Why is most gym equipment black,grey, or white?

[Lin13]

Hello, I'm new here. I'm just curious as to why gym equipment like racks and benches are always white, grey, or black. Is there some psychology with colors involved or what?

Thank you!

[hypertek]

I would say those colors are more relaxing/easy on the eyes instead of bright green, purple etc.. But its easier to match with other people's equipment being the typical black, white, grey etc

[gbullock32]

I'd guess because those colors fit into almost any color scheme that a home/gym would have; also probably easier for manufacturers to stick with few colors due to cost.

[Detrus]

Could be the paints or powder-coats for those colors are the best developed, hold up to wear and tear. A paint or powder coat for every color has to be fine tuned not to fall apart over time, not to fade too much, etc. So why not do that process on generic colors? People may not love those colors, but they won't hate them.

[Stasher1]

I would guess that it has more to do with matching other companies' equipment than anything else. You can put four pieces of white/black/grey equipment from four different companies in a gym and they'll appear to match fairly well. There are just too many shades of blue, green, orange, etc. for that to work as well with other colors.

[ProtienandIron]

Probably all the reasons above, plus some colours hide dust/sweat better.

[twodog]

I agree that all of the reasons above are good for the choices. But black is "old skool" and the reason is because all equipment was painted black in the past, and most of it was flat. Not for any reason other than the fact that it was easiest. Easiest to hide weld imperfectionsand easiest to touch up. White came around when people started lifting in "health club" atmospheres, rather than "gyms", because it was clean and sanitary looking and a neutral color which could be highlighted by changing pad colors. Which leads us to silver/grey, white chips easy and highlights the chips, grey is much more subtle. Grey seems to be a bigger choice for home users than for commercial users in general. Alot of people don't like the look of white in their home gyms.

If the color was bas based on how it made you feel, then most machines would be black and bright yellow. Black is a color that exudes the feeling of power and yellow is a color that excites us.

On another note, purple seems to exude "gheyness" and make people want to eat donuts but that has been covered in many other threads, lol.

[irongym]

I think it is more to do with aesthetics than anything else. Much easier to add colour to a gym by painting a wall, and later painting it a different colour, then it is to paint all of your equipment. It's also better for resale, because again, those base colours will fit in with any gym decor. Say you paint all your walls bright green, white, black, or silver will look great; red, blue, purple equipment, not so much.

[nattyy]

Because it just is op

[twirp]

The very first equipment was covered in padding. Over evolutionary time it lost most of its padding but equipment that stayed outdoors had to protect itself from the punishing rays of the sun and evolved an appropriate coating. Indoor equipment didn't need as much sun protection so it became lighter.

[matrix563]

lol wut?

[Biggerfoot]

I would guess that it has more to do with matching other companies' equipment than anything else. You can put four pieces of white/black/grey equipment from four different companies in a gym and they'll appear to match fairly well. There are just too many shades of blue, green, orange, etc. for that to work as well with other colors.

That does make sense. On one wall of my home gym, I have five different manufactures; Yukon, Powerline, Iron King, TDS, and Nautilus....all white!

[matrix563]

one of those ab benches was near me for $40 and i missed out. oh well .

[Biggerfoot]

one of those ab benches was near me for $40 and i missed out. oh well .

I paid $50 for mine. I did replace the ab strap with my heavier one but have really liked it. It is quick and easy to use.

[adaje41]

my two cents, black/white/silver are neutral colors and are easy to match with other colors. and they do this for pretty much everything and not just gym equipment


like computers/phones/ipods, the first generations are usually black/white/silver. they then added more personalized colors in later generations but most of the time they still offer the neutral colored ones

same with cars, lots of colors out there but the most common ones are black and silver

same with clothing/shoes/accessories, grab a couple random guys from the street and the majority of them would have black or white shoes. the most common ones are still gonna be black or white because you can mix these with pretty much anything.

[Stasher1]

my two cents, black/white/silver are neutral colors and are easy to match with other colors. and they do this for pretty much everything and not just gym equipment


like computers/phones/ipods, the first generations are usually black/white/silver. they then added more personalized colors in later generations but most of the time they still offer the neutral colored ones

same with cars, lots of colors out there but the most common ones are black and silver

same with clothing/shoes/accessories, grab a couple random guys from the street and the majority of them would have black or white shoes. the most common ones are still gonna be black or white because you can mix these with pretty much anything.

[garrettkirkman]

generic colours are best as they are cheaper for the company to make (more product of same colour also equals less cost to consumer or gym). transferable between gyms means resale value is higher. if limited edition pink plates came out, no one would want them. people like the basics as they have been around forever.

[Accutron]

Yeah its like Audi. They have smoke grey, silver grey, silver mist, lunar grey, lunar smoke, slate grey, slate mist, light grey, dark grey, metallic grey, and standard grey.