How much does it cost you to train?

[Dastardly]

I currently pay £2.10 ($3.13) per session and a very small yearly fee of $15 or so. To use a dingy small 80's municipal gym with one power rack, two benches, 3 bars, dip bars, pull up bar and a bunch of Iron plates. Ocassionally, somebody will let me in for free too.


I just discovered that the athletics club on the other side of my city, has an excellent training facility with 2 power racks, 3 olympic platforms with squat stands, loads of bumpers and other cool shit.

It costs £60 ($90) for annual membership to the club plus £2.50 ($3.70) per training session. This includes access to physiotherapy rooms and track/field equipment.

I might be interested to try shot put & hammer throw, but Im mainly after the weights room & also the intelligent training environment. Does this seem expensive?

Would be interested to see what others are paying so I can compare.

[Alyion]

I pay 28 quid a month for my local small independent gym (still on the student rate, despite graduating last year ;) shhhhhhhh)

Its not fantastic, 1 squat rack/1 bench/ two smith machines and an upright for presses and whatever, but sadly its the best in the area and everyone knows it - the other two consist of a crappy totalfitness and the new 'superduper' fitness club which has - i shit you not - ZERO free weights.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

30 quid /month.
I paid no joining fee, there was a promotion on when I joined.
Gym has one squat rack, two barbells (plus another one bent), one bench. No bumpers. Nowhere to chin either, I have to use the gravitron.
It's only a Tube stop from my office, a major plus in my case.

There's a Virgin Active club next door, with Technogym bars/weights and lots more space, but it's 60 pounds a month.

IPB

[Eivind]

62 USD per month for a shit commercial gym. My old gym was about 30 USD per month, and it had much more of a "train hard" feel that the one I'm at now.

Also, my new gym only has two bars, and the dumbbells only to up to 40kg. On the other hand, there are machines for absolutely every single muscle in your body and plenty of treadmills and cycles...

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

QUid?

I pay 60 a month for a globo that has bumpers. THe Barbell club is 40 a month or 5 a session.

[MazdaMatt]

I go to a Goodlife (aka globogym). I'm at a small location and I have a one-location membership (as opposed to a regional one that would allow me to go to any Goodlife in the region, or a full membership which allows any goodlife anywhere) and I pay $14cdn every 2 weeks. No yearly fee, but the first year of the membership is contract.

I used to pay 22 biweekly for an any-location membership, but the prices have gone up since.

The real cost of training is in the grocery store :)

[gzt]

210/yr. Has bumpers, strongman equipment. No air conditioning, I don't think, though. I might have to train somewhere else for a couple months.

[Braindrop]

Do I get to count my house payment? If not, training is free. Garage gym ftw.

I did spend $400 on some bumper plates recently, so I suppose that should count.

[Sami]

quid is slang of £ (pound). Like buck is for dollar. But, unlike bucks, quid never has an 's' at the end.

Anyhoo. My uni gym was free for students. But in the summer I'm going to a local commercial gym that has one power cage and at least 1 bench. They also have round plates too. Otherwise it's a normal commercial gym with jacuzzi, cardio crap, machines, classes and a tanning booth lol.

It's £30 a month.

[kfreeman]

I can train for 35 a month for a globo gym with no bumpers, one rack, 2 benches, and all the other stuff I don't want.

The CF boxes around here want 115$ a month. I can not afford that by any means. One of them told me straight up that if after paying my 115$ a month I decided not to do the WOD as the prescribed I could leave, without a refund, as they don't "allow that kind of nonsense in this gym." For the record I did explain to them I just wanted to stay out of the way and quietly do the core lifts... They still won't have any of my nonsense.

[Bergie]

Excluding buying the equipment from Craiglist it's free. In home gym and a one at work as well. (no power rack or bumpers at work)

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Kfree,

It's changing, but slowly. Give it time. Hopefully it doesn't change too much. Remember Gold's is where Ahnuld and crew used to train.

[Gary Gibson]

A little over $30/month at Orlando Barbell which is home to a powerlifting team. There's a monolift and a competition bench, but I just use the power rack and regular bench to train. The power rack is a pretty good one and it's on a platform with enough space left over to pull. Glute/ham raise and an assortment of machines and a couple treadmills in the front half of the gym. There are a full set of bumpers by the platform, but there's really not enough room to clean, jerk or snatch without worry about killing yourself or someone else if things go wrong.

It costs me about $4 in gas round trip, however, so that comes out to an extra $50/month or so. When I was in downtown Baltimore last year, the Merritt Athletic Club cost ~$80/month, but I could walk to it in under ten minutes from work or from my apartment. They also had a converted racquetball room for Oly lifting with honest to god weightlifters, another room full of boxing bags, a big basketball court, an indoor track, pool, whirlpool, sauna, lounge, etc. Shitty power rack in the free weight area, but a decent squat rack. Never really did take advantage of anything besides the free weight area.

[homerj742]

That baltimore gym sounds awesome.

I pay $40/mo at a NYSC. It's not ideal, but I make due.

[51M0n]

$65 AUD a month, gym has a dedicated powerlifting room with multiple power-racks, mono-lift, benches as well as bands and chains. Only thing it doesn't have is a weightlifting platform or bumper-plates.

[TrackJunkie]

I paid something like 50-60 dollars for training through the summer at my uni gym. I don't think the second floor ever opens in the summer, but the first floor alone has five power racks, 4 flat benches, a decline, an incline, along with a separate area filled with dumbbells and bumper plates.
Of course, this ignores the various machines, cable towers, ab stations and all that.

[MazdaMatt]

I'm considering switching gyms, actually... I could pay the exact same amount at a different gym that is owned by a guy that placed 3rd in the oly weightlifting worlds in Aus a few years back (not the olympics).

My only hesitation is that wifey doesn't like the idea of that gym and it is just easier to have us both attend the same gym... i may try to do some convincing, however.

[LondonTiger]

Gym fees are negligiable if you compare the cost of living in the UK like rent, car payments, food etc.

By far the biggest cost of training is food, high protein, expensive food costs £10 to £20 a day for me.

I have a home gym, although I've spent near £1000 for my gym, shoes, belts, and other gear.. I count those as things which will eventually get abosrbed as a typical gym membership in 2-3 years time.

[Dastardly]

How your home gym doing tigger?

Is that £1000 just for your lifting gear or having you spent some money on levelling the floor & such?

[TomF]

Home gym - depreciate the cost of 2 Pendlay bars, about 600 pounds of iron, a home-built squat rack and bench. We've had that much equipment now for about 3 years. With 4 of us training off and on, it probably works out to less than $5/month per person.

Occasional coaching sessions with a friend who runs a local gym ... who I'd love to train with, if funds permitted.

[gordonrumble]

60/month, CAD. Add to that the cost of extra food, gas etc and I'm probably looking at 1.5k/year.

[MazdaMatt]

you're getting hosed! Where the hell are you paying 60cdn/mo?

[Koalala]

You could almost state that the cheaper a gym is the better it is for serious trainees.

[MazdaMatt]

That does seem to be what I've noticed. There's nothing expensive about doing things that make you strong. LCD tv's, huge multi-feature treadmills, commercial isolation machines, bright lighting, big sound systems, cranked air conditioning... these are what's expensive in a gym.

[sergeant_81]

Ok, I'll admit, I'm on the high end. I'm paying $125 a month to an o-lifting coach for his instruction. However, he's working out of a Crossfit gym and is at the mercy of the gym's owner, so I imagine a substantial portion of that is for use of the gym owner's space. I'm not sure what the true financial set-up is, so the above is merely conjecture.

However, based on the marked improvement in my snatch and C&J technique in a mere five sessions, and that I have a U.S. National Team coach who spent significant time behind the Iron Curtain with the Soviets (he's Cuban) and has been doing this for 30 years, I feel I'm getting every penny's worth.

[MazdaMatt]

Considering training with my local oly lifter (not a renowned coach, just a world-class lifter) is $30 per session on top of gym dues, that's not too freakin bad!

[Gary Gibson]

Ok, I'll admit, I'm on the high end. I'm paying $125 a month to an o-lifting coach for his instruction. However, he's working out of a Crossfit gym and is at the mercy of the gym's owner, so I imagine a substantial portion of that is for use of the gym owner's space. I'm not sure what the true financial set-up is, so the above is merely conjecture.

However, based on the marked improvement in my snatch and C&J technique in a mere five sessions, and that I have a U.S. National Team coach who spent significant time behind the Iron Curtain with the Soviets (he's Cuban) and has been doing this for 30 years, I feel I'm getting every penny's worth.

I'd say that $100 is going straight into Couch's gin fund.

[TomF]

That does seem to be what I've noticed. There's nothing expensive about doing things that make you strong. LCD tv's, huge multi-feature treadmills, commercial isolation machines, bright lighting, big sound systems, cranked air conditioning... these are what's expensive in a gym.And very occasionally, high-quality coaches.

Our local CrossFit gym runs an unapologetically strength-biased program ... the husband/wife owners have about 13 provincial and national powerlifting records between them. They're first-rate coaches, turning out really good athletes across a bunch of disciplines, spending a lot of 1-on-1 time in each session. Top grade equipment in the gym too, from the bars to the bumpers to the racks etc.

Unlimited access to this costs $125/month for the first family member, $100 each for other family members. It's a shitload of money, which is why I don't train there.

But that's dirt cheap coaching, compared with what I've paid in other disciplines for similar quality. Back in the '80s, I was paying $60/hr in music lessons, to study with the top opera and cello teachers in moderately large cities.

If my older son decides he really wants to train to be on the Provincial rowing team, he'll need the kind of motivation and technical strength/conditioning work that I can't give him. Some of that will come from the rowing club's coaches ... but he'd get an enormous boost from training at our local CF gym too. And the coaching price would be a comparative steal.

[LimieJosh]

A puppy gets cancer every time someone says "box" when they mean "gym"

[ILiftAlone]

My gym is a blessing. $20/month with student discount. I didnt even have my school id when I signed up, but the manager is a cool dude and took my word for it. Im getting my garage set up to train in just because it will save me a shit load of time during busy school and work periods with not having to drive back and forth.

Did I mention they have 3 squat racks? Did I also mention they have bumper plates? Did I also mention its cheap as dirt and never crowded? I guess I kind of mentioned that one...

[sergeant_81]

I'd say that $100 is going straight into Couch's gin fund.

I look at it as subsidizing further drunken ramblings for our comedic benefit, and to keep the couch thread alive :D

[gzt]

better: keeping wildgorillaman.blogspot.com alive.

[ILiftAlone]

better: keeping wildgorillaman.blogspot.com alive.

Just found that about an hour ago. Not to shabby.

[Santisua]

I paid something like 50-60 dollars for training through the summer at my uni gym. I don't think the second floor ever opens in the summer, but the first floor alone has five power racks, 4 flat benches, a decline, an incline, along with a separate area filled with dumbbells and bumper plates.
Of course, this ignores the various machines, cable towers, ab stations and all that.

Where do you go??? I go to UDEL(University of Delaware) and the gym has NO bumpers(or things that really don't work well as bumpers). No power rack(2 hammer strength lame ass half racks) and 1 platform(which has those questionable bumper plates)

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

GZT = gorilla jesus ?

[gzt]

I'm not that cool. Though he's Canadian, and we know what that means.

[TomC]

I don't understand how gyms stay afloat by charging $30 a month.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

TOm,

Lots of people who don't show up

[gzt]

And when you have all the equipment, you're mostly paying rent, insurance, and utilities. Might not cost much.

[Guido]

TOm,

Lots of people who don't show up

True. For every person that's there, there's probably 3 or 4 who aren't there but who are paying the membership fee.

I pay around $30/month to use the university's gym by me. That gives me access to three gyms and all campus rec facilities (including the ice arena, pools, etc.). Not a bad deal and it has all the equipment I need for powerlifting and weighlifting. I just wish the staff knew WTF they were doing.

[Calle]

I'm training for free at an o-lifting gym, coaching and awesome equipment included. I am however required to compete a min. of two times a year.

[Marotta]

Gonna be $39 CAD/month until September, but then I go to university and it's free.

Oh and it's a Big chain gym so there will be lots of stories for the "joined a new gym last night..." thread

[aussieluke]

25 quid a month. Would be 20 if I signed up for a year but I pay more for the option to quit when I need to (moving later this year). It wouldv'e been 200 quid cash for 12 months up front!

Gym has: iron, bars, squat rack, power rack, benches, deadlift platforms, dip bars, ab benches, roman chair, dozens of dumbbells up to 100kg, log, fat bars, axles (with car wheels and tyres), atlas stones and loading platforms, loud heavy metal, chalk is fine, cleaning up is discouraged, and dropping weights is encouraged (yes iron weights). There is also a load of bodybuilding machines and a smith.

Oh and outside: another loading platform, kegs, stones, boulders, tyres, another log bar, farmers bars, prowler, conans wheel, Viking press, and a yoke.

and it is across the road from my office.

[Sami]

25 quid a month. Would be 20 if I signed up for a year but I pay more for the option to quit when I need to (moving later this year). It wouldv'e been 200 quid cash for 12 months up front!

Gym has: iron, bars, squat rack, power rack, benches, deadlift platforms, dip bars, ab benches, roman chair, dozens of dumbbells up to 100kg, log, fat bars, axles (with car wheels and tyres), atlas stones and loading platforms, loud heavy metal, chalk is fine, cleaning up is discouraged, and dropping weights is encouraged (yes iron weights). There is also a load of bodybuilding machines and a smith.

Oh and outside: another loading platform, kegs, stones, boulders, tyres, another log bar, farmers bars, prowler, conans wheel, Viking press, and a yoke.

and it is across the road from my office.

Where's this?

[fnet]

Most of my equipment is bought and paid for. I train in my basement. No dues, no gas. Hopefully, it will more than pay for itself after several years of training. Food is my only continual expense. Here is what I've spent so far:

Used Rack and 525lbs weights - $350 USD
Used Bench - $100, Cinder blocks for feet - $5
2-25lb and 2-45lb Bumpers $200
Large washers for micro loading - $20
Used GHD - $80
Used Texas Power Bar - $120
80 lb heavy bag
Bands of various widths - Probably around $100
Plywood & mats - I don't remember the cost - $50?
Duffle bags, sand, and contractor bags for home made sand bags - $25
Lashing straps & scrap PVC for blast straps - $15
Chuck Taylors - $40. No weightlifting shoes. Not in the budget yet.
Chalk - I ordered a case a couple years ago. Not sure what I paid.
Belt - $35
Cheap wrist, Knee and Elbow sleeves - Again, I've had them at least a couple years and - $30?
Log book - $1
SS and PP - $50

[aussieluke]

Where's this?

Swindon

[Greg C]

I currently pay .... nada. Gym in my garage. Up front equipment cost for rack, bumpers and bar was about $900, but this gear should be good for life (I've dropped some additional $ on other stuff like my C2 before and after this).

[squatyourface]

35 a month. 1 power cage, 6 squat racks, 7 benches, 2 platforms but no bumpers- but I just fucken drop shit on it anyway- fuck them. Also access to all gyms in town.

[Kyle Aaron]

Currently my gym is my garage, just a barbell, dumbells and plates, with a chinning bar. That's enough for now.

In the past I've joined community gyms, always within walking distance, they usually charge A$50-$60 a month. This is about what a personal trainer gets paid for an hour's session, by the way.


I don't understand how gyms stay afloat by charging $30 a month.
An article by Rip (http://startingstrength.com/articles/incremental_increases_rippetoe.pdf) in which he promotes barbell training as a way to improve the chances of people sticking around mentions that,

"The typical new gym member comes three of four times on schedule, misses the next two workouts, comes one more time, and then never comes back."
Of course, in a mainstream gym this person has contracted to paying membership for 12-24 months. So at $30/month that's $360-$720 they're paying - for 4-5 sessions. Thus they are in practice paying $72-$180 per session. I don't think this is a uniquely US thing, either, I've seen it in gyms here in Australia, and it matches what other trainers and coaches have told me.

Here they usually express it as, 75% of new gym members never go after the first month, and 90% after the first 3 months. And they certainly didn't go 3 times a week for those 3 months and then just suddenly stop. They drifted in and out as Rip describes. So they don't take up much equipment or staff time.

Just think of it this way, if everyone came regularly, the gyms would charge per session. They lock you into a monthly fee for 12-24 months because they expect you to quit.

Anyway, each regular at a gym is subsidised by 9 other members. Most people aren't gym members, they're gym sponsors. Without them, that $30/month gym would charge $300/month.

[Gary Gibson]

Just think of it this way, if everyone came regularly, the gyms would charge per session. They lock you into a monthly fee for 12-24 months because they expect you to quit.

Anyway, each regular at a gym is subsidised by 9 other members. Most people aren't gym members, they're gym sponsors. Without them, that $30/month gym would charge $300/month.

Needed to be posted again for emphasis.

[Smack]

I pay 132 pounds per year. For that I get 4 power racks each with platforms, Eleiko training bars and bumper plates, and I'm allowed to use chalk etc. Sadly the dumbbells only go up to 45kg and the benches aren't up to much, but it's got plyo boxes as well, and tonnes of hot chicks.

Damn, I loved government subsidised university gyms!

[TrackJunkie]

132 british pounds, per SESSION?

[Sami]

lol, no. typo somewhere. Nothing in Scotland costs more than £12, and that's usually for furniture.

[Dastardly]

.... and tonnes of hot chicks.




Pics or GTFO ;-)

[Gwynn]

Even though I live in the expensive SF Bay Area I pay $30/mo. No contract. It's a really really really old gym. Five or six bars, 1 power cage (always free except for the occasional curler) 1 squat rack, chinup and dip bars, but no bumpers. No one cares about my chalk or that I lower my deadlifts a little loudly. Everything there is super old. The rowing machine I use to warm up is permanently on "5" because the little plastic thing where you change the setting broke off (several months ago). The hot tub in the women's room's been broken for a year and the sauna never really heats up past 120 or so. I like it there anyway. Everyone there's pretty chill and I almost never have to wait to train. To bad I'm the only one (to my knowledge) that squats past 1/4, deadlifts more than 135, or presses at all. Lots of folks there bench, of course. Amusingly enough, I got told off there the other day by a butch granny when I invited her to work in with me on my bench. "I hate that!" she says to me. Then she goes and benches around 65 for reps.

[TTT]

$0 to train.
a while ago I got this for $100 (it was white with some surface rust)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d158/T_TT/IMG_0339.jpg

then bought these for about $600 (including the bar in the top pic)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d158/T_TT/IMG_0338.jpg


so now it's free.

I share the gym with 2 other chicks who are all over me every time I'm there...
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d158/T_TT/SNC00059.jpg

[Dastardly]

Close, TTT but you failed at the last hurdle. Wouldve been perfect if your wrote;


I share the gym with these two bitches who are all over me every time I'm there...

[TTT]

I typed it, but felt bad calling my girls bitches.. lol

[jonesjitter]

It was around $620 to become a member, then around $90 per month. That however, is for both me and my wife. I think the price is the same if you are single though.

[bob g]

We're very fortunate here. I train at the local high school. It's free for residents. The gym was set up by a coach with a power lifting background: four Oly decks extending from power racks, five or six full sets of bumpers, six high spin bars and ten standard ones, four fancy bench rigs with integrated, adjustable benches, a GHD gizmo, and a Smith thingy plus a leg sled to hang towels on. You can drop shit all day long, but I'm the only one I've ever seen do it. There's a separate room for the ellipto/cardio cruisers and the small basketball gym is almost always open. The whole deal is a mile away. Pretty sweet.

[Monster]

Garage gym.

$1000 setup, $0 dues & gas, no driving time.

[Smack]

132 british pounds, per SESSION?

:o

Per year. No idea why I typed session, the post was made at 2:04pm so I don't have the tired excuse. My bad.

[Moving_Target]

I'm working out of my basement and the 300lb weight set w/cheap bar was about $500. I've bought a 2nd pair of 10lb and 45lb plates so I'm something north of $600 for the iron. The rest of my setup is mickymouse'd but if I average what I've bought over the workouts I've done, it's about $13-14/workout and dropping (a bit of a fudge factor because I've missed a few workouts). Big woop. It beats driving to the even more dinky but free "gym" I was doing workouts at (the weight area only had 3 benches, dumbbells up to 75lbs and a chin-up bar) before buying my own bar/plates.

[Smiler Grogan]

I work for a company that has 25 one-off gyms in the area, one of which I manage. So I get paid salary plus 70% of personal training revenue to have access to 25 gyms 24/7, and work out and train others on the clock. Booya.

[BrotherIron]

I pay nothing to train at Coffee's Gym. My wife lifts for John and he has taken an interest in me as well so we both get to train there for free. We even have a key to come and go as we please.

[NolanPower]

My Gym history looks like this:

Powerlifting gym in basement of church - 3 racks, 2 benches, dl platform, dumbbells to 100, GHR, great atmosphere - Free

Basement gym - deadlift platform, squat rack, homemade reverse hyper, bench, crappy bars that eventually got bent when me and my brother got too strong, so we could eventually only use it for bench workouts - Free Parents also bought equipment

Rutgers University Various Gyms - all let me use chalk, had bench/racks no platforms - free with being a student

Rutgers Power Gym - 5 oly platforms w/ comp bars/bumpers, 1 excellent non olympic bar, three benches in the attached fitness area for benching - free with being a student and pretty good coaching

YMCA - allowed chalk, 1 squat rack, 1 deadlift platform tucked away in a corner where only I ever was - 50$/Month

Baltimore gym Gary described - current - 69$/month

Sometimes go to the local crossfit which is extremely strength based in what they practice/preach so I go there to help out the owner who will have his first powerlifting meet in 2 weeks. - free for me to come by and help out, 170$/Month regular membership

[ColoWayno]

I pay nothing to train at Coffee's Gym. My wife lifts for John and he has taken an interest in me as well so we both get to train there for free. We even have a key to come and go as we please.

That's awesome!

I've had a family membership at the YMCA next door to my house for 10+ years. I've been using it in the Winter when it's too cold in the garage. I think it's something like 90 bucks a month. It was probably a good deal when my kids were younger, but probably not anymore.

I invested in a propane heater for my garage (and a Co2 detector!). We were running that for about 20 minutes before workouts, then switching to an electrical (worthless) heater. My 4 sons were all working out with me over the holidays. We had workouts that fell on Christmas day and New Years days that I remember being so cold you could see your breath.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

I invested in a propane heater for my garage (and a Co2 detector!). We were running that for about 20 minutes before workouts, then switching to an electrical (worthless) heater. My 4 sons were all working out with me over the holidays. We had workouts that fell on Christmas day and New Years days that I remember being so cold you could see your breath.

Heh. Been there, although I am too stubborn/dumb to have purchased a heater yet. I did take someone's excellent advice to store my bar indoors and bring it out when I lift. It was so fuckin' cold out there...I had long underwear, expedition-weight long underwear bottoms over that, a Smartwool top, T-shirt, fleece pullover, and a puffy jacket for wearing between sets, and of course a beanie on my shaved head. Felt good to be grinding it out in the cold, though--very kung fu!

[ColoWayno]

I did take someone's excellent advice to store my bar indoors and bring it out when I lift.

Yep, did the same to keep our hands from freezing.

[Moving_Target]

Heh. Been there, although I am too stubborn/dumb to have purchased a heater yet. I did take someone's excellent advice to store my bar indoors and bring it out when I lift. It was so fuckin' cold out there...I had long underwear, expedition-weight long underwear bottoms over that, a Smartwool top, T-shirt, fleece pullover, and a puffy jacket for wearing between sets, and of course a beanie on my shaved head. Felt good to be grinding it out in the cold, though--very kung fu!

That is just sick but I like the attitude.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

That is just sick but I like the attitude.

Thanks! I wonder if I would still be grinding it out in the garage with no heater if I was in Saskatchewan, though. Methinks maybe not!

[Moving_Target]

I can speak for myself and say most assuredly, not. I might consider it if I get some heat and a floor in my garage but until then, I'll stick to my basement. ;)

[TomF]

I can speak for myself and say most assuredly, not. I might consider it if I get some heat and a floor in my garage but until then, I'll stick to my basement. ;)Yep. I have evil memories of my years in northern Alberta, where a few weeks of the temp never going above -30 wasn't uncommon. God help the poor bastard who felt the need to power-clean in the unheated garage and put his hands on that bar.

I'm in a milder Canadian climate now, in the Maritimes ... but bare hands on a bar in an unheated garage still doesn't work for me.

[Dastardly]

I currently pay £2.10 ($3.13) per session and a very small yearly fee of $15 or so. To use a dingy small 80's municipal gym with one power rack, two benches, 3 bars, dip bars, pull up bar and a bunch of Iron plates. Ocassionally, somebody will let me in for free too.


I just discovered that the athletics club on the other side of my city, has an excellent training facility with 2 power racks, 3 olympic platforms with squat stands, loads of bumpers and other cool shit.

It costs £60 ($90) for annual membership to the club plus £2.50 ($3.70) per training session. This includes access to physiotherapy rooms and track/field equipment.

I might be interested to try shot put & hammer throw, but Im mainly after the weights room & also the intelligent training environment. Does this seem expensive?

Would be interested to see what others are paying so I can compare.

This whole deal turned out to be a massive error on my part. The training centre I described is only available to to elite trainees registered with UK athletics. Which is fucking stupid, as ive never seen more than one person in there at a time. The centre has what is probably the one of the best setups in the UK, yet almost no one gets to use it.

I have recently been using cheap gym, £8.99 (about $15) for the whole month, but it fucking sucks. Really irregular opening times, horrible squat rack facing a mirror. Bent or non rotating bars. Little/no space for deadlifts and being forced to carry plates across gym and put them back again. No plates smaller than 5kg. 1 flat bench, totally shit. The place is really pissing me off, and I think I am about ready to fork out on one of the horrendously expensive but much better facilities based at one of the city's universities. The thing putting me off is the 12 month minimum contract and having to pay £280 up front. £24 per month is a pretty lousy price considering a 12 month commitment. There is also no way to freeze membership, so if I go travelling (which I hope to do) it will get wasted.

[John2336]

There's four different gyms to choose from on my base, all of which are free if you don't want to count the cost of joing the service...

One of them is total shit- all machines and racquet ball courts (this is officially considered the Officers gym). Two have a good number of free weights and racks, but are loaded with brahs. The newest one is completely dedicated to Crossfit, and is loaded with pull up bars, jump boxes, bumper plates, racks and platforms. Guess which one I'm going to work out at when I get back?

The only problem with working out on base is that theres 30,000 Marines stationed there, half of whom are forced to go to the gym every morning as PT. This leads to a lot of sleepy looking guys who stayed up all night playing video games, and have no interest in doing anything but getting in the way.

I'm going to work out at the crossfit type place for a while, and then build myself a power rack once I replace the gun and hose on my welder. Already saving up for another Pendlay bar. I can't believe I sold my last one. I can be such a dumbass.

One major drawback to working out on base- The only women who show up are of the variety we like to call "manbearpigs." Oh well, if I wanted eye candy I should have joined the Air Force. I'm still trying to figure out why I have to shave everyday, but female Marines who have more facial hair then me never have to...

[drewcarroll2]

there's four different gyms to choose from on my base, all of which are free if you don't want to count the cost of joing the service...



lo fucking l

Also, I thought all marines were dudes. Weird.....Oh, the Air Force lacks good looking women, so if that is why you decide to join the AF you will be sadly mistaken. Navy is by far the worst though.

[Squatson]

For the price of the mirrors at my Globo Gym you could buy everything at Greyskull. Seriously...there must be at least 5 grand worth of mirrors in that place. It's crazy how much cheaper useful equipment is compared to machine lines. The gym has 2 full nautilus lines...gotta be over 100k. 5 grand a pop for every piece of cardio equipment (prolly 30+) You could open 10 very well equipped barbell clubs for the price of one Globo.

[TomC]

£24 per month is a pretty lousy price considering a 12 month commitment.

What in the hell are you talking about? That's about $37 a month. That is nothing short of a deal for a good gym.

[DCP]

i paid 300 for 24 months at 24 hour fitness so like 12.50 a month to use any of their gyms across the country. hooray for costco deals. the one i go to is located underground and barely anyone goes there. the squat rack is in the corner and always empty for me. in fact i have started using my pen to draw marks on the ground for proper foot placement because i feel like i own that shit now.

[Dragar]

$600 aussie per year, council gym. One squat rack, normally empty. Plenty of bars and benches, no platforms or bumpers. Major plus is I can walk there from home, and that's pretty cheap for a gym in Perth these days

[Pjotor]

Training at home, so no running costs involved.

[RobE]

£35 a month for the "Sports Village" in sunny Aberdeen.
3 Racks, 5 Platforms and loads of bars/bumpers so I'm not complaining.

Add to that about £100 extra a month for food/whey and that's about it.

[cannibal.horse]

My gym will cost around $5K by the time its done.

Next week I get a full commercial rack, a flat bench, an incline bench, a mid priced bar (ABC), an adjustable dumbbell that goes to 70kg, a dipping attachment, an ez curl bar, V handle attachment, prowler and 300kg of rubber plates. With this I can do most of the stuff in a commercial gym.

With this I should be able to do most of the stuff in a commercial gym. In the future I might build a platform, a heavy duty commercial incline bench and have all the plates replaced for metals (along with dumbells that can adjust to 140kg) but this is a pretty big investment I dont know if I will make. Training westside (of no interest to me) with bands, chains, boards, a couple of different bar types and a GHR would probs cost $2K again.

This hobby aint cheap.

[Dixen]

My gym history:

Shitness World - Utter crap. Generic run of the mill globo shit. Only had 11 kg barbells, wtf? Price: 35$ a month

Weightlifting gym - Awesome place. Located in the basement underneath a track and field stadium. Six platforms, loads of bumpers, lots of chalk. You only had to get out of the way tuesday and thursday evening because of weightlifting coaching. Price: 10$ a month

NAU Rec center - Shit gym. Totally crowded with bros and skinny ass dudes doing wrist curls all day long. Price: free

CrossFit gym: Started doing the CF shit, quickly found out that I did notwant any of it, but stayed in the gym as the owners and the folks coming there are very cool. Loads of bars and bumpers, and they have a pretty big open gym area. I'm still a member even though I'm only in town on weekends. Price: 50$ a month

Military base gym: Current. Small ass gym. Got some Eleiko equipment, but no bumpers and platforms. Got one powerrack and a decent bench. Plates are some ridiculous iron plates that are smaller than standard diameter. No chalk allowed, so had to get me some strapZ... Mostly skinny ass drafted mamas boys who do nothing but weird ass cable stuff. Price: 3$ a month...

[John2336]

lo fucking l

Also, I thought all marines were dudes. Weird.....Oh, the Air Force lacks good looking women, so if that is why you decide to join the AF you will be sadly mistaken. Navy is by far the worst though.

Nope, About 1 in 20 Marines have a vagina. Although sometimes you have to look twice to be able to guess the gender. They are stuck in non combat roles and generally leave the service early due to pregnancy. They can be good for morale around the barracks though, as long as the prostitution ring doesn't get broken up by the MP's too soon. I wish I were kidding.

[Dastardly]

Supply & Demand.

[John2336]

Supply & Demand.

You got it! We attract female entrepreneurs.

[Bjomas]

50 dollars each year

[skeletor121]

There's four different gyms to choose from on my base, all of which are free if you don't want to count the cost of joing the service......


Same here, although I'm in the Coast Gaurd and only have 1 gym


One of them is total shit- all machines and racquet ball courts (this is officially considered the Officers gym).

FU. I work out in the real area of our gym.

I work at HQ in DC. One gym, free but has limited gear. Luckily I go first thing in the morning while most of the others (that actually use the gym) go around lunch. A few pullup bars, 1 platform, 1 rack, bumpers (plenty to do my DLs with, currently at 325lb), and even more octagonal plates. There are also a bunch of machines and cardio equipment in the gym, so it is cramped. There is also a crossfit area located outside. Only competition are those who want to look into the mirrors while working out: platform and rack are right by the mirrors. At least they don't face the mirrors (perpendicular), just the only "clear" area to view oneself working out. Never really had to wait for someone actually doing squats or DLs, except when one guy was working out with me (he was a lot stronger and better trained than I, but he transferred).

[Dastardly]

Are many people here training with hex plates? I am thinking of joining a place which seems reasonable, but it only has hex plates.

[utexas61]

Are many people here training with hex plates? I am thinking of joining a place which seems reasonable, but it only has hex plates.

Hex plates are the fucking suck, but that is all I have to work with at the 24 HRs I got to...but I paid $649 for any gym in the country for 3 years, and now I am only paying like $20 a year to keep the membership going. The ones I go to also both have 2 power racks, and I usually never have any problems getting my squats and deads done.

For dead lifts, a "trick" I have found is to put those 1/2 inch sit up pads or whatever they are called underneath your plates on both sides. Helps you straighten the bar easier when the weight is on the ground.

[Carnivroar]

I use my campus gym, so it's "free" but I'm sure everyone is charged some fee for it in their tuition.

[Evan]

170,000 Korean Won for three months. Works out to about $50 USD a month here at my gym in Seoul.

[TomC]

They can be good for morale around the barracks though, as long as the prostitution ring doesn't get broken up by the MP's too soon. I wish I were kidding.

Really? That's craziness.

[Dastardly]

Really? That's craziness.

Seems logical to me. I would probably whore myself too if the genders were reversed (a minority male in a majority female military). I can see issues arising on how to manage it though to make sure these women dont get abused/ripped off. There must be other officers acting as "pimps".

[Bahadur]

I can train for 35 a month for a globo gym with no bumpers, one rack, 2 benches, and all the other stuff I don't want.

The CF boxes around here want 115$ a month. I can not afford that by any means. One of them told me straight up that if after paying my 115$ a month I decided not to do the WOD as the prescribed I could leave, without a refund, as they don't "allow that kind of nonsense in this gym." For the record I did explain to them I just wanted to stay out of the way and quietly do the core lifts... They still won't have any of my nonsense.

And yet people are incredulous as to how and why anyone can hate Crossfit....

[slowjoe]

And yet people are incredulous as to how and why anyone can hate Crossfit....

I first picked up a barbell because of Crossfit. Eventually, I left because of an arrogant asshole. But that's by-the-by. Anyone who hates Crossfit is foolish, wasting energy and brain cycles.

In terms of the military, Crossfit is the most likely way sane PT is likely to be introduced. And that will save lives. It isn't perfect, and it's scarily cult-like, but it's better than globo-gyms and machines.

[Bahadur]

I first picked up a barbell because of Crossfit. Eventually, I left because of an arrogant asshole. But that's by-the-by. Anyone who hates Crossfit is foolish, wasting energy and brain cycles.

In terms of the military, Crossfit is the most likely way sane PT is likely to be introduced. And that will save lives. It isn't perfect, and it's scarily cult-like, but it's better than globo-gyms and machines.

I'll give you that. But the arrogance that they display does turn off a lot of people. That and the "Crossfit [insert city]: I raped your mom" or some such 'badass' T-shirts strike me as immature.

[slowjoe]

I'll give you that. But the arrogance that they display does turn off a lot of people. That and the "Crossfit [insert city]: I raped your mom" or some such 'badass' T-shirts strike me as immature.

An asshole is an asshole, whatever his fitness program. You gonna blame Rip for the dumbest shit on this board?

You can't even complain in the example above. They have a space that they're selling a type of access to. "Won't cater to my needs" ain't the same as "evil".

[Marotta]

I first picked up a barbell because of Crossfit. Eventually, I left because of an arrogant asshole. But that's by-the-by. Anyone who hates Crossfit is foolish, wasting energy and brain cycles.

In terms of the military, Crossfit is the most likely way sane PT is likely to be introduced. And that will save lives. It isn't perfect, and it's scarily cult-like, but it's better than globo-gyms and machines.

I don't hate crossfit. I hate crossfit people.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

I don't hate crossfit. I hate crossfit people.

CrossFit doesn't hate people, CrossFit people hate...wait, what?

[stronger]

I'll give you that. But the arrogance that they display does turn off a lot of people. That and the "Crossfit [insert city]: I raped your mom" or some such 'badass' T-shirts strike me as immature.

Of course they're immature, and they console themselves to sleep at night with the knowledge that their training is "functional"

[Marotta]

I'll give you that. But the arrogance that they display does turn off a lot of people. That and the "Crossfit [insert city]: I raped your mom" or some such 'badass' T-shirts strike me as immature.

Still beats TAPOUT shirts.

[gzt]

An asshole is an asshole, whatever his fitness program. You gonna blame Rip for the dumbest shit on this board?

You can't even complain in the example above. They have a space that they're selling a type of access to. "Won't cater to my needs" ain't the same as "evil".
No, but Crossfit (TM) sucks across broad time and modal domains. Broad time and modal domains! Broad time and modal domains! It's only marketing. It's all marketing. Across broad time and modal domains.

[Bahadur]

An asshole is an asshole, whatever his fitness program. You gonna blame Rip for the dumbest shit on this board?

You can't even complain in the example above. They have a space that they're selling a type of access to. "Won't cater to my needs" ain't the same as "evil".

Agreed. Assholes are everywhere. And I'm sure the vast majority of Crossfitters aren't assholes but nice folks. But I regarding the shirts, they aren't meant to be used within the confines of a 'box'; their intent is to notify the world that a genuine fucking certified hard-ass is around.
(I should qualify further as to not hurt anyone's feelings; I am referring to the hardass shirts; there are some CF shirts that just proclaim the 'box' that one is 'affiliated' with)

Ditto for the TapOut! shirts. Their 'intent' is to let everyone know that "I follow MMA, therefore, I am a mean motherfucker".

Ah hell, perhaps I read too much into things...

[skeletor121]

I first picked up a barbell because of Crossfit.

Me too, although I left because I was noticing back issues due to loss of form to ensure I got a good time. Stopped doing Crossfit and started SS. Here it isn't cultish and I talk to the people who still do it. They want me to come out and workout with them since we workout at the same time, but I'm not gonna do it unless they want help with form.

[cyhulhupun]

I think it has cost me under $2k, probably closer to $1k. I scoured Craigslist, picked up things from friends, and made some things myself. I can do just about any workout I want. I used to have it outside but the mosquitoes in Florida are killer. No I have it in my back room (which did require laying down a double layer of plywood and mats). The only thing I'm missing is a tractor tire.

[JM3]

[QUOTE=slowjoe;163370]An asshole is an asshole, whatever his fitness program. You gonna blame Rip for the dumbest shit on this board?


Except that you can blame the Glassmans for the bullshit on their boards and in their boxes- because they foment it.
Rip and minions just opine, dont care what people think and Rip stays out of the way on any subject aside from something pertaining to his books- in fact- I only once saw him jump into a music discussion and his fans told him to shut up and he pretty much abdicated- thats a cool guy- asshole remarks here arent codified into some kind of canon... is all about being spontaneous and fun. Also- over here people manage to be both abusive and respectful - its just not heavy.
Over there its all self serious- over many time and modal domains of course...

[Guido]

The university gym I train at is $380 per year, so just over $30 per month. That lets you use all the campus rec facilities, including both gyms, the pools, ice arena for skating, etc. Not a bad deal and they have decent equipment including about 5 power racks, two platforms, kilo plates, bumper plates, etc.

[BrotherIron]

I'm going to be joining another gym to replace Coffees so we'll have to wait and see. The gym opens Oct 1st and it caters to all different strength athletes. I believe the rate is $50/month and it's 24/7 access.

[Regin Smidur]

I train in my parents garage with a power rack, barbell and plates my dad bought almost 2 decades ago. So I pay 0$ having invested 0$. I'm going buy some new stuff while I can still afford too (paying no rent as I am) and get a squat rack from rogue fitness and the R&B Bar. Shouldn't cost me more then 1000 dollars all together.

[Peter_k]

I pay about $60 a month. Paid around $75 at my old gym, which was a lot nicer.

Of course this is heresy around here, but I think all other things being equal (e.g number of power racks, barbells, and presence or absence of bumper plates) you might as well pay a bit more to go to a nice gym if you have the money.

My old gym was big, air-conditioned and spotlessly clean. It wasn't ever crowded and had a well-to-do clientele. I'll take it.

The way I see it, gym douchebags are a major factor. In most gyms you have to share the equipment you want (like the squat racks) and having people with decent manners is a big thing.

[drewcarroll2]

I train in my parents garage with a power rack, barbell and plates my dad bought almost 2 decades ago. So I pay 0$ having invested 0$. I'm going buy some new stuff while I can still afford too (paying no rent as I am) and get a squat rack from rogue fitness and the R&B Bar. Shouldn't cost me more then 1000 dollars all together.

Your dad sounds like a cool dude. Having a power rack and everything. I am going to pass mine on to my kids, I never thought of that, little shits better appreciate it too, I know I would. Lol, I can see it now, "so uh, thanks dad, but uh, where do you plug it in?" "you little shit its a barbell and a power rack," "yeah, a POWER rack so its like a surge protector right" lol, not that that would happen but it would be hilarious.