Once Again, It’s Time For Change
I have been in the fitness industry since 1982 when I joined my first gym and also worked the front desk while helping members with their workouts. Gyms were much different back then. We had a full line of the original Nautilus machines, tons of free weights, dumbbells, cable machines, squat stands (not racks), a weightlifting platform, and absolutely no cardio equipment. Rock music blasted the stereo and the mirrors were always fogged up from the humidity. This was a serious bodybuilding gym where Mike and Ray Mentzer would often pop in for a workout using High Intensity Training and putting on a great show posing for us.
…I told my kettlebell class to grab a sandbag, a kettlebell, and get ready to do some TRX exercises as well. This moment changed the way me and my clients performed our workouts forever.
Fitness has changed a lot since then. Now, we hear about Crossfit, core and functional training, Tabata Intervals, and the list goes on. Gyms like LA Fitness are much different now than my first gym in 1982 and mostly a social outlet with a lot of fluff and more cardio machines than anything. I never did get a decent workout at these types of gyms.