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.
