P
Pugilistic
Guest
I recently ended my membership to probably the weirdest and worst gym I've been to.
My previous gym cost about 70 bucks a month that wasn't the best, but I could deadlift and squat, which was all I wanted.
I moved in with my girlfriend and signed up at the gym she was already going to since I could work out with her and I couldn't find another gym in the area that had a squat rack and permitted deadlifts. But it came with a hefty price tag: more than twice the previous gym I was going to.
And it fucking sucked. It's a popular chain of fitness centers so it gets crowded but there's only one squat rack and one power rack and one benchpress. The rest of the gym is filled with machines and treadmills so tightly packed you barely have space to walk through the gym. You have to be constantly dodge moving bars and equipment if you want to move from what one part of the gym to another. I was afraid of hitting someone walking past while I'm squatting. This is kind of normal for my country but I expected better facilities and environment for the ridiculous price tag.
The trainers and staff were the weirdest. I'm no expert, but I think they were actively hindering their clients. Everything being so close together, it was hard for me to not overhear and see what the trainers were teaching their clients. I saw one guy explain to a guy how he has to learn how to bench press on the smith machine before moving on to the actual bench press which I never heard of before. I saw another guy teach an older client to do overhead presses behind the head on the smith machine. Doesn't this cause shoulder impingement? I saw multiple trainers teach people to half squat on the Smith machine. They seem to love the smith machine.
They also seemed to love touching their clients. I saw one guy keep a hand on his client's ass while teaching him how to squat. Not like a tap as a cue, but the whole time. With female clients, I routinely saw them stand right behind with their hands on their clients' hips to teach them how to romanian deadlift off the rack.
Maybe I'm missing something but this seems like an excuse for them to feel people up. I don't think you need a hand on your ass as a lifting cue. I'm sure most lifters learned to lift without having their trainers feel them up. Am I missing something?
This gym just had a strange vibe all around and the pricetag was ridiculous. It was the only option I had but I felt duped. I don't know if it was worth to pay all that money for a shitty gym just to squat and deadlift.
Cliffs:
Paid about 150 a month for one of the worst gyms I've been to.
Overcrowded and packed to the brim with machines and two racks where I could squat.
So little room it would be a safety liability.
Touchy creepy trainers who seem to hinder their clients either on purpose or out of their own ignorance.
My previous gym cost about 70 bucks a month that wasn't the best, but I could deadlift and squat, which was all I wanted.
I moved in with my girlfriend and signed up at the gym she was already going to since I could work out with her and I couldn't find another gym in the area that had a squat rack and permitted deadlifts. But it came with a hefty price tag: more than twice the previous gym I was going to.
And it fucking sucked. It's a popular chain of fitness centers so it gets crowded but there's only one squat rack and one power rack and one benchpress. The rest of the gym is filled with machines and treadmills so tightly packed you barely have space to walk through the gym. You have to be constantly dodge moving bars and equipment if you want to move from what one part of the gym to another. I was afraid of hitting someone walking past while I'm squatting. This is kind of normal for my country but I expected better facilities and environment for the ridiculous price tag.
The trainers and staff were the weirdest. I'm no expert, but I think they were actively hindering their clients. Everything being so close together, it was hard for me to not overhear and see what the trainers were teaching their clients. I saw one guy explain to a guy how he has to learn how to bench press on the smith machine before moving on to the actual bench press which I never heard of before. I saw another guy teach an older client to do overhead presses behind the head on the smith machine. Doesn't this cause shoulder impingement? I saw multiple trainers teach people to half squat on the Smith machine. They seem to love the smith machine.
They also seemed to love touching their clients. I saw one guy keep a hand on his client's ass while teaching him how to squat. Not like a tap as a cue, but the whole time. With female clients, I routinely saw them stand right behind with their hands on their clients' hips to teach them how to romanian deadlift off the rack.
Maybe I'm missing something but this seems like an excuse for them to feel people up. I don't think you need a hand on your ass as a lifting cue. I'm sure most lifters learned to lift without having their trainers feel them up. Am I missing something?
This gym just had a strange vibe all around and the pricetag was ridiculous. It was the only option I had but I felt duped. I don't know if it was worth to pay all that money for a shitty gym just to squat and deadlift.
Cliffs:
Paid about 150 a month for one of the worst gyms I've been to.
Overcrowded and packed to the brim with machines and two racks where I could squat.
So little room it would be a safety liability.
Touchy creepy trainers who seem to hinder their clients either on purpose or out of their own ignorance.