Changing any well-established habit is hard, and for me, changing gyms is a big deal. Today, we made the final decision to bail out of the one we've been using since May 2003, and had our first workout in the "new" gym. Anytime you change gyms, you've got to adjust to the different equipment, the varying angles of the benches and (typically) the lack of heavy dumbbells, but our first workout went surprisingly well.
When we joined our "old" gym, it was profiled as one of two hardcore gyms in the area, aimed at people competing in powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman and fitness. About a year ago, they made a bunch of investments so as to market themselves more towards the "general fitness" population, which admittedly is where the money lies. The changes included a modification of the name (removing "bodybuilding" and changing the logo to something more generic and markedly less hardcore), adding more space to the gym, and including a spinning/aerobic room. I certainly don't blaim them for wanting a more stable client base than bodybuilders and Mariusz Pudzianowski-wannabes who spread chalk all over the gym and demand to listen to metal at high volumes, and I really like and respect the owners (hence I don't mention the name of the gym), but in my opinion the concept has a large flaw. The general fitness market is very hard to muscle in on, as you've got major-league players in place already wringing green from weekend-warriors, students, moms and dads trying to squeeze in the occasional workout, and the infernal cardio bunnies + "male" counterparts (more about them later). SATS, 3T (in Trøndelag), Friskis&Svettis, Elixia, and a bunch of other corporate affairs totally have this market cornered, and they have a well-established, proven concept. Being a minor player trying to move in on this market is beyond risky, as you don't have anything extra to offer, and you can't match the standard on equipment and general facilities. In my opinion, our former gym would've been better off targeting the market segment they appealed to in the first place.
Experiencing the changes first-hand was like watching a Norwegian Guido-equivalent invasion in real-time - you know what I'm talkin' about: spiky, gelled-up hair, wife-beaters or extremely tight tees, gold chains and other bling, invisible suitcases to make room for those imaginary lats, legendary tribal armband tattoos, brutal 25 cm-circumference arms, no legs ('cause only arms, shoulders and pecs are visible when they go clubbin') and the air of misguided confidence only two hours of MMA training and a "medium" Wanderlei Silva sweatshirt can give you. Of course, they're attention-starved, and roll at least deuce deep - so that they can scatter across the gym and shout slogans and "cool" phrases at each other in "Marco - Polo" fashion, thus maximizing attention/annoyance. If they're alone, they try to slam the weights as much as possible to make up for the loss of attention. Despite their need for invisible suitcases to uphold any illusion of muscle, they are often on gear - probably orals like Winnie or whichever veterinarian-grade D-bol-version they can get a hold of. Otherwise, their severe bouts of acne wouldn't be so well-coordinated with their growth spurts, yet somehow, the mass they gain disappears a few weeks after the acne clears up. In a main-stream fitness chain like SATS, this would not be tolerated, but in a half-way environment such as what our old gym became, this was becoming more and more prevalent.
The worst part was when they opened the spinning-room, 'cause when the step and spinning sessions are rockin', the guidos come a-knockin'. More specifically, the step and spinning rooms give them a pen in which to keep their girlfriends when they're not required to hover around them and compliment them on how big and strong they are when they cheat-curl the 20-kg dumbbells. As one would expect, the girlfriends are the kind of vacuous airheads who are likely to be impressed by the guidos - the platina-blond bimbos who show up in a gym with full-on make-up and push-up bras, deathly afraid of breaking a sweat as they prance around with the pink, air-filled plastic weights. Wonderful. It became increasingly clear to us that we had to look for alternative gyms.
Actually, there were other reasons as well. First, our old gym is quite a bit further away than the new one, so that means that switching gyms shortens the drive from ~15 km to ~4 km each way, which is good for the environment, saves moolah and time - muy excellente. Also, through our respective employers, we get special rates at our new gym - 3T, so the member's fee is significantly lower. The new gym has all the perks - squash courts (if one is so inclined), swimming pool, aerobics, pilates, yoga, spinning and whatnot. The weight training area is also good, with plenty of benches, machines and free weights. OK - they don't have heavy dumbbells, but according to the clerk, that's a conscious decision made to - essentially - keep the likes of me away. Still; I can work around it no problem. The air quality is excellent, there are enough treadmills, and get this - each treadmill, step machine and cycle has its own flatscreen tv. How cool is that.
When we joined our "old" gym, it was profiled as one of two hardcore gyms in the area, aimed at people competing in powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman and fitness. About a year ago, they made a bunch of investments so as to market themselves more towards the "general fitness" population, which admittedly is where the money lies. The changes included a modification of the name (removing "bodybuilding" and changing the logo to something more generic and markedly less hardcore), adding more space to the gym, and including a spinning/aerobic room. I certainly don't blaim them for wanting a more stable client base than bodybuilders and Mariusz Pudzianowski-wannabes who spread chalk all over the gym and demand to listen to metal at high volumes, and I really like and respect the owners (hence I don't mention the name of the gym), but in my opinion the concept has a large flaw. The general fitness market is very hard to muscle in on, as you've got major-league players in place already wringing green from weekend-warriors, students, moms and dads trying to squeeze in the occasional workout, and the infernal cardio bunnies + "male" counterparts (more about them later). SATS, 3T (in Trøndelag), Friskis&Svettis, Elixia, and a bunch of other corporate affairs totally have this market cornered, and they have a well-established, proven concept. Being a minor player trying to move in on this market is beyond risky, as you don't have anything extra to offer, and you can't match the standard on equipment and general facilities. In my opinion, our former gym would've been better off targeting the market segment they appealed to in the first place.
Experiencing the changes first-hand was like watching a Norwegian Guido-equivalent invasion in real-time - you know what I'm talkin' about: spiky, gelled-up hair, wife-beaters or extremely tight tees, gold chains and other bling, invisible suitcases to make room for those imaginary lats, legendary tribal armband tattoos, brutal 25 cm-circumference arms, no legs ('cause only arms, shoulders and pecs are visible when they go clubbin') and the air of misguided confidence only two hours of MMA training and a "medium" Wanderlei Silva sweatshirt can give you. Of course, they're attention-starved, and roll at least deuce deep - so that they can scatter across the gym and shout slogans and "cool" phrases at each other in "Marco - Polo" fashion, thus maximizing attention/annoyance. If they're alone, they try to slam the weights as much as possible to make up for the loss of attention. Despite their need for invisible suitcases to uphold any illusion of muscle, they are often on gear - probably orals like Winnie or whichever veterinarian-grade D-bol-version they can get a hold of. Otherwise, their severe bouts of acne wouldn't be so well-coordinated with their growth spurts, yet somehow, the mass they gain disappears a few weeks after the acne clears up. In a main-stream fitness chain like SATS, this would not be tolerated, but in a half-way environment such as what our old gym became, this was becoming more and more prevalent.
The worst part was when they opened the spinning-room, 'cause when the step and spinning sessions are rockin', the guidos come a-knockin'. More specifically, the step and spinning rooms give them a pen in which to keep their girlfriends when they're not required to hover around them and compliment them on how big and strong they are when they cheat-curl the 20-kg dumbbells. As one would expect, the girlfriends are the kind of vacuous airheads who are likely to be impressed by the guidos - the platina-blond bimbos who show up in a gym with full-on make-up and push-up bras, deathly afraid of breaking a sweat as they prance around with the pink, air-filled plastic weights. Wonderful. It became increasingly clear to us that we had to look for alternative gyms.
Actually, there were other reasons as well. First, our old gym is quite a bit further away than the new one, so that means that switching gyms shortens the drive from ~15 km to ~4 km each way, which is good for the environment, saves moolah and time - muy excellente. Also, through our respective employers, we get special rates at our new gym - 3T, so the member's fee is significantly lower. The new gym has all the perks - squash courts (if one is so inclined), swimming pool, aerobics, pilates, yoga, spinning and whatnot. The weight training area is also good, with plenty of benches, machines and free weights. OK - they don't have heavy dumbbells, but according to the clerk, that's a conscious decision made to - essentially - keep the likes of me away. Still; I can work around it no problem. The air quality is excellent, there are enough treadmills, and get this - each treadmill, step machine and cycle has its own flatscreen tv. How cool is that.
Posts
2 comments:
...according to the clerk, that's a conscious decision made to keep the likes of me away...
You never take a hint, now do you?
:-)
When she pointed at me and said "we don't want the likes of you here" I assumed she meant some guy standing directly behind me.
:-)
Post a Comment