Gold's Gym Venice - A little bit of history

[wes]

Great story Dave,thanks for sharing.........I had no clue that Kimber was from Rochester.

What was the movie he was in..........the title was something about "Muscle Beach or what not?

Danny Hester is back competing and won or placed well in a few recent  California contests....saw it on GraphicMuscle.com

[willie mosconi]

is that the hampton location or some place else?

[stuntmovie]

Name of Tim's TV show was The Hustler of Muscle Beach.

Tim did a great acting job in it.

Plot summary for The Hustler of Muscle Beach (1980) (TV):
A slick promoter in the bodybuilding subculture of Venice Beach, California, finds what he considers a diamond in the rough: a dedicated but somewhat mentally challenged young man who wants to win bodybuilding championships, but needs some help and direction--and the promoter thinks he's just the one to do it.

Zane and Columbo were also in it.

Tim also appeared in Heart Like a Wheel and The Family Nobody Wanted.

For full details go to IMDB.com

[War-Horse]

Name of Tim's TV show was Hustle of Muscle Beach or Hustle at Muscle Beach.

Tim did a great acting job in it.

Im suprised working out in overalls never caught on...

[willie mosconi]

is that the hampton location or some place else?

i asked because it doesn't look like the current location (I'm talking about that picture in which people are trying to name the people)

[jwb]

i asked because it doesn't look like the current location (I'm talking about that picture in which people are trying to name the people)

no thats the golds 2 in santa monica i think...

[stuntmovie]

That photo was taken outside of Gold's on 2nd in Santa Monica. A couple of us were a few minutes late and therefore unable to get in that picture. It is a great moment of GG history captured on film.

[Shawn_Perine]

This is what we have so far:





1  Pat Stewart ? (FBI agent)
2  Pete Grymkowski
3  Danny Padilla
4  Ed Corney
5  Larry Jackson
6  Mike Torchia (?)
7  Dave ? (worked at front desk)
8  Tony Nowak (?)
9  Andreas Cahling ("Mr. International")
10 Tim Kimber
11  Samir Bannout
12  Joseph Wilcox
13  Steve Davis
14
15 Bill Grant
16 Kent Kuehn
17 Ken Waller
18 Tom Platz
19 Mike Mentzer

I think #14 may be Lamar Gant...

[Max_Rep]

26 Dave Billows that's it!

Now that you say it... 38 does look like Joe Nasario.

Dan Franklin looked like a monster.

[onlyme]

I think #14 may be Lamar Gant...

Lamar Gant was the deadlifting king.  He had a severe curvature of the spine and when he dealifted he compressed and became shorter.  If this si the same guy.

[onlyme]

I cant believe you know dmarko!!!    When i first started lifting in 1979 my friend and i went to a little hole in the ground in SLC (Where i was raised) called deseret gym, because we heard Larry Scott trained there.

Well we go down stairs and this huge tan guy is doing chins with no shirt on...ripped and vascular.......Thats when i knew i wanted to be muscular.  He talked to us and gave us some tips. Being 14yrs old and skinny as rails we needed mass big time.

I talk to him sometimes still and we talk about mark kerh and other older bbs in this area.    I wass suprised to see dmarkos pic in golds venice, that was cool.

He recently sold off "Custom fit" training to raise his kids and be with the family.

Yes he is big time into Isagenix.  I talk to him all the time.  Ask him how we met

[!@#$%]

I went to Gold's Venice for the first time ever, last week. I worked out about 10-11 and I was the biggest guy there! It was me some skinny guys and a lot of really hot older women. As I was leaving, some pro started working out, a black guy with a Spanish name, I've never heard of him before. He looked great though.

In the locker room there was some guy beating off in the shower, then he was standing in front of the mirror admiring his hard on. That was the single most gayest thing I've ever seen in any gym anywhere.

I asked a guy working there, before I left, if any pros were there and he said Lou Feringo, but I didn't recognize him.

Over-all it was pretty fucking disappointing.

[cswol]

wow golds gym will kick people out of the gym for working out hard, using discipline, dedication, and hard work, but allow punks to jack-off and screw each other in the showers, parading around naked staring in the mirror gazing at their hard-on..........what a great place......Im glad I dont train there anymore.

[jwb]

wow golds gym will kick people out of the gym for working out hard, using discipline, dedication, and hard work, but allow punks to jack-off and screw each other in the showers, parading around naked staring in the mirror gazing at their hard-on..........what a great place......Im glad I dont train there anymore.

I thought it was common knowledge to NEVER use the locker rooms at golds venice but to use the unisex cubicles on the gym floor to piss and take a shower at home...

[onlyme]

I thought it was common knowledge to NEVER use the locker rooms at golds venice but to use the unisex cubicles on the gym floor to piss and take a shower at home...

They never tell the new guys

[cswol]

yeah the whole 8 years I trained there, I went upstairs maybe 3 times, the times I regret not going up there was when members were putting a duffle bag of roids and gh in a locker, waiting for another member to come get the bag.........thats when I wish I would have gone up there, and took the fuckn bag, that place is full of scumbags..........bottom line, there are some good people who go there, but on the real..........the gym has become nothing but wasted space for people who have no passion for real training.

[ramazon]

yeah the whole 8 years I trained there, I went upstairs maybe 3 times, the times I regret not going up there was when members were putting a duffle bag of roids and gh in a locker, waiting for another member to come get the bag.........thats when I wish I would have gone up there, and took the fuckn bag, that place is full of scumbags..........bottom line, there are some good people who go there, but on the real..........the gym has become nothing but wasted space for people who have no passion for real training.

Your feelings will change when The Mecca is gone.  Like World Gym (in MDR) will be doing in a couple of months, Gold's in Venice will probably be forced to either relocate or close entirely due to lease expiration issues.  No, the ole gray mare ain't what she used to be, it she's still the only place where you can blast your body and in the company of some very colorful fantastic characters.  Enjoy her
while you can, and stay the heck away from my locker.

[onlyme]

Your feelings will change when The Mecca is gone.  Like World Gym (in MDR) will be doing in a couple of months, Gold's in Venice will probably be forced to either relocate or close entirely due to lease expiration issues.  No, the ole gray mare ain't what she used to be, it she's still the only place where you can blast your body and in the company of some very colorful fantastic characters.  Enjoy her
while you can, and stay the heck away from my locker.

Yes and raising the rent doesn't help.  It is probably close to $100,000 a month there.  It was close to $70,000 when Pete had it last in 1999.    I find it interesting that the CEO is a Harvard grad in Business.  Has NO experience in the industry.  It to bad that people that have NO experience in this industry by a gym chain and try to change it.  What kind of Board of Directors made that decision.

[cswol]

good let the damn place disappear, then someone like me open a real gym over here on the westcoast, a new mecca, a real bbing pit, a real gym, no skinny people allowed, no women, nothing but hardcore big dudes.

[ramazon]

Dave, it was Pete, Ed and Denny Doyle who originally bought Gold's.  Pete then want Denny out because of some things that happened so he bought out Denny shares along with Tim.  At that point Pete owned 56% of Gold's.  And yes Pete was a major player in creating the NPC.  In fact the majority of the players wanted Pete to run it.  But, he felt a very big conflict of interest because he was buying Gold's now and allot of the competitors trained at Gold's and felt that if they won shows people would think its because Pete is the NPC Pres. and owner of Gold's.  There were a few other candidates they were looking at and decided on Manion.  They had a meeting where about 40 people were in attendance then held a meeting in Atlanta to vote Manion in.  Pete flew my good friend to Atlanta to put the vote in for Manion. The first meeting was in 79 or so I think.

Fascinating, Only.  So this is how the West was won!  For the sake of true history, DAVID SAXE was the first to buy Gold's from Joe Gold.  Saxe, a bodybuilder, sold it to pursue a career in jewelry.  You can see the beauty of his work on Arnold; Saxe made his wedding ring.  It's so big, it makes him look like a pimp.

[onlyme]

Fascinating, Only.  So this is how the West was won!  For the sake of true history, DAVID SAXE was the first to buy Gold's from Joe Gold.  Saxe, a bodybuilder, sold it to pursue a career in jewelry.  You can see the beauty of his work on Arnold; Saxe made his wedding ring.  It's so big, it makes him look like a pimp.

Is he the one who sold it to Ken Sprague

[ramazon]

Is he the one who sold it to Ken Sprague

Correct.  Did you know Mr. Saxe?  He's close with Steve Strong and Zabo.

[Max_Rep]

Your feelings will change when The Mecca is gone.  Like World Gym (in MDR) will be doing in a couple of months, Gold's in Venice will probably be forced to either relocate or close entirely due to lease expiration issues.  No, the ole gray mare ain't what she used to be, it she's still the only place where you can blast your body and in the company of some very colorful fantastic characters.  Enjoy her
while you can, and stay the heck away from my locker.

Teagan do you know what year Joe sold Gold's and what he he opened World.

Also how did some of the equipment from the original Gold's Gym on Pacific end up making the rounds through to 2nd Street Santa Monica, then Hampton Drive while some of the equipment went to World Gym?

[onlyme]

Correct.  Did you know Mr. Saxe?  He's close with Steve Strong and Zabo.

No but I know Steve Strong.  He came to Hawai back in the early 90's and we and some other guys got a VIP tour of the Polynesian Culture Center  In fact I have a picture of me and Steve and Tony Halme in Tutu's doing Hula in front of about 3000 people.  I will have to find that.

[onlyme]

Teagan do you know what year Joe sold Gold's and what he he opened World.

Also how did some of the equipment from the original Gold's Gym on Pacific end up making the rounds through to 2nd Street Santa Monica, then Hampton Drive while some of the equipment went to World Gym?

Pete told me something about Denny Doyle selling equipment out the back door I think and some other stuff.  Pete told him he didn't want him involved anymore and thats how he got bought out.