arnold_schwarzenegger_powerlifting_deadlifts_bottom_techniqueSince I first picked up my first weight a little over 20 years ago, I’ve worked out in many different styles of gyms and fitness centers. From hard-core dungeon style to the fanciest of fitness centers.  I’ve never been a big fan of the “Fitness Center” style, which have all the fancy machines, endless cardio equipment. juice bars, and spa’s. It never really suited my training style.

I started out my training in a small hardcore gym. Well it was actually the only gym in town so I had no choice. But it turned out it was the perfect place to start. In this gym, I was surrounded by like-minded people; athletes, bodybuilders, and weekend warriors. It was one of those gyms that when you walked in there you felt the energy and knew you were there for a purpose. I would go there for 2+ hours at a time after school 6 days/week. And before my friends and I got our drivers licenses we would walk there from school, which was about a mile and a half. Now I grew up in upstate NY, so we got some brutal weather at times especially in the winter but that didn’t matter. Rain, sleet, or snow I was on a mission and a little weather wasn’t going to stop me. And most of all I did it because I was getting the results I wanted!

This same mentality has stuck with me for the last 20 years. Wherever the Marine Corps, and my contract security job took me, I would seek out the hard-core gyms. I knew that that was my style and I would get the best “bang for my buck” when training there.

I believe that having the right training environment is key in reaching your goals. I’m not going to tell you to cancel your membership to that fancy fitness club because if your doing something then that’s better then nothing. But I believe most fitness center these days are set up backwards and are more interested in taking your money then giving you results. Granted they are businesses and are out to make money, but I believe the results should sell memberships not because they have the best cardio equipment and newest machines with all the bells and whistles.

The way I see it is most of these places are set up backwards. They have more cardio equipment and machines then free-weights. In my eyes the majority of space should be used for free-weights and a smaller portion for the cardio equipment and even a smaller portion for machines. But once again that doesn’t sell memberships. But the one thing it does do is delay your results. Research shows that the more muscle you are packing, the higher your metabolism will be and the more fat you will burn. Period! Training with free weights will activate more muscle fibers plus make you a more functional human being outside the gym. So I would think that that would be how most people would want to train, depending on there goals of course.  I don’t know about you but when I spend my hard earned money on something, I want results and I want them in the fastest time possible.

And I know you’ve seen the “personal trainers” in these places that do more socializing and flirting then training, and some of them don’t look like they even train themselves. You’ve seen the cardio “kings and queens” that get on the treadmills at the same time every day and go for hours but still look the same as they did last year. Or the ones that go through the same machine circuit thats been perscribed by an “expert” trainer or the gym itself, and still look the same year in and year out.

But the purpose of this post is to not dog out other trainers and fitness centers. It’s to get you to re-evaluate your training style and training environment and to get you to ask yourself; are you getting the results you want, where you are, and with whom your are training with?

If the answer is YES, then stay with it and if it’s NO, then take a step back and find out what’s causing the lack of progress. Is it your effort? Is it your nutrition plan? Is it your training environment or trainer if you have one? Is it all of the above?

If you know what aspect of your training is not working then take the steps to fix it. And yes, you may have to find another gym that suits your needs and goals or another trainer that does the same or modify or change your training program and nutrition plan.

Remember the key to all of this is progress. If your not growing your are dying!  Keep your eye on the prize.

Would love to hear your comments on this so please post below! Thanks.

Check out this video below and see where I’ve been training lately. Nothing fancy, cheap, effective, more bang for your buck!

Think, Look and Be Strong!