Most Important Aspect of a Gym

What is most important to you?

  • Free weight area

    Votes: 59 56.2%

  • Heavy lifting machines

    Votes: 9 8.6%

  • Cardio machines

    Votes: 19 18.1%

  • Classes offered and variety

    Votes: 5 4.8%

  • Co-ed

    Votes: 1 1.0%

  • Large dedicated areas

    Votes: 4 3.8%

  • Boxing / MMA stations

    Votes: 8 7.6%
  • Total voters
    105
T

tats27

0
Hello all I am a new member here and I thought this would be the best place to ask.

When you consider joining a new Gym, or what equipment to buy for your home gym, what do you consider the most important. I ask because I am trying to open a new gym in my area, and am working on getting as much feed back as possible.

Thank you in advance.
 
Free weight area, with rubber mats with bumper plates or rules that don't give a **** if I throw around weights.
 
when joining a gym, i look at how large the gym is, what type of equipment they have, and how "open" it is. i absolutely hate working out and feeling all cramped and stuffy
 
free weight area FTW :D
And yeah, dont make it crampy, at my gym, everything that has to do with free weights is cramped into a small space. And for the love of god, more than one squat rack! ;)
 
I just look for the 'tosser' factor, this seems to increase at a proportionate level to the membership prices which is good. I look out for the cafe/bar area (If it has one then I generally walk straight out), and the number of people going in couples or groups of friends.

I looked round a Holmes Place recently and it was like walking through the gates of Hell. There were tons of pretty receptionists, families with kids, a huge coffee bar, plasma screens, pool, sauna, 'spinning' room (WTF is that) and a million machines. This place was 99% social club! The section for machines and CV equipment was seriously huge, and when I said I was only really interested in the weight section she said it was pretty impressive and lead me round the corner to..... a 15' x 15' room with a few benches! What a waste of my time.
I felt like I was in the midst of a cult, all these people around me chatting to each other and doing the occasional 'set' of a thousand reps on a curl machine all wondering when they'll get their Fight Club abs. Not one of them seemingly questioning why they all looked flabby and ill.

Sorry, this is turning into a rant, to cut a long story short, all I need is a bar, a bench and a dumb bell rack and I'm happy. I don't want to go to a gym to socialise
 
List of things you need in your gym:

Rubber mats
Olympic bars
Many squat racks/athletic platforms
Bumper plates
Pretty receptionists who also work as massage therapists
 
Has to be the free weight area. And like LeiYun says, a place where no one cares if someone is grunting or screaming through a heavy lift.
 
Thnx for all the replies so far everyone. As of now Im looking at a stand alone Free weight area of around 20 x 20. After really looking at it I dont think that will be enough room will it.

The gym I have in mind will accomodate a variety of needs, Im looking into having 2 rings built, about 4-5 heavy bags + speed bags, and some wrestling mats. Where I live there is no cross breed type of gym. People either practice martial arts some where or they go to one of the college geared gyms. Im looking to give people a place to really work on whatever they want.

A few treadmills, and a bunch of jump ropes I think will be my very limited cardio section. Would you be interested in working out at a plce like this, if it met your basic needs that you look for in a gym?

Just trying to gather some opinions, any comments you guys have would be greatly appreciated.
 
I need lots of cardio bikes that I can hook up my headset to and watch TV. I also need an area with lots of light dbs and swiss balls so I can tone and do functional training. And I definately need a bar to get a latte when I'm done.

I'd definately stay away from one of those meathead gyms where guys are deadlifting heavy weight like 200 pds.
 
evolution said:
I need lots of cardio bikes that I can hook up my headset to and watch TV. I also need an area with lots of light dbs and swiss balls so I can tone and do functional training. And I definately need a bar to get a latte when I'm done.

I'd definately stay away from one of those meathead gyms where guys are deadlifting heavy weight like 200 pds.
Click to expand...

And here i thought all you needed was a "Kilt rack" or, maybe thats what the smith machine is for?
 
evolution said:
I need lots of cardio bikes that I can hook up my headset to and watch TV. I also need an area with lots of light dbs and swiss balls so I can tone and do functional training. And I definately need a bar to get a latte when I'm done.

I'd definately stay away from one of those meathead gyms where guys are deadlifting heavy weight like 200 pds.
Click to expand...

ur rite n i need those raks 2 do my bicep curls in n lots n lots of diet coke plus cuz it rulez
 
tats27 said:
Thnx for all the replies so far everyone. As of now Im looking at a stand alone Free weight area of around 20 x 20. After really looking at it I dont think that will be enough room will it.

The gym I have in mind will accomodate a variety of needs, Im looking into having 2 rings built, about 4-5 heavy bags + speed bags, and some wrestling mats. Where I live there is no cross breed type of gym. People either practice martial arts some where or they go to one of the college geared gyms. Im looking to give people a place to really work on whatever they want.

A few treadmills, and a bunch of jump ropes I think will be my very limited cardio section. Would you be interested in working out at a plce like this, if it met your basic needs that you look for in a gym?

Just trying to gather some opinions, any comments you guys have would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

of course i agree with everyone about the free weights being most important.. but in the gym i go to, there are lots of older people and inexerienced people that feel more comfortable using the machines. also, often times, there are soooo many people in the cardio area at times that it is hard to find an open treadmill or bike.. so depending on who you are catering to, a well rounded gym for everyone is always nice.
 
I totally get wanting a serious gym full of sweaty grunting men and all that. (in fact, I love sweaty grunting men ;) ) But, here's my question - if you aren't interested in classes (Spin is a bike class btw), amenities like t.v.,tanning beds,cardio equipment, wt machines, don't want to be around kids, etc etc etc. - then why not just wk out in your buddy's garage or whatever, why go to a gym at all? Get a bench, squat rack, and weights, and you're set - so why pay a memberhip at all?

My gym is probably along those lines of the kind y'all hate...
*we have a nursery for those pesky moms and their screaming ass kids,
*classes for the barbies who think they are actually learning kickboxing in their "kickboxing" class,
*lots of cardio equipment w/ flat screen tvs on them,
*10 tanning beds,
*old people shuffling around getting in the way,
*teenagers hanging out around machines all dressed up
We also have a really big free weight section full of sweaty grunting men :) - but no boxing/mma :(
oh, and the place smells good, not like a sweaty basement gym for men
 
deschain said:
I totally get wanting a serious gym full of sweaty grunting men and all that. (in fact, I love sweaty grunting men ;) ) But, here's my question - if you aren't interested in classes (Spin is a bike class btw), amenities like t.v.,tanning beds,cardio equipment, wt machines, don't want to be around kids, etc etc etc. - then why not just wk out in your buddy's garage or whatever, why go to a gym at all? Get a bench, squat rack, and weights, and you're set - so why pay a memberhip at all?

My gym is probably along those lines of the kind y'all hate...
*we have a nursery for those pesky moms and their screaming ass kids,
*classes for the barbies who think they are actually learning kickboxing in their "kickboxing" class,
*lots of cardio equipment w/ flat screen tvs on them,
*10 tanning beds,
*old people shuffling around getting in the way,
*teenagers hanging out around machines all dressed up
We also have a really big free weight section full of sweaty grunting men :) - but no boxing/mma :(
oh, and the place smells good, not like a sweaty basement gym for men
Click to expand...

My gym has all the same things you discussed, it actually made me laugh to read your list since mine sounds the same. None of that stuff bothers me, it's just a "gym for everyone". The free weights area is where you can find me 90% of the time, and it is plenty big.
 
Free weights without question. In my school's weight room, it's just that, a weight room, not a gym. So it's like 95% free weights and it's a tough place so nobody cares if you throw heavy plates and weight around. I love the hardcore gyms/weight rooms as opposed to the nice and clean, no grunting, no dropping weights, etc.


^^ That's the place where my New England Powerlifting Championship was on Saturday. It was a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY nice place and I would love to go there...but it wasn't a hardcore weight room as I'm used to. Machines galore and just...weird lol. Very nice though.
 
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deschain said:
I totally get wanting a serious gym full of sweaty grunting men and all that. (in fact, I love sweaty grunting men ;) ) But, here's my question - if you aren't interested in classes (Spin is a bike class btw), amenities like t.v.,tanning beds,cardio equipment, wt machines, don't want to be around kids, etc etc etc. - then why not just wk out in your buddy's garage or whatever, why go to a gym at all? Get a bench, squat rack, and weights, and you're set - so why pay a memberhip at all?
Click to expand...

Mainly 'cos I have a family and the only free time I have is my lunch break at work. Also, my house is too small to accomodate the size of weights I'd need (not bragging but 20kg plates take up a lot of space in a tiny house)
 
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