StephenSa

I love my gym and working out. To that end I like the idea of owning my own gym and helping people with their fitness goals. So here is in my minds eye the gym I would create. First there would be no long-term contracts, just month to month with either a minimal or no sign up fee. I'd probably charge $30 to $40 a month. I'd use primarily Hammer Strength for machines and have plenty of free weights and benches available. For cardio I'd have a few bikes, both spin and the tradional style, maybe a treadmill or two. There would be a protein smoothie bar and a lounge area with fitness magazines and reference books. Maybe a tv in the lounge area with the Fitness channel on it or fitness DVDs. No tvs in the work-out area, just iron, steel, and rock and roll. I'd sell a few supplements, just the basics at a fair price. Shower rooms would have separate stalls with towels available at the front desk for a small fee. Trainers would be on-staff and everyone that joined would get one training session free to familarize them with the eqiuipment. There would be no step/aerobic/cardio classes. I have no prob with these classes but my gym would be slanted more toward bodybuilding and I could save $ by not needing all the extra space. Thats pretty much it, simple but effective. So what would you do?

Vaultboy

friends work out in my garage all the time. I consider it my gym. And I dont have much. ut I'd like to upgrade to the following:

Free weights. Bars. Dumbbells. (got this already)
Benches (flat, incline) (got one)
Mats, physioballs. (got this already)
A Rowing Machine.
A treadmill
A stationary bike
A punching bag
Skipping Rope.

Thats about all I think you really need to get a decent all round workout. I'd add a heavy net to one outside wall of my garage: I play soccer, golf and cricket. A net would be good a training tool for all these sports.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Bill O'Rights

A recliner, a mini-fridge and a remote.

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"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

hannukah harry

mine would be an excluse, members only gym... there would be poles with beautiful nearly naked women dancing, more skantily clad women would then serve drinks and cigars, and the members would get a hard workout lifting cigars and martini's to their lips... err..

/works for me

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shabbat shalom, mother fucker! - the hebrew hammer

Rodney

Hah. You've precisely described the gym I belong to (except for the stall showers). It's a World Gym owned by a former bodybuilding champ, and he designed a high-quality no-nonsense facility for people who are serious about their workouts. It works pretty well. Clientele is split fairly evenly between people who are primarily lifters and people who are primarily cardio (although the place is heavier on treadmills and lighter on spinbikes than your model). It's a good place; there are usually a lot of people around, but it never feels crowded. There's enough of everything.

High quality machines -- yes, primarily Hammer, but a lot of custom-made stuff as well, inluding squat cages and platforms, a big pulley cage with six stacks, and so on.

Personally, I wouldn't change much except to make the lounge area a little bigger (It's really just some seats around the smoothie bar and a TV set. Maybe also make the locker rooms a little bigger.

One thing about payment; they don't have contracts and charge about what you say, but they do the checking-account deduction thing for monthly dues. They were spending too much time bugging people about keeping current on their dues, and they just gave up and made deductions mandatory. Personally, I pay by the year because I don't like other people in my checking account, and you get a discount anyway for paying up front.

benjamin

I go to a small gym that's not the greatest place, but I can walk there in five minutes so it works for me. If I could make it better, it'd be bigger (obvious), because it gets crowded sometimes, and I don't like having to wait for a machine or weights. Also it would have newer equipment and weights. And everything would match. It bothers me when I pick up two dumbells of the same weight, but one has a thick bar that feels spikey and the other has a thinner and smooth bar, and they are the same weight but feel completely different in each hand.

It would also have a lounge area like you described, that'd be nice.

:::OshnSoul:::

Focusing on excercise techniques and few weightlifing equipment.
Encouraging strong, yet healthy bodies, not focusing on muscles, but overall health of the body, inside and out.
-Treadmills, floor excercises, bikes
-Tai Chi, Step Aerobics, Kickboxing, Yoga classes
-sauna & swimming pool
-outdoor nature areas
-jogging/walking tracks

Nimbletoe

All I really wish my gym had extra was a pool. The only gym near me that has one has an outrageous membership fee that I really can't afford. Its a bummer, since you can only swim during the summer here (michigan) and it's such a good workout. Theres a pool at my old highschool, but I dread going to that place unless its absolutley nessecary :P

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Go Pistons!

hy_

I'd go to a gym, buy all the stuff they have and add a pool like Nimbletoe :P:P:P