I’m moving to Greensboro and am looking for a gym. I’ve looked at the local listings for gyms and am attempting to narrow my ‘must visit list’ when I arrive in town. I’d appreciate any guidance you can offer.
Requirements:
Power rack(s)
Squat rack(s)
Ability to use said racks in ‘1’ and ‘2’ without waiting for the body-for-lifer to finish doing air squats or dumbbell curls, or the ‘certified’ personal trainer telling me how deadlifts will hurt my back or that I ‘shouldn’t squat low’.
Dumbbells up to ~ 130 to 150 lbs and a free-weight section with ample equipment to get a good workout in without excessive waiting.
Ability to do deadlifts, power cleans, overhead press, bench press, turkish get ups, etc. without falling prey to a BS ‘lunk alarm’ or similar nonsense.
It is also a plus to have minimum number of meatheads that a) scream during every rep of every set of cable curls as they marvel over their Adonis-like (in their own mind’s eye) body in the mirror, b) drop weights in a ‘look at meeeeee!’ fashion, or c) feel it necessary to constantly tell me that they used to be able to bench 500 lbs and squat a house. (I know, this one is probably a stretch)
Glute-ham apparatus and the ability to do jumprope, box-jumping exercises and non-traditional HIIT and/or GPP work is a bonus.
I have simple requirements, right? I like working out at home sometimes, but really enjoy going to a proper gym, so ‘home gym’ is not an option for me yet (unless I find nothing reasonable).
I found a 24-hour fitness and a Pyramids Wellness Center, but somehow I doubt they will fit my requirements. There were also listings for a Powerhouse Gym and a Gold’s Gym. Both of these might have potential, but I haven’t been to a Gold’s Gym in 7 years or so.
When I lived in Greensboro, I lifted at Fitness Today. The name sounds stupid, but it is a pretty decent gym.
There are four of them as the flagship gym is located at New Garden Road and Friendly Avenue. I forget the name of the shopping plaza, but it has a Starbucks, Revival Grill, and a Boston Market in it. (The plaza is opposite of the Harris Teeter off of New Garden Road.)This location was the one I used.
They do have a power rack and three squat racks. When I was there, screaming, yelling, cursing, and just dumb ass behavior got you a quick escort to the door. The place is serious about working out. I remember the owners firing a girl who used to “work” there - all she did was flirt and attempted to close up fifteen minutes early so she could hit up the N club with her friends at 10:01 P.M.
I don’t remember if they have a glute-ham apparatus, but there was a place to do box-jumping and jumprope when I was there. When I was there, I used to do power cleans, deadlifts, and hang cleans with no problems with the staff. I started working out there after I got tossed out of UNCG’s student rec gym for doing hang cleans and power cleans.
Gym Name: AC Fitness
Owner/Manager: Orlo Helmer
Address: 4507 West Market Street
City: Greensboro
State/Province/Country: NC
Zip: 27407
Notes: Don’t let the health club exterior fool you. Go thrue the back doors and find all the equipment you’ll need. With members in the APF, WPO, and AAU all types of training are appreciated. For use of the monolift and other equipment please call Mike White.
Greensboro Barbell is in the back of AC Fitness. Mike White put together the gym back there. They have all the equipment you would need for strength training: two monolifts, GHR, reverse hyper, power rack, DL platform, all kinds of bars. Also, there is not a better guy than Mike White. Chris Ox Mason also trains with Mike. They have a great crew.
I went to the Gold’s Gym in Greensboro for a little while (I go to the one in High Point now).
If I remember correctly they had 2 squat racks but didn’t have a power rack/cage. I don’t think they had a glute-ham apparatus. You can do random stuff like jump rope and they have an open room that you can use to do stuff as long as there isn’t a class going on. They have dumbbells up to around 200lbs.
It’s a commercial gym so you do have to deal with the bad music they play and every once in a while you’ll get the guy curling in the squat rack. I’ve never had a problem with people bothering me there. However I usually lift at off hours, I don’t talk to anyone, and I’ve been told I look angry as hell when I’m lifting so that might be part of it.