fsgorup

After seeing the industry change into a 24 hour corporate atmosphere a bunch of the guys I lift with long for a gym where you could
1. bring a gym bag onto the gym floor
2. not have to wait for the 14 year old to get off the bench
3. not worry about making too much noise
4. clank the weights without getting yelled at.
5. not have to fight for space because someone is using a swiss ball in the free weight section to do squats.

Basically we all miss the old school gyms... so my brother and I thought why not open our own gym.

Anyone ventured into this?

Or in the alternative, if you were surrounded by these fu fu gyms, would you jump at the chance to join a gym that didn't offer pilates, group fitness, a climbing wall, out door pool, and child care?

KnowNothingGuy

It's a nice idea however not sure if their is enough market for it but if you have the money to waist go for it. The reasons the gyms are turning into fu fu gyms is because their is more money in it. My only complaint is that they alienate the more hard core gym people. I wish they would let us both share the same space. I personally do not get upsets with the 14 year old using the equipment as long as everyone is respectful I think that's all that counts.

I do have a question for you. Do you think that just because you have more muscle mass and have been lifting longer that you have more of a right to use the bench over a 14 year old who is just starting out??


Personally I hope to buy or open my own gym. However I would not expect to make any money from it and all I could hope for is that I break even.

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ddubb9965

I would, but as know said, there's not very many people into that sort of thing. My gym is half and half so i'm satisfied with it. It's not the dungeonous gym you're probably looking for, but i carry my gym bag with me the whole time, i grunt and groan when i'm struggling, and have no problem dropping some dumbells from time to time when i feel like i'm in a bad spot, so no complaints here. I'd say look elsewhere for a membership.

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iron05

YES! i am tired of the fitness gyms!

Exactly why I am planning on doing the same thing- opening my own!

Dude, go for it. If you absolutely LOVE what you do- aka the training, the time you put in/sacrifice, if you enjoy that and you also enjoy advising others on fitness related matters, I would say go for it. Now, obviously you have to take into account finances, but if that's not a problem, go for it.

There are definitely not enough good gyms out there. Shit i'm to the point now where they don't even HAVE to be hardcore, they just have to be NORMAL! LOL. I mean like what you said, about not being able to take a gym bag on the floor, or only being allowed to have water and nothing with 'colored liquid' on the floor is getting out of control. Someplace just norma, with all of the gym 'prerequisites' (plenty of benches, incline benches, squat racks, a COUPLE smith machines, a power rack, dumbbells that go heavier than 120, etc.), and no fucking crazy machines that no one is going to use.


Good luck bro.

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fsgorup

To answer your question Knownothing... I don't so much mind the 14 year olds that are in the gym to progress... It's the kids (and sometimes) adults who come to the gym that just take up space. Case in point, yesterday 3 kids show up, spend their time running around the free weight section and really didn't work out. My theory is that there are a bunch of lazy parents who figure they can buy the "family pass" and drop their kids off at the gym and use it as a daycare for a few hours.

So no it's not an issue of "I'm bigger, stay out of my way." In fact, some of the guys who work the hardest are those who aren't necessarily the biggest (boxers, MMA, basketball players).

I think I'm just getting old and I miss the days where if you were busting your ass, people left you alone.

But if there is anyone on the board who has started a gym and had it fail (or if it was your friend) let me know the horror stories.

MadenTexas

A good friend of mine opened his own gym a few years back. It was pretty damn hardcore, he's a world ranked powerlifter. He did a good job though. The front of the gym was nicer with your traditional cardio stuff and machines, but the back was where it was at. Cement floors, no mirrors, a big bowl with chalk and big weights. Unfortunately, the guy he leased the lot from also happened to own the only other gym in town. Needless to say his lease started going up and up until he couldn't afford it. Eventually he foreclosed and the owner of the other gym got all his equipment. Thats life I guess, sometimes nice guys do get the short end.

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Tight Five

Deepending on what sort of training you're doing there's no reason you can't shell out a bit of cash and make your very own gym in your garage. When I gave powerlifting stuff a go a few years ago I bought myself a power rack, a good olympic bar, a good flat bench and enough iron to keep me happy.

That little gym was, and still is, open 24/7 to me personally. I get to watch whatever I want while lifting, listen to whatever I want while lifting, and pee in my own toilet if I need to. Hell I can lift in my boxers if i like.

Don't forget you were 14yo once yourself. There are far more serious things in life to worry about than that.

i would also hazard a guess that for every 10 independent gyms that open with grand ideas, 8 would close within 2 years

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NovaZ

Having worked in a few gyms, I know that the behind the scenes stuff in these "fu fu gyms" shows that they are even in financial hardship. The only thing that really keeps the average gym alive? The fact that their competitors close and the members from their migrate over and add to the income.

Everyone has pipedreams of starting their own gym, but realistically, it probably isnt the right choice. The only way I could see it working is if you are in a place where you know your "hardcore gym" will fit the demographic (no reason opening a hardcore gym in a town/city where there are 1 million women and 20 serious bodybuilders, poor example but the point is made) and most importantly, you have a facility where the rent is nothing (rare I know) or 'pennies'. And good luck finding that.

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DEADn

You have to do 1 of 2 things. Find a gym that doesn't not have the trendy name of Golds, lifestyle, bally's etc and find one that also has powerlifters in it. You probably won't find powerlifters in a fitness gym.

Or find out what time of day it is the least busy and try to go then. I had that problem when I went to a fitness gym for a year. If you got there on the wrong day and time you were screwed and had to wait for certain machine and weights.

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Future

If there are enough weights I dont care. I make my own atmosphere.

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Heckman

Bingo! and since I workout at 3am....I could give 2 shits less about who or what is going on around me....

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Heckman

"Obsession is the word lazy people use to describe the dedicated."

Guther-D

My gym isnt to to bad. They finally got a deadlift platform.DB's up to 150. But they still keep getting the stupid machines. But on a side note look up a gym called Planet fitness. They actually have alarms when you drop you weights. Its called the Lunk Alarm. I have a picture but cant load it for some reason. They just opened on in my town.