Where Have All the Good Gyms Gone?

[Sal Paradise]

TweetThis is an article written by John Hansen - Mr. Natural Olympia.

It was featured in IronMan magazine a few years ago and truer words have never been spoken.
Now don't read this article and think all it is refering to is simple gyms with iron and nothing else - that's OK too - But a simple gym with all the necessary stuff including cardio witha focus on actual lifting.
Like the description I have underlined in John's article.

The (POST A PICTURE OF YOUR GYM) thread got me thinking about this again.

What say you????


Sal


Where Have All the Good Gyms Gone?

The number of health clubs and gyms in America have increased by a phenomenal rate over the last 10 years. According to statistics, there are now 17,807 health club facilities in the United States. There has been a 41% increase in the number of health clubs and gyms in this country since 1992.

This is great news for those of us involved in the fitness industry or even just those of us who are fitness advocates. Now, whenever or whereever we may travel, there will always be a place to get our workout in. Health clubs and fitness are now "in" and those of us who exercise on a regular basis are no longer seen as odd or eccentric.

If this is all so great, why am I complaining? Because, despite the number of health clubs that are flourishing all over this country, the number of facilities where the average bodybuilder can get in a good, intense workout seem to be rapidly diminishing.

I have noticed that many of the gyms and health clubs that are now opening up are oriented toward the average public and are ignoring the needs of the hardcore athlete. I recently read an article about the "dumbing down" of America in which the author described how schools and other institutions were changing the rules to make things easier for the young people coming up. This is being done to avoid failing students because we don't want anyone to feel like a loser anymore.

When I see the new gyms that are rapidly opening up all over the country, I can understand what the article was talking about. Many of these new gyms are "dumbing down" the original concept of a gym to make it more palatible for the average public. It has gotten to the point now where it's actually difficult to get in a good workout despite the enormous amount of equipment and facilities available.

The gym I had been training at recently closed down. This was a good, hardcore gym. It was not extremely large but it had plenty of free weights (barbells and dumbbells for those of you who have fallen victim to the "dumbing down" of the fitness industry) and it also had lots of room in which to lift those free weights. There was even a special hardwood floor constructed near the rear of the gym where all the powerlifters could do their heavy squats and deadlifts.

There were plenty of machines located in the center of the gym for those of the average population who just wished to tone up and lose some fat. There was also a separate room devoted completely to cardio complete with treadmills, bikes, stairsteppers and plenty of televisions to overcome the boredom of aerobic exercise.

This was a nice gym. It had lots of machines and cardio equipment to appeal to the general public but it also had lots of barbells and dumbbells and the space to utilize them. Unfortunately, it was forced out of business by another gym that opened up in the same area. This new gym is absolutely PACKED with equipment, both cardiovascular and weight training. The dumbbells and free weights are shoved all the way in the back of the gym, almost as an after thought. However, the amount of shiny, new equipment available must have swayed enough of the general public to make the switch over to the fancier facility.

After my gym closed down (I refer to it as "my gym" since a gym is always like a second home to a hard-core bodybuilder such as myself), I had to begin the search for another place to work out. The closest gym I could find that would meet my hardcore training needs was about thirty minutes away.

It didn't take long for me to realize that this gym had also been "dumbed down" in order to attract the average public. The majority of the plates in the gym actually had rubber on them in order to avoid damaging the carpet on the floor (Has "pumping iron" been replaced with "pumping rubber"?). They also had "holes" in the plates so the average person could hold onto the plate easier without dropping it on their foot and possibly suing the gym. Even more confusing was the large number of iron plates that were shaped in an octagon shape. What was the reasoning behind this design?

One of the problems with the rubber plates was that they took up so much more space than the regular iron plates. This proved to be a problem when stacking plates on the leg press machine. With the iron plates, one could easily fit 12 plates on each side of the leg press machine. With the rubber plates, you would be lucky to squeeze on 10 plates on each side. My training partner and I were getting more exercise looking all over the gym for the precious few iron plates in the gym than actually doing the exercise itself. I felt like a kid on an Easter egg hunt all over again.

Most of the members at this particular gym were not very interested in pushing themselves to the limit. They mostly stuck to the machines and did not wander over to the free weight area which was, you guessed it, pushed up against the wall to accomodate all the various machines that occupied most of the floor space of the gym.
Whenever my partner and I would perform exercises such as squats, deadlifts or donkey calf raises, they would look at us like the apes in the movie "The Planet of the Apes" looked at Mark Wahlberg. Sort of like we were from another planet. By the way, it was very difficult to do deadlifts with 45 pound plates shaped in an octagon figure. What genius exercise equipment designer thought of that? The bar keeps bouncing in all different directions everytime the plates touch the floor.

After spending enough time in these "dumbed down" facilities, I would find myself fantasizing that I had access to a time machine where I could travel to any time and place in history. Of course, the ultimate time travel trip would be to the original Gold's Gym in Venice, California between the years of 1970-1975.

From what I understand, the original Gold's Gym was not a big or elaborate place. However, it was packed with the right kind of equipment that was personally designed by Joe Gold himself, specifically with the bodybuilder in mind. This is in stark contrast to most of the equipment that presently fills the gyms in this country. I really believe that the majority of exercise machines being utilized in gyms today were designed by people who have never touched a weight in their lives.

The original Golds also had an incredible atmosphere since it was inhabited by the best bodybuilders on the planet who were all training extremely hard in an effort to out do one another. Lots of free weights, big bodybuilders and high energy. What a combination!

Can you imagine training in a gym where Franco Columbu is doing reps with 700 pounds in the deadlift and Arnold is bombing his pecs with 400 pound bench presses and Lou Ferrigno is pumping out reps on the seated cable row? How about Ken Waller doing reps with 500 pounds on the squat or Ed Corney blasting his blasting his biceps with barbell curls or Mike Katz pumping up his pecs until they stuck out so far they looked like a shelf? Talk about the good old days!!

Since I began training in the late 1970's, I've spent my fair share of time training in gyms that could be considered hard-core. I almost feel like an old-timer when I relate stories of the "good, 'ole days". However, I find myself doing this more and more lately since the good, hardcore gyms seem to be a thing of the past.

I remember the days when there were no TV's in the gym, let alone a whole wall full of televisions in which members mindlessly stare at as they grind away on their treadmills and stairsteppers. I remember when the whole gym would stop and members would put down their weights and watch with respect as a bodybuilder or powerlifter squatted 600 pounds or benched 500 pounds. I remember when a lifter could scream with intensity in order to get psyched up to lift a personal best poundage without being reprimanded by the owner of the gym for "making a scene".

I'm not alone in my affection for the hard-core dungeons that make up the best gyms. Arnold used to always say that he got some of his best workouts training in a dungeon-like atmosphere. At his peak, Sergio Olivia trained in the basement at the Duncan YMCA, a place full of heavy free weights, chalk and sweat. Dorian Yates trained at the Temple Gym, a place so rough and dirty that it reportedly doesn't even have a toilet seat on the toilet. Ronnie Coleman, the current Mr. Olympia and probably the hardest trainer competing today, trains at a real hard-core facility in Texas. No air conditioning, no beautiful carpet, no shiny machines, just lots of iron, grit and muscle.

I fully understand the local gym owner's motivation when designing a gym that is going to appeal to the general public and bring in the greatest revenue. I can appreciate that the average person who is trying to shape up and lose his or her "spare tire" doesn't want to go to a place where a bunch of big, sweaty bodybuilders are tearing things up and screaming with intensity. I am actually glad that there are so many people in America who are attempting to get more fit and are exercising on a consistent basis.

What I am having a hard time accepting, however, is that the type of gym I grew up in, the hard-core facilities that promote the most growth because they encourage the most intense type of workouts, may rapidly become a thing of the past. Bodybuilding and weight training is a personal challenge that an individual undertakes everytime they step underneath a bar or attempt to lift an impossible weight. This type of courageous attitude requires a special kind of place to make these challenges and dreams a reality.

I hope that there are still enough gym owners in this country who will not succumb to the corporate mentality of opening a gym based only on a dollars and cents motivation. I know that there are enough hard-core lifters out there who are more than ready to train at a place where you can scream, lift heavy, use chalk and sweat all you want without feeling out of place. We're ready to bust our butts in the gym, we just need the right place to do it in. Now, excuse me, I have to go look for some iron plates.

[O2BESOHUGE]

TweetSEEING THE OLDER HARD CORE GUYS WOULD SURE INSPIRE FOLKS IF WE WERE TO SEE THEM!! THATS FOR SURE!

[daved150]

Tweeti read this when it came out...i like his articles and he's right...just after the short time that i've been doing this, i notice there's not alot of them around. fortunetly for me, there's a couple powerhouse gyms around here owned by a couple amature bodybuilders (still big fukin dudes!!) that operate old school!! jammed up with good equip and you can scream, cuss, grunt and drop and no one jacks with you....
too bad i cant afford gym fee's anymore....(my home gym aint that shabby either)

[Sal Paradise]

Tweet

i read this when it came out...i like his articles and he's right...just after the short time that i've been doing this, i notice there's not alot of them around. fortunetly for me, there's a couple powerhouse gyms around here owned by a couple amature bodybuilders (still big fukin dudes!!) that operate old school!! jammed up with good equip and you can scream, cuss, grunt and drop and no one jacks with you....
too bad i cant afford gym fee's anymore....(my home gym aint that shabby either)

Are you up near the area where Ron Love works out?
I forget the actual name of the gym but I have it somewhere.
I figure the name of a once great pro has to fly around once in a while.


Sal

[FUZO]

TweetWith the economy now small gyms dont make it anymore.But the top huge corperate gyms have all the state of the art equipment and there friggin awesome in chicago. Baby1 posted the gym we go to somewhere and it has everything you need. every machine,weight its unreal

[Sal Paradise]

Tweet

With the economy now small gyms dont make it anymore.But the top huge corperate gyms have all the state of the art equipment and there friggin awesome in chicago. Baby1 posted the gym we go to somewhere and it has everything you need. every machine,weight its unreal

I'll agree the huge gyms can have a ton of stuff - the biggest thing I see lacking is the atmosphere.
I worked in the huge places for a while and 99% of the time there is no camaraderie like there is/was in the small gyms.
Heck some of these places have a great deal of equpiment and at the same time can be missing something so simple and fundamental it's silly.
I remember one of the large places I worked didn't even have a standing calf raise machine because "the majority of the people" just didn't use it. But they had no less than 3 plate loaded preacher curl machines (2 of never got touched), 2 free standing preacher benchs and 2-3 selector pin preacher machines!! More than 7 preacher curl machines and 1!!! ONLY 1 - seated calf machine and no other specific calf equipment.

At the small gym I go to the owner has specifically asked numerous times "TELL ME WHAT YOU GUYS WANT! I'LL GET IT!" and that's no bullshit either.
He doesn't even make money at this place - the due barely pay the utilities if that. It's a private place but there is something to the atmosphere that makes you want to train there.
When I'm getting ready for a show every single member who walks in the door asks how it's going, how long till the show, do you need anything.
I've even had guys I don't train with offer to do cardio in the park with me to make sure I'm in top shape representing the gym!
AND they all come out to see the show!

IN the laast large club I worked at we had 2 of the staff - both worked directly for me and aside from the few of us, the trainers and a couple of the sales staff no one ever bothered to ask or even know if these people were training for a show.

I think the article hits the nail on the head with regard to the big corporate places. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.....

Now if some of these large places are suitable for mom and pop and grandma and little Johnny and still have open arms for the harder core more serious lifter who truly wants to make a change to their body instead of simply socializing and going there to feel better because "they work out" then I think it's great. I've been to a few and they have all the modern stuff and still welcome the serious lifter. It really comes down to the mentality of the upper management or owner if it's a franchise.

But all too often the ones who really want to lift or push themselves are the ones who get pushed aside in the larger facililties so little Johnny or gramdma doesn't get offened by a little sweat being poured.


Sal