Sick of Your Gym? I Am!

Off Topic
1

I was a chilly November day, I was fresh out of football, and was ready to hit the gym for the first time. I had trained at school, and had done very well, with a 315 squat, a 205 bench, and a 450 hex deadlift. Nothing ever could compare to what I was about to get my hands into.

I walk in, 80’s hair metal is blasting through the speakers, bit men, much bigger then me are in there busting their asses, squatting twice as much as I thought Id ever accomplish. I waslk into the powerlifting room. theres men in there deadlifting 4-500 pounds, and theyre just warming up. I found out who there names were and it turns out it was Josh Mcmillan, and many other tough, strong guys, who were on their way to Elite totals, in some tough weight classes.

This was about november…

I built my body from 190 to about 220 and my bench went from 200 to 285, my squat went from 315 to 415, and my deadlift went from 300-475. the atmosphere was hardcore, the people were in there to work, not dick around, and work was getting done.

I walk into the gym today, with quite a pissed off attitude, work was hell today. I get in there and find the reverse Hyper nowhere to be found. Apparently, it was Josh’s and when he left in April, he forgot it or something like that. That set me off.

I took a step back. I listen to the music. the Blasting music is replaced with soft core fucking 80’s classic rock, there’s more people in there on the treadmills running and people doing curls in the squat rack than there is people even bench pressing. All of our good squat bars are replaced with shitty power bars that bend with 365 on them, our mono rack is the only ting in there worth a shit, and its on its last leg. Our gym owner is switching from having a hardcore gym to a fitness center, and is using all the profits to go on lavish hunting trips and travel places all over the country, rather than put any money into anything usefull for the last of the powerlifters.

I am officially sick of my gym, I have no use for the shit, and not I get weird looks from people if I deadlift 405 pounds, its fucking nuts, I hate it.

Who out there in the T-Nation land agrees with what Im saying? Who out there has seen this happen to their gym??

I wont conform, i will branch out to the farthest extreme and I will find a hardcore gym again!

2

Sadly this is what a lot of gyms have to do in order to keep making enough of a profit to stay open. I truly hate my gym, but luckily I have a band of hardcore meatheads who all despise it equally, and that hatred forms the core of our bond -lol.

S

3

I work out in iron dwarf’s garage

4

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Sadly this is what a lot of gyms have to do in order to keep making enough of a profit to stay open. I truly hate my gym, but luckily I have a band of hardcore meatheads who all despise it equally, and that hatred forms the core of our bond -lol.

S
[/quote]

Sounds like the YMCA I train at, there’s like 4 older(40+) powerlifter type guys, and a few of us young dudes that talk shop with them, and our common bond is getting away with as much as we can without getting yelled at. I think the staff has actually become pretty tolerant of us, like the anti bro-pack.

5

I’ve been deadlifting in a college gym because the other gym I lift at put in a ‘soft’ floor that gives a bit. Anyway, the ‘night manager’ or whatever has been giving me crap for it, but I just kept ignoring her. She finally got some bigger guy to come up to me. He mentioned he played baseball for the college.

I ended up putting some foam stretching mats down so it doesn’t make as much noise, which is an acceptable compromise considering the guy was nice about it and thanked me 3 times for doing it and didn’t tell me explicity to stop deadlifting. I still don’t like it, and I could give two shits about the bitchy gym manager, but now I have to keep an eye out for this guy so I don’t ‘disrespect’ him or whatever if I don’t feel like putting the mats down.

It really chaffs my ass, but 'tis life.

I really thought I was going to get kicked out a couple times though when I ignored the first warning, especially after I did it on multiple occasions.

Too bad there’s no lunk alarm, as I’d turn it into a PR gong and try to set it off after every set.

6

Seeing other people be lazy in my gym inspires me to work harder as does seeing people lifting heavy. Motivation comes from within. As far as your music goes, just bring an ipod.

7

I dislike my gym as well, it’s a college rec center. However, there are alot of college girls there, and my gym does have a lifting platform for olympic lifts and deadlifts. Downside, we got the bros, lack of equipment for calves, knee extension and flexion. Dumbells only go to 100. Overall it is acceptable, even if the manager gets after me for making a little noise on back day.

8

[quote]brauny96 wrote:
I was a chilly November day, I was fresh out of football, and was ready to hit the gym for the first time. I had trained at school, and had done very well, with a 315 squat, a 205 bench, and a 450 hex deadlift. Nothing ever could compare to what I was about to get my hands into.

I walk in, 80’s hair metal is blasting through the speakers, bit men, much bigger then me are in there busting their asses, squatting twice as much as I thought Id ever accomplish. I waslk into the powerlifting room. theres men in there deadlifting 4-500 pounds, and theyre just warming up. I found out who there names were and it turns out it was Josh Mcmillan, and many other tough, strong guys, who were on their way to Elite totals, in some tough weight classes.

This was about november…

I built my body from 190 to about 220 and my bench went from 200 to 285, my squat went from 315 to 415, and my deadlift went from 300-475. the atmosphere was hardcore, the people were in there to work, not dick around, and work was getting done.

I walk into the gym today, with quite a pissed off attitude, work was hell today. I get in there and find the reverse Hyper nowhere to be found. Apparently, it was Josh’s and when he left in April, he forgot it or something like that. That set me off.

I took a step back. I listen to the music. the Blasting music is replaced with soft core fucking 80’s classic rock, there’s more people in there on the treadmills running and people doing curls in the squat rack than there is people even bench pressing. All of our good squat bars are replaced with shitty power bars that bend with 365 on them, our mono rack is the only ting in there worth a shit, and its on its last leg. Our gym owner is switching from having a hardcore gym to a fitness center, and is using all the profits to go on lavish hunting trips and travel places all over the country, rather than put any money into anything usefull for the last of the powerlifters.

I am officially sick of my gym, I have no use for the shit, and not I get weird looks from people if I deadlift 405 pounds, its fucking nuts, I hate it.

Who out there in the T-Nation land agrees with what Im saying? Who out there has seen this happen to their gym??

I wont conform, i will branch out to the farthest extreme and I will find a hardcore gym again![/quote]

While it’s understandable to be irritated by this, have you actually tried talking to the manager/owner? Maybe he could have kept it a hardcore gym, and in 5 months be bankrupt, or switch it to fitness which is “in” and continue making some money.

Outside that I’m sick of my gym too. They went from gold’s to “Just Fitness”, and replaced all the good workers and trainers with idiots. Luckily they haven’t touched the free weights area, except for painting it, mid day, without opening the doors. Now that was a headache…

9

[quote]Heracles_rocks wrote:
I dislike my gym as well, it’s a college rec center. However, there are alot of college girls there, and my gym does have a lifting platform for olympic lifts and deadlifts. Downside, we got the bros, lack of equipment for calves, knee extension and flexion. Dumbells only go to 100. Overall it is acceptable, even if the manager gets after me for making a little noise on back day. [/quote]

What college are you going to? I heard the U of M rec center is pretty sweet, the bozeman one was nice(worked out there a few times), but with every college gym comes a managerie of poop dick douche bags.

10

[quote]Heracles_rocks wrote:
I dislike my gym as well, it’s a college rec center. However, there are alot of college girls there, and my gym does have a lifting platform for olympic lifts and deadlifts. Downside, we got the bros, lack of equipment for calves, knee extension and flexion. Dumbells only go to 100. Overall it is acceptable, even if the manager gets after me for making a little noise on back day. [/quote]

Are you at the U of M rec center? If you are and Brian the manager gives you a hard time about grunting. Tell him that “BiggJames” says “HI” and that “Loud Grunting and Heavy Lifting” needs to be allowed.

11

[quote]Ty Carlson wrote:
a managerie of poop dick douche bags.[/quote]

Brilliant!

Besides…now that makes three Montanan posts in a row.

12

I train at my university’s gym. You should be thankful for what you have. I get shitted on regularly about “dropping weights” even when I use cables and it makes a bit of a sound if I let it drop. I also get told by “trainers” who look like they’ve never touched a weight before that i’m training wrong.

13

[quote]Ty Carlson wrote:
Heracles_rocks wrote:
I dislike my gym as well, it’s a college rec center. However, there are alot of college girls there, and my gym does have a lifting platform for olympic lifts and deadlifts. Downside, we got the bros, lack of equipment for calves, knee extension and flexion. Dumbells only go to 100. Overall it is acceptable, even if the manager gets after me for making a little noise on back day.

What college are you going to? I heard the U of M rec center is pretty sweet, the bozeman one was nice(worked out there a few times), but with every college gym comes a managerie of poop dick douche bags.[/quote]

uofm
they have everything you need, but i guess i am used to certain things that aren’t available here like good knee flexion and extension machines. I am just a little picky, i am used to free sweat towels, here you have to pay for them, i am also used to fitness centers that aren’t 3 stories, also used to having chalk, blah blah blah.
Overall it’s not bad, but if something sticks out i don’t like, i am not 100% happy. Remember, for the most part i could care less that it has a track, i hate running, huge swimming pool in the building next to it, two full courts for basketball, a big climbing wall, two floors of cardio equipment, a juice bar, half the court for either volleyball or whatever that birdie game is called, i think it has 8 raquetball courts as well. Alot of great things for a lot of different folks, but not for my goals. Btw all the college girls make me forget about the imperfections. :slight_smile: here’s a link
http://life.umt.edu/CREC/

14

[quote]biggjames wrote:
Heracles_rocks wrote:
I dislike my gym as well, it’s a college rec center. However, there are alot of college girls there, and my gym does have a lifting platform for olympic lifts and deadlifts. Downside, we got the bros, lack of equipment for calves, knee extension and flexion. Dumbells only go to 100. Overall it is acceptable, even if the manager gets after me for making a little noise on back day.

Are you at the U of M rec center? If you are and Brian the manager gives you a hard time about grunting. Tell him that “BiggJames” says “HI” and that “Loud Grunting and Heavy Lifting” needs to be allowed.
[/quote]

Yeah that would be him, at least 4 times he has gone out of his way to tell me to not be so loud or use collars on warmup weight.

15

[quote]ArmyOf1 wrote:
I train at my university’s gym. You should be thankful for what you have. I get shitted on regularly about “dropping weights” even when I use cables and it makes a bit of a sound if I let it drop. I also get told by “trainers” who look like they’ve never touched a weight before that i’m training wrong. [/quote]

Don’t misunderstand me( i could always pony up $30 or so and work out at golds overall it’s okay though), i have worked in a medical fitness center, so i can understand why i may get talked to about a few things, but i am not overall unhappy, i just nod my head and say thank you for reminding me to put the collars on, or sorry i didn’t realize the weight stack was hitting so hard( i wear an ipod full blast most of the time).

Lot’s of cute college girls can bring a below average gym by my standards to above average. Overall, lack of weights and or equipment just forces me to try new exercises and ways to hit certain muscles, also gets me out of my comfort zone which can be a good thing. :slight_smile:

Happy lifting brothers in iron!

16

My temp gym sucks. There is only 1 set of collars for the whole gym. The barbells are chineese cheepo junk. The equiptment sucks ass. Magnum brand, they try to reinvent the wheel.

17

I seriously cannot wait to get an Ipod. Music kills morale fast.

18

I have yet to lift at a gym that truly sucks. If it’s got a bar and weights, it’s good enough for a workout. If it doesn’t, go elsewhere. What’s the big deal?

People like to preach about being ‘hardcore’, but when it comes to music, having the right machines, favorite bars, et cetera it sure sounds like some pussy whinefest in here. Sure, not every gym can be Celli’s Fitness or Brute Strength, but if you can’t get stronger because the wrong kind of music is playing, maybe you should stick to the preloaded weight bars.

19

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
I have yet to lift at a gym that truly sucks. If it’s got a bar and weights, it’s good enough for a workout. If it doesn’t, go elsewhere. What’s the big deal?

People like to preach about being ‘hardcore’, but when it comes to music, having the right machines, favorite bars, et cetera it sure sounds like some pussy whinefest in here. Sure, not every gym can be Celli’s Fitness or Brute Strength, but if you can’t get stronger because the wrong kind of music is playing, maybe you should stick to the preloaded weight bars.[/quote]

lol, that’s exactly what I thought when I read this thread.

20

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
I have yet to lift at a gym that truly sucks. If it’s got a bar and weights, it’s good enough for a workout. If it doesn’t, go elsewhere. What’s the big deal?

People like to preach about being ‘hardcore’, but when it comes to music, having the right machines, favorite bars, et cetera it sure sounds like some pussy whinefest in here. Sure, not every gym can be Celli’s Fitness or Brute Strength, but if you can’t get stronger because the wrong kind of music is playing, maybe you should stick to the preloaded weight bars.[/quote]

A good quote by Nicu Vlad (3x Olympic weightlifting medalist, Gold '84, Silver '88, Bronze '96) as paraphrased by Matt Foreman, while the former was visiting the Colorado Springs OTC:
“In Romania, I train on a bar that is bent. My gym has bad lighting and very little heat in the winters. Here in America, you have everything you need to train. It’s not in the bar or the gym or the platform… it’s in you.”