To pool or not to pool...

jayotala

Sorry if this is a repost but couldn't find in the search (my brain could be still asleep)

What type of gym do your prefer?

Large upscale gym with all mod cons, a million cardio machines, a pool, sauna etc.
Or
Small personal gym, modern equipment, a few cardio machines, lots of weights, light to heavy, and plenty of benches (there's never enough benches).
Or
Old school gym, small, old equipment, heavy weights, you know the type.
Or
None of the above. (If none of the above then what do you want from a gym)


The only reason I'm asking is I prefer the smaller gym, the more modern being my number one choice, don't really care about cardio equipment or a pool. If I want to run, I'll run out in the fresh air, if I want to cycle I'll jump on my bike and go for a cycle. I'm there to lift weights with other people in the same frame of mind. I find in the bigger more commercial gyms they're more of a social front these days, not for everyone that goes, I know people are there to train and they train hard, but there is more people standing around the weight machines and weights talking the hours away.

As you can probably guess this has stemmed from a conversation I had with a few friends.

bubbleking

Old school gym all the way - no thrills no frills just good old fashioned blood sweat and tears - think rocky IV

Cookie_Monster

I've just gotten back into going to the gym, joined TF in Sandyford. I like it as its big with lots of different machines / weights so lots of variation and easy to get to do what you want when you want and not have to stand around for ages for a pieces of equip. Would never join a gym without a pool / sauna as love it after a workout. There's nowhere else I'd get the opportunity to use a sauna, jacuzzi otherwise and I use the pool the odd time to try to improve my swimming.

I don't think I'd ever go to a pool just to swim by itself so having it there is a plus.
Also having paid for it and having it there acts as a motivation rather than just running outside or doing weights at home which inevitably I won't end up doing.

That said I wouldn't be a total gym head, just there to keep fit & lose weight, it more a means to an end for me, allow me to improve my climbing & hiking abilities then just from climbing / walking alone

d'Oracle

A Power rack, Olympic Bars and enough plates to allow me to train when the inevitable large blokes come in to train heavy.

A pullup bar, maybe a dip station, a concept 2 rower and maybe some dumbells/kettlebells.

And space to do stuff.

If I was to go more elaborate, I always thought the Track in TF looked sweet.
And a 50m pool or not at all.

jayotala

Some good posts. Its great to see how other people think.

EileenG

A gym with decent weights, and enough benches. That's essential. I do like a couple of machines, like leg press, hack squat and assisted pull-up, but I can do without all the bells and whistles.

But I'm not old school enough to do without a decent changing room and a hot shower where you don't worry about catching ebola.

jayotala

Someone actually voted "none of the above"... Maybe they prefer the home gym...

Mellor

d'Oracle wrote: »

And a 50m pool or not at all.

I don't get this mentality at all. I remember an older guy got a bit snobby with me when I said trained in a 25m pool as a teen. Something like, then you are not a real swimmer. It was pretty offensive, considering Ireland only had 1 competition pool at the time (I think it only has 2 now).
I politely told them that 10 lengths of a 50m pool certainly no more "real swimming" that my 1.5k-2k in 30mins.

Having swam in both 25m and 50m. I prefer 25m as it allows for more flexibility. 25m and 75m sets are great for pyramids.

I do hate 20m pools though. ugh




Anyway. I currently have two gyms.
One has all the modern cardio equip, new weights machines all the time, and an average amount of weights. The people it attracts tend to flock more towards machines, so weights are free mostly.
My other gym has mostly weights, older machine and a boxing area.

Ideally, I want;

• Free weights, benches and racks. More oly bars
• Enough treadmills and bikes so there is one free if I decide to do cardio
• A punching bag
• A decent area where I can do MY circuits
• Skipping ropes (this is a big one, the gyms ones are crap, too light and always missing). I mgiht buy my own actually
• A 25m pool. Can live without sauna/steamroom, but won't say no.

Luckily my career means that I have a pretty good chance of getting exactly what I want at home (minus pool) when I get a chance to design it.

The_Bullman

jayotala wrote: »

Someone actually voted "none of the above"... Maybe they prefer the home gym...

I'm one of the "none of above". I do like my home gym. No problem getting a bench or rack. No cardio machines but I do have a skipping rope, a prowler and there's a good hill nearby.

Plus, I don't have to post on the Annoying gym behaviour thread. Which is nice.

d'Oracle

Mellor wrote: »

I don't get this mentality at all. I remember an older guy got a bit snobby with me when I said trained in a 25m pool as a teen. Something like, then you are not a real swimmer. It was pretty offensive, considering Ireland only had 1 competition pool at the time (I think it only has 2 now).
I politely told them that 10 lengths of a 50m pool certainly no more "real swimming" that my 1.5k-2k in 30mins.

Having swam in both 25m and 50m. I prefer 25m as it allows for more flexibility. 25m and 75m sets are great for pyramids.

I do hate 20m pools though. ugh

I'm not sure the mentality you describe is the one which I exhibit.

Having swam in both 25m and 50m, I prefer 50m.
I find 25m too short.

jayotala

The_Bullman wrote: »

I'm one of the "none of above". I do like my home gym. No problem getting a bench or rack. No cardio machines but I do have a skipping rope, a prowler and there's a good hill nearby.

Plus, I don't have to post on the Annoying gym behaviour thread. Which is nice.

To be honest, if I had the space (and the money) I would have a home gym setup. Will prob never have enough space or be happy with what I would have. But I like going to the gym. Its my form of relaxation and meditation.

jayotala

The love for old school gyms is starting to show.

Mellor

d'Oracle wrote: »

I'm not sure the mentality you describe is the one which I exhibit.

Having swam in both 25m and 50m, I prefer 50m.
I find 25m too short.

I should of separated my points better. My description pf the "snob" wasn't aimed at you. I was just telling a story of somebody who thought they were better than me because they swam in a 50m, when it was quite obvius to be who the better swimmer was based on tiems etc.
I wasn't saying you have this mentality

My point was that I don't understand why you'd pick 50m or nothing. It's fine that you prefer 50m, most distance swimmers would too. I'm a sprinter so prefer 25m, its very much individual. But I not understand why you would choose not to swim over swimming in a 25m pool.

jayotala

514 views and only 34 votes. Would have liked to see my poll go a bit higher.

d'Oracle

Mellor wrote: »

My point was that I don't understand why you'd pick 50m or nothing. It's fine that you prefer 50m, most distance swimmers would too. I'm a sprinter so prefer 25m, its very much individual. But I not understand why you would choose not to swim over swimming in a 25m pool.

Because a pool is not that important to me.
It is certainly not as important as a Power rack, I would probably not use a 25m pool, so I would just the same not have one.

hunnymonster

pool & free weights are the essentials for me. Have the turbo trainer at home and working on having a treadmill for home eventually.

poolfurniture

I prefer doing small gym after which I also go for swimming to do some more excercise and after which I like to relax on pool site benches. I like doing this because I can follow my procedure to work out.

Eircom_Sucks

jayotala wrote: »

514 views and only 34 votes. Would have liked to see my poll go a bit higher.

get your missus to help with that

jayotala

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

get your missus to help with that

At least you said missus and didn't mention a little blue pill... :eek:

mrkf1984

cages, racks, olympic bars, discs, benches, dumbbells up to 200lbs. lots of these. some machines. something similar to the dungeon. plus a sound system that plays music for to get you going...not ireland am, and a shower would be preferred but not essential.