From Old School Bodybuilding Gyms To Crossfit Gyms: What Type Of Gym Is The Best For Gains?

We’re going to make an assumption here and figure that you have already made the decision to get your ass to the gym…any gym. And it doesn’t matter what your experience level is, either. Some people get caught up in that and feel that they can’t join a certain type of gym until they have been lifting for a few years. That’s nonsense.

These days, there are a number of different types of places to choose from. And it really doesn’t mater if you’re a guy, girl, old or young. They all are accepting if you pay your fee.

We try to break it down for you here regarding what you can get out of each category. Sure, as long as you bust your ass, you’ll get something positive out of any time working out, regardless of how and where it’s done. But as your level grows, some places are better than others to make the type of gains that you may want to get. 

OLD SCHOOL BODYBUILDING GYMS

*Gold’s Gym

*World Gym

*Powerhouse Gym

These are the ones where you may find yourself training on the adjacent bench from an IFBB pro bodybuilder. These places have been around for a long time and for good reason. You can get the best workout done with basically no restrictions. And there are plenty of benches (flat, incline, decline), squat racks, deadlift stations and Smith machines to work on.

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL GYMS

*Crunch Fitness

*Retro Fitness

*Synergy

You can get a very good workout done at these types of places and you won’t hear any flak if you train like a bodybuilder, either. These places will probably have more machines than free weights and that can be good and bad. Good because the equipment is most likely new but bad if you prefer iron plates and bars.

NO-TO-BEGINNER LEVEL GYMS

*Planet Fitness

Great place if you like to do your ‘exercising’ during your meal break from work because it’s basically a junk food fest. Pizza, bagels and Tootsie Rolls are all handed out free of charge and the so-called ‘judgment free zone’ casts judgment on anyone who makes an attempt at a serious heavy workout. Sure, $10 a month and goodies are cool. But not for a gym. This place sucks and is a total joke. You’re better off buying a treadmill and doing push-ups at home.

CROSSFIT GYMS

These are an entirely different animal than your average every day gym and still an unknown entity as far as what the long term effects will be. Look at any crossfit movement and it doesn’t take a medical expert to see that the body – and more specifically, the joints – are put in compromising positions.

And there is another thing that is quite different with these gyms. The plates are deceiving as far as what they appear and the actual weight is. Rubber coated 15 and 25-pound plates that are the same circumference as the standard 45-pound metal plates make it look as if someone is doing overhead military presses with far more weight than they actually are. Cool for Instagram, but that doesn’t do much for your muscles.