spit and sawdust or chain gym ????

Pelamblue
Pelamblue Posts: 177 Member
edited November 11 in Fitness and Exercise
The great debate !
I'm a spit and sawdust kind of guy, get in head down and work hard with like minded people, no posers or 'I come to the gym to do nothing but chat... but I'm still going so therefore I must fit' kind of people.
Hard graft with proper gear.

Replies

  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
    Neither one. Home gym.
    • Open 24x7x365
    • Always clean
    • Never have to wait for curlbros to get the hell out of the squat rack
    • Owner doesn't mind if I use chalk
    • I can do whatever the hell I want

    All in a 10 x 10 space and under USD 1200.
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    There are no chain gyms where I live, and whenever I am somewhere in the vicinity of one, they usually make it impossible to "pay-as-you-train" but make you sign up for a membership.

    So, no chain gyms for me.
  • Pelamblue
    Pelamblue Posts: 177 Member
    Ha ha, good answer to which i have no argument
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    When i went to the gym it was always a smaller no frills place. I'd have stabbed myself with a shank if my only option was a chain gym. Now i mostly workout at home.
    I did go to a Y, for a short period of time, but it was new and nobody went there. So it had the chain gym look with a ghost town feel.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Since neither of them exist where I am, neither.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    I go to a chain gym... because my downstairs neighbor probably wouldn't appreciate a heavy deadlift dropping on their ceiling.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    My gym is a privately owned fitness center run by the healthcare organization that also runs the local community hospital (they do some of the therapy there).

    I go there for the pool. The lap pool is typical (25 yd and 5 lanes) and they offer more water fitness classes than the local "Y" or community pools do. The cost is $6 less per month than the "Y" too.
  • theredfro
    theredfro Posts: 59 Member
    Also home gym for me. :D
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Neither.

    Gym at work - dirt cheap (£10/month) and reasonably well equipped but you have to be prepared to workout in a flexible way as it's fairly small.

    Privately owned gym near home - brilliant standard of equipment, but a wide mix of abilities, goals, training styles and people (including a few poseurs!).
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    it doesn't matter. whichever gym i happen to be attending i like to look down my nose and label other people as posers for not doing whatever i deem to be what they should be doing. nothing makes me feel as fit as my vague aura of superiority
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    it doesn't matter. whichever gym i happen to be attending i like to look down my nose and label other people as posers for not doing whatever i deem to be what they should be doing. nothing makes me feel as fit as my vague aura of superiority

    you-funny-guy-i-kill-you-last.jpg
  • drepublic
    drepublic Posts: 180 Member
    edited January 2015
    Pelamblue wrote: »
    The great debate !
    I'm a spit and sawdust kind of guy, get in head down and work hard with like minded people, no posers or 'I come to the gym to do nothing but chat... but I'm still going so therefore I must fit' kind of people.
    Hard graft with proper gear.

    I do both...my workouts at home are always more effective though...no wait times...crank the music on my sound system. I buy and am willing to pay for quality equipment I keep in good shape. I have never seen a dip bar I like in a gym for example. No jacked up broken dumbbells to worry about. No drive times...so more time with family. I just go to gym for leg equipment and the gym quality cable cross.

    If you're in the US and looking to build a home gym please consider: http://www.blackwidowtg.com/

    Ownder is ex Marine and build bomb proof equipment at better prices than Rogue. I have his Landmine, T-Bar Row and Closed Grip row offestting row handles for Landmine, Trap Bar, and Customized Dip bar for my power rack. Dean will customized builds (he did for my dip bar) and is open to ideas...happy to support his business.

    Home-Gym.jpg





  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    CipherZero wrote: »
    Neither one. Home gym.
    • Open 24x7x365
    • Always clean
    • Never have to wait for curlbros to get the hell out of the squat rack
    • Owner doesn't mind if I use chalk
    • I can do whatever the hell I want

    All in a 10 x 10 space and under USD 1200.

    Pretty much this.

    Before I moved, I had a membership to both types. Spit & sawdust was good, most the stuff in there was as old as I am I think (I'm 25), I liked the pictures of all of the competitors that came through that gym but I didn't like the creepy old guy watching me or how equipment wasn't kept up by the owners.
    I had a membership to a commercial gym local to CT and it was pretty good. Same price as Planet Fitness, lots of cardio, 3 cages - 2 had platforms, pretty clean, things keep up pretty well, some of the trainers were crap but that's true of everywhere
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited January 2015
    earlnabby wrote: »
    My gym is a privately owned fitness center run by the healthcare organization that also runs the local community hospital (they do some of the therapy there).

    I go there for the pool. The lap pool is typical (25 yd and 5 lanes) and they offer more water fitness classes than the local "Y" or community pools do. The cost is $6 less per month than the "Y" too.

    Mine is the same type of set-up. Bonus that my healthcare org pays half of my monthly fees.

    Since mine is used both as a fitness gym and as an extension of rehab, we've got most of the bells and whistles. And this group believes that free weights are good for rehab, so we get the whole complement of machines, a power cage, multiple squat racks, yada, yada. Even an indoor track (although it is super short).

    Pretty slick set-up. And almost never busy enough that I have to wait for any piece of equipment that I want to use. Now classes ... I hear those are very full.

    ETA: if I didn't have this available, I'd have wanted to build a home gym. Don't know if I could have because my house is small, and a gym in the garage is not an option, but that would have been my first pick.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    My gym is a privately owned fitness center run by the healthcare organization that also runs the local community hospital (they do some of the therapy there).

    I go there for the pool. The lap pool is typical (25 yd and 5 lanes) and they offer more water fitness classes than the local "Y" or community pools do. The cost is $6 less per month than the "Y" too.
    Sounds like mine. What I enjoy about my facility is that the majority of people are cordial, and there are some really serious people that workout along with the rehab work that we do with many of the clients.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png



  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    My primary gym is a locally owned 24/7 establishment. Most of the gym is dedicated to weight training with a few cages, a plethora of benches (some adjustable and some flat), an Olympic platform and bumpers, a bunch of dumbbells, and a handful of machines. They also have a small cardio room with 4 treadmills, 3 elliptical machines, and 3 or 4 stationary bikes...I think there's a stair stepper in there too.

    It's a pretty awesome place...the people are great and there are enough members to keep the place stocked with high end equipment but not so many members that you have to do a lot of waiting for equipment even during "prime time" at 6PM. It's also very clean...I've been to a few other local establishments for which I cannot say the same.

    I also have a membership to Planet Fitness...for $10 it works fine as a secondary gym. There's one right by my office so I use it to do cardio on my lunch breaks on those days where the weather is too *kitten* to get out on the bike or when I feel like doing something different than riding. It also comes in handy when I'm traveling.
  • goddessofawesome
    goddessofawesome Posts: 563 Member
    CipherZero wrote: »
    Neither one. Home gym.
    • Open 24x7x365
    • Always clean
    • Never have to wait for curlbros to get the hell out of the squat rack
    • Owner doesn't mind if I use chalk
    • I can do whatever the hell I want

    All in a 10 x 10 space and under USD 1200.

    Sure, if you have the space.

    If not then the only option is actually going to some sort of a gym.

  • This content has been removed.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    My gym is a privately owned fitness center run by the healthcare organization that also runs the local community hospital (they do some of the therapy there).

    I go there for the pool. The lap pool is typical (25 yd and 5 lanes) and they offer more water fitness classes than the local "Y" or community pools do. The cost is $6 less per month than the "Y" too.
    Sounds like mine. What I enjoy about my facility is that the majority of people are cordial, and there are some really serious people that workout along with the rehab work that we do with many of the clients.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png



    I love the variety of people too. We have members coming in with walkers all the way up to serious fitness buffs and everybody (usually) is cordial to everybody else. If only people would quit pouring water on the heating element in the sauna and steam room and breaking it!

  • samthepanda
    samthepanda Posts: 569 Member
    i'm in a lower end chain, so I pay nearly 1/4 of what my hubby pays for his gym. He has a pool, mine doesn't, that's about the only difference for me. His has a fancy café bar, but I don't really see the point of exercising and then buying a fancy coffee and muffin which is more cals than I have just burnt off. My gym is clean, has plenty of stuff and does what I need, and I like that the reception desk is on the gym floor so plenty of staff around rather than hubbys where it is on ground floor, and gym is upstairs and you never see staff upstairs!
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    it doesn't matter. whichever gym i happen to be attending i like to look down my nose and label other people as posers for not doing whatever i deem to be what they should be doing. nothing makes me feel as fit as my vague aura of superiority

    Precisely my feeling.

  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    I go to the local city rec center. The rec center has all the equipment any 'for profit' place has except a pool. One thing I like is that the track is 5 laps to a mile, the place I used to go was 15 laps to a mile. I felt like a hamster on a wheel.

    I go, get my exercise, and get out. I really don't pay much attention to what anyone else is doing.
  • shadowloss
    shadowloss Posts: 293 Member
    I used to belong to a high end chain that was extremely nice, along with extremely expensive. I let it lapse, because no one in the family was going. When I wanted to go back, I chose the local Rec Center. It has everything I need and great equipment.

    My only complaint is since it is a Rec Center, they allow kids in the weight room starting at 14. There are a few that go in and are serious, but most go up to kill time before a basketball court opens and sit a chat or text each other while sitting on the equipment. Normally I just have to ask if they are using the equipment I want, knowing their not, and they move on.

    I'm preferred the high end gym, but at 1/6 the price, I'm willing to sacrifice a little. Plus, now it's get in, work out, get home.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I work out at home most of the time but also am a member of a university rec center. I like being at home because I can easily do supersets, I can leave my stuff out, and I generally have nobody in my way. My 7 yo has started wanting to exercise with me sometimes and she wouldn't be able to do that at the rec center. At home, I can give her a little bar and let her floor press while I bench press or she'll use it to squat.

    On the flip side, I like going to rec center for a change of scenery and because they have some equipment that I don't have (lat pulldown, indoor track, etc.) I usually go there once or twice a week. I don't generally talk to anybody when I go and while I might look at other people between sets, I don't really care what they do/don't do as long as they are civil.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    edited January 2015
    I just hit up my buddy's garage gym. If I had 3k to drop just on bars and bumper plates, I'd do that. man.

  • Roxiegirl2008
    Roxiegirl2008 Posts: 756 Member
    I go to a local community gym. I love it. The staff is great, a variety of classes to choose from, good hours and the other members are awesome.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    yeah, vague?

    Do you even self confidence?

    Aura of Superiority and Leadership, or gtfo. Vague's for dates with delta gammas.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    yeah, vague?

    Do you even self confidence?

    Aura of Superiority and Leadership, or gtfo. Vague's for dates with delta gammas.

    It's Vogue- not vague.

    otherwise we get into vag- and that's just a different ball of wax all together.
This discussion has been closed.