For the life of me, though, I don’t know whats so bad about Goodlife/24 Hour Fitness/etc. I’ve never had a bad experience at one. They’re clean, most of the weight equipment is unused, and despite some of the posts I’ve seen here nobody has kicked me out for squatting.[/quote]
I’m finding Goodlife to be not bad. I just do my own thing. No ones given me grief about chalk but I clean up after myself. There is a shit ton of equipment and it’s in good condition. There are, however, more bodies than I’m used to but, for the most part, it’s nice scenery between sets.
[quote]RebornTN wrote:
Two words; Home gym.[/quote]
I truly believe that if you can build a home gym that actually challenges you, you either stick strictly to most powerlifting movements, aren’t very strong on movements that would require several plates and a spotter, or are very well off financially.
I can’t even imagine how much it would cost for me to build a home gym that would actually allow me to make more progress on the lifts I use the most.
I also see a great benefit from actually being IN the gym.
Unless your home gym looks like Ronnie Coleman’s (which is truly impressive for the house), my guess is training at home may actually be holding some of you BACK.
[quote]Bellamy wrote:
Is it just me or is the dedicated lifter being pushed aside in the weight room /studio for a new breed of wannabee athlete. These supposed “athletes” infiltrate gyms, congregate at the fountains and continually tighten and re tighten their new workout gloves that mind you never actually touch any weights.
Are other people being victimized by gyms removing squat racks,…[/quote]
That’s as far as I got before I stopped reading … You don’t like that gym, cancel your membership and get one at a gym that you DO like. No one’s forcing you to go to that gym. If you don’t have any other gyms in your area that don’t strike your fancy, invest in your own equipment and work out at home.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
RebornTN wrote:
Two words; Home gym.
I truly believe that if you can build a home gym that actually challenges you, you either stick strictly to most powerlifting movements, aren’t very strong on movements that would require several plates and a spotter, or are very well off financially.
I can’t even imagine how much it would cost for me to build a home gym that would actually allow me to make more progress on the lifts I use the most.
I also see a great benefit from actually being IN the gym.
Unless your home gym looks like Ronnie Coleman’s (which is truly impressive for the house), my guess is training at home may actually be holding some of you BACK.
[/quote]
That’s exactly my brothers’ problem. Has a great set up in his basement, but is limited (low cieling, DB’s only go up to 50, etc). It’s a great place to train when I’m there on vacation, but it’s not like a real gym.
And his wife would probably kill him if he brought home 120lb DB’s at .99 a pound.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
RebornTN wrote:
Two words; Home gym.
I truly believe that if you can build a home gym that actually challenges you, you either stick strictly to most powerlifting movements, aren’t very strong on movements that would require several plates and a spotter, or are very well off financially.
I can’t even imagine how much it would cost for me to build a home gym that would actually allow me to make more progress on the lifts I use the most.
I also see a great benefit from actually being IN the gym.
Unless your home gym looks like Ronnie Coleman’s (which is truly impressive for the house), my guess is training at home may actually be holding some of you BACK.
[/quote]
I’ve thought about building a home gym and always come up with a cost prohibitive solution. My gym costs $20/month. Even buying on CL and ebay would run me at least $600 for plates, rack, bench, oly bar and then dumbells would just cost a fortune. Previous poster quoted .99/lb for 120s…so a pair just ran you another $240! That’s a year of membership at the gym.
Then there are space requirements (only 8’ ceilings here so overhead lifts are “almost” out), weight requirements (have to take up a bay in the garage, no basement and I don’t want 1000s of pounds of equipment in the upstairs on a wood framed house sitting over my car in said garage), maintanence, etc.
Maybe if I come into a lot of money, have a house with a suitable space and never ever want to think about moving I’d consider building a home gym. Until then I’ll just stick with $20/month and my 1st gen iPod shuffle.
Oh and the people at the gym who are just taking up space probably only have another week left before it turns into a once a month, then once a quarter and finally just quit. My gym has gone from packed to empty in the last 2 weeks as all the resolutioners have given up. Personally I see people like that as extra motivation for myself.
Sounds like you go to Goodlife (for the US crowd I would suppose it’s our version of Globo Gym & btw, “nobody makes me bleed my own blood, nobody”)
If not, you’re proabably at either Extreme Fitness or Premiere
Learn to live with it & let it go. Goodlife gyms are not changing their welcome/ membership tactics anytime soon to gobble up as many turkeys to come join (although Premiere & Extreme Fitness employ hotter models in their print handbills, I have observed)
At some various locations I have been to some of the trainers actually know their shit, admire what you are doing & respect it enough to LEAVE you alone… Some will fess up & actually say, “Yeah, we only go up to 85 lbs on dumbbells since we don’t want the kinds of guys that lift more” (true event - I laughed out loud at that one)
Shop around & speak with your dollar - worst/best scenario is to shell out & build your own home gym.
Use Google to search Ontario gyms; I know of a few gyms in Toronto (365 Fitness) that actually cater to hardcore lifters…
To ouroboro_s:
Wow - kudos on the chalk - I hope they don’t Nazi police you on the resulting dust (I use the rock climber liquid type from MEC that is easier to carry & doesn’t leave clouds of dust when you vacate the area :p)
Where in Ontario? I workout at purfitness and its probably the best gym i’ve ever been to. There is usually about 5-10 people. I’ve never seen it over 15. This gym is huge! and has everything you could possibly ask for.
Same problem. Just quit my Premier membership in Kingston two days ago. Extreme was the only gym where I could actually train - at least at that location, they had lots of weights, squat racks, and trainers that actually knew their shit. Here, I was paying 600 a year for the opportunity to fight others for one squat rack, explaining in the process that it’s not a towel rack.
Now that the Prof’s spoken though, I’m starting to get cold feet. Is it unreasonable to expect to make a lot of progress with just a barbell, power cage and bench?
Look man, Prof X knows what he’s talking about the majority of the time, but what he says isn’t exactly gospel. He’s generalizing with his opinion on this one; there are people who meet there goals just fine working out in a “home gym.”
Do what you wanna do for you, if you don’t think you have the drive, focus, and determination to meet your goals in your home gym then by all means keep your membership.
With a bench, rack, and barbell you’ll make progress up to a point then you’ll see yourself needing/wanting other equipment to suit your needs.
My gym doesnt even have a squat rack. All the members and gym staff want one. Even the gym manager wants one. But the area manager wont have one as:
“It attracts the wrong sort of crowd.”
I’ve made do with a bench with four sets of pegs, ducking under and unracking, waddling backwards with the 140kg or so on my back, squatting with no supports, no catchers, and then waddling back to re rack the bar.
Focusses the mind that one!
I’m going to have a chat to the manager, because there is rumour that in the next ‘equipment renewal’ they are just going to screw the area manager and get one ordered and some new plates.
If not, it’ll be a case of trying to negotiate a reduction on the 3 month notice period and across town to this other gym I have found, that has not one, but 2 squat racks, a power cage and a proper plate loaded leg press. I have no idea why i’m not there to be honest…
Now that the Prof’s spoken though, I’m starting to get cold feet. Is it unreasonable to expect to make a lot of progress with just a barbell, power cage and bench?[/quote]
Obviously, home weights can get you to a point, but honestly, the really big guys move really big weights to get that big. Not only that, but there is MUCH value in training around other serious people.
Hell, even if I had a home gym built up enough to challenge me, I would still train at a real gym most of the time because of the environment and the feeling of working out with people near my own level.
I truly doubt the focus of someone who trains at home unless they are truly able to block everything out and gear every thought towards doing the given exercise.
I am also betting that if we posted pictures of those who strictly train at home, you would see a drastic difference between them and someone who has trained hard for the same amount of time around more equipment and other serious lifters.
Now that the Prof’s spoken though, I’m starting to get cold feet. Is it unreasonable to expect to make a lot of progress with just a barbell, power cage and bench?
Obviously, home weights can get you to a point, but honestly, the really big guys move really big weights to get that big. Not only that, but there is MUCH value in training around other serious people.
Hell, even if I had a home gym built up enough to challenge me, I would still train at a real gym most of the time because of the environment and the feeling of working out with people near my own level.
I truly doubt the focus of someone who trains at home unless they are truly able to block everything out and gear every thought towards doing the given exercise.
I am also betting that if we posted pictures of those who strictly train at home, you would see a drastic difference between them and someone who has trained hard for the same amount of time around more equipment and other serious lifters.[/quote]
Either that or poach some of the more serious people from the neighborhood to train at my pad, but yeah I get what you mean. Other than spots I don’t really interract with other people at the gym, but the energy is palpable.
In terms of saying “Screw it; I’ll make up my own home gym” -
In a commercial gym with it’s varied population you are bound to come across someone with like minded goals & may be a decent training partner - I usually work out solo but if a guy that seems to know what he is doing is around I will either pick his brain or ask for a spot when needed.
You either get competition (either real or perceived) or camaraderie being in a gym vs. the peaceful sometimes necessary solitude of a home gym. There are benefits & cons in either approach. (Captain Obvious on the last point)
I don’t share the OP’s opinion about not-so-committed people in gyms, but I still prefer a simple homegym every day over a gym membership.
ProX may be right in stating that
a) a gym usually beats a homegym equipment-wise
b) training around serious people yields serious results (actually, this applies to all things in life, imo).
But: I, for one, just can’t get myself to the gym 4-6x a week for lifting and another 4-6x a week for doing something energy systems related.
So, I rather train at home and have been doing so for the most time. I lift heavy, focused and have gained some decent mass and good strength. I’m missing a spotter, though, which makes setting new PRs a risky matter.
My results so far may definitely be a wee little bit inferior to what I could’ve achieved in a gym equipment-wise, but I simply wouldn’t have consistently visited a gym.
Bottom line: I’m better off training at home.
To the OP: not-so-committed trainees should be beneath the dedicated lifter’s notice, at least during training.
With DC and Hepburns my strength is “pretty good” the cost of buying all those dumbells would be pretty insane and every year id have to ADD to that expense.
No thanks, i’ll take the 300 quid a year and turn my i-pod up higher.
[quote]ElbowStrike wrote:
Is it just me, or has anyone else on here never, ever come across any of these “gong-show” gyms?
Seriously, every gym I’ve ever been to has had at least one squat rack and a significant amount of space dedicated to free weights.[/quote]
I drove past a Curves once, but that’s about the extent of my involvement with pussy gyms.
I’m wondering why anyone would ever sign up for a membership at one of these places, unless you honestly, truly don’t have a better option. There’s a guy in my lifting crew that drives 45 minutes from his house to Celli’s because it’s the best powerlifting gym in Pittsburgh. I drive past 5 other gyms on my way there for the same reason.
If you aren’t willing to make sacrifices to accomplish your goals, then you deserve what you get.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
ElbowStrike wrote:
Is it just me, or has anyone else on here never, ever come across any of these “gong-show” gyms?
Seriously, every gym I’ve ever been to has had at least one squat rack and a significant amount of space dedicated to free weights.
I drove past a Curves once, but that’s about the extent of my involvement with pussy gyms.
I’m wondering why anyone would ever sign up for a membership at one of these places, unless you honestly, truly don’t have a better option. There’s a guy in my lifting crew that drives 45 minutes from his house to Celli’s because it’s the best powerlifting gym in Pittsburgh. I drive past 5 other gyms on my way there for the same reason.
If you aren’t willing to make sacrifices to accomplish your goals, then you deserve what you get.[/quote]
I think most of these threads are started by people who do join gyms like Planet Fitness and then try to act like they were “hardcore” the entire time. No one serious would even start lifting in a gym that didn’t have the right equipment. That is sort of the first damned thing you notice the first time you walk in.
All very fair points. Most certainly, someone who has access to a wide variety of equipment and serious lifting partners will make more (perhaps far more) progress than someone who trains in their own home.
Unfortunately, I live in a town populated by alcoholics, or in the winter months, alcoholics and yuppie students. There used to be a few hardcore gyms, but they closed down in the 90s. I looked, I really did, but the options just weren’t there.
At the end of the day, I don’t need the advanced equipment. At this point, I’m still a hundred-pound hero, so I’m sure that if I bust my ass with a barbell, I can make some good progress in the span of a few years. And this way, I can focus on what I’m doing, shut the hell up, and just lift.
