Most people who are serious about training tell me they like their "home gym," that being on the road sets them back.
I understand the thought, but here's another take on it . . . one that looks at new gyms as opportunities for new gains. Here's how . . .
Today, Kelly and I worked out at Gold's Gym, Fenton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
What we found as at least a dozen new opportunities in the form of equipment that we don't have at our home gym. It took some "testing" to separate the wheat from the chaffe (and there is plenty of chaffe when it comes to equipment), but we found a couple of killer machines today that smoked our shoulders, including:
1. LifeFitness Side Delt Machine. This one totally isolates the side deltoids. No matter how strict I try to be using dumbbell lateral raises, I can't isolate like this machine does. Tomorrow my delts will be toast -- the goal.
2. Hammer Strength Seated Trap Machine. I generally do traps with 80 or 90 pounds dumbbells and they work fine. One problem -- 90 pound dumbbells are dangerous, pure and simple. You can get injured pulling them out of the rack or putting them back in, not to mention the risk of your hands giving out and dropping one, God forbid. (By way of example, Kelly almost broke a finger a few weeks ago slamming a couple of heavy dumbbells back into the rack.) This machine (plate-loaded) gives you full range of motion while seated, taking a lot of strain off the lower back and if you drop the weight, no problem.
Of course, there are the downsides -- this gym had no "vibe" that I could feel. Just a bunch of strangers (to us and apparently to each other) doing their own things. I didn't see anyone encouraging anyone else, except me pushing Kelly and Kelly pushing me. At our home gym there is always banter, encouragement and teasing.
So, what to do? Look at the advantages, not the disadvantages. Anytime you work out in a new gym, you're going to have opportunities with new equipment -- test it, use it, take advantage of it. If you don't have your workout partner with you, and you can afford it, grab the most fit looking personal trainer and tell him/her to "rip me to shreds."
The next several blogs will highlight these opportunities because in the next week we'll be working out at four or five more gyms -- from a small key-entry gym to the mother of all hard-core gyms, MetroFlex in Texas, the place Ronnie Coleman trained as he was winning a record 8 Mr. Olympia titles.
After that, we'll go back home and be in the "home gym," Fitness International, after which we'll be going to Las Vegas to attend Mr. Olympia in late-September when we'll have the opportunity of working out in at least three more new gyms, including the Gold's that is home of Jay Cutler. Should be cool.
Now, one more unrelated observation . . . if you want to make money in the long-term in the USA, invest in companies that treat heart disease and diabetes. I have never seen so many fat -- really fat -- people and they seem to be getting noticeably fatter. It's sad. They don't know what they are missing and how easy it is to get in shape and stay there.
So, I'll keep preaching and, to that end, we'll will be giving two nutrition seminars during September, the curricula of which I'll post here in future blogs. Listen up, corporate America. These are programs your employees (the ones you're insuring against disease, most of which is caused by poor diet) should hear.
So, take care. Train hard. And, diet harder!
All the best,
Jim
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