Old school machines- tampa powerhouse gym

[bananas007]

I am visiting tampa. I used to live here 7 years ago. I went to the powerhouse gym on Florida Ave. old school. Man the selection of equipment here is amazing. I have been to quads Chicago, and all though volume of equipment maybe more in quads, the tampa powerhouse for some reason hits the spot better.

If I ever wanted to take a leap into opening a commercial gym for the bodybuilding/physique niche is there a way to be able to get my hands on these equipments or are most of these out of production?

If someone knows of a similar gym close to Philadelphia/ south jersey area please let me know. I use atilis gym in NJ currently and it is good but this is on a different level.

 

[bananas007]

@alfresco I know you have a lot of knowledge about these.

 

[alfresco]

@alfresco I know you have a lot of knowledge about these.

Clearly one is a newer version of the Nautilus pullover machine. The others I have no clue. Never seen them before. They look very elementary, kinda crude by today’s standards.

 

[bananas007]

Clearly one is a new version of the Nautilus pullover machine. The others I have no clue. Never seen them before. They look very elementary, kinda crude by today’s standards.

They may look crude but the muscle activation, “feel” is better than majority of the modern looking machines I have used.

Some of the older looking ones had the logo of stark tk.

they don’t make machines like these any more. If anyone is in the tampa area you have to come check out those gym.

Specially if you have some injuries limiting you in one of the big 3 compound lifts.

 

[alfresco]

They may look crude but the muscle activation, “feel” is better than majority of the modern looking machines I have used.

Some of the older looking ones had the logo of stark tk.

they don’t make machines like these any more. If anyone is in the tampa area you have to come check out those gym.

Specially if you have some injuries limiting you in one of the big 3 compound lifts.

Could not read that.

TK Stark I think was exercise machine manufacturer.

A machine does not have to be fancy to be effective. But biomechanics should be the first order of business.

Funny how at one point in time, ~ 50 years ago, exercise machines of any value were as rare as sabertooth tigers in NYC. Were said to be of no real value. Now you can’t get people out of them and the popularity and effectiveness of a commercial gym is judged almost entirely on their collection of exercise machines.

And also at one point in time Joe Weider felt so threatened by this and the future of exercise (this is when AJ introduced the Nautilus machines) that he ran a multi-issue ‘expose’ on the value of free weights and ‘his exercise principles’ over machines, most notably Nautilus in one of his magazines. He had, presumably paid, a whole host of bodybuilders chime in, Arnold included, as to the worthlessness of Nautilus. It was a real smear campaign that in the end was worse than worthless.

AJ and Joe did make up many years later for commercial reasons but it was too late and too little, my opinion. I have a letter to prove it and along with over 50lbs of AJ material, some proprietary, some never published or seen the light of day. Safe to say I have more ‘material’ on him and by him than everybody else in the world combined. Not bragging, just fact.

 

[Mufasa123]

Tom Kinney is TK Star - specializes in replacement cables and custom cable attachments as well as machines. Pretty famous and very well respected. I think I follow him on IG or FB. Posts shots of new pieces he's working on. Never met the guy and no attachment but some people in the equipment world who know their shit respect the hell out of him. www.tkstar.com

I'm not surprised OP felt there was something special about those raw looking units. Devil is in the details and those are often overlooked to make nice looking commercial units that often don't feel right or get the job done.

Alfresco - TK was out at golds with Joe Gold and others in the 1970s. This is his Mike Mentzer tri bar:

THE MIKE MENTZER "HEAVY-DUTY TRICEP BAR **There is a 10 month backorder for this product

The Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty Tricep Bar is expertly designed to enhance your tricep training with maximum effectiveness and durability.

tkstar.com

 

[alfresco]

Tom Kinney is TK Star - specializes in replacement cables and custom cable attachments as well as machines. Pretty famous and very well respected. I think I follow him on IG or FB. Posts shots of new pieces he's working on. Never met the guy and no attachment but some people in the equipment world who know their shit respect the hell out of him. www.tkstar.com

I'm not surprised OP felt there was something special about those raw looking units. Devil is in the details and those are often overlooked to make nice looking commercial units that often don't feel right or get the job done.

Alfresco - TK was out at golds with Joe Gold and others in the 1970s. This is his Mike Mentzer tri bar:

THE MIKE MENTZER "HEAVY-DUTY TRICEP BAR **There is a 10 month backorder for this product

The Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty Tricep Bar is expertly designed to enhance your tricep training with maximum effectiveness and durability.

tkstar.com

Mike gets a little bar named after him and Larry Scott got a piece of exercise equipment named after him

I wish the website had some photos of the equipment they have designed and delivered.

 

[Misfit246]

I still get excited when I see older cybex or hammer strength machines in a gym. What I came up with ober the years and tend to bring back a good fit/feel.

We all have our favorite out there

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

I love that gym, isn't that where Scott Stevenson trains? At least he used to at a time.

 

[Mufasa123]

Mike gets a little bar named after him and Larry Scott got a piece of exercise equipment named after him

I wish the website had some photos of the equipment they have designed and delivered.

There's some on his IGram.

 

[Brock456]

I still get excited when I see older cybex or hammer strength machines in a gym. What I came up with ober the years and tend to bring back a good fit/feel.

We all have our favorite out there

HS is so common at so many gyms nowadays. All the chain gyms like LA, Crunch, 24 hour have them.

Cybex on the other hand…. Nautilus, flex fitness is another one I like

 

[WeakFNG]

@bananas007 I used to train at the Quads in Cal City long time ago. Been in the presence of Ed Coan. Wewere the same size, he was 10x stronger though, lol.

These pics brought back some memories. Love seeing old equipment like this in the wild. Last gym i was a member of had a shoulder press similar to that one. It was beat to hell and had probably been re-painted a few times.

 

[Elvia1023]

 

[Elvia1023]

I just found more...

 

[hevi-head]

HS is so common at so many gyms nowadays. All the chain gyms like LA, Crunch, 24 hour have them.

Cybex on the other hand…. Nautilus, flex fitness is another one I like

Yeah I don’t think of Hammer Strength as old but then again I’m old lol. But have always really liked the plate loaded HS stuff

 

[bananas007]

I just found more...

Where is these?

 

[comedycentral]

Yeah I don’t think of Hammer Strength as old but then again I’m old lol. But have always really liked the plate loaded HS stuff

Hammer is actually late 80s and was spawned from the last of the nautilus leverage range. new hammer is owned by life fitness and is not a patch on the original. Totally different build quality and even angle. The old stuff was all US made. Now you will often see on the stickers it says US designed and made somewhere else. I’ve got a late 90s hammer hip press and decline plate loaded machine. Bomb proof

 

[alfresco]

Hammer is actually late 80s and was spawned from the last of the nautilus leverage range. new hammer is owned by life fitness and is not a patch on the original. Totally different build quality and even angle. The old stuff was all US made. Now you will often see on the stickers it says US designed and made somewhere else. I’ve got a late 90s hammer hip press and decline plate loaded machine. Bomb proof

Let's fill in some blanks.

The Nautilus ‘leverage range’ was called the Avenger. Kinda a play on words since Hammer (Arthur’s son Gary started Hammer after he quit working for his dad.) came first then Nautilus introduced the Avenger for ‘revenge’ and competition. Things did not go well for the Avenger line . . . still born.

And we all know what happened to Hammer. And some people got very rich along the way.

That’s how I understand things went down.

 

[hevi-head]

Hammer is actually late 80s and was spawned from the last of the nautilus leverage range. new hammer is owned by life fitness and is not a patch on the original. Totally different build quality and even angle. The old stuff was all US made. Now you will often see on the stickers it says US designed and made somewhere else. I’ve got a late 90s hammer hip press and decline plate loaded machine. Bomb proof

Oh I remember using hammer when I first joined a gym in the early 90’s. I just tend to forget just how long ago that was until I think about it lol. Time flies.

 

[Elvia1023]

Where is these?

Geneva, Switzerland