‘Powerlifting’ and ‘Bodybuilding’ gyms can be a little (or a LOT) intimidating to the ininitiated – especially if you have no interest in becoming a competitive powerlifter or stepping onto the bodybuilding stage. But even if squatting 800lbs or shaving your entire body, painting it orange and covering your nether regions with little more than an eyepatch don’t appeal to you, there is one VERY good reason you should consider training in a ‘hardcore... Read Full Story

[continued from yesterday] …one, you can do the ‘country club’ model.  Take your operating expenses and simply divide that by the number of powerlifters.  I don’t know how many PL-ers are willing to pay $500 a MONTH to train here, but then again, I don’t really understand why golfers sink so much money into smacking a dimpled ball around a park. Or two, expand your ‘menu’ to include other markets. Obviously, I was strongly leaning toward the latter. O... Read Full Story

[...continued from yesterday's post] “Money?” I laughed.  “That’s easy.  We SELL program design” He gave me that puzzled look you get from a dog when you ask it a question. Long story short (whew!), my plan was to sell my program design services, include a gym membership and personal training (which I would pay for out of my program design fee) and EVERYBODY wins. I often refer to this as my “toy-in-the-cereal-box-approach” (more on that some other da... Read Full Story

Grand Rapids area fitness and powerlifting mecca is no more Maybe it’s just the natural cycle of life, but sometimes good gyms go out of business.  It was a real shame to find out yesterday morning that the weekend rumors about Beckwith’s Gym in Grandville, Michigan were true. As I pulled into the parking lot at 3040 28th Street SW yesterday morning to meet with one of my personal training clients, I quickly noticed the lights were off and the interior looked eerily vacant for th... Read Full Story

My friend Shawn Miller has a gym…make that THE gym in Holland, Michigan.  FLEX Fitness Center is known locally as the place to work out when you’re serious about change.  A couple of his gym members put their efforts on display at the 2009 NPC Western Michigan Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure & Bikini Championships this past weekend – and I was there capturing video of their evening posing routines… Dave Kaletka Greg Castro …and of course, I somehow ha... Read Full Story

Something about the overwhelming scent of Pro Tan (not to mention the equally overwhelming sight of big guys in small posing trunks) usually prevents me from going out of my way to check out a bodybuilding show, but this weekend, the 2009 Western Michigan Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure & Bikini Championships rolled through town so I figr’d what the heck… I’ll be posting some (bikini contest) vids  at my YouTube channel (you DO subscribe, don’t you?), but for now, yo... Read Full Story

Jeezh!  Time flies, huh?  It’s been awhile since my last post.  Over a month, in fact.  No, not a case of blogger’s-block or anything life threatening (other than a near fall from the wrong end of a tall ladder, but that’s another story). I’ve just been caught up in biz, travels, etc.  I guess what they say is true: Life happens – even to the best of us. (I don’t know if ‘they’ really ever said that… as far as I’m aware, I just made ... Read Full Story

I often make the joke that I went into a bookstore while I lived in England and picked up a ‘best of British cooking’ book only to open the cover and find there were no pages inside. As uninspiring as the gastronomic experience of my 3 and a half years in the UK may have been, I wouldn’t trade the overall experience for the world. While I didn’t return to the US in 2001 with anything close to the James Bond accent I was hoping to pick up (“I like my protein shakes blended, not shaken…”), I d... Read Full Story

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I’ve been having a discussion with a gym owner I recently met and he’s convinced people choose his gym over others for a reason I strongly disagree with. We’ve started polling new members and the results are leaning heavily in my favor (note to self [as if I'd ever forget]: I am always right). How ’bout you?  Why do YOU join a gym? Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)John Bogle also quotes Benjamin GrahamTop ten reasons why I joined a gymLearn How To Dr... Read Full Story