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I'm slowly getting ready to go workout and lately I've been thinking a lot about the first and still best gym I was ever a member at. You have to be careful not to romanticize the past and make it more than it was, but I have to say, my recollection is pretty dead on...
I went there from when I was a junior in HS to a couple years into college. It was simply called, "The Gym". It was in a 100 year old warehouse. Top floor was just one huge room, maybe 100x50 (?), with several huge windows for great natural lighting. It was simply all gray- light gray and dark gray. No fancy paint jobs. The only decoration was a bunch of old-school Arnie posters working out. The downstairs had a powerlifting platform, squat rack and bench that a couple of the competitive powerlifters used. The only cardio they had was one stationary bike. A couple years later they got a Schwyn Air-Dyne.
Upstairs had all the basic benches and machines you needed, old, but all in great shape. The pulleys- all smooth as butter. Plenty of dumbbells for all. The owner always took great care of the machines, and the members were expected to as well. Just one bathroom and one shower-stall. There were several weightlifting belts to use if you didn't have one or forgot yours.
There weren't many members, everyone knew everyone. While their was of course the occasional animosity amongst members, it was generally one of comradeship. None of the guys were really that "big" or "on" (though we had our share of a few big boys) but all had a serious passion to workout and get stronger. There wasn't a lot of "competition" amongst each, there was a lot of respect for the others guys progress and desire. There were no "pretty boys" in their gold gym shoes, in fact many of the guys came straight from work remaining in their work-boots and jeans. Everyone seemed to have an active interest in it- like each person thought it was there gym... no one left dumbbells lying around or bars loaded with weights. If they did, the owner gave them a gentle authoritative reminder to which the member never rebuffed.
The radio was open to anyone who wanted to bring their music, so long as it was hard, and always played loud. The majority of it was metal, and it wasn't hard enough, the guys would yell out their discontent and had to be changed. No juice bar, just an old 50's refrigerator with a lock on it and sport drinks.
Since the owner had a full-time job elsewhere and most of the members were blue-collar, the gym didn't open until 3pm. But, you could buy a key for a couple hundred dollars and workout any time you wanted. I worked there for a free membership so I would go there in the morning sometimes when no one was around, blasted the music, and could focus like crazy on my workout (and flex all I wanted to without feeling/looking like a goofball hahaha).
There was no air conditioning so in the summer all we could do was open the old huge loading dock door and open all those huge windows. No one really seemed to care that much though, they just wanted to workout.
Sadly, The Gym closed it's door many years back. It always had just enough members to squeek by the lease and machine repair costs. Slowly, some members would drift off to the more trendy new gym on the other side of town. A member might say, "Hey, so I guess Jim is now going to 'x-gym' to workout" and there would be a moment of letdown when the other person heard it- you almost felt betrayed. Over a couple years the drifting continued until The Gym just couldn't stay afloat.
So now I'm heading to my commercial gym, with it's gang-banger wannabe's. Where every guy seems to think he's the biggest and coolest. Where the club-boys work just the "show" muscles. I get to now listen to the kind of music you hear in a nightclub. Where everyone is there for themselves and there is little fellowship. Where the people work behind the counter are there more for each other than the members. Not many "hardcore" gyms around anymore.
Maybe I should watch a clip of Pumping Iron on YouTube before I go now.
I went there from when I was a junior in HS to a couple years into college. It was simply called, "The Gym". It was in a 100 year old warehouse. Top floor was just one huge room, maybe 100x50 (?), with several huge windows for great natural lighting. It was simply all gray- light gray and dark gray. No fancy paint jobs. The only decoration was a bunch of old-school Arnie posters working out. The downstairs had a powerlifting platform, squat rack and bench that a couple of the competitive powerlifters used. The only cardio they had was one stationary bike. A couple years later they got a Schwyn Air-Dyne.
Upstairs had all the basic benches and machines you needed, old, but all in great shape. The pulleys- all smooth as butter. Plenty of dumbbells for all. The owner always took great care of the machines, and the members were expected to as well. Just one bathroom and one shower-stall. There were several weightlifting belts to use if you didn't have one or forgot yours.
There weren't many members, everyone knew everyone. While their was of course the occasional animosity amongst members, it was generally one of comradeship. None of the guys were really that "big" or "on" (though we had our share of a few big boys) but all had a serious passion to workout and get stronger. There wasn't a lot of "competition" amongst each, there was a lot of respect for the others guys progress and desire. There were no "pretty boys" in their gold gym shoes, in fact many of the guys came straight from work remaining in their work-boots and jeans. Everyone seemed to have an active interest in it- like each person thought it was there gym... no one left dumbbells lying around or bars loaded with weights. If they did, the owner gave them a gentle authoritative reminder to which the member never rebuffed.
The radio was open to anyone who wanted to bring their music, so long as it was hard, and always played loud. The majority of it was metal, and it wasn't hard enough, the guys would yell out their discontent and had to be changed. No juice bar, just an old 50's refrigerator with a lock on it and sport drinks.
Since the owner had a full-time job elsewhere and most of the members were blue-collar, the gym didn't open until 3pm. But, you could buy a key for a couple hundred dollars and workout any time you wanted. I worked there for a free membership so I would go there in the morning sometimes when no one was around, blasted the music, and could focus like crazy on my workout (and flex all I wanted to without feeling/looking like a goofball hahaha).
There was no air conditioning so in the summer all we could do was open the old huge loading dock door and open all those huge windows. No one really seemed to care that much though, they just wanted to workout.
Sadly, The Gym closed it's door many years back. It always had just enough members to squeek by the lease and machine repair costs. Slowly, some members would drift off to the more trendy new gym on the other side of town. A member might say, "Hey, so I guess Jim is now going to 'x-gym' to workout" and there would be a moment of letdown when the other person heard it- you almost felt betrayed. Over a couple years the drifting continued until The Gym just couldn't stay afloat.
So now I'm heading to my commercial gym, with it's gang-banger wannabe's. Where every guy seems to think he's the biggest and coolest. Where the club-boys work just the "show" muscles. I get to now listen to the kind of music you hear in a nightclub. Where everyone is there for themselves and there is little fellowship. Where the people work behind the counter are there more for each other than the members. Not many "hardcore" gyms around anymore.
Maybe I should watch a clip of Pumping Iron on YouTube before I go now.
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