The key to success with the type of Gym your envision is LIMIT OVERHEAD TO ALMOST A BARE MINIMUM!
Small industrial space or extremely low rent.
Used, but sturdy, equipment.
No frills, or “front” people; (maybe even look at Coded Keypad Access).
Anyway you can keep overhead low.
“Hardcore” people tend to be cheap people who damage equipment.
Soccer Mom’s and CCG’s (Cute, chubby, College Girls) don’t. Add the bored “I was hot in High School” housewives, and you have people who will spend more money and not damage equipment.
“Hardcore” Gyms CAN work; but you have to ALWAYS be thinking MUCH more about your overhead cost.
Dude, I wish you the best of luck! We really need more places like that! Where in California are you? I live in Los Angeles and I’m still trying to find a hardcore gym, especially one with an outside area to use sleds, tired flips etc. Like another poster mentioned, a re-conditioned warehouse would be perfect, a bunch of power racks, free weights and a small area of selected machines for rehab sounds like the prefect place in my eyes.
[quote]Contrl wrote:
Most of you are too obsessed with the idea of looking hardcore.
What honestly makes a gym “hardcore”? The members. Not the equipment. It doesn’t matter if you have a tall burly man with a leather mask wielding a Morning Star; as long as the demographic of your gym includes frat kids and middle-aged women in spandex doing Yoga… you have failed.[/quote]
You’re dead wrong, you would scare away a lot of the people you mentioned by getting rid off the bicep and ab machines as well as the bosu balls and yoga lessons, and substitute it with loud music and a bunch of clanking away of heavy iron and free weights.
Not that everybody needs to pull big weights and scream profanities all the time, but it’s definitely a completely different mindset. I see it every time I step into my current gym…
[quote]SeanT wrote:
evansmi wrote:
SeanT wrote:
evansmi wrote:
One with plenty of equipment and no crappy music. as long as i don’t have to wait for a rack or bench to free up, and there is adequate equipment, not much else matters.
And as the music goes, I hate wearing my ipod, but justin timberlake just kills my intensity.
lots of racks
a few oly platforms
benches that go in the racks, a few competition benches for those that are picky
GHR
reverse hyper
Cable station
Dumbbells up to 150+, as much as your stongest customer
Pull up bar
^a place like that would be heaven.
I guess my gym is heaven then.
where is it?
you’re not whoring it out if someone asks first
American Iron Gym. Sparks/Reno, Nevada.
1 Mono Lift
3 Power Cages (all with pullup bars)
1 Squat Rack
2 Squat Side Racks (I don’t know the real name, its basically 2 stands on the side with adjustable heights.)
1 Power Squat ( Lets you get the motion down for squats, with proper form )
2 Box Squat Boxes
2 Smith Racks
3 Professional Competition Bench CB3
1 Power Bench Rack
1 Decline Bench Press ( all are “stations” not just a chair or w/e)
2 Incline bench press ( " " )
1 Military press bench ( " " )
2 Oly platform with bumper plates
1 kettlebell station with quite a large amount of kettlebells.
Chains
Lots of bands
Dumbbells up to 150
Loads of free benchs/incline/decline/seated/etc.
2 Chalk Bowls - Chalk Allowed!!
Dip Bars
Loads of plates- too many to count
Econo Prowler
2 Regular sleds
1 Super sled(can hold twice the weight)
Tires for flipping
Strongman Rock stands(take the rock and put on the shelf…I do not know the exact name).
Lots of weight machines(Flex Machines)
Cardio center - Also includes speed bag and heavy bag
Pulley Center and Pull bars and such.
27.50 a month by cash, 25 if by credit card; no contract, no initiation fees.
Also Chad Aichs goes there, he has a 2733 total. Third highest in the world. Very nice and helpful guy.
[quote]m1sf1t wrote:
Contrl wrote:
Most of you are too obsessed with the idea of looking hardcore.
What honestly makes a gym “hardcore”? The members. Not the equipment. It doesn’t matter if you have a tall burly man with a leather mask wielding a Morning Star; as long as the demographic of your gym includes frat kids and middle-aged women in spandex doing Yoga… you have failed.
You’re dead wrong, you would scare away a lot of the people you mentioned by getting rid off the bicep and ab machines as well as the bosu balls and yoga lessons, and substitute it with loud music and a bunch of clanking away of heavy iron and free weights.
Not that everybody needs to pull big weights and scream profanities all the time, but it’s definitely a completely different mindset. I see it every time I step into my current gym…
[/quote]
Thus my statement that too many of you obsess with “looking” hardcore rather than actually training like it.
Ultimately, the OP is concerned with exclusivity and some kind of “Good Ol’ Boys’ Club” vibe to it.
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
I’ll gladly whore out the gym I go to:
Owned and operated by winner of best lifter of the Raw Unity Meet and best lifter at USPF Nationals, Ryan Celli.
Monolift
3 cages
2 deadlift platforms
2 squat stands (Frantz and Forza)
2 competition benches + 2 normal benches
2 deadlift platforms
Kettlebells from 8-35kgs
Chains & bands
GHR
Reverse Hyper
Rolling Thunder + other grip tools
Slosh pipe, sandbag, keg, stone
and most importantly, people who are there to lift
