That Guy
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2023
- Messages
- 248
- Reaction score
- 142
It's been over 20 years that I've seen a privately owned gym. Every gym is subscription based owned by corporations and everything is color coordinated.
I walked into my first gym at 14. An older kid used to go and took a few of us with him. It was small by today's standards. Maybe 2000 sq ft. The guys in there were huge, there was a stench of sweat and it was hot as balls since it was in the summer and it has 1 fan. I eventually joined when I was 19. It was an igloo in the winter. When I was trying to swing around weight that was too heavy for me, the older power lifter looking guys would walk over and showed me how to have good form using lighter weight. The walls were falling apart but it was covered up by pages from body building magazines. There wasn't any distractions like tv or extremely hot chicks wearing leggings that are practically see through (not that's bad lol). Heavy metal was being played and my ID card was a hand written business card. The benches were either ripped or repaired. The equipment was really old. No treadmills it cardio machines. The owner didn't look like he was making much money. It seemed more like a hangout where guys got together to train than a business. They eventually closed because the building was sold and turned to condos. That was my favorite gym.
The gyms now are surgically sterile compared to my first gym. What I miss was there were no distractions. You went in for one thing. Work out and leave. Now 2/3rds of the gym is cardio equipment, there's hydrochairs, and a ton of people and not enough weight training equipment.
What was everyone else's experience with their first gym?
I walked into my first gym at 14. An older kid used to go and took a few of us with him. It was small by today's standards. Maybe 2000 sq ft. The guys in there were huge, there was a stench of sweat and it was hot as balls since it was in the summer and it has 1 fan. I eventually joined when I was 19. It was an igloo in the winter. When I was trying to swing around weight that was too heavy for me, the older power lifter looking guys would walk over and showed me how to have good form using lighter weight. The walls were falling apart but it was covered up by pages from body building magazines. There wasn't any distractions like tv or extremely hot chicks wearing leggings that are practically see through (not that's bad lol). Heavy metal was being played and my ID card was a hand written business card. The benches were either ripped or repaired. The equipment was really old. No treadmills it cardio machines. The owner didn't look like he was making much money. It seemed more like a hangout where guys got together to train than a business. They eventually closed because the building was sold and turned to condos. That was my favorite gym.
The gyms now are surgically sterile compared to my first gym. What I miss was there were no distractions. You went in for one thing. Work out and leave. Now 2/3rds of the gym is cardio equipment, there's hydrochairs, and a ton of people and not enough weight training equipment.
What was everyone else's experience with their first gym?
