Why I like my gym

[PiperBill]

I was just in visiting my son and a buddy who train at a very popular local gym. At 5pm it was so crowded. People were like almost lining up for the squat rack. Stuffy air and hot in there too. It made me realize why I like my gym so much. It's smaller but there is much more space between the equipment. There is never more than a handfull of people there when I go at about 5pm. Sometimes I even have the whole place to myself on saturday or sunday mornings. I sometimes think it's a bit lonely there but after seeing this other place I think that's fine. I just focus on the workout anyway.

How about your gym?

Bill

[silverlightning]

edited as I read again. i go at 4 am so i don't have an issue with crowds, but there are a few people in the gym at this time, but most are older than me.

[tmac4919]

At 5am, the squat rack is empty most of the days. That is why I like my gym.

[irongrandpa]

I usually lift in the late morning and I've never had to wait to use anything. Definately love my gym.

[tank316]

I switched to lifting in the morning...I train alone, that's the way I like. Of course, I see the after math from the night before, weights all over, its ridiculous !!!

[67fastback]

I just added a combination squat cage, and functional trainer to my home gym (pics in journal) and I am pretty stoked about it.

Allows me to do squats and bench much more safely and no line ups!

I also go to a local community center gym. Lots of plates for DL. Also they have a lot of basic equipment there. Not busy at all with absolutely no new years rush.

[RT1957]

I'm lucky enough to work out at home....I even curl in my power rack and no one gets upset

It works best for me.....

[shaneinga]

I was a part of the small time gyms. I agree with you that I like them a lot. The problem with small time gyms is they constantly shut down. I have been a part of 3 different small time gyms that I paid yearly dues to that one day were there, another day you go to walk in and the doors are closed. I would much rather be in a small gym, but when my last one shut down I went to one of the big name gyms and I am no longer worried about going to the gym and it being closed.

Some day I will have a home gym, and that should correct all of the issues with "going to the gym."

[tkdnj]

never have that problem in "my gym" http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1326518781

[anonymous]

In on that home gym time

and I'm about to (hopefully) pick up some extra stuff for pennies at a high school gym so will have no reason to ever venture back into the world of Bros, Schmoes and camel toes

[pondman]

I guess I'm a cheap scape but I have scrounged most of my plates and bars over the year. I've built or modified racks, benches, cable machines. I do step ups on a crate. I've got a 30 X 30 room behind my garage. No tread mills or reclined bicycles allowed.

[StressMonkey]

I love that it's 24 hours.

I got so sick of being kicked out of the gym because they were closing at my old one.

[TrueBLOOD1]

^^^ 24 hr gym FTW!! I also like that my gym is gritty and old school and they don't play Taylor swift

[hmmmm16417]

<----- home gym!

never crowded - always clean - plates are always put on racks - squat rack is always open - no douschebags (other than me) lol - always music of my choice - I can go shirtless if I want!

I have everything I need - actually went to a gym and couldn't do my normal workout because they didn't have some equipment like I do.

the only thing I miss about commercial gym is being able to use dumbells for chest. at home they only go up to 60 lb. at commercial gym I can do 100-115 lb as long as someone helps hand them to me

[1Percent]

I like my gym because there is all ages and all shapes and sizes of people.

[Beastlito]

<----- home gym!

never crowded - always clean - plates are always put on racks - squat rack is always open - no douschebags (other than me) lol - always music of my choice - I can go shirtless if I want!

I have everything I need - actually went to a gym and couldn't do my normal workout because they didn't have some equipment like I do.

the only thing I miss about commercial gym is being able to use dumbells for chest. at home they only go up to 60 lb. at commercial gym I can do 100-115 lb as long as someone helps hand them to me

+1

I have a Power Rack with a dipstation and pull up bar, a bench, a lat tower and enough weights to last a lifetime in the basement.

[JerryB]

I work out at home with homemade apparatus attached to my power cage.
So far I've built hip belt squat template, adjustable crossover pulleys, lat pullover machine, and a reverse hypertension machine.

[itsagoodday]

Love my gym! It's in parts dirty, rusty, moldy and broken down. It's also 20,000 square feet of strength training equipment, no group classes, no zumba. Full of old school stuff some of which I can't even find any other examples of on Google. Tons and tons of calibrated vintage York plates. They let me use chaulk, squat without shoes, make noise deadlifting and haul my gym bag everywhere. Most of the guys work out upstairs and don't come downstairs, so often I'm the only person or one of just a few people in the basement (lots of duplicate equipment upstairs and down, but basement also has stuff like deadlift platform, cage with mono arm, 100 lb plates, DBs to 150). Really like the people there too, it's a very supportive environment. My only regret is not joining sooner.

[RestoringTally]

Love my gym! It's in parts dirty, rusty, moldy and broken down. It's also 20,000 square feet of strength training equipment, no group classes, no zumba. Full of old school stuff some of which I can't even find any other examples of on Google. Tons and tons of calibrated vintage York plates. They let me use chaulk, squat without shoes, make noise deadlifting and haul my gym bag everywhere. Most of the guys work out upstairs and don't come downstairs, so often I'm the only person or one of just a few people in the basement (lots of duplicate equipment upstairs and down, but basement also has stuff like deadlift platform, cage with mono arm, 100 lb plates, DBs to 150). Really like the people there too, it's a very supportive environment. My only regret is not joining sooner.

^^^^ I want to join your gym!

I workout in a crowded spare room at my office. It is 10x12 with a full power rack, GHD, high/low cable machine, seated calf, 5 to 100 lb DBs, and multiple specialty bars. I can do what I need to, but I would love to work out in a big gym like you describe.

[cmt029]

I love my gym! I work out at the Y - there are two I can use right near me. One is a brand new state-of-the-art gym with new equipment. The other is an old-school Y with dumbbells that look like Charles Atlas may have used them with the huge spheres on each end. I far prefer the old-school Y simply because it never gets crowded there.

[itsagoodday]

^^^^ I want to join your gym!

I workout in a crowded spare room at my office. It is 10x12 with a full power rack, GHD, high/low cable machine, seated calf, 5 to 100 lb DBs, and multiple specialty bars. I can do what I need to, but I would love to work out in a big gym like you describe.

You're in the wrong state, but come over anytime and bring the GHD with you, that's one thing we don't have $20/month, but there are a few trade-offs like they apparently don't believe in clips despite the fact that there are like 200 barbells in the building and the functionality of the bathrooms is questionable at best.

[piperdown]

Guess I'm lucky. Majority of the time I lift over the lunch hour at our companies gym. I usually the only one there at 11:30. A couple benchers come in on Tue and Thurs but not until after 12. It's a building that has a basketball court, a stage area with aerobic machines and a weight room off the side of the basketball court.
It's got a squat rack, BP, two adjustable benches, plenty of plates, a leg press, DB up to 75, lat pull down that has rowing ability, pec deck, and some other odds and ends.. If I feel like doing a bit of HIIT I run lines on the BB court.

Also a member at a commercial gym. It can get a bit crowded at times but nothing too out of whack.

[CHILDOFGO12]

my gym is 24/7 and we can go at any time. no matter is it is crowed or not, my hubby and i can still find all the machine and weights we need

[mikenorwood961]

My gym is 24/7 but the 'New Years Resolution' crowd hasn't thinned out yet so, yeah, there's been a line at the squat rack.

[Spark77]

I've written bits and pieces about this in other posts, but never put it all in one post before:

My gym is part of a city-owned community fitness center. The people are nice, and the city does the best it can. However, the free weight section is in such a tiny area that the benches are almost stacked on top of each other, and a lot of times you have to move equipment out of the way to get to the equipment you need. Six or seven people is a tight fit, but around 5 p.m. there are 15 people jammed in there.

Hubby is just getting into working out with weights and said the other day that he wished he could go work out in the gym. January isn't fantastic at any gym, but his schedule means he has to go at the dreaded 5 p.m. time or not at all, and it is pretty much unusable then.

The room shares a door with a physical therapy facility, so no music is allowed unless you wear headphones. I am OK with that except for one thing. The therapy patients sometimes come out to use the lighter equipment. I'm not sure whose morale is more adversely affected--the little old lady trying to rehab a hip in the middle of all the big intimidating-looking lifters, or a lifter trying to concentrate on a lift while listening to the patient and therapist exchanging laundry lists of their and their friends' various ailments. (I don't listen to music as I have yet to find a set of headphones that works for me, so I recently spent three sets of seated calf raises listening to such a conversation. It was nearly impossible to tune it out, and it wasn't exactly getting me stoked into putting forth my best effort.)

Don't get me wrong--it is a great place overall. They run a variety of classes and have nice machines and cardio equipment, as well as a pool and hot tub. But the free weights section is not my cup of tea. I recently returned to my old gym 20 miles away, which caters to the bodybuilding, powerlifting, MMA, and CrossFit crowds. Rock music reverberates off the red, black, and treadplate decor. I just feel more inspired and motivated there, and I fit in better. There are actually other women kicking butt there, too, as opposed to me being "the girl" in the weight room.

[dopaminozero]

mines a couple blocks away

$15/mo for a premium membership, which includes free tanning and a hydromassage machine

has everything I need

[Guinea-pig]

No A/C
No water fountain
No locker room
Mostly free weights
These conditions eliminate most of the crowd
Love it

[SteveWright1]

I like my gym because
it has A/C ( not really needed at this time of year)
There is a water dispenser
There is a locker room and shower
There is a lot of free weights
and there is no crowd at 6 am when I train
and now the power is back on after a 10 day power out, I can enjoy it even more

[daveherr13]

i love my gym except for the month of January...i think we all know why.

[EarlA]

My gym is a five minute drive from home. Three squat racks, three benches, and plenty of bars and weights. There are some heavy squatters and deadlifters who go around the same time as me, so if gives me motivation to push harder.