A visit to Fitness Hell.
I have been at my gym for over 7 yrs now. Its one of the few old school, chalk on the wall, AC/DC/ playing in the background place left in my town. I love it for its simplicity, intensity, and just plain good old folk working out there. So anyways with my job I get free coupons for stuff all the time. Most of it iss junk, but I got a coupon for a one day pass to a place called Anytime Fitness. The coupon also said I could bring a friend for free.
So I figured what the heck. Go check it out. So my buddy and I figure to get a leg day workout in since the coupon had a picture of a hydraulic squat rack. I was like cool a rack that I could get the perfect height for squatting. So we walk in with our gym bags and hoodies ready to get our workout in. The cute girl at the front desk said "welcome to anytime fitness I will go get your personal trainer and salesman for you." I was like I'm just here to use this coupon and get a workout. She said "first you will have to meet with one of our certified personal trainers and then a salesman." WTF, am I buying a Lexus or getting a workout. So the trainer walks out and has this tight ass polo on and the spiky blonde colored hair. He walks us around showing us the place and all the equipment and facilities.
While walking I hear "Katy Perry mix songs" on the speakers. The dumbells went up to 85 lbs, and the bench press had swinging arms or something to move the bar to the rack. I thought I had died on the way over in some horrible car crash and this is Gods way to punish me. So the trainer finishes up and tells us we can't wear hoodies in the gym, cause there "intimidating." When does an Ohio State jersey become fucking scary.
He tells us he can help us get our perfect bodies and look amazing for summer. More on this fuck tard later. I meet with the salesman and he of course is like a used car guy trying to close the deal. I tell him I need to try the place first before I commit to anything. Basically, I blew him off nicely. So off to do our leg workout. All the plates are rubberized and super thick with the shit. The most you can load on the bar is 495 lbs. The first thing I do before I squat is chalk up my hands. The trainer immediately comes over and says "chalk is not allowed and you can't go over 315 lbs on the squat rack." He looks at us and says bro I can help train you with lighter weight to get that lean look. I look at this fucking asshole and say ok you want to help me get the perfect physique lets see if your qualified to do so. Put 315 lbs on and rep it out. He looks at me and says you don't need to go heavy like that to get great legs. I said do the "fucking" weight bro and prove to me you know what you taking about. He looks at me and says I will do 225 lbs for reps. I said great you do 225 lbs and I will do 315 lbs for reps. He says bro I will burn you at that. I said then fucking show me. He does some stretching and warms up, then pumps out 225 lbs for 15 reps. I said that is big balling bro. 15 hard core reps. So I load up 315 lbs and my buddy is trying not to laugh at this guy. I pump out 30 reps, walk over and say dude I guess I don't need your help. We left right after.
Ok long rant, but what is this country coming to when hoodies are intimidating to people in the gym. When did chalk become some horrible white powder. When did rock and roll become scary music. When I was growing up we idolized the big guys at our gyms. We were not intimidated by them. They were good dudes who worked hard and showed us what we needed to do. These fitness clubs like Planet Fitness and Anytime Fitness fucking kill me with there commercials. When is the last time a huge guy walked around saying "I lift heavy things." The friendliest people who had the most knowledge had been in the hole in the wall gyms were grunting, chalk, and heavy rock music were the norm. OK Rant Over.
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Man... you're bumming me out. My gym just went belly up. It was a complete shithole; the locker room floors were brown and hadn't been mopped the 10 months I was a mem, the ceiling in the aerobic room had partially fallen in from all the snow, during rain or thaw trashcans and buckets were everywhere catching drips, the showers were closed down by the department of health cuz they were never cleaned and the hot tub didn't work. But, it was hard core, anything went and the equipment was high quality and the only thing that was maintained. Dumbells from 5-155 and the only machines were hammerstrength. Now I gotta go to a planet fitness. :(
i got yelled at the other day for making too much "noise" while deadlifting. sorry 405 doesnt sound like a feather when you set it down
I'm a anytime member and all the gyms in my area are cool. Some are nicer than others And some have different a rules. I have never had anyone question my attire. Keep that in mind bro that people buy the name and they run the gym the way they want. Sounds to me like the owner of that gym is a real dick.
rlmao bro...your title is epic too. all these places with their stupid rules and shit!!!
Telling you he can help you get that perfect body lmao. Reminds me of those fat chicks at GNC who say 100% Whey protein by optimum nutrition is garbage.
Do U even lift?!
anytime fitness in my neck of the woods are for queers , girls and metro sexuals... i mistakenly got sucked into joining one i lasted 3 weeks till i quit, i ended up threatning the owner who was 20 yo he bought it with daddys money and weighed 60kgs wet, i told him hes a young lad with a bright future dont fk it up over a cancellation fee for me to leave , you need your fingers if you ever want to get big..... i left and never paid a cent .... they had a dress code, also no towel, no deodarant no entry, and even no talking to loud...... fk that...
Ya bro I had very limmited choices when I lived out in Montana and Any Time was my only real option since it was cheep. But I fucking hated it, I would constantly get in arguments with the regional manager whenever she came in. Luckily the manager there didnt give a fuck unless the boss was coming around, he let me use chalk as long as I cleaned up real good and didnt make it obvious on the cameras. The regional manager tried to tell me I wasnt allowed to do deadlifts there tho. I was right in the middle of a heavy deadlift day and deadlifting is my thing. I about blew a head gasket lol, after that she didnt come in anymore when she saw my truck in the parking lot. I saw her come in and circle the lot and leave a few times. Hehe smirk of self satisfaction.This was all way pre gear.
Well it sounds like you were stuck in hell for a lot longer then me. So deadlifts, squats, and heavy bench are all bad things to these places. But what kills me is the size of these machines they have in these places. There huge unnecessary pieces of machinery that do nothing but take up space. Squat racks, deadlift platforms, bench presses, leg press, smith machine and dumbells is all a gym needs for resistance exercises. You can do all your movements with that equipment. But anyways I glad your got some personal satisfaction.
Ha, ya I was there for 2 freakin years! When I first started the free weight section was almost non existant. Just about a 20ftx20ft corner of the gym with dumbbells up to 100 at least, about 3 benches ( no bench press station tho, just dumbbell benching, straight bar benching is too dangerous didntnyou know) and a squat rack, thats it. There was a leg sled but no real leg press. And ya besides that it was rows of elipticals and a bunch of crappy machines. I made due tho.
Jesus, I have a similar story...
I was at my 24 hour gym, doing cardio on the treadmill, focused, earbuds cranked, listening to my favorite workout song, "Roar".
Just as I was getting into mouthing out the chorus line (I hope I was mouthing and not singing), when these two gorillas wearing hoodies walk in... Yea, I said it, hoodies! and not the regular kind but blood red football hoodies.
I got nervous. I knew these guys were up to no good. It was only a matter of time before these guys started tossing weights in excess of 250 pounds around and dusting the place up with a cloud of chalk dust.
I quietly put my stuff away and made for the exit...
"...‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me ROAR... Oh oh oh oh oh oh"
lmfao, thanks Greg!
Lmfao. Blood red football hoodies. Run for the hills folks. A dust cloud of chalk is more hazerdous then second hand smoke. Love it.
Lmfao thats a great story hope u wasn't to traumatized
Now I'm going to be politically correct here and say that probably not all anytime fitness gyms are crazy like the one I went to. This gym is of course a franchise gym and the owner may be the one who made these stupid rules. If you workout at an anytime fitness or similar gym with different rules then let me know about it. I'm only speaking bad about this one gym I went to. Now planet fitness on the other hand is even crazier then the gym I went to. If anyone has any horror stories about those places I would love to hear about it.
315 with a heavy belt and knee wraps. I know I forgot to mention that part in the rant. The tools of the trade do help. lol. My max on the squat is a little over 600 lbs. That is pee wee weight for a lot of guys on this site. Hell I consider myself weak compared to the guys in my gym or a lot of the guys here on Eroids.
They would call the police and have your escorted out if you went to 600 lbs. But Anytime fitness has thought of people like us and figured out ways to beat us. First the weights are thick. I mean thick like tires with all the rubber on them. You could not load more then 495 lbs safely. Second, the bars are spayed daily with a chrome preserver oil. They mentioned that when the fuck tard took us around the place. This oil makes the bars so slippery, even chalk thick on the hands would not help.
315 huh ?.. well that lets me out.. I think they would shit if I asked to get into the 600 lb area.
anytime fitness ,, there every where.
and we can forget the leg press..1k + and up..
I just don't get it. Its like I'm being punished for being in shape. I appreciate the fitness clubs for the cardio equipment, cleanliness, and of course nice looking ladies. But come on. I don't walk into a gym and say I want to scare people into not coming back. If an unfit person walked up to me at my gym and asked for training tips I would be more then happy to give them my knowledge in the subject. I'm not there to judge. I look at it this way. 20 years ago I was that skinny kid looking for help. I got together with some of the experienced big guys and they showed me the ropes. So I pay it forward to anyone who asks for help.
Unfortunately that's what the majority of their customers clearly want. It just doesn't tie in with what most of us here are into.
I train in a grimey, raw iron type of gym. Not the sort of place your "average Joe" would like and would probably find intimidating. Have to remember we represent a fairly small percentage of the potential gym / fitness market.
No chalk? Oh wow! What will they all come up with next?
Clearly this is not the gym for most of us here but there must be a market for one. They seem to be doing quite well too. I can understand the average joes point. Being a man and the way men think I can see these blokes being intimidated. The result..... They just don't go to the gym. So I say let them have their gym. If this helps them get off the couch and get in shape. So be it I'll find a different gym. I personally work out at home. No rules, no time limits on how long I can use this piece of equipment. I can grunt, fart, get chalk on the floor and if the wife is feeling amorous we can get nasty right then and there. So let these guys have their politically correct gym with its rules and no intimidation clauses. As long as they get off their asses and do something.
I agree 100%, disgusting the direction gyms are taking in this country. They do it because they are trying like hell to get the couch potatoes to come in and spend their money, all the while knowing and not caring that these cows will never better themselves....
Shit man, I had a similar experience at Planet Fitness. Went with my wife one day (she joined there because of the cheap ass price, didn't want to pay what I paid for my gym). I purposely went on shoulder day because I thought maybe their dumbbells would go heavy enough for me to actually get a workout. I didn't have to mess with a "trainer" or salesman, I had already been through that when the wife joined. So I walk over to their extremely small free weight section, set my back pack down and start doing some dumb bell presses. They only go to 75 by the way, ok if I repped out. So I'm sitting there pressing, jamming out to some Hatebreed on my ear buds, when this "trainer comes up holding my back pack trying to talk to me. I'm in the middle of a set and can't hear a damn word he's saying (ear buds). Put the dumb bells on my knees, take out the buds and said "what", already pissed that he was holding my shit. He asked if the back pack was mine and told me I couldn't have it on the floor. I told him to put it down and I'd move it in a minute. He proceeded to tell me how I can take it to their locker room and lock it up if I had a lock, which I didn't. Getting more pissed now, he asks me what's in it? I wanted at that point to rip off his skinny little fuckin head and shove it in the back pack so he could see. Anyway, yes, I raged on him a bit then went and put it up. Next I was carrying around my hoodie, not wearing it, and another fuckin trainer tells me I either had to tie it around my waist, put it on, or go put it up too because they have a new policy about having hoodies on the gym floor. I just told them at that point it didn't matter because I was done and they left me alone. My point is though, I totally agree with your assessment of the pussy ass gyms that corporate America is now churning out, that vilify anyone that actually looks like they have put some good time in the gym. I remember the big guys when I was a kid at the gym, they were cool, and also where I learned most of my information at the time. Now, I have to wear ear buds, even at my gym, because I don't want to listen to lady gaga while I'm channeling aggression. Yes, times have changed my friend. I'm glad you still have an old school place to go. I go to a Gold's, but they aren't much better than the other newer gyms now. In fact, isn't everything in America nowadays pussified and all inclusive? The everyone wins attitude? Well, everyone does not win, I bust my ass for results, wish The fitness world still respected that!
End rant!
bigwillythis is part of the reason I train at home.
I still pop into an old school gym from time to time. The biggest lifters ive ever seen train their, theirs a dedicated power lifting section thats stays locked so the big dudes can get straight to it without waiting around.
It's like Golds in pumping iron, but a lot dirtier.
That was funny as shit, Def worth the ,read! My gym has chalk, chains and tires! Dumbells go up to 120 (which I use), no sauna, basketball, Raquet ball or pool. My gym isn't a club, its old ass iron heads going ham. I love it!! I will never go back to 24hr, la or planet!
I looked up all those planet fitness commercials on youtube today and it had me in tears laughing. The girls locker room scene was the best one. "No your hot, No your hot, Oh were all hot." If girls locker rooms were really like that it more men would be in the gym daily.
Hard work is intimidating. Most people don't want to suffer in the short term, even if it means long term benefit. :/
Was it at least pizza Monday?? And did you grab a handful of tootsie rolls on your way out? Lol
Damn, I should have grabbed a handful of mints in the jar at the front desk before I left.
Lol