Gym History: The Atlas Health Club

Some gyms have more than good equipment and atmosphere, some gyms have history. Total Fitness Health Club on Kennedy Blvd in North Bergen is one of those places. However, few are aware that the gym began its existence as the Atlas Health Club in Jersey City.

Jersey City has always been a tough city; it is a place where you had to be strong as well as street smart in order to survive. In the 1950’s, Jersey City was a working class neighborhood. Many of the residents supported themselves and their families by working in the various factories located downtown (including Colgate). These jobs were very physical, so it was rare that a hardworking man would spend what little leisure time they had performing what was in a sense, more manual labor. And yet, people were beginning to realize the importance of having a strong, healthy body.  In 1958, a new type of gymnasium opened up in the heights section of Jersey City on the corner of Charles Street and Central Avenue.  The gym provided residents with a venue to participate in a relatively new hobby: bodybuilding. The name of the gym was The Atlas Health Club and it was started in 1958 by Don Andretta and Denie Walters (a teenager at the time).  The Atlas Health Club was one of the first true bodybuilding gyms in the USA; early on it attracted many local competitive bodybuilders. The Atlas quickly became known as the place to train. One early Atlas member was future Mr. New Jersey Mike Romagnola.

The Atlas Health Club (and bodybuilders in general) had a strong sense of community as well as camaraderie not often found in today’s gyms.  John Kemper, Serge Nubret and Harold Poole (see images below) all hit the iron at the Atlas. 

According to Mike Romagnola, there were quite a few interesting occurrences that took place at The Atlas Health Club. One infamous incident involved a lifter performing barbell squats. Apparently, when the lifter unracked the weight, the floor collapsed and sent the lifter and the barbell down into the store below, leaving a hole in the floor that was promptly covered up by carpeting. The hole in the floor remained until the gym relocated directly across the street above the post office.  In the Atlas’ new location at 392 Central Ave, a sauna was added and the gym was split over 2 floors, which enabled Don Andretta to purchase more equipment since he now had more space.

Mike Romagnola performing lat pulldowns at the 2nd location of The Atlas Health Club

In 1966, Denie Walters left The Atlas to open up his own gym in Downtown Jersey City. Even though Denie was no longer was involved in the Atlas’ daily operations, Denie still used the gym to photograph several bodybuilders including Mike Romagnola and Serge Nubret, for magazines such as Muscle Training Illustrated.

Sometime in the early 70’s, Don Andretta relocated The Atlas a second time to 623 Kennedy Boulevard in North Bergen, New Jersey where it was renamed Total Fitness Health Club. Amazingly, Don continued running the gym until 1998 when his son Don Jr. took over and still operates it to this day.

Stepping into Total Fitness Health club in the present day, you will notice that the facility is refreshingly old school, complete with equipment from legendary manufacturers such as TK star, York, Atlantis, Nautilus, Cybex and Flex. Total Fitness Health Club has some longtime members that remember the facility in its former incarnation as The Atlas on Central Ave. The fact that Total Fitness has managed to retain some members for such a long time is a testament to the gym’s exceptional customer service.

In today’s ever changing fitness landscape, it's refreshing to see a small, old school facility Like Total Fitness remain true to its roots as a serious, bare bones neighborhood gym.

One final note, if you count its time as The Atlas, Total Fitness Health Club is 57 years old, making it one of the oldest gyms in the country.

Welcome.

                As you open the door to the gym, the smell of sweat is the first thing that you notice. Followed by guttural moans which are then followed by the sound of weights hitting the floor. The sound of rock music vibrates throughout the walls and your heart begins to pound.

                You are now at the top of the staircase and you are standing in a small waiting area. In front of you is the main entrance to the gym; in the distance you can clearly see the equipment.

                Battle worn benches, power racks, Hammer Strength equipment and various other machines are in use. Towards the back of the gym, you notice a small section of treadmills and bikes.  No one is using them.

                Towards the dumbbell rack, you see an almost impossibly large human being performing flat dumbbell presses with the 150 pound dumbbells. You then notice that the dumbbells go all the way up to 200 pounds. They are tattered and worn from years of use. It is then that you realize that this is why you took two buses to get here. You have found a GYM.

                If you have ever trained in a hardcore gym (especially as a teenager) this was most likely your experience. I know because that was MY experience. I could tell you about myself and my own training and experiences in the iron game, but that's not the main point of this blog. This blog is going to be about THE GYMS.

                So why am I starting a blog about hardcore gyms? There are many answers but mostly the reason is that hardcore gyms are dying. My goal is to raise awareness of the surviving hardcore gyms and to look back and celebrate the ones that are gone. Some of these long gone gyms are legendary; others live on in brief mentions in old periodicals and tales told by former members.

                It is my hope and intention to feature a different gym with each blog and whatever information I can gather, including interviews from the owners, equipment reviews and pictures. It is my intention to have the most complete and comprehensive blog on hardcore gyms on the internet.

                At the very least, in 20 years or so, I will have a record of a time when true, well equipped bodybuilding gyms still existed before they were all replaced with empty rooms that now include tires and sledgehammers, on one side of the spectrum and Planet Fitness franchises on the other.