In recent years, real gyms have taken a hit by the more “fashionable” fitness factories. Actual results, quality service and an I-can-do-it-attitude have taken a back seat to slick marketing and empty promises.
I grew up on the south side of Chicago and trained at one of those REAL gyms back in the ’90s (a special li’l place called Quads Gym). While bouncing around the world – I’ve lived in England and Delaware before moving to Grand Rapids in ’08 – I’ve witnessed the decline of common sense and shameful rise of fitness gimmicks.
Now I won’t bore you with all the details of my professional life, but before ‘eat right and exercise’ became my career, I used to be a competitive powerlifter.
As I frequently tell people, PL-ers like to see everybody do their absolute best. And the great thing about powerlifting is that attitude tends to carry over into life outside the gym, too.
People who work so hard to succeed at one area of their life find it difficult – even downright insulting – to fail. So even if you have no interest in squatting 700lbs, you can still learn a lot by surrounding yourself in a “serious” training environment.
These days, my own serious training grounds range from my garage gym, to my buddy’s gym down the road in Holland, MI to an open field, park or forest. Can’t find a hardcore gym in your area? The key to being successful at fitness isn’t so much in the equipment you use, but the attitude you bring to the game.
Almost a household name (in his own home, anyway), Grand Rapids (MI) based personal trainer “Mighty” Joe Stankowski is a former competitive powerlifter and the creator of “This Workout Doesn’t Suck”.
In addition to being a long-time training adviser to Men’s Fitness magazine and a frequent contributor to several other well-known mainstream fitness magazines, Joe also has been known to update his blog, http://www.MorningCupOfJoe.com from time to time.
