Why are "fancy gyms" so popular? The kinds filled with personal trainers & bright visuals & tons of spinning-courses & a fancy reception & all of that.
Or rather, why are so many people willing to pay so much extra for those things? I personally work out at a cheap gym thats basically just a room filled with exercise equipment, and I don't see any reason to pay 3 times as much for a "fancy" gym. I actually used once for a while, when it was by far the closest to where I lived, and I didn't get anything out of it.
Not trying to be critical. I'm just trying to understand what it is that people actually pay the extra money for.
the best explanation i've heard is people who are rich enough to have a membership at equinox go for it because they wouldn't be caught dead working out around people from the "low class." apart from the luxuries you're basically paying a premium for segregation.
Nathan Gutierrez
99% of people at those gyms don't give a fuck or understand anything about "fitness", they just go there to work up a light sweat and feel better about that cake they had at lunch, or they enjoy chatting to their personal trainer. They're idiots paying for the social atmosphere.
Evan Price
Where the FUCK do I find grimy underground barbell clubs with roidmonsters and old men pulling 700lbs? Every gym near me is some LA ripoff
Carson Ortiz
Chain gym like you described at my place is 20 quid Gym for le serous lifters like yourself is 50
You do the math I'm not going to pay 30 more quid to feel like a member of some secret club
Samuel Gutierrez
i'm opening up my own gym in LA called guy heaven gym, come over if you wanna learn how to lift a fucking ATLAS STONE.
Anthony Thompson
i'd much prefer a grungy worn out hole-in-the-wall type of gym as opposed to some sterile selfie-center. but i'm home gym master race so it doesn't matter
Anthony Gonzalez
Same here
John Jackson
The social atmosphere, making connections, rubbing elbows with the "elite". Best equipment and trainers and access to the kind of drugs that you can't even conceive of and god knows you don't want too(I'm talking about stuff made from people, living people, young living people. I mean children).
Aiden Morgan
What a stupid question. Why are Apple computers so popular when you can get the same hardware for a third the price? Why is expensive vodka so popular when vodka is one part ethanol and two parts water?
People are willing to pay a premium for what they feel to be a premium product. These people are generally not good with money or have more than they know what to do with, or both. Why don't you stop worrying about what other people are doing and start squatting deep, heavy and often you DYEL piece of shit
Levi Robinson
The same reason people buy artisan water You're buying into a lifestyle brand with a lot of these clubs - you'll notice they'll bombard members with personal trainers, towel services, classes etc etc
Most people know very little about fitness, giving them a ready built lifestyle to just 'plug in' to when they go the gym appeals to these people more than getting just weights and working it out themselves
Benjamin Parker
Sane reason why people buy anything overpriced: it makes them feel good.
Jose Sanchez
There had better not be any thots
Austin Hernandez
The same reason buy Mercedes instead of Toyota
If you honestly cannot figure this out by yourself there is no hope for you
Leo Howard
the joke your head
Luis Robinson
>they go for the social atmosphere
Oh so they can talk while not actually working out. Sounds like a waste of time
I joined Equinox with an executive membership. It's like says, you're paying a premium for luxury features.
Perks:
* Permanent locker. I don't have to move gym clothes/water bottle/headphones back and forth to the gym. This means I can also go directly to the gym wherever I am without having to stop at home.
* Laundry service. Drop my dirty clothes in a bag and they'll show up in my locker clean and folded in two days. Keep two changes of clothes, so then I don't need to worry about dealing with that. This also halves my personal laundry needs. Also means I need fewer gym clothes period.
* Towel service- both regular and chilled eucalyptus for workouts
* Good showers- Plenty of big bathtowels. Nice large stalls, with good grapefruit body wash and coconut shampoo/conditioners and face wash. Heated shaving cream dispensers so you can get a nice shave in afterwards. Combs, mouthwash whatever so you'll leave looking fly
*Not crowded- I've never needed to wait for a bench or a squat rack. Never packed, even at peak hours.
*Every bench/rack has enough plates- There's no need to hunt for plates because every rack is fully loaded.
*Otherwise generally good quality weights and equipment- They have a 30 incline treadmill which is really awesome too.
Yeah, derp, I get it these are luxury features. Worth it to me though.
Hudson Hernandez
are there "olympic" platforms
Sebastian Torres
>pay 3 times as much for a "fancy" gym I dont understand this. what you speak of must be an american phenomenon. I have been to some high end sports clubs, and some of them were really fancy in the way that they had a full fucking running track in them, swimming pools, saunas, nearly complete gymnasium, of course full weight room, but also bar and massive social area, also parking space . What you described is literally cheap 24 hr gym I am current a member of.
Charles Lee
All the luxuries aside, it's to get away from over crowded gym full of trash people.
Lucas Wilson
He left out a TON of stuff, because most people know exactly the kind of gym he's talking about without having to type it all out.
Colton Parker
Because people thing "going to the gym" is a lifestyle. They think that there is such a thing as a "fitness lifestyle", which is complete bullshit. It is a hobby. If you are serious about lifting (your hobby), you watch your nutrition, work out hard, get sufficient sleep and so on.
If your hobby is historical european martial arts, are you living the HEMA-lifestyle? If your hobby is pottery, are you living the clay-lifestyle?
People want to take pictures in front of those large ass mirrors, they want to get mired, they want to feel how they mogg other people. Plus I guess that such a gym as you describe it is less intimidating, since people with all levels of fitness go there. Frpm the beginner to the juicy as fuck final boss.
When I visited a friend once I went to a gym (something like "strength asylum", they all have the same generic "insane" names anyway). It was in a fucking basement, mostyle concrete,minimal padding, they could put on whatever music they want, no fancy machines, A LOT of plates. I liked it. But I guess those gyms are harder to find, especially in the more rural areas
Hunter Adams
It appeals to women and women spend money. Men go there to watch women work out and maybe lift a weight once or twice.
Luis Edwards
i dont pay for the cheap one to feel like a "member", its just a room with a key (that people who pay get), and the doors are open 05-2400, and thats about it. why would i pay more for things i dont want? and im just wondering what people who DO choose to pay more (quite a lot of people) get out of it
Samuel Perry
>Most people know very little about fitness, giving them a ready built lifestyle to just 'plug in' to when they go the gym appeals to these people more than getting just weights and working it out themselves this is onto something theyre not just paying for the access to equipment, but for being incentivized/assisted in using it. peer pressure, and helpful people who tell them what to do. so its more money, and less mental appliance. sort of a reasonable trade-off
Oliver Richardson
this
Ian Moore
That sounds comfy as fuck, how much do you pay a month?
Robert Powell
this guy gets it
Jose Cruz
Its so you dont have to be around poor people lol
Kevin Ramirez
>plug into Top notch analysis user.
Jack Bailey
My girlfriend is a studio manager at Orange Theory Fitness and she says people basically just want to be told what to do every day they go to the gym and be hyped up by the atmosphere. These are people who would otherwise just dick around on machines in a "real" gym, so good for them I guess. But MAN they pay out the ass for that desu a lot of those sorts of gyms are """""crossfit""""" gyms to stay above water. My buddy goes to a crossfit gym here that has produced a state champ in olympic weightlifting and they have a whole separate section for oly stuff away from the crossfit classes that keep them profitable.
yea that makes a lot of sense. kind of the same thing other people like these dudes have been getting at.
the "plug-in", the convenience of just going there and "automatically" working out, without needing to apply yourself much mentally, or think about it much outside of when youre actually at the gym
Isaiah Moore
Equinox is like 120 usd per month I think
Levi Ward
Not him. I have a basic membership (single location only) and I pay $144/month. I still get the towel, clean facilities, relative emptiness, and good enough equipment. My guess is he's paying ~$300/month or slightly more if he wants to be at one of their flagship locations.
The place is comfy. It's immediately next to my work so I don't waste any time at all traveling to the gym or at the gym due to any crowds.
Having said that there are some people who spend a comically large amount -- by my calculations between gym membership and PT costs to be around $24k/yr -- just to hang out with their PT.
Brody Rivera
Wooowww okay $300 a month is way too high imo. I’d be willing to pay $150 though just to not be in a crazy crowded gym. None close to me though, I’ll have to look into other similar ones.
Blake Sanchez
>Why is expensive vodka so popular when vodka is one part ethanol and two parts water?
purity, kiddo
Robert Gray
Yes. They have a whole separate section for those away from the main benches and squat racks
James Richardson
If you are buying expensive alcohol and you buy expensive vodka you are wasting money. Get some expensive scotch or rum instead.
Jayden Hughes
I had a membership at a place like this because it was close to my house, had personal training, had a huge swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court, and a rock climbing wall. This is in Manhattan, so that shit is hard to get for any price. It was worth it, but I eventually cancelled it because I moved into a much more expensive apartment.
When I was doing iBanking in NYC my memberhship was over 240.
Henry Phillips
I pay $305 a month.
Jackson King
Sometimes you want the equipment/services which the "fancier" gym provides (eg speciality barbells/ a monolift/ strongman equipment/ not having to deal with colored people/ gymnastics or other sport specific equipment/ a pool while again not having to deal with colored people).
Julian Ortiz
>If your hobby is pottery, are you living the clay-lifestyle?
When you start taking drugs to boost your sculpting skills, eat a special clay diet, wear special potter pants/hoodies and spend your free time when you aren't doing pottery looking at other people's pots yeah, it's a clay-lifestyle.
Elijah Myers
If you live near NYC go to Mount Vernon Barbell. Hardcore af
