Hey-
I am looking to join a new gym, but it seems every place i go to in this city is just not nearly as much about strength as they are about tanning. Does anyone know of a place in NYC where they actually have stuff like tire flipping or even a trap bar?
The Eastern Athletic Club in Brooklyn Heights is a great no-nonsense gym, that’s reminscent of a mid-80’s YMCA replete with powerlifters, bodybuilders, and athletes (though no tires). It also has a sister club in Tribeca thats great for a posh cardio session or two.
Um…that’s funny, my friend goes to Eastern in Brooklyn heights and he never mentioned to me that it’s a hard core gym by any means or in any way. He even complained that it dosn’t have the hard core feel. But then again, I’ve never been there. He actually thinks the gym I go to is more hardcore (Steel Gym). And my gym is not a hardcore gym in terms of strength, maybe a little in terms of bodybuilding. Since at a glance, there are bunch of big guys in there all the time and some pretty muscular women. But in terms of hardcore attitude, it sucks dirt. As usual, I hardly ever find anybody doing deadlifts and full squats (people of course likes to do partial squats, what a joke). Instead, it’s the same old silly tactic of loading up 20 to 30 plates on the leg press and go down for like 4 to 6 inches and thinking they are actually doing something.
I checked out the Steel Gym once, and while I was impressed by some of the builds in there, it just felt too much like a dungeon for me. And by that I mean it was small, underground and there were no windows (not that it was dirty and dingy–it was actually quite well maintained). I know that a lot of people who frequent this site like that sort of thing, but for some reason sunlight helps keep my energy up.
Also, at the time I was a member of NYSC. And while it couldn’t be further from a hardcore gym, for the same price I had access to all the branches, including those in Jersey. That way I never had to worry about where I lived or worked, there was always likely to be a gym nearby (especially considering that even the Steel Gym was only offering long-term contracts at the time). It just sucks to pay $80/month for Icarian machines, ellipticals, and Yogalates classes that you will never use, but living in Manhattan, you really don’t have much choice in the matter.