Ever notice how the softening of the language seems to be at least anecdotally related, if not directly correlated, to the “softening” of society?
Case in point: until recently, I went to a “gym”. In this “gym”, there was lots of iron, a dearth of chrome, very few television sets, and a dense population of larger-than-average humans who could lift a lot of said iron.
Since I moved last month, part of the deal with my new complex is a very cheap membership at an “athletic club”. Now, there is nothing I can’t do at the “athletic club” that I couldn’t do at the “gym”; it’s just that I am now pretty much the only one doing it (and believe me, I asked BEFORE I signed if there were things they WOULDN’T let me do, and I was specific).
The athletic club’s “cardio theater” is a multimedia center with some treadmills and bikes thrown in. You couldn’t buy sodas and pretzels at the “gym” like you can at the athletic club. I guess all that walking while watching TV requires carb-loading.
At the “athletic club” they offer free training sessions, “in case you have never used the machines before, or have been away from them for a long time”.
I get funny looks for the following (among other things): deadlifts, snatches, rack lockouts, reverse hypers - that I have to do upside-down on the 45% back extension bench, wide stance squats, squats not performed on a Smith machine, etc.). I am surrounded by skinny kids and yuppies (OK, I’m a yuppie too, but still…) doing curls - LOTS of curls, leg extensions, leg curls, crunches, and all manner of machine work. This is nice in a way, because I have NEVER had to wait for the squat rack, except when someone is curling in it. And, they do let me do all my “weird” lifts, so I get by. But the entertainment value is high.
So, I have decided that the name of a training facility will often clue you in to what goes on there (of course there are exceptions). Now I know why Westside is called a “Barbell Club”!
PS: There is really no point to this post other than today is my last day on this job.