Weightlifting In Germany

Hello,

My husband is being transferred to Russelsheim Germany and the company he works for will move us. Here the worry: we just completed a beautiful home gym setup for him in our basement (I gave up a kitchen remodel to put it all together!). He has a powerrack, GH, lat pulldown (good equipment from Elite). It pains us that we may not be able to take it with us. Has anyone moved to Germany? If so, are basements or garages common? We not even sure the company will permit us to ship such items (I’ll give up my furniture first if needed!).

If this cannot work out, what is the weightlifting culture like? Can decent gyms be found? Any other advice? We will be there for three years.

Rather than living in Russelsheim we are thinking we will be closer to Mainz.

Thanks in advance for any input. This is heavily on our minds.

I lived in Berlin for 9 months. I joined an adequate gym for 9.99 euros a month (no shower facilities). The lifting culture is even worse than in America. People do bench, curls, and shoulder raises. Smith Machine use is dominant. No one squats (I saw maybe 4-5 other people squatting the entire time I lived there), no one deadlifts. It sucks. I had people giving advice to me too; it was terrible. I may go back for three months in 2007 and I’m dreading lifting there again.

Mainz is near one of the largest American Military Communities in the world. You should be able to meet up with many Americans if you choose to do so. You might even be able to use the gym on a base/post.

To answer your question about basements… If you move into a house, it will most likely have a basement. Having said that, often times, the rooms are a bit small compared to American standards.

I don’t know about commercial gyms, but Germany is a progressive country. I am sure you’ll be able to find something that will suit your needs for the next three years.

Best of luck,

John

Markus R?hl has a gym in Kelsterbach which is not too far away from R?sselsheim.