It has been about six months since several of us left a gym that became neutered from what the old-style gyms were like. As the chrome and fern corporate gyms began dotting the landscape, our box, while not hardcore, “tolerated” some of the serious old school training we did.

But that ended and we found a new gym, Brian Hood’s American Gym, which encompasses the widest range of training styles you’ll find in southern California. Brian has somehow found a way to put it all together and cater to us all and now we live in peace and harmony! Seriously, if you are in the area, come on by for a visit and train hard.

We found a kindred spirit in Jason Hanisak, of Hanisak Sports Performance in New Jersey. (It looks like these Jersey guys get it, ain’t that right Scott)?

In this week’s Elitefts, Weekly News and Articles, Jason posted a great article on“The Return of Hardcore”. Check it out. He makes the case for hard-core training as if the case even has to be made at all. Some people just need to be reminded.

You can get both on the internet, but in my gym, hard-core has given way to soft-core. As I have written in the past, Met-Rx has accommodated more diversity in training styles than any gym in the area. If cardio equipment is your thing, there is plenty of equipment to train with. Almost 9,000 square feet is jammed with machines to work just about every muscle in isolation. Swiss balls, med balls, cable machines and dumbbells are always in use. We have two squat racks and a safety squat rack which is what the hard-core members use for heavy squats and deadlifts and everyone else for knee raises and bicep curls. I had brought in two sets of rubber bumper plates for use in the Olympic lifts and they got plenty of use by those who knew what they were meant for.

Nothing stays the same, however. Met-Rx is now Club Z and the most hard-core of the hard-core, members of the Freak Factory, the strongman athletes, have been given their “termination” papers and I have had to remove my bumpers from the gym.

A few months ago, we all lamented the imminent closing of Met-Rx which was bailed out at the 11th hour by a member who was also a well-known bodybuilder in his day. The gym remains open under new ownership and changes are afoot designed to bring in new members, especially women, according to the new owner. He alleges the heavy lifting and dropping bumpers going on in the corner somehow intimidates and scares off those women. I don’t know which women, but none that I know!

In any age, making a gym profitable is a tough thing and this economy is making it tougher still and so changes are being made to increase the membership rolls. One of the first things done was to put out nice patio furniture outside. Why, I have no idea. The next thing was to get rid of the “extremists” who “do powerlifting”. Actually, what they do is what people have done in gyms long before the age of the shiny chrome and fern gyms of the 80’s and 90’s; they lift heavy, train hard, make some noise, drop some iron, sweat and go home.

Hardcore? Not!

They are dinosaurs though and had to become extinct to make room for more trainers and their out-of-shape clients who are needed in large numbers pay the bills to keep the joint open.

Crossfit saw this trend back in 2002 and labeled them “Globo Gyms” and “boxes” and people who wanted true fitness left the boxes in droves and never looked back.

Pretty!

What we had at Met-Rx until recently was the ideal but the ideal wasn’t bringing in revenue so the transformation will be another yet another gym for the masses.

Those of us who train “old school” have to go back to the garage until another facility opens that welcomes the type of training that really makes people strong and fit.

Steve Belanger’s Old School Garage Gym

Steve Belanger, Crossfit, hard core, Globo Gym, squats, deadlifts, strongman, powerlifting, Olympic Lifting,