Is Commercialism Draining The Passion Of Gym Culture?

[The Prodigy]

Is Commercialism Draining The Passion Of Gym Culture?

We have a flourishing fitness industry these days and that includes bodybuilding. New IFBB and NPC divisions like Men’s and Women’s Physique, Bikini and also Figure are gaining great popularity and publicity in the United States.

http://www.rxmuscle.com/articles/latest-news/9261-is-commercialism-draining-the-passion-of-gym-culture.html

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[Baldiewonkanobi]

A good observation. You can still find the passion if you look for it in the smaller clubs such as MetroFlex in Phoenix. Two years ago I visited the Mecca with Ric Drasin and found that it was not that far off from the 80s when I trained there on weekends. Take away the ding bat girls and metrosexual boys at the front desk (gone is Kent Kuehn) and clothing store as you enter, take away the positive ions of 200 cell phones in use, the expensive gym wear, the xtra room of cardio equipment, and you still have the Bodybuilding core. Different faces, still great physiques, a few more ripped females, same string tops, and baggy below the knee shorts have replaced the 80s clown pants and Spandex.

Its all good....just have to seek it out if you want it.


Baldie

[data4]

The passion is still out there but its thinning quickly. I am lucky enough to be part of a gym that allows some actual training. However, this year they began some renovations and took out several pieces of great equipment. I thought no big deal, we will get new ones. Instead they were replaced with some crossfit, adult jungle gym bullshit that takes up half of one room in the gym. All the weight lifters are now crammed into one area stepping over each other while the large area of the gym is full of poor quality machine and a jungle gym. They said it was something that needed to be done in order to keep up with modern trends and sell memberships. While I do believe that its still very disheartening to see.

[Curt James]

The passion is still out there but its thinning quickly. I am lucky enough to be part of a gym that allows some actual training. However, this year they began some renovations and took out several pieces of great equipment. I thought no big deal, we will get new ones. Instead they were replaced with some crossfit, adult jungle gym bullshit that takes up half of one room in the gym. All the weight lifters are now crammed into one area stepping over each other while the large area of the gym is full of poor quality machine and a jungle gym. They said it was something that needed to be done in order to keep up with modern trends and sell memberships. While I do believe that its still very disheartening to see.

That's how it is at the Gold's where I have a membership. The bulk of the room is machines and cardio with a narrow strip against the far wall with a squat cage, a squat rack, two Smith machines, some benches and then all their dumbbells.

When I was a teenager, I had a membership at a place called The Lancaster Health Spa. Despite being called a spa, the gym had an entire room filled with squat racks and cages, benches, monster-sized dumbbells, and CHALK! Not a treadmill to be found in that section of the gym.

[AVBG]

Short answer.. No.

[John Hansen]

The passion is still out there but its thinning quickly. I am lucky enough to be part of a gym that allows some actual training. However, this year they began some renovations and took out several pieces of great equipment. I thought no big deal, we will get new ones. Instead they were replaced with some crossfit, adult jungle gym bullshit that takes up half of one room in the gym. All the weight lifters are now crammed into one area stepping over each other while the large area of the gym is full of poor quality machine and a jungle gym. They said it was something that needed to be done in order to keep up with modern trends and sell memberships. While I do believe that its still very disheartening to see.

That's so sad to see and it is happening more and more all over the country. One of the reasons I moved to Tampa from Chicago was the Powerhouse Gym in downtown Tampa. It's a hardcore, old school gym with fantastic energy and atmosphere. Best of all, the owners are three brothers who are there every day running the gym. There will never be a corporate change removing the free weights or the hardcore equipment for more bullshit crossfit or cardio equipment. People think I'm joking when I say that one of the major reasons I moved was for this great gym but I'm serious. Training is a big part of my life and I don't want to be pissed off and frustrated every time I go to workout because the gym is going more mainstream and kicking the hardcore trainers to the curb. That article was right on the money, unfortunately. What's interesting about this Powerhouse Gym is that the membership is through the roof. They are getting busier and busier while the fitness oriented gyms are closing down from lack of members. There is definitely a market for serious trainers who want to train hard in a fully equipped gym.

[5thAveGym]

hey John... I know the weather in Tampa..in January isn't quite like that blast coming off lake Michigan..smile..do you miss that? Powerhouse gym sounds great... I used to train at Shaumburg Powerhouse on the corner of Roselle and Wise when I was living in Naperville.. My favorite gym was USA..however..great place to train!!! all the best!

[soujerz]

Fitness flourishing yes but bodybuilding i don't see it. BBing is a nitch sport that will never be mainstream and by BBing i mean IFBB pro bodybuilding, maximum amount of muscle possible. Its an extreme that mainstream society will never embrace. Plus while not everyone does it BBing and steroids go hand in hand, and steroids are vilified in the states as cheating by professional sports mainly baseball and then vilified as dangerous drugs that will either physically harm you or have an affect on you mentally and cause you to harm others.

Just look at the registration numbers of these NPC shows, mens physique is only 2-3 years old and there are already more competitors than bodybuilders and BBing has several weight classes.

Now a days men want to look like calvin klein models not arnold, and women want to be musclar like Jessica Biel not Iris Kyle, even Jessica Biel is seen as "too muscly by men and women". So what do you expect from gyms bottom line is they have to pay the bills and make a profit. So you give the people what they want.

[x100696]

We are a comfort based society now so Corporate gyms sell contracts now and not results. Remember though how us bodybuilders define being fit is not the only way to get fit. For example I run a local outdoor boot camp in OKC and we guarantee results or money back. It's obviously not how I train as it's more high intense cardio and circuit training. Perhaps the one thing I miss in todays Gyms is the culture and atmosphere. Everybody used to know everybody, now everyone just keeps they're headphones on and heads down and doesn't want to be bothered. Great article though and I agree on most points!

[John Hansen]

hey John... I know the weather in Tampa..in January isn't quite like that blast coming off lake Michigan..smile..do you miss that? Powerhouse gym sounds great... I used to train at Shaumburg Powerhouse on the corner of Roselle and Wise when I was living in Naperville.. My favorite gym was USA..however..great place to train!!! all the best!

NO, I don't miss the winters at all! LOL
USA was a great gym, especially the old USA when it was in the big building. I heard the Schaumburg Powerhouse had a great atmosphere.

[rcp1936]

Well Men's Physique is still BBing with some but not all the drugs as the BB category
And if you are using weight training to obtain the build you want even if you don't compete you are still Body Building
Somebody sure as hell is keeping these supplement industry going and it isn't the cardio with a few weights thrown in types at these gyms

[CRAY]

Commercialism is most definately the worst thing about the entire industry. some of the whoppers that have been told, false dreams sold, jungles of marketing hype grown etc is unbelievable at times. And many of the people at top echelons of the companies (the guys making the money) are more business men than fitness enthusiast, and couldnt give a fuck about bodybuilding.

I feel incredibly luckily to go to the gym that I do.

• It costs less than $50 a YEAR!! non profit venture, no advertising, PT's or "classes" whatsoever
• It's all old school iron, tonne after tonne of reg park brand free weight,
• With the odd excellent machine thrown in for good measure, like the old Nautilus pullover
• no cross fitters in sight, ever!
• Just about all the members are cool guys, mixture of knowledgable older guys and hardcore youth. Everyone seems to get on well
• the atmosphere is awesome, blend of humerous cameraderie and hardcore training. I can pretty much go in on my own at any time of the day and there will be someone you know willing to train with you for a sesh.
• You can wear whatever the fuck you want. On squat day in the summer heat I will regularly just walk round barefoot and shirtless for the comfort of it.
• It's the closest thing I have experienced to what I imagine golden era Gold's venice to have been like.

[Curt James]

^^^^ i hate you.

lol

[Anders JP Eskilsson]

I´m really glad that this article gave some spin off!

[warthog]

I joined a very cheap gym recently because my schedule always found me going to the gym when it was rammed full of 'get in shape for my holiday' trainers.The new one is a 24 hr gym so I signed up online without having a proper look.I kid you not there is about 60 pieces of cardio equipment,maybe around 20 machines and cable stations and only one smith machine,no legpress
no dipping station/bars,one EZ bar,heaviest d/bells are 66lbs and all the weight plates amount to about 500lbs,depressing.Its the onl gym where Iv'e seen guys with over 30% bodyfat walking with a swagger and a bag full of brand new ,straps,wraps,gloves,belt pre and post workout supps and spend an hour and half chatting.Depressing.Iv'e resorted to training at 1 am to get decent sessions in