When I first got into bodybuilding I trained in the basement of an old YMCA.
There was nothing fancy about it but it was perfect for me.
Hell, back then I didn’t know the difference between a good and bad gym because that old basement gym was all that I knew!
So then I moved away and while I was driving down the highway I saw a Gold’s gym from the road. I got excited and pulled into the place to check it out. There were no gyms like that where I’m from and the place looked huge!
Surely it must have been better than that old YMCA I trained at right? Well, it was better in a way, but in other ways it was worse.
Now, had this been the cell phone era then it’d be worse all the way around! But luckily it was still before people sat around on phones and taking up equipment others wanted to use!
After moving to a few other cities, and as technology improved and people’s social skills and courtesy went to absolute hell in a hand basket, I realized that these mega-structure gyms had the most bullshit members and workout environment!
WHY MAINSTREAM COMMERCIAL GYMS SUCK NOW!
To put it simple, these gyms care more about numbers than having a good gym with respectful members. When someone is a problem in the gym it’s easier for management to turn their heads the other way than to actually deal with them.
So what does this create? It creates a bullshit environment with disrespectful assholes who should have had their gym memberships revoked a long time ago!
Everything from dumb fucks standing right in front of the dumbbell rack while doing curls, to idiots sitting on equipment playing with their phones, to 120 lb. fuckboys taking photos everyplace, it seems like NOBODY IN GYMS IS THERE TO WORK HARD!
This creates a bad environment for the serious guys and gals who want to build muscle and get shredded! Before they can even begin their workout they have to listen to 10 people bitch to them about something, like you’re some fucking therapist!
This creates an environment where people fail to re-rack their weights, they walk away from equipment for 10 minutes at a time, only to rush back to it and tell you they were using it.
And do you know what the worst part of it all is? WHEN YOU TRY CORRECTING THEM, YOU’RE THE ASSHOLE!
That’s right, if you tell someone that they’ve walked away from a machine for 10 minutes so now you’re using it, in their minds you’ve disrespected them!
And being big doesn’t send off the signal of “Don’t fuck with me” like you think it would.
No, you’re in THEIR WORLD WHERE NOTHING CAN HAPPEN TO THEM AND THEY CAN ACT LIKE DISRESPECTFUL SHITS AND GET AWAY WITH IT!
This has become the mainstream gym atmosphere now. It’s loaded with idiots who are disrespectful, people who harass others, old perverts who are looking to get their rocks off, and legitimately CRAZY FUCKS who act like they got a day pass away from the nut-house!
HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I GET OUT OF SOMEONE MONTHLY?
Yea, so it’s not enough to walk into one of these places and sign up to start getting muscles.
No, they want to give you the free introductory training session and try pressuring you into signing up for another $300 a month, all the while throwing you to some “trainer” you haven’t even met yet!
They sell by convincing you that you’re nothing. They will try to break people down into thinking that they cannot do anything on their own. Putting people down is one hell of a sales strategy THAT I’M NOT ABOUT!
Fuck these mainstream gyms and the horses they rode in on! Fuck their bullshit employees who don’t know the difference between selling a used car or a gym membership! And fuck their trainers who are often in worse shape than the damn clients!
I’VE GROWN TO HATE EVERY DAMN THING ABOUT A COMMERCIAL GYM FULL OF IDIOTS!
The mainstream gym cares nothing more but the total monthly numbers. You could probably rape someone in there and not have your gym membership revoked over it nowadays!
I know what some of you are thinking right now….”Stop worrying about everyone else and just put on your headphones and lift.” Friends, I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work anymore!
I’d even go as far to say that Planet Fitness gyms are better than larger commercial gyms nowadays. And yes, I do hold a membership to Planet Fitness because it’s a place where I can go and nobody fucks with me!
Sure, there aren’t as many free-weights and there are times when it’s crowded like anyplace else, but nobody fucks with me! I’ve never heard that alarm go off once in the past 2 years I’ve been a member and it’s not a bad place for doing cardio.
Also, it’s 24/7 which is nice. The place is adequately staffed and very clean and the employees have always been really cool with me. I wear tank-tops and carry around a water jug at times and nobody gives a fuck!
Now, this is a franchise and I’m sure some of them are more ridiculous than others, but I’ve honestly never had an issue with this gym other than a lack of certain equipment.
I know, it’s not hardcore enough right? Friends, hardcore bodybuilding is a frame of mind and I bring hardcore with me to the gym, not the other way around.
Hardcore training is something that is within you, it’s not simply clanging stuff around or throwing it down!
So in the past couple years I’ve had 2 memberships; 1 of them to a large, mainstream gym with a bunch of equipment. This is a gym that would be great if it wasn’t full of bullshit!
The other gym was a Planet Fitness where I’d go to be left the fuck alone, but it lacked certain equipment.
THE BREAKING POINT HAD FINALLY COME!
A week ago I was training in the giant bullshit gym with bullshit people. I didn’t go in there with plans to get into an argument with someone.
I was training my legs that day and when I first walked in, there was a girl on the only leg sled in there. I thought to myself ,”No biggie, I’ll just start someplace else and go to it when she’s done.”
45 fucking minutes later I look over at the leg press and she’s still on it, sitting on her ass and playing on her phone.
She finally gets up and walks off for 10 minutes and I decide to go grab it. She rushes back to it and tells me that she is still using it and all she tried to do was walk off and take a breath, saying to me “I can’t go take a breath?” in which I responded “Nope, you cannot go take a breath.”
I’m not entertaining this sort of bullshit. She said she had 1 more set so I let her have at it, then I used it…after an hour into my workout!
So I’m watching this dumb bitch constantly walk around and argue on her phone in-between everything she was doing.
Next up, I tried using a Smith machine that someone left their weights on (of course right?). NOW, I had just witnessed this same chick walking around on the total opposite side of the gym for over 10 fucking minutes on her phone.
NOPE, can’t use the next machine without her running over to fuck with me either! THIS TIME, my response was different than it was the first time.
I put my phone on “record” before she got to me, just so I could prove to the management that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. This is when I realized that this girl was legitimately BAT-SHIT CRAZY!
She began her conversation by breaking down in tears and telling me what a bad day she had.
I said ,”I’m using this Smith machine because you walked away from it. I didn’t create your bad day so leave me alone. There are others in here besides yourself and if you want to guard everything in the gym then go work out at home by yourself.”
I was then told to make sure I cleaned my weights off, something she didn’t even do herself.
When I was finished I took 2, 45’s and slammed them on each side and push-pressed the son of a bitch to the highest height setting it would go! FUCK YOURSELF BITCH!
I told the manager that this chick was up there harassing people, and that if she said anything about me to them, I didn’t do anything to her. The manager told me that he knew she was crazy and that she harassed people.
So now I’m thinking to myself… THEN WHY THE HELL WON’T YOU KICK HER ASS OUT OF HERE?
I walked out of that gym and said FUCK THIS, I’M DONE WITH THIS SHIT!
I cannot even begin to tell you guys about how many issues such as this I have dealt with in the past couple of years at that gym. This was simply the straw that finally broke the camels back!
THE HIDDEN GEM OF A GYM I FOUND!
I set out to find a gym that was owned and ran by someone who loved the gym, and that’s exactly what I ended up finding!
I found a small gym that was a key gym and you’d never know it was there! There wasn’t even a sign for it out by the road. I called the gym and left a message on a Saturday and within an hour the owner had called me back.
The owner was out of town for the holidays and cared enough to call me right back about his gym. He invited me to come out there and use the gym for a week and see how I liked it.
I told him that I’d see him on Monday and that following Monday I drove to the gym to check it out. I walked in and the owner had introduced himself to me and called me by my name.
HE ACTUALLY MADE IT A POINT TO REMEMBER MY NAME! I looked around the gym and I was floored to say the least!
There were old magazine cutouts of Golden era bodybuilders hung on the walls and framed, a giant hand-painted sign that said “NO WHINERS”, and a list of the gym rules on the wall!
- RULE #1 – BE COURTEOUS TO OTHER MEMBERS
- RULE #2 – RE-RACK YOUR WEIGHTS!
- RULE #3 – DON’T HOLD UP EQUIPMENT, IF YOU NEED TO USE THE PHONE THEN WALK OUTSIDE!
And the list went on and on, and at the bottom of the list it read, “THOSE THAT CANNOT FOLLOW THE RULES WILL HAVE THEIR GYM MEMBERSHIP REVOKED!”
I thought to myself, “Well motherfucker… it’s about damn time!”
I looked around at this gym and immediately knew I would be signing up! There was an older line of Nautilus equipment on one side of the gym which included a lot of equipment that commercial gyms have done away with.
There was an old-school Nautilus overhead pulldown machine for your serratus! There was a seated leg curl machine that locked your legs in much better than the newer ones and shoulder and chest press machines that I hadn’t seen in years!
Do not underestimate the old-school line of Nautilus equipment as it’s some of the best workout equipment ever built! Even some of the first generations of Nautilus machines were extremely smooth and solid!
There was a leg press/hack squat combination in the gym. This is one of the older presses where you could remove the metal foot plate and turn around and use it as a hack squat also!
There was even a bicep curl machine that I had never seen before. The owner said to me ,”I had that one custom made for me to emphasize the peak contraction of the bicep curl.”
THIS GUY LOVED THE GYM! He had hand-picked the equipment throughout the years and had made the gym into his own super-gym that was exactly the way he wanted it to be!
He didn’t take down any information from me and he didn’t try to sell me on anything! Hell, he didn’t have to, that gym had me sold from the second I walked through the door!
And get this shit; he handed me my access card to the door before I even signed the electronic form from my phone later that evening. This guy was my type of people, he understood that real fuckers come with a level of trust!
He had that level of trust that you don’t find with people anymore.
He told me that he only had around 120 gym members. He trained a good handful of them and despite not being popular, busy, nor getting rich, he loved what he did.
Some people just love what they do and trying to break into the numbers game can destroy something special they once possessed. He didn’t have to tell me this, I could tell from talking to him about his gym.
THE WORKOUT THAT REIGNITED MY FIRE!
I began to train my legs and something just felt different about that workout! My strength felt like it had automatically increased and my heart felt 110% immersed into every rep and every set I did!
I would rest between sets and look at some of those old photos on the wall of the Golden Era greats and my spirit just grew stronger and stronger with every set!
I would get into a set and when the pain started to set in, that’s when the set truly felt like it began for me. Hell, I didn’t even count my reps because I was so into what I was doing!
When I was on that leg press every rep fired off like a hydraulic machine…”BANG… BANG… BANG!… SHIT NO, I’M NOT DONE YET, I HAVE MORE, LET’S GO MOTHERFUCKER!” And off I went with more and more reps..”BANG… BANG… FUCKING BANG! ”
Throughout my entire workout there were 3 other guys in the gym. Those 3 guys ALL WALKED UP TO ME AND INTRODUCED THEMSELVES TO ME!
At one point I went to get another plate to throw on a barbell and when I turned around one of the guys had already put a plate on the other side of it for me. “DON’T WORRY, I ALREADY GOT YA’ MAN” he said to me.
WHAT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR THIS WAS FOR ME! These guys were from my world and they understood what spilling your guts out on the gym floor meant!
BODYBUILDING IS ART…
IT’S A TRUE TEST OF CHARACTER AND FIGHT.
WHEN I SEE SOMEONE GOING THROUGH HELL IN THE GYM I SEE A GUY SPILLING OUT EVERYTHING HE’S MADE OF RIGHT THERE ON THAT FUCKING GYM FLOOR!
Some guys get it, others don’t. These guys got it, and do you have any idea of how good it felt to be back in this environment again after dealing with the mainstream gym nonsense? Pretty Goddamned good!
Let me tell you guys something; those 3 other guys in that gym provided a stronger environment for busting my ass than 500 random idiots could ever provide in another gym!
The last time I had felt that way in any gym was over 20 years ago in an old YMCA basement. I wasn’t just getting in a solid leg workout, I was getting a part of myself back!
I glanced in the mirror once between a set and what I saw staring back at me wasn’t myself; I saw a huge guy with bulging muscles that was much larger and more ripped up than I was.
I SAW THAT GUY THAT I DREAMED OF LOOKING LIKE STARING RIGHT BACK AT ME!
THAT VISION I HAD IN MY MIND WHEN I STARTED THIS SHIT WAS LOOKING RIGHT BACK AT ME IN THAT MIRROR! That vision had slowly dissipated over the past several years but now it was back!
I thought to myself right then and there, “THIS SHIT AIN’T OVER, I’M JUST GETTING STARTED!”
This is the type of motivation and power that the right gym atmosphere can provide… not these bullshit mainstream gyms that cater to all these entitled pussies!
This place was very affordable each month, but truth be told… he could have told me it was $150 a month and I would have still signed on!
It’s easy to walk into a giant, mainstream gym and get the tour of the swimming pools, Jacuzzi, racquetball courts, and the 300 different machines on the 20,000 sq. ft gym floor!
My advice is to take a good look at the members in there and how many TV’s are on the fucking walls!
Take a look at the weight equipment and see if the gym has purposely given as little space for free-weights as needed, which typically all mainstream gyms are doing lately to attract more people who don’t really want to lift weights!
Sometimes I look at crossfit gyms that cost upwards of $150 per month and I totally understand it. Although crossfit isn’t for me, I understand why people are paying that money.
They’re paying that monthly fee for an atmosphere where others want to work hard also, and the gym is staffed with employees who are passionate about what they’re doing! Not my cup of tea, but I understand it completely!
The proper gym atmosphere alone can accelerate gains! I don’t know about you, but when I walk into a large commercial gym I start thinking in a way I really don’t want to start thinking!
I think to myself, “Well great… there’s that one fucking weirdo, and I know he’s gonna come over here any second now, there goes that bitch in the shorts who is gonna bend over in front of me the entire time to see if I’m looking, and there is the rapper/shadow boxer who is gonna act like an asshole and wave his hands around yelling.”
Can any of you guys relate to thinking like this when you walk into your gyms? It’s just awfully damn difficult to get focused when you’re surrounded by idiots and attention whores!
I started getting this feeling one day that was just like, “Man, fuck all this stuff, let me just be somewhere that’s empty and do my thing without dealing with all of this shit!”
I felt like I wanted to just crawl into a cave and isolate myself from the rest of the mainstream fuck-off personalities out there. I also got tired of the problems from disrespectful assholes with no sense!
So all I’m saying here is to look around at different gyms. Is there a place that you could be going that is a better environment for you to be training in?
Do you think a better gym environment could enhance your results?
I’m sure more people drink Bud Light than craft beers and I’m sure Bud Light makes more money. But what type of people are drinking Bud Light versus the type of people drinking craft beer? That’s right… STUPID ASSHOLES!
(note; I have no idea what that analogy has to do with the gym, but it popped into my head so there ya’ go!)
Anyways, I just thought to share with you because this was something I had forgotten until I finally got back into a GOOD GYM FOR ME!
TRAIN HARD… PREFERABLY AWAY THE GYM FUCKERY! -JD
Spot on commentary, JD. I’ve worked out at many gyms over the years: Jack Lalane (remember that franchise?), Golds, 24-Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, etc, etc and by and large, every one of them had the same cast of characters you talked about. And by the way, one of my (many) pet gym peeves is morons not reracking their weights (WTF? Am I your clean-up bitch that I have to put your weights away so I can use that bench?
Anyway, a few months ago I moved and ended up close to a Snap Fitness Gym. Its one of those card access gyms available 24/7. Not a huge gym but it has all the necessary equipment, the members are cordial without being chatty (another one of my gym peeves – I’m at the gym so I can use that precious hour out of my schedule to train hard not to socialize with some needy dweeb) and the two trainers that work out of that facility are friendly, share their knowledge freely and both are former competitive bodybuilders (i.e. they look like real trainers should look like). In short, the perfect place to train.
When I found this gym, I thought to myself, “I’m home.” Ain’t never going back to a big-box commercial gym! Thanks for posting this article.
All the best,
300
thanks man, I understand completely!! -JD
God damn Hell Yes
I would pay money to train with you brother
As always resting your stories had me all pumped up! The Iron The True gyms have saved my life. Amen brother Amen. Need some egg whites,protein shake and a cup berries. It’s time to train! Thank you brother!
I’ll never charge a dime to work out with someone, EVER -JD
Have you ever wanted a home gym and why or why not?
Yes and no, the cost is high and space needed would probably require a building to be made behind a house. Nice dream though, a home gym made exactly how you want it is a very nice dream! -JD
Fantastic article, real talk for real lifters 💪
thanks for reading man!! -JD
Hey JD, I really love this story. You are amazingly on point with this story. Its unfortunate but we are being bombarded with gyms that no longer cater to real bodybuilders but individuals who dabble in fitness and bodybuilding. This is what comprises most of the clientele in those gyms. Long gone are the gyms that were named Zinns Gym, Mr. America Gym, Frenchies Gym, R&J Health Studio. These gyms allowed you to train either for free for a day or you would pay for a day pass of about 5 or 10 dollars. Now we have places like Blinks, Retro Fitness and Planet fitness, which tries to sell you on all the bells and whistles. I was ahead of my time so to speak because I train almost exclusively at my home gym. I did exactly what the man in your story did and outfitted my basement with old school hardcore equipment. It took a little time but I am glad I did. Currently I train also from time to time, for variety purposes and an old school gym here in New York named Richies Gym in Ozone park New York along with another place named Collosium gym, which is opened 24 hours 7 days a week. Those are the very few hardcore gyms left.
For sure man, I’ll look those up if I’m back up that way, thanks for reading! -JD
I wanted to add JD that I love the commercial gym clients that come in with there gallon of water,150.00 dollar shoes and walk around 50 lbs overweight but act like there the shit….iBrother I’m from Dallas Texas and one of the places I train is Destination. Look it up brother Destinstion Dallas Gym.
100% old school. Loud music,chalk on the floor and equipment that had been wiped down in years…..I love it. If you are ever out this way let me know I’ll get you in and we’ll train are ass off brother then go get some Texas barbaque brother. It’s a staple food out here. None of that wet sauce on the beef it’s all about the dry rub seasoning. Guaranteed to put 1/4 inch on your arms 👍🏻 Take care!!
thanks for reading man!! -JD
I‘m a hardass and built a strong body training hard with my dad in our basement. At 18 I was 160lbs and could bench 315 four times. We always went past failure and slammed the weights. At 21 I up and left the Unites States and went to Europe. This article is an exact copy of what I was just bitching about to my old man a few days ago. I walk into the gym and my test feels like it drops dramatically. I get harassed by the trainers because my deadlifts are too loud. I told the trainer the weights and floor are both rubber how could it possible be too loud. He said maybe because I have my headphones in I don‘t notice but it‘s extremely loud. He expects me to stop the deadlift just an inch above the ground and let it down soft. I use four plates for deadlifts and these new dumb plates are so wide you can barely fit 3 on one side. I told the trainer I can‘t use those because 405 won‘t fit on the bar. He said most people don‘t do that anyways. These cocksuckers love to bitch after a set of military press when you slam the weight on the rack. The fucking trainers look like metrosexual dickless estrogen machines and they want to talk about my fitness goals with me. I was already kicked out of one gym because some stupid arab (those are the worst and theyre thick here) was walking to close to me when I was doing flys and walkes twice into my arm and I shoved the asshole and they threw me out of the gym. Its gotten out of control. For the first time in my life i dont want to even go to the gym just because of the mood there. Google venice beach germany. This is the gym franchise here in germany and its horrible. The best part when you walk in theres a sticker on the floor that says champions are made here.
They’re all catering to mainstream estrogen filled fucks, you’re exactly correct! One of the most motivating videos you could watch is this video of African bodybuilders who train in a stick gym with no supplements, no steroids,and they hunt and fish for their meals. It’ll put everything into perspective about mainstream gyms and the large majority of ppl that frequent them! -JD
Thanks for posting your comments JDB. I’ve been mulling over investing in more home equipment or joining a gym. I’m getting close to out growing what I have, but the stupidity of people at mainstream gyms (or just the stupidity of people in general) keeps deterring me from joining.
I was at one of our state’s 5 star resorts in October (nice ski state) and they have a decent weight room; however, all their free weights were all over and the ones on the racks were not in order, which immediately triggered my OCD. I cleaned up the free weights and put them all in order by weight. The next day I come in and it’s in shambles again. PEOPLE!!!! Not to mention the crossfit nuts running around dominating all 5 benches in the gym. Really? You have to use ALL the benches doing your crossfit stuff? As the couple flitted away, I just grabbed the closest one and pulled it to Smith machine with weights still on it. (why does that always happen?). People looked at me funny when I took all my plates off and stacked them nicely where they were supposed to go.
I’m contemplating picking up another 240 lbs. of Olympic plates over the weekend from someone who doesn’t want them anymore and wonder if I should just put the money towards a gym membership. However, I have a workout room in my house with a basic cable system, Olympic weights up to 300 lbs., and dumbbells from 2.5 lbs. to 55 lbs. along with a safety cage, treadmill and elliptical. Is it better to train on rudimentary equipment with just me, the iron, and my cheap $20 USB speaker blaring or training on state of the art equipment with stupid music and idiots quacking in the background?
In my room, it’s just me in my own little world competing against myself and my own limitations with the iron as my enemy to beat and overcome. I’m not sure I have the patience to have a battle of whits with unarmed individuals at a public gym. If joining a gym dampens the fire I have right now, I’m not sure I really want to join one…
thanks for the share, it’s funny because I have found that I go harder when there are no distractions and it’s not busy. I didn’t realize how much I was leaving on the table in big box gyms full of idiots. It’s like my strength immediately increased in a different environment -JD
Hmm. Entitled assholes sums up my gym. I train st a downtown YMCA. The other day some buff black dude tried bumping into me taking up all the space like he owned the place. This dude wears tight multi color yoga pants, and a superman tank top nuff said. I ignored it but boy did it piss me off. I couldn’t even focus I just wanted to kick his ass.
I felt your rage at “multi-colored yoga pants” hahaha -JD
Well said and said again you are. Making a great point it is what it is I agree
thanks for the comment! -JD
Great read JD! FYI, I just purchased your 3 bundle today and am now getting into them. Thanks for what you do for those of us in search of answers!
thanks for reading -JD
Oh boy! This is one of my biggest pet peeves! When I started lifting weights back in 1989 (age 15) my brother-in-law took me to the gym he worked out at. He loved powerlifting. It was a small, but very functional place with all the basic equipment you needed plus rock and metal music playing. I learned that everyone there was either a bodybuilder or powerlifter and they all knew each other….it was like a family. It was a real, hardcore place with serious people there. No bullshitting.
Over the years, that place was sold and eventually turned into a bunch of commercialized “fitness centers” throughout my state with the usual entitled pricks, lazy fucks, and socializers. I hate it, but it’s pretty much the only option I have now. There’s still some of serious lifters there who just put on headphones and keep to ourselves and try to ignore and avoid the morons.
I was in the middle of a leg workout one day and in need of a leg press. I watched for 5 or 10 minutes while some dip-shit sat on the leg press and played a fucking video game on his phone. I was dieting and pretty ornery, so I walked up to him and pretty much demanded he get off the press, which he did and gave me dirty look….oh well, fuck him.
I just got back from my son’s USMC boot camp graduation in San Diego and found a gym there with a sweet hardcore atmosphere. I could smell the sweat and feel the intensity there when I walked in. It felt like home. Everyone seemed to by busting ass and working hard, which motivated me as well. Loved it.
makes you want to put a glock to their head and say “GET OFF…DO IT NOW! (Arnold voice)”
I feel this article so hard. I grew up lifting in a real gym full of actual steel weights not rubber. Unfortunately it closed down about 10 years ago once it started to get surrounded by new commercial gyms. Every since, I have had no real choice but to lift in commercial gyms and it’s fucking painful. Like you said, the people just sitting on shit not doing anything drives me insane. Particularly when the person has absolutely zero muscle. The machine isn’t even being put to good use.The distractions are endless and nobody trains with intensity. I would do anything to be able to train in a real gym again and hear that clanging of steel.
yep!! It’s an environment full of bitch-made idiots! How fucking bad is it when women start training HARDER & HEAVIER THAN MEN? I was watching this couple doing leg presses one day, and the woman said to the guy ,”Ok, I think that’s enough for today, I don’t like that look of strain on your face!” REALLY? hahaha
Dear god that’s fucking terrible LOL. Sad gym times we’ve come to for sure because I do often see women training harder than guys at the gym I go to. I mean, they’re doing 100 % ass related exercises but still. Maybe a John Doe’s gym will open up in the future and save us from this torture haha.
The fact that some gym goes are so moronic and think they are entitled to use 2 machines at the same time is something we will experience ever now and then. But people who know that they sweat a lot and dont use a towel should be beaten up badly.
One thing that also simply destroys gym atmosphere is the type of music that is played when I walk into many gyms. Even if I have my headphones on I will occasionally hear some of it and I dont want to hear some of this unmotivating and depressing shit anymore! It is time that all gyms start to blast Hatebreed and Lamb of God type of stuff all day!
Lamb of God, right on! -JD
U know what really piss me off is when someone puts there weights away and puts a 25 lb plate where a 10 lb plate goes, it’s like a lot of individuals are flat out lazy and put weights away to the closest spot, i been training for 34 yrs and love it, i been in and out of all sorts of different gyms and the smaller gyms can be the best ,mostly because of the old school ways . i remember when i started training my son when he was 14 and now 24 , he walk away from the bar on the bench press with weights still on it and i said “where u going . i said son put your weights away your mother isn’t here so put them away” and ever since then he has, we the older members need to teach the younger the code of the weight room and i do that rather than bitch, some listen some don’t all we can do is try to teach weight room code something to think about peace
thanks for reading and commenting, yes I agree -JD
Great article as usual. Hardcore is a dying breed. Something I don’t get is why Everyone is wearing Squat shoes now. Like, seriously, you need squat shoes to do your half-reps with 135?
Looking forward to your new book Shredded Ops.
Come on man, you know you cannot exercise without all of the right attire now? hahaha
Holy fuck. These kind of articles hit me like a fucking truck every damn time.
Keep writing pieces like this.
People underestimate the psychological aspects of bodybulding and forget about the mental war that goes with it. Being in the right enviroment makes all the difference in a sport that your worst enemy is yourself.
I workout in one of these big box gyms and shit just feels off.
It’s a complete different game when you know people around you are working HARD.
The best workouts I had in my life were in shitty gyms with no air conditioner.
Props from Brazil.
Shoutout to Brazil!! I love how you guys still take pride in your countries, here in America nobody gives a shit, hahahaha- Thanx man -JD
True … Atmosphere is everything …
I’ve noticed something similar … Gyms are getting increasingly shiny with everything being chrome and florescent lights, while the effort keeps going down …
yep, it’s all fluff now!! -JD
Yes coliseum in queens ny is great! I remember zinns too..