Primal
13-06-2014, 06:44 PM
Hey all! I know I've been away from the boards a while but it's because I was moving! I finally moved back home with my family and friends after being accepted as a transfer student to the local university here! I literally just moved up yesterday and I've got to say, midwest Canada is looking so beautiful compared to the overcast Ontario weather we've been having lately. But anyways, being back with my friends (my old training partners as well) we wanted to hit the gym together again! Only problem is, we live a distance apart so finding a gym where we can all go to is challenging. So today I went searching about for gyms and I've got a ton of options which I've narrowed down to 3:
Option 1, the local hardcore/celebrity gym: I'd heard about this one place in the heart of the city that was where all the power lifters and hardcore lifters went... perfect! I also live only 10 minutes away which was even better! Sure enough as I drive up to the place, they have what looks to be a 400 lb tire sitting in the parking lot. Place looks legit. I walked in and already there were 2 huge bodybuilders that gave me 'the nod'. I met the owners who were massive powerlifters or strongmen (or both) and after I told them I was coming from NW Ontario they opened up and we got talking about the meet from last October e.c.t. Anyways, the gym is nice, dumbbells up to 150 lbs, all machines are new and clean (all Atlantis machines that are only 2 years old) and the environment is hostile, just to my liking :). When I asked the owners about how busy it gets they replied that its usually pretty tame even around the end of the work days. Then he told me that if that was a problem I could always go in the mornings when the NHL players train... WHAT!?!? On top of this, they have a few other professional players, one footballer from there made it onto the Argonauts recently and a bunch more. So yeah. The only downsides I could see was that the membership was expensive, ($55 a month) and that only gets you the cardio machines and the free weights and the weightlifting machines. I think the prowler and everything else is more. The times at which it is open (6-10 on weekdays) which isn't really that bad but accessibility 24/7 has proven its worth after long days and nights at the university, also looking to getting a job soon too so my hours could be limited to only nighttime training sessions. As well, I wouldn't be able to train with my friends which would be a bummer since we go hard to the paint when we have each others backs and it is always a lot of fun hanging out with the boys!
Option 2, the 24/7 commercial gym: This is actually where I started my lifting almost 2 years ago, in one of these gyms. My first gym was a hole in the wall, literally. It was inside a mini strip mall had no bench press, no squat rack and no deadlifting platforms. It was a terrible gym but at the time but my buddies and I didn't have a car, and disapproving parents wouldn't drive us anywhere. Recently the chain has expanded however and they now have gyms all across the city! The membership is only $33 a month with full access to everything (some of the gyms have battle ropes and other cool stuff)! On top of this, I can go to any of the branches in the city and get in with my membership card! This is particularly useful because I can go to my old gym with my buddies and they can come to my gym which is only a few mins away from me. The gym closest to me has some nice machines but no squat rack and no deadlifting platform. But they do have a bench press lol. As stated before, a 24/7 could really come in handy some nights and I get to go with my friends! Downsides: no squat rack, no deadlifts and I almost got kicked out recently when I was up a month ago for putting down the 90 lb dumbbells too hard (we were doing a huge dropset, in my defence I put the 100's down lightly before :P).
Finally, Option 3, "It's fun to stay at the...": YMCA which is conveniently located between my house and friends houses. In the beginning, we were thinking that we could each go to our respective gyms and then twice a week we could meet up at the Y and pay a daily fee and hit the gym together there. Yeah, the daily fee is $9 so that is for sure not happening. If I wanted a monthly membership it would be $32 a month but this gets me access to the pool, rock climbing center, yoga rooms, weight room, play room (for kids), as well as an eating area. I wouldn't really use any of the other things besides the weight room but whatever, it could be considered a pro (thinking of the pool ;)). The equipment is pretty crappy in all honesty, the machines suck and the cables feel elastic. The dumbbells only go up to 100 lbs. On top of this, the place is packed 24/7 and the whole of the weight room space is 80% dominated by cardio equipment which makes for a cramped environment. The only plus is that I'd be able to work out with my friends.
A few side notes; I'm not super competitive into sports or even bodybuilding in general, I just like bodybuilding a lot because I like being big or trying to get big, I find it extremely fun and it's a great way to hang out with the boys while pushing each other to the limits! I know if I was going for the competitive stance I would be swayed by the first option. I do really want to compete in a year or two however, just to try it out and see so obviously I'm not too keen on the YMCA just from the environment standpoint. It would be very difficult to train heavy and I might even get kicked out because of it. Either way, I'm meeting up with my friends tonight and we are going to discuss our options together. I doubt anyone will reply to this before then (it's been pretty slow around here lately... sorry :P) so i'll update it later on! Any opinions or thoughts would be really appreciated as I take lifting very, very seriously and this is a big choice I have to make! But what do you think I should do?? /end rant
Thank you so much for reading! :)
-Primal
Option 1, the local hardcore/celebrity gym: I'd heard about this one place in the heart of the city that was where all the power lifters and hardcore lifters went... perfect! I also live only 10 minutes away which was even better! Sure enough as I drive up to the place, they have what looks to be a 400 lb tire sitting in the parking lot. Place looks legit. I walked in and already there were 2 huge bodybuilders that gave me 'the nod'. I met the owners who were massive powerlifters or strongmen (or both) and after I told them I was coming from NW Ontario they opened up and we got talking about the meet from last October e.c.t. Anyways, the gym is nice, dumbbells up to 150 lbs, all machines are new and clean (all Atlantis machines that are only 2 years old) and the environment is hostile, just to my liking :). When I asked the owners about how busy it gets they replied that its usually pretty tame even around the end of the work days. Then he told me that if that was a problem I could always go in the mornings when the NHL players train... WHAT!?!? On top of this, they have a few other professional players, one footballer from there made it onto the Argonauts recently and a bunch more. So yeah. The only downsides I could see was that the membership was expensive, ($55 a month) and that only gets you the cardio machines and the free weights and the weightlifting machines. I think the prowler and everything else is more. The times at which it is open (6-10 on weekdays) which isn't really that bad but accessibility 24/7 has proven its worth after long days and nights at the university, also looking to getting a job soon too so my hours could be limited to only nighttime training sessions. As well, I wouldn't be able to train with my friends which would be a bummer since we go hard to the paint when we have each others backs and it is always a lot of fun hanging out with the boys!
Option 2, the 24/7 commercial gym: This is actually where I started my lifting almost 2 years ago, in one of these gyms. My first gym was a hole in the wall, literally. It was inside a mini strip mall had no bench press, no squat rack and no deadlifting platforms. It was a terrible gym but at the time but my buddies and I didn't have a car, and disapproving parents wouldn't drive us anywhere. Recently the chain has expanded however and they now have gyms all across the city! The membership is only $33 a month with full access to everything (some of the gyms have battle ropes and other cool stuff)! On top of this, I can go to any of the branches in the city and get in with my membership card! This is particularly useful because I can go to my old gym with my buddies and they can come to my gym which is only a few mins away from me. The gym closest to me has some nice machines but no squat rack and no deadlifting platform. But they do have a bench press lol. As stated before, a 24/7 could really come in handy some nights and I get to go with my friends! Downsides: no squat rack, no deadlifts and I almost got kicked out recently when I was up a month ago for putting down the 90 lb dumbbells too hard (we were doing a huge dropset, in my defence I put the 100's down lightly before :P).
Finally, Option 3, "It's fun to stay at the...": YMCA which is conveniently located between my house and friends houses. In the beginning, we were thinking that we could each go to our respective gyms and then twice a week we could meet up at the Y and pay a daily fee and hit the gym together there. Yeah, the daily fee is $9 so that is for sure not happening. If I wanted a monthly membership it would be $32 a month but this gets me access to the pool, rock climbing center, yoga rooms, weight room, play room (for kids), as well as an eating area. I wouldn't really use any of the other things besides the weight room but whatever, it could be considered a pro (thinking of the pool ;)). The equipment is pretty crappy in all honesty, the machines suck and the cables feel elastic. The dumbbells only go up to 100 lbs. On top of this, the place is packed 24/7 and the whole of the weight room space is 80% dominated by cardio equipment which makes for a cramped environment. The only plus is that I'd be able to work out with my friends.
A few side notes; I'm not super competitive into sports or even bodybuilding in general, I just like bodybuilding a lot because I like being big or trying to get big, I find it extremely fun and it's a great way to hang out with the boys while pushing each other to the limits! I know if I was going for the competitive stance I would be swayed by the first option. I do really want to compete in a year or two however, just to try it out and see so obviously I'm not too keen on the YMCA just from the environment standpoint. It would be very difficult to train heavy and I might even get kicked out because of it. Either way, I'm meeting up with my friends tonight and we are going to discuss our options together. I doubt anyone will reply to this before then (it's been pretty slow around here lately... sorry :P) so i'll update it later on! Any opinions or thoughts would be really appreciated as I take lifting very, very seriously and this is a big choice I have to make! But what do you think I should do?? /end rant
Thank you so much for reading! :)
-Primal