Death of the small hardcore gyms ?

[the goose]

Recently I changed gyms and posted here re it being a private club with 300 max members, it is exspensive for what I normally would pay aprox $ 110 per month it a midsize gym nothing jaw dropping , but it offers atmosphere and the very best in gear

Watson machines and all the members are there to lift ,no bullshit or fake personalities , the posing room is a phenomenal perk. Despite my only con being no drop ins not even a coach simply because it is a private facility and that is strictly adhered to

Recent bodybuilding show in Alberta the owner brought in for a one day seminar , meet and greet 2 IFBB pros one being Labrada ,lifting and chatting together

I live close to the flagship GoodLife and I
have worked out there maybe a handful of times and hate the place for numerous reasons

However with recent opening of Obsidian in Edmonton I can’t help but see the trend continue ,,,that being fucking massive gyms

The sheer size of these places and a few other I see pop up on my Facebook page are beyond comprehension

Is this the future ? Are small gyms a thing of the past never to return ?

 

[Hussell]

Recently I changed gyms and posted here re it being a private club with 300 max members, it is exspensive for what I normally would pay aprox $ 110 per month it a midsize gym nothing jaw dropping , but it offers atmosphere and the very best in gear

Watson machines and all the members are there to lift ,no bullshit or fake personalities , the posing room is a phenomenal perk. Despite my only con being no drop ins not even a coach simply because it is a private facility and that is strictly adhered to

Recent bodybuilding show in Alberta the owner brought in for a one day seminar , meet and greet 2 IFBB pros one being Labrada ,lifting and chatting together

I live close to the flagship GoodLife and I
have worked out there maybe a handful of times and hate the place for numerous reasons

However with recent opening of Obsidian in Edmonton I can’t help but see the trend continue ,,,that being fucking massive gyms

The sheer size of these places and a few other I see pop up on my Facebook page are beyond comprehension

Is this the future ? Are small gyms a thing of the past never to return ?

It is appear to be getting harder and harder for small gyms to stay afloat, you really need to find your niche and create a dependable group of members. My gym pays apparently 60k a month in rent that's alot of memberhsips lol.

 

[3bills]

In the lower mainland we still have a decent amount of good gyms still available.

Westcoast is probably the best choice. I always end up back training there eventually.

If I had the space I would definitely make my own home gym

 

[The Old Guy]

I feel lucky that Olympia is 5 minutes from home. Old beat up equipment but lots of it.

I think I pay $45 per month.

Sorry in Mississauga On.

 

[Bigwheel]

I’m lucky enough to work out in a hardcore old school gym owned by a bodybuilder, tons of weights, loud metal music, walls covered in posters and no broccoli heads. Only drawback no a/c but they have big overhead dooors opened up.

 

[strongmann]

I

I feel lucky that Olympia is 5 minutes from home. Old beat up equipment but lots of it.

I think I pay $45 per month.

Sorry in Mississauga On.

I Used to love that gym when Henderson owned it and it was a gold's gym when he did. Then it changed to Olympia and the new owner i didn't care for. I was a rep for Musclemeds/MHP back in the day and called them to see if i could get Kai Greene and Victor Martinez a workout there cuz they were doing appearances at the Toronto Pro show. He wanted me to pay to have 2 top pros workout at his gym. Priceless! I said thanks anyway and took them to 365 fitness instead. The exposure 365 fitness got was insane! They even stayed after their workout to take pictures and sign autographs.

 

[SteveM]

I feel lucky that Olympia is 5 minutes from home. Old beat up equipment but lots of it.

I think I pay $45 per month.

Sorry in Mississauga On.

Yes - old beat up equip is usually really good. Usually set up for excellent body mechanics. My son is 16 - he has been lifting for a year and a half - works out at anytime fitness - mostly machines - ok if you have joint problems - but alot of the machines just don't have the correct anatomical movements - especially stuff like leg extensions. I belong to Crunch fitness in Kitchener - used to be Popeye's gym (I've been a member for 40+ years) - hardcore with hardcore equipment - but it's gone to shit - things are falling apart - they have a big roll up garage door on the second floor they used to open up in the summer - it was great - but now they don't open it up for insurance reasons - so bloody sad... and they have removed all the Arnold posters.....- I've taken my son there a few times - he really likes the older equipment - still steel dumbells !! - and he likes going there. I have my own little gym with old hardcore equip bought off facebook & kijiji - and an old kenwood stereo with big paradigm speakers that crank out old 80's & 90's rock when I lift - soooo much different than the crap music I have to listen to when we go to my son's anytime fitness gym .

I was at anytime fitness over the weekend - they had a leg extension / hamstring combination machine that was so complex with so many adjustments- hard to believe- who in gods name would use that shit ? and when I tried it the motion was terrible - had to be a 7500.00 machine if not more.

My son is thinking about opening his own hardcore gym when he gets older - he really likes lifting - he is ripped with abs showing and (so far) still all natural - he got me going on the peptides.

 

[Ethan]

Recently I changed gyms and posted here re it being a private club with 300 max members, it is exspensive for what I normally would pay aprox $ 110 per month it a midsize gym nothing jaw dropping , but it offers atmosphere and the very best in gear

Watson machines and all the members are there to lift ,no bullshit or fake personalities , the posing room is a phenomenal perk. Despite my only con being no drop ins not even a coach simply because it is a private facility and that is strictly adhered to

Recent bodybuilding show in Alberta the owner brought in for a one day seminar , meet and greet 2 IFBB pros one being Labrada ,lifting and chatting together

I live close to the flagship GoodLife and I
have worked out there maybe a handful of times and hate the place for numerous reasons

However with recent opening of Obsidian in Edmonton I can’t help but see the trend continue ,,,that being fucking massive gyms

The sheer size of these places and a few other I see pop up on my Facebook page are beyond comprehension

Is this the future ? Are small gyms a thing of the past never to return ?

I totally get this. The only gym near my house is a YMCA which isn’t even really much of a gym. I feel like a lot of the hard-core gyms that people are talking about are being replaced by fitness centers, rec centers, etc. mostly spend a lot of their time creating spaces for shit like Zumba Even doing weights there feels kind of shitty at least for me. I feel like I’m often times judged for training hard or grunting, especially people who think the gym is a library on top of that it doesn’t help seeing all these videos of guys getting recorded or being labelled as creeps by Random chicks in the gym that don’t even seem like they’re there to work out rather just film content for Instagram it’s so bad if one of these kinds of people are working out around me I’ll switch machines because I’m actually so afraid of getting recorded for just doing nothing or ridiculed for grunting or dropping a dumbbell.

 

[Sorbate]

I totally get this. The only gym near my house is a YMCA which isn’t even really much of a gym. I feel like a lot of the hard-core gyms that people are talking about are being replaced by fitness centers, rec centers, etc. mostly spend a lot of their time creating spaces for shit like Zumba Even doing weights there feels kind of shitty at least for me. I feel like I’m often times judged for training hard or grunting, especially people who think the gym is a library on top of that it doesn’t help seeing all these videos of guys getting recorded or being labelled as creeps by Random chicks in the gym that don’t even seem like they’re there to work out rather just film content for Instagram it’s so bad if one of these kinds of people are working out around me I’ll switch machines because I’m actually so afraid of getting recorded for just doing nothing or ridiculed for grunting or dropping a dumbbell.

People for the most part have always stared if you are training hard. I remember at one more hard core gym, I would do deadlifts in more of the cardio kinda area because lots of plates and most people were in the other areas. I remember hearing the woman on the machines more than once say, “gross” when all the veins and shit were bulging out as I was lifting (btw, I deadlifted in a controlled manner, no lifting then tossing the weights down, it was like any other exercise I did, full control up an down).

Truthfully I was in a woman hating mode at the time, so it motivated me, lol.

But yes if you have a build there will be jealous people. Think of it as a complement because if you were just average no one would be looking.