yr, you get a key to the place, so you can train whenever you want! Nothing better than a heavy leg day on Christmas morning
i go to a commercial its not bad. most of the gym is cardio stuff and then “circuit training” which is just a bunch of machines ive never seen before. i stick to the area thats a lot machines and free weights. theres the typical cast of characters who lift there. the staff is pretty cool.
today they close at 4pm since its christmas eve but they let us stay later to finish our workouts while they closed. so it was just maybe 6 or 7 of us (not including staff) in the whole gym.
The majority of people on here seem to hate their gym.
I use to lift in a gym that had everything. 4 Squat racks 4 olympic benches etc etc it also had a few body builders, boxers and powerlifters. I had the oppertunity to lift with 3 guys with 625# benches. But I quite and it has been one of the biggest regrets of my life…damn.
I go to a very small gym. The front room is a supplement store, about 4 shelves then the walls have shelves full of stuff. The second room is dirty, everything has a residue of powder on it. To the left are Four platforms with racks and another just for deadlifts.
Three Benches, a smith machine, dumbells, Incline, leg press, the cable machines. In the back room theres a pull up bar, 4 beat up treadmills, a bike that doesnt work, a T-bar, chest supported row machine and a few ab machines. Theres a Hallway leading to the back street, pretty sure its just an emergency exit.
Its got a few big tires and other stuff stored back there and then its got a sled that you can drag up and down the hall. Most of the lights are out and it kinda looks like a bad slasher movie set and it stinks back there. Powerlifters mostly, few bodybuilders, very few girls.
I go to a locally owned gym, they have 4-6 branches across the city. I love it because most of the women are older and overweight and they really get in there and kick major ass!!!
The guys are super hardcore. Several of them compete in bodybuilding competitions. You couldnt ask for a better group of guys. They are always willing to help the ladies and make us feel as if we belong, no matter what shape we are in.
The staff sucks!!! Ive never experienced such poor customer service, but it’s the members that keep me coming back. Well, that and it’s literally 3 minutes from my house.
It’s two stories…top floor is cardio equipment and an indoor track.
Main floor is locker rooms, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room, cardio class room, various pieces of equipment and lots of free weights.
I go in the morning for cardio and it’s pretty quiet. Most of the older heavyset ladies are there with their trainer and trust me, he’s hard on those girls!!! At night I usually go from 8pm - 10pm because the crowd dies down and the hardcore lifters are there. If you go any earlier it’s social hour for the pretty boys who are constantly strutting their stuff in the mirror bluck!
With your membership you have access to any of the branches so you can take advantage of the indoor pool as well.
When you enter the building, there’s a baby grand playing some song automatically. The ceiling goes up about 25 floors surrounded by marble balconies of various offices/rooms. There’s a wide, marble staircase that goes all the way up in one corner and an elevator in the other if you prefer. On the third floor is the check in. You get free towel service.
The room next door is the size of three rooms with a double room high ceiling with chandeliers. There are rows and rows of treadmills and huge TVs with cable over every few machines. In the back are ellipticals and stationary bikes. The next floor has an olympic size swimming pool on one side and an enormous weight room on the other. A dormant track overlooks the weightroom. The ceiling is two or three stories high.
The next floor is the women’s locherroom with key-included locks. The bathroom floors have black and white tiles clean enough to eat off of. There’s a dry sauna near the showers. Mouthwash, lotion, and hairdryers are always supplied.
The next floor has a basketball court. The next floor has racquetball courts. The next floor has a an track. The next floor is the men’s lockerroom.
There are no huge, pale, overweight old women walking around naked in the lockerroom. The staff is as nice and helpful as can be.
I either lift at the gym at my college, or my local YMCA when I’m at home.
The college gym is a thing of beauty. 5 olympic platforms, 5 power racks, and 5 benches. They have a few machines, and dumbbells up to 130 I think? Plus the two strength and conditioning coaches know their shit. Those two have worked wonders for my form - Strong as hell too.
The local YMCA is pretty basic. There’s a brand-new a few miles away, so most people go to that one. However, there’s hardly anyone under the age of 60 at this gym, so I usually have the weights to myself. They’ve got a squat rack, 2 benches, a smith machine, and 2 adjustable benches along with dumbbells up to 80. Not the greatest gym, but it gets the job done.
[quote]Howdie_Doodie wrote:
When you enter the building, there’s a baby grand playing some song automatically. The ceiling goes up about 25 floors surrounded by marble balconies of various offices/rooms. There’s a wide, marble staircase that goes all the way up in one corner and an elevator in the other if you prefer. On the third floor is the check in. You get free towel service.
The room next door is the size of three rooms with a double room high ceiling with chandeliers. There are rows and rows of treadmills and huge TVs with cable over every few machines. In the back are ellipticals and stationary bikes. The next floor has an olympic size swimming pool on one side and an enormous weight room on the other. A dormant track overlooks the weightroom. The ceiling is two or three stories high.
The next floor is the women’s locherroom with key-included locks. The bathroom floors have black and white tiles clean enough to eat off of. There’s a dry sauna near the showers. Mouthwash, lotion, and hairdryers are always supplied.
The next floor has a basketball court. The next floor has racquetball courts. The next floor has a an track. The next floor is the men’s lockerroom.
There are no huge, pale, overweight old women walking around naked in the lockerroom. The staff is as nice and helpful as can be.
[/quote]
Luxury.
My gym is a crack house with weights.
And there is no women’s locker room. If I want a shower, I have to go out back and hook the water hose over the busted drainpipe.