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Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: stuntmovie on January 18, 2009, 09:59:15 PM

Title: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: stuntmovie on January 18, 2009, 09:59:15 PM
I've had the honor of seeing and training in Zuver's Gym in Costa Mesa, California when there were about 8 guys who were  considered to be the only real bodybuilders in Southern California (early 60's era).

Those who recall Zuver's will agree that it was beyond the imagination of anyone who lifted weights back then.

And today ... We have gyms such as Gold's in Simi Valley, California (just north of LA a bit) where the interior looks like an ultra fancy hotel/spa with very impressive equipment, including an almost true to life movie theater called "The Cardio Theater" constructed just like an actual movie house with ultra wide screen and the ultimate sound system.

But instead of seats, you are shown to the aerobic equipment of your choice where you can pedal way while watching the latest Hollywood production.

But don't expect the popcorn!

And everyone seems to be loving it! Shaved muscle-heads and little gray haired ladies sharing equipment side by side.

Then trip on over to Las Vegas and visit the newest 85,000 square foot Las Vegas Club - am amazing space of muscle enhancing, metal appropriations of various sorts .... or whatever! One room filled with teenaged kids lifting weights far heavier that their dads ever contemplated and buffed up for those Saturday nite excursions along the Strip before getting hauled away by the LV security forces..

Gym sre no longer as they used to be. They are no longer the smelly sweat-boxes of yesterday.




Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: GigantorX on January 18, 2009, 10:00:15 PM
I've had the honor of seeing and training in Zuver's Gym in Costa Mesa, California when there were about 8 guys who were  considered to be the only real bodybuilders in Southern California (early 60's era).

Those who recall Zuver's will agree that it was beyond the imagination of anyone who lifted weights back then.

And today ... We have gyms such as Gold's in Simi Valley, California (just north of LA a bit) where the interior looks like an ultra fancy hotel/spa with very impressive equipment, including an almost true to life movie theater called "The Cardio Theater" constructed just like an actual movie house with ultra wide screen and the ultimate sound system.

But instead of seats, you are shown to the aerobic equipment of your choice where you can pedal way while watching the latest Hollywood production.

But don't expect the popcorn!

And everyone seems to be loving it! Shaved muscle-heads and little gray haired ladies sharing equipment side by side.

Then trip on over to Las Vegas and visit the newest 85,000 square foot Las Vegas Club - am amazing space of muscle enhancing, metal appropriations of various sorts .... or whatever! One room filled with teenaged kids lifting weights far heavier that their dads ever contemplated and buffed up for those Saturday nite excursions along the Strip before getting hauled away by the LV security forces..

Gym sre no longer as they used to be. They are no longer the smelly sweat-boxes filled with schmoes and gays that I love to suck off for kicks and cash.






You're right stuntmovie...it seems things have changed...
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: HTexan on January 18, 2009, 10:14:00 PM
they have had cardio-theater in the gold's in mcallen,tx for years now. ;)
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Disgusted on January 18, 2009, 10:37:48 PM
Buncha pussy ass mutherfukers!!!   >:( The first gym I ever lifted in smelled like ass feet and sweat!!!!!! No women ever dared come in there and if they did which was rare they looked like guys anyway. Plush ass carpeting?????? WTF!!!!   >:( The only thing on the floor of a gym back then was blood sweat and spit from a hard ass workout!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( Oh and maybe a needle or two on the bathroom floor.  ;D
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Soundness on January 18, 2009, 10:39:20 PM
I was pissed about this, so I cleared out a room in my basement...

I then ripped out the carpet so that the floor was concrete and put up 4 4'X8' mirrors (one centered on each wall) and changed the lighting so that it gave favorable shadows. Then, I set the whole thing up as a free weight gym, with only my power rack, a bench, parallel bars, my weights, chalk and bars. The room is hardcore, rugged, and sure as fuck isn't fancy. I love it! It raises my test and makes me train hard.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: The Coach on January 18, 2009, 10:41:00 PM
I've had the honor of seeing and training in Zuver's Gym in Costa Mesa, California when there were about 8 guys who were  considered to be the only real bodybuilders in Southern California (early 60's era).

Those who recall Zuver's will agree that it was beyond the imagination of anyone who lifted weights back then.

And today ... We have gyms such as Gold's in Simi Valley, California (just north of LA a bit) where the interior looks like an ultra fancy hotel/spa with very impressive equipment, including an almost true to life movie theater called "The Cardio Theater" constructed just like an actual movie house with ultra wide screen and the ultimate sound system.

But instead of seats, you are shown to the aerobic equipment of your choice where you can pedal way while watching the latest Hollywood production.

But don't expect the popcorn!

And everyone seems to be loving it! Shaved muscle-heads and little gray haired ladies sharing equipment side by side.

Then trip on over to Las Vegas and visit the newest 85,000 square foot Las Vegas Club - am amazing space of muscle enhancing, metal appropriations of various sorts .... or whatever! One room filled with teenaged kids lifting weights far heavier that their dads ever contemplated and buffed up for those Saturday nite excursions along the Strip before getting hauled away by the LV security forces..

Gym sre no longer as they used to be. They are no longer the smelly sweat-boxes of yesterday.




Thats why I'm opening a warehouse gym.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: nycbull on January 18, 2009, 11:39:37 PM
are gyms getting hit in this economy, i would think it would be the first to go.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Soundness on January 18, 2009, 11:40:56 PM
are gyms getting hit in this economy, i would think it would be the first to go.
Your moral judgement is on the line, nycbull. Just like before.  ;) You know what the fuck I'm talking about.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: hazbin on January 19, 2009, 12:25:59 AM
yeah, it sucks the stuff people demand of gyms these days. every time they ask for something new my first thought is "did Arnold need this crap?"

i do end up buying alot of tne new cardio stuff that all the other gyms have, but i draw the line at the cardio theatre. no one actually asks for it, and a lot of members have thanked me for not having it.

i have world class athletes training along side 80 year old women, and it is a very interactive, cohesive (SP?) mix of people.

when i got in my best shape for shows, the gym i trained at had 2 monarch bikes as the entire cardio section. everyone wants a shortcut or an easier way.

my gym website is     www.probodies.ca           if anyone is curious.

rik
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: gordiano on January 19, 2009, 12:41:22 AM
I've had the honor of seeing and training in Zuver's Gym in Costa Mesa, California when there were about 8 guys who were  considered to be the only real bodybuilders in Southern California (early 60's era).

Those who recall Zuver's will agree that it was beyond the imagination of anyone who lifted weights back then.

And today ... We have gyms such as Gold's in Simi Valley, California (just north of LA a bit) where the interior looks like an ultra fancy hotel/spa with very impressive equipment, including an almost true to life movie theater called "The Cardio Theater" constructed just like an actual movie house with ultra wide screen and the ultimate sound system.

But instead of seats, you are shown to the aerobic equipment of your choice where you can pedal way while watching the latest Hollywood production.

But don't expect the popcorn!

And everyone seems to be loving it! Shaved muscle-heads and little gray haired ladies sharing equipment side by side.

Then trip on over to Las Vegas and visit the newest 85,000 square foot Las Vegas Club - am amazing space of muscle enhancing, metal appropriations of various sorts .... or whatever! One room filled with teenaged kids lifting weights far heavier that their dads ever contemplated and buffed up for those Saturday nite excursions along the Strip before getting hauled away by the LV security forces..

Gym sre no longer as they used to be. They are no longer the smelly sweat-boxes of yesterday.






Insane. Just like how you can't just get a month to month membership anymore. Or how you have to pay a down or a processing fee. You go to a gym now (especially the big chains), and you gotta sit down with some fucking two-bit salesman, who himself doesn't workout, but tells you how great this gym is. It's like buying a fucking car now, absolutely ridiculous.


Gym is big business, these days. The old style, Mom and Pop hardcore gyms, where people greeted you and were genuinely glad to have you there, are a thing of the past. A dying breed. Such a shame. Corporations are now in charge.....now I'm just member # 2990873-63534.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Cleanest Natural on January 19, 2009, 12:52:03 AM
I've had the honor of seeing and training in Zuver's Gym in Costa Mesa, California when there were about 8 guys who were  considered to be the only real bodybuilders in Southern California (early 60's era).

Those who recall Zuver's will agree that it was beyond the imagination of anyone who lifted weights back then.

And today ... We have gyms such as Gold's in Simi Valley, California (just north of LA a bit) where the interior looks like an ultra fancy hotel/spa with very impressive equipment, including an almost true to life movie theater called "The Cardio Theater" constructed just like an actual movie house with ultra wide screen and the ultimate sound system.

But instead of seats, you are shown to the aerobic equipment of your choice where you can pedal way while watching the latest Hollywood production.

But don't expect the popcorn!

And everyone seems to be loving it! Shaved muscle-heads and little gray haired ladies sharing equipment side by side.

Then trip on over to Las Vegas and visit the newest 85,000 square foot Las Vegas Club - am amazing space of muscle enhancing, metal appropriations of various sorts .... or whatever! One room filled with teenaged kids lifting weights far heavier that their dads ever contemplated and buffed up for those Saturday nite excursions along the Strip before getting hauled away by the LV security forces..

Gym sre no longer as they used to be. They are no longer the smelly sweat-boxes of yesterday.





I agree with you.

I mean : it's nice that is clean but the old gyms is what drew us all to train .... it feels so much better. It has caracter and iron not plastic and carpet.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: dr.chimps on January 19, 2009, 04:50:24 AM
Thats why I'm opening a warehouse gym.
With CRAZY warehouse prices!?    'C'mon down to Joe Loco's..?'    :D
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: wes on January 19, 2009, 05:02:34 AM
With CRAZY warehouse prices!?    'C'mon down to Joe Loco's..?'    :D
"Where prices are insane"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL  :)
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: JasonBourne22 on January 19, 2009, 05:23:07 AM
I have never considered my gym hardcore until I found out that were the only gym in our area of atlanta with 150 lb dumbells! WTF is that about. Now we got more bodybuilders and hard trainers cause they can't go anywhere else or they get kicked out.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: jwb on January 19, 2009, 05:32:52 AM
yeah, it sucks the stuff people demand of gyms these days. every time they ask for something new my first thought is "did Arnold need this crap?"

i do end up buying alot of tne new cardio stuff that all the other gyms have, but i draw the line at the cardio theatre. no one actually asks for it, and a lot of members have thanked me for not having it.

i have world class athletes training along side 80 year old women, and it is a very interactive, cohesive (SP?) mix of people.

when i got in my best shape for shows, the gym i trained at had 2 monarch bikes as the entire cardio section. everyone wants a shortcut or an easier way.

my gym website is     www.probodies.ca           if anyone is curious.

rik
nice gym! I like that you have equipment of different colours so it doesn't look like a hospital
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: frankpt on January 19, 2009, 05:38:43 AM
This hits home with me. I first went to the gym in high school. Early 80's. Now everything is about "how much stuff" a gym has. They shouldn't be called gyms either,but rather health spas where everyone,especially the guys should wear spandex. Anyway, I have found a small place nearby with a weight room "separate" from the rest of the club. A family owned club,where the owner actually trains there too.I think this is at least better than most of everything you might find. Today I think most people are at the gym so they can say they go to the gym. Years ago people went to the gym only if they were regulars. You still have your regulars today though,few however. Another thing is that most,and really most people in the gym don't lift correctly because they only care about how much they can lift or"bench". Almost all gyms today are all about business and making money,signing people up and hooking them up with a trainer who really won't be able to help them anyway so they can drain as much money out of them as possible.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: heretostay13 on January 19, 2009, 06:43:44 AM
Gyms are no longer "gyms".....they're recreation centers, fitness centers, fitness facilities or any other new noun you want to use, but they aren't gyms anymore. It's a bar without alcohol. Social watering holes. Most are completely clueless in this setting. The people who come there for "fitness purposes" scoff and stare at people who want to actually "lift" instead of tiptoe from machine to machine. It's like the new place my university just opened. The guy who runs it apparently got onto the staff (a few guys I happen to know as well) for not enforcing the "No dropping weight policy" when I was doing deadlifts a week ago. Real lifting/gyms are a dying breed.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: oldtimer1 on January 19, 2009, 06:59:25 AM
I bet you get more people training hard core at some dungeon dump than the fancy chrome palace.  It's nice to train in a fancy gym but  what determines your results is the work you put in.  Blue collar gyms have it all over the white collar gyms in terms of hard core membership. 

Those fancy pants places won't even let you join unless they have direct access to your checking account or credit card. Try to pay with cash and they throw you out.  Another ploy they use is that their rates are never in print.  Each member joining is hit up with the maximum they can extract from them.  In other words if 40 guys are in the gym there could be 40 different membership rates. 
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: nycbull on January 19, 2009, 07:25:47 AM
With CRAZY warehouse prices!?    'C'mon down to Joe Loco's..?'    :D

 ;D ;D
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: QuakerOats on January 19, 2009, 07:43:52 AM
I've had the honor of seeing and training in Zuver's Gym in Costa Mesa, California when there were about 8 guys who were  considered to be the only real bodybuilders in Southern California (early 60's era).

Those who recall Zuver's will agree that it was beyond the imagination of anyone who lifted weights back then.

And today ... We have gyms such as Gold's in Simi Valley, California (just north of LA a bit) where the interior looks like an ultra fancy hotel/spa with very impressive equipment, including an almost true to life movie theater called "The Cardio Theater" constructed just like an actual movie house with ultra wide screen and the ultimate sound system.

But instead of seats, you are shown to the aerobic equipment of your choice where you can pedal way while watching the latest Hollywood production.

But don't expect the popcorn!

And everyone seems to be loving it! Shaved muscle-heads and little gray haired ladies sharing equipment side by side.

Then trip on over to Las Vegas and visit the newest 85,000 square foot Las Vegas Club - am amazing space of muscle enhancing, metal appropriations of various sorts .... or whatever! One room filled with teenaged kids lifting weights far heavier that their dads ever contemplated and buffed up for those Saturday nite excursions along the Strip before getting hauled away by the LV security forces..

Gym sre no longer as they used to be. They are no longer the smelly sweat-boxes of yesterday.





didn't Zuver's have 200 pound db's for door handles?
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: The_Leafy_Bug on January 19, 2009, 08:06:38 AM
With CRAZY warehouse prices!?    'C'mon down to Joe Loco's..?'    :D
Due to the hard economic times caused by President elect Obama Joe Loco has prices so low its loco.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: stuntmovie on January 19, 2009, 08:12:59 AM
Yea, Oats, something like that. His gym was extra extraordinary. Heavy metal plates even covered a good majority of the gym floor too and the front door weighed over a ton but I can't recall all the exact details. I just wish it was still there.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: QuakerOats on January 19, 2009, 08:14:38 AM
Yea, Oats, something like that. His gym was extra extraordinary. Heavy metal plates even covered a good majority of the gym floor too and the front door weighed over a ton but I can't recall all the exact details. I just wish it was still there.
hahahhaa, can you imagine some of the fagggots and wimps you see "training" in gyms these days working out there?
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: stuntmovie on January 19, 2009, 08:28:37 AM
You know, in all truthfulness, it was evident that the gym business was initially changing when "Personal Training"  came into vogue.

Before "PT" it was simply a matter of politely asking, "Can I work in with you?" and finding a training partner who was a bit stronger than yourself.

No one ever expected to be paid for showing the newbies how to do curls or squats.  And it was evident that all those "helpers" knew what they were talking about.

Nowadays newbies think that they have to pay big bucks for a training program and how to use the equipment properly.

And the things that today's PT's teach their clients!!!!.......  It seems that lifting tea-bags would produce superior results.

"Here! Sit on this big round ball and curl these five pound dumbbells."

But it did create a new "industry" and additional income for the insurance companies and job opportunities for some of us who would have troubles working elsewhere.

That's GOOD!

But the BAD usually overcomes the Good and now I believe that the gyms themselves are demanding 50% of the Trainers' income.

That's BAD!

Anyone here use a PT outside of using a real expert to prep for an upcoming contest?
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: The Coach on January 19, 2009, 08:31:55 AM
With CRAZY warehouse prices!?    'C'mon down to Joe Loco's..?'    :D

*SIGH* :-\
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Grape Ape on January 19, 2009, 08:45:08 AM


And the things that today's PT's teach their clients!!!!.......  It seems that lifting tea-bags would produce superior results.

"Here! Sit on this big round ball and curl these five pound dumbbells."


I don't think it's as cut and dry as that.  It seems to me that trainers are teaching methods that are more practical for normal people, rather than giving everyone a bodybuilding routine, regardless of their goals.

I know I've personally been the benefactor of incorporating sled work, plyometrics, olympic lifts, etc. rather than doing 12 useless sets that specifically target the biceps.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Quo on January 19, 2009, 10:48:16 AM
Wow...some "hardcore" motherfuckers in this thread...!! ::)
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: pumpster on January 19, 2009, 10:56:46 AM
A large number of the chain gyms i've seen recently are actually good, unbelievable assortment of top equipment-weights, cardio that outdoes what alot of the old-time gyms had..what alot of them lack isn't facilities, it's the right vibe. Since it's mainly mainstream people that sustain them, the ambience or lack thereof is something like being in a libary. Not always, but alot of the time, unless you look around for the exceptions.

But in terms of the equipment itself, it's mainly been big-time improvements, being able to find serious equipment all over the place vs. being in NYC in the mid-70s and having to try to unearth just a few holes in the wall with weights. It's remarkable how far things have gone that a decent amount of the population does lift and do cardio, even though as you'd expect from the mainsteam, it's usually done with minimal intensity ie the guy i see on the treadmill on the cell, reading a mag, or the guy curling a DB while on a call. ;)
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: heretostay13 on January 19, 2009, 11:13:09 AM
A large number of the chain gyms i've seen recently are actually good, unbelievable assortment of top equipment-weights, cardio that outdoes what alot of the old-time gyms had..what alot of them lack isn't facilities, it's the right vibe. Since it's mainly mainstream people that sustain them, the ambience or lack thereof is something like being in a libary. Not always, but alot of the time, unless you look around for the exceptions.

But in terms of the equipment itself, it's mainly been big-time improvements, being able to find serious equipment all over the place vs. being in NYC in the mid-70s and having to try to unearth just a few holes in the wall with weights. It's remarkable how far things have gone that a decent amount of the population does lift and do cardio, even though as you'd expect from the mainsteam, it's usually done with minimal intensity ie the guy i see on the treadmill on the cell, reading a mag, or the guy curling a DB while on a call. ;)

Exactly, it's the atmosphere and the people who create it. Real lifting is usually looked down upon. Example: guy deadlifting with a curl bar, at an angle, in front of the dumbbell rack isn't looked down upon...I am for deadlifting in the corner for reps and the weights making "excessive noise." Gyms are great these days, the people who run them and work there are business types though...it's what's wrong with most things these days. Wanting the money but not knowing all of your consumer base.
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Earl1972 on January 19, 2009, 12:03:17 PM
i train at bally's, they don't care if you deadlift or make noise and they don't frown on obvious juicers

the only thing that isn't "hardcore" is they don't allow chalk

E
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: Ursus on January 19, 2009, 02:21:02 PM
my gyms business has picked up a lot

i think its cos its  aspit and sawdust gym. no thrills. big weights and basic
Title: Re: Gym Business Has Changed!
Post by: dan18 on January 19, 2009, 02:22:24 PM
I was pissed about this, so I cleared out a room in my basement...

I then ripped out the carpet so that the floor was concrete and put up 4 4'X8' mirrors (one centered on each wall) and changed the lighting so that it gave favorable shadows. Then, I set the whole thing up as a free weight gym, with only my power rack, a bench, parallel bars, my weights, chalk and bars. The room is hardcore, rugged, and sure as fuck isn't fancy. I love it! It raises my test and makes me train hard.
pics or bullshit ;D