Ou sont les gyms d'antan?

[BigLittleTim]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed the transformation in the Gold's Gym image, but I thought I'd put it out there.

Recently the old Mike's Gym in Boston closed. This was the "big boy's" gay gym for the past decade, and its closing caused everyone to look for a new gym. By coincidence a brand new Gold's opened up in the area and a good number of guys joined.

Now, I remember working out in Gold's gyms in years past, and this one is very new and clean and has good equipment to a certain extent, but the attitude is very different from what I was expecting.

The sales associate who showed me around was PROUD of the fact that the dumbbell rack only goes up to 105lbs! She was at great pains to tell me that no powerlifting, chalk, or TANK TOPS are allowed! ("It's not going to be THAT kind of gym." she said.) There are two squatting racks, which is good, but certain things like a stiff-legged deadlift stand is conspicuously missing. They also have a daycare center, and have not done any work to finish the steam sauna (more subtle hints that it's not THAT kind of a gym??)

To cap it off there is this particularly annoying Gold's commercial they play on their in-house video feed. It shows a pumped up bodybuilder oiling himself up in the "posing room", flexing, admiring himself, a bit of a goofy narcissis, etc. kinda funny and sexxy at the same time. Well, he walks out of the posing room and shoots a wink at two frumpy women in sweat pants on cardio machines. He then slips from all the posing oil and lands on his backside. The women roll their eyes and say "Poser".

I mean, are they trying to say that old fashioned bodybuilders are somehow ridiculous, and that we have to make sure Gold's is a safe environment for frumpy broads to ride the bike? Fat middle America already HAS the rest of the damned country... Did they need Gold's gym too?

Where are all the old powerlifting gyms?? The suburbs??

I think the day of the old-time sole proprieter gyms (owned usually by an ex-bodybuilder) are gone. Owners now own five or six gyms in an area and they've gotten "smart" about what kind of customers they're going after. They don't want bodybuilders who pay forty dollars a month and come every day. They want officeworkers who'll pay seventy dollars a month and only come three times a week to do cardio.

Is this a national trend... or only in the "big city"?

-biglittletim

[Mdlftr]

BLTim....

You may have a point. My local (suburban DC) Gold's recently remodeled. They now have a separate section just for "the ladies". It' s physically removed and sealed off from the rest of the gym and can only be reached via the ladies locker room. The ladies are free to come out onto the main gym and use the stairmasters, treadmills, free weights, etc. The guys however, can't use the abductor / adductor machines and a few other pieces that are squirreled away for the women!

The owner is consciously trying to take business away from the Ladies only gym down the street. This has never been really "hardcore" but it does have good equipment. IF you go early, say, 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., you get more of a 'serious' crowd who are there to work out. The evening shift [5 to 7 p.m.] tends to be more chatty and do more standing around--though there are some big boys lifting then!

Mdlftr

In a broader sense I think what you're seeing is a continuation of the trend to legislate everything to high levels of complexity that require large organizations that fuel the inflation, provide low wage jobs, require insurance, necessitate large power usage, utilize investment instruments, and need legal advice. All things that flow money up hill to all the big boys at the top 2%. Think about it. Wouldn't they just love to see the small businesses die like dinosaurs, pay the workers like serfs and take all the income themselves.

I don't blame the gym owners, they're just figuring out how the system works and grabbing at the brass ring.

I'm so glad that I'm nearing the end of my life and have no children, and won't have to worry about what happens to their world in 30 years when I'm gone. Not all of you are that lucky.

Think of a world full of companies like WalMart.

[optimusx]

Well I don't know about Gold's but I have noticed a ton of these "personalized" gyms like Curves popping up. You're right though about targeting a specific audience. Even the gym I go to has for the longest time had a Fitness for Women section (either in the building or in a seperate building)

The gym I go to however is considerate of everyone. They added on to the building to create a dedicated entrance for the Ladies Only section with it's own tanning beds and such, but they have duplicate equipment in both sections (Co-ed and women only) so no one is really jipped. However they haven't quite got the balance quite right in their extension of the freeweights section. I guess they ran out of money or something because they have some really old equipment in there.

But this gym is run by an ex-bodybuilder so yeah it's still old school. Which is cool.

Scott

[RadRx]

I could be mistaken here, but I believe the Gold's business entity has been purchased by 24 Hour Fitness. I've found the quality of the facilities/equipment and age of the facilities vary widely within both franchises. It is also important to know whether you're dealing with a franchise operation or corporately owned facility since (just like McDonald's) the corporately owned units tend to have more uniform standards.

I think they (24Hr) are trying to maintain the brand image of Gold's as an established gym while simultaneously trying to soften the hardcore image. It would really piss off enough serious Gold's users to find that their hardcore gym has been sold out to the 'spa-going' set.

Gold's even has some clever marketing on their own ('Small Ass for Sale' under a pic of a tiny donkey) Prior to that, Gold's started emphasizing athleticism in their promotional material rather than hardcore muscle. Even some of the trainers at Gold's in Venice mock the reality that some of the biggest guys there are in lousy overall physical condition.

Some of the rules you mentioned are implemented with the comfort of other members in mind. If I ever have the need for dumbbells heavier than 105#, I'll consider it a factor in gym selection, but both chains I frequent (Gold's and 24-Hour) have them up to 150#. Dress code and dumbbell size matter less than being able to locate the weights and hygeine; I don't need someone sweating all over the equipment -- I don't care how big they are.

RadRx

PS. I think the John Cena advert you described is funny; he must have seen something in it to agree to do it.

[ARCHEON]

I'm a member of a Gold's gym in a well-established suburb of greater Los Angeles. This particular Gold's gym was formerly a World Gym. (The World Gym owner had originally purchased a franchise and a large, multi-building warehouse but a few years later was consequently made an more lucartive offer by Gold's Corporate to sell his building and equipment.)

Gold's has adequately maintained the property and equipment. The membership is very mixed. It includes hardcore weightlifters, (including media and entertainment celebrities as such) yuppies, highschoolers, college students and senior citizens. Professional athletes and weekend warriors trade stories. Women and men -- varied in race, creed, color and socio-economic background. Other than the locker rooms, there is no gender-specific areas. The ever-present day care center is included for working moms. There is no dress code other than what common decency laws require. Fully equipped -- both in free-weights and machines. While the dumbbells only go up to 150 lbs., I must confess that I've rarely seen greater DB weights outside of Venice, CA. Multiple weightlifting stands for the most experienced powerlifters. A substantial outdoor exercise area, aerobic room, cardio room. No jacuzzi or sauna. Simple locker rooms and showers. Your basic juice and product bar with every imaginable health product one could ever want.

The only thing this gym actually cares about is "wiping down" of machines and equipment if you sweat, excessive groaning (which is impossible to monitor) and the excessive dropping of weights in a careless manner. I used to think this was a normal suburban gym. However, after reading the previous posts, I see now that it's fairly unique.

[brent]

I don't know how I missed this thread originally, but this is a point that has really been bugging me. I'm not as buff as the original poster, so I can get by in most gyms, but I am quickly reaching the limits of the weights at my gym, and I want to keep getting bigger.

Anyone else interested in discussing this still?

[glammaman2000]

...so I have some sympathy for the operators.Chalk makes a huge mess.Upstairs gyms have to worry about heavy weights being dropped.&some"big guys"CAN be rude about monopolizing equipment.Beyond that,I think big guys are GOOD for a gym!They inspire all kinds of people.Makes them feel like they belong to a"serious"gym!

[tman]

My gym's management just passed to a lady. Now there are TV's all over the place and the squat racks and some of the old school nautilus machines were replaced with nice-looking yet totally crappy equipment. The horizontal safety bars on the new "squat rack" are about the height of my kneecaps... A lot of help that'll be when I'm stuck under a lot of weight. I think its intended to do curls or something. grrrr. People who curl in the squat rack are the lowest of the low. It used to be a great gym, now the "toning" area is the "women's only" area, even though it is completely exposed to the rest of the gym. (whats the point there?) This effectively got rid of the seated ham curls, abductor, glute ham raises, and assisted chinup machines. Even the music sucks now.

Anyway, I ended up getting a cheaper membership at a big franchise place (19.95/month, no obligation ) but its in a part of town where I wonder if my truck will still be there when I'm done lifting. I also miss the friendly small gym atmosphere. I swear to god, if I have to listen to the 6 closest dew rag wearing cell phone talking gangsters babble about how they're "working out" to one friend after another while I'm trying to get in the zone at the bench press...

grrr.

[Aikuchi]

How much are the gyms in your area /month?

---

I just thought of asking, but maybe it should be a new thread.
So far the larger franchinse ones here are about 140-200 p/mo. but the smaller private ones (much smaller but cosier and lacking in most eq but the most basic) are about 70-100 p/mo.

(LOCAL currency = conversion to US dollar makes it about USD 39.90 /mo (150 local) - USD 18.80 /mo (70 local).

But of course I'm treating it dollar for dollar, I'm referring to an average persons wages being used for gym membership instead.




Yinn

[biguglymofo]

Originally Posted by tman

My gym's management just passed to a lady. Now there are TV's all over the place and the squat racks and some of the old school nautilus machines were replaced with nice-looking yet totally crappy equipment. The horizontal safety bars on the new "squat rack" are about the height of my kneecaps... A lot of help that'll be when I'm stuck under a lot of weight. I think its intended to do curls or something. grrrr. People who curl in the squat rack are the lowest of the low. It used to be a great gym, now the "toning" area is the "women's only" area, even though it is completely exposed to the rest of the gym. (whats the point there?) This effectively got rid of the seated ham curls, abductor, glute ham raises, and assisted chinup machines. Even the music sucks now.

Anyway, I ended up getting a cheaper membership at a big franchise place (19.95/month, no obligation ) but its in a part of town where I wonder if my truck will still be there when I'm done lifting. I also miss the friendly small gym atmosphere. I swear to god, if I have to listen to the 6 closest dew rag wearing cell phone talking gangsters babble about how they're "working out" to one friend after another while I'm trying to get in the zone at the bench press...

grrr.

Sucks don't it? We need to look at a couple of other gyms in our area. What really pisses me off is that the asshats in our gym kept on saying we got power racks when in fact we got lilliputian squat racks. Not cool at all. grrr!

I need to get you an iPod bro. LOL

[brent]

Just before moving down here last year, one of the more popular 24 Hour Fitness locations in NW Portland had a remodel. They spent tons of cash to turn the parking lot into a pool/wet area. The problem was that the parking lot was on the other side of the gym from the locker rooms, and what do you do with your car? To make matters worse, they got rid of the heavy weights, and tried to make it very "Curves-like". I asked a guy at the desk where the "real" weights were, and he said that they got rid of them, so then I asked why I should pay twice as much a month for a Curves-like club with no heavy weights as Curves charges, and he said I was the 20th person that hour to ask the same question. So I know we aren't the only people in this world to have these issues.

Unfortunately, they have remodeled a few clubs down here recently, and the good weights & equipment keep disappearing for the 24-Minute "X-Press" workout zones that I never see anyone use. It's like they design the clubs to have a little of everything to sell memberships, but have very little of anything to keep members.

[tman]

*waits for the forthcoming poddage*