How Would You Rate Your Gym?

There are two main factors in determining the quality of your gym…and it has NOTHING to do with the thread count of the towels. 

Several years ago, I was asked to look at a very upscale gym that recently opened in my area. The owner mentioned the cost of the equipment, the fine wood that was used to build the lockers, what local celebrities and athletes were already members, what certifications the trainers had, the special amenities were offered after the workout and yes, the thread count of the towels.

After the tour, he proudly asked for my opinion. He looked confused when I asked him if I could answer him in 15 minutes. I stood off to the side and watched for 15 minutes. I spent that time watching the trainers as they worked with their clients and those who exercised alone.

The owner was perched behind an impressive desk with the gym logo embossed on everything except the air. Backslapping photos of him with notable celebrities were on his desk and wall. “Well,” he asked? I responded with, “You built a very impressive facility…but it sucks.”

The only way to have gotten a more shocked response would have been to kick him in the nuts as I answered him. Before he could speak, I shared that his trainers cared more about socializing with clients than kicking their ass. Not one person in the gym was sweaty, out of breath or struggling to keep their last meal inside their body. The clients multi-tasked with their phones and friends while admiring themselves in the mirror. The functional equipment, which normally shows wear after little use…was pristine. People joined that gym for the status of telling people that they could afford the obscenely high membership fees…and the nice towels.

What matters most about a gym is two factors:  will you use it and is it an atmosphere that produces results? The best gyms I’ve seen, other than my private one, have been in military bases around the country. They generally have equipment that could use new paint, benches repaired with tape, not a lot of space and often smell like ass. They will have signs over the door like, “Pain is weakness leaving the body”, “Small arms repaired here”, unit crests featuring a skulls eating snakes and sadly, the photo of a fallen teammate which reminds them of why being focused and ready to take on the world is so important.They wipe up the sweat with their shirts or scratchy paper towels and diluted disinfectant. The people that train there get things done because their lives depend on it…so does yours. Buy some nice towels for home.

Train like you mean it…train often.