7/13 Bring out your Dead(lifts)

Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x5
365x5
405x5
365x5
365x5
Pullups/Dips
5/10 x 3

So on Wednesday I finally got motivated to check out some other Gyms. Mainly because my gym started closing at 9 during the week, instead of 11 like when I joined back in November. So after some sushi I went to 3 different places to see what they had.

The first stop was the YMCA. They had rowers in they're cardio area and bumper plates in the weight room. Plus I've been thinking about doing some swimming. I also like the fact that I can use the Y in downtown Harrisburg. I've been thinking about checking out the Judo and MMA classes they have.

Next I went to LA Fitness. I wasn't expecting much and I got what I expected. Lots of shiny machines and a cardio loft. They had two squat racks and a power rack. Someone was actually squatting in the power rack, but then I saw someone doing wrist curls in one of the other squat racks and I couldn't find any place to do pullups or dips. I finally did find the pullup/dip station in the rows of machines. I asked if it was O.K. to use chalk and the sales guy said he didn't mind, but I had a feeling doing heavy deadlifts wouldn't really go over well. I can only image what they would do when I started doing cleans or snatches.

Finally I ended up at World of Fitness. I'm not really sure what to make of this place. I think I could do just about anything I wanted there and nobody would look twice. The guy at the desk just laughed when I asked about chalk and said they didn't care. They had an honest to God pullup bar bolted to the wall and a dip station right next to it. There was a Power rack and plenty of freeweights even a rack of fixed barbells. I have to admit it had a certain appeal. Plus it was about half the price of the other two places. So I headed home with a pass for a free week. Oddly enough there was a coupon for a free month in the paper the next day.

When I was at LA Fitness and WoF I had mentioned that I was looking for some place opened later because my current gym had changed there hours. At both places I heard that they had a lot of people coming in from my gym because it was closing. Well this was news to me, but I'd been working out at home with Kettlebells for the last few weeks so maybe I missed something. Sure enough today when I get there they have a sign posted saying that they're closing on Sept. 2nd. They have a letter posted at the front desk explaining that because of low cost competition (Planet Fitness) they can't stay competitive. Everyone will be transfered to the Gold's Gym down the road, which from what I heard, just happens to be owned by the same guy. I checked out Gold's after they cut back the hours and they were worse then LA Fitness. Two squat racks stuck back in a corner with no place to do deadlifts or cleans. I singed the form to cancel my membership before I even started my workout.

I could probably get away with working out at home, but I like having some place else to go and I do like squatting and deadlifting now and then. I also like throwing in some olympic lifts from time to time. I have to think about it some more. Maybe I'll do a trial workout at the Y and WoF to get a better idea of what they're like. Maybe I should go to Plant Fitness and see how long it takes before they kick me out. I'm guessing I could get booted in under 10 minutes. One set of deadlifts or power cleans and I'd be out the door. I wonder what they're policy on DB snatches is? As long as I don't grunt or slam the weights I wouldn't be breaking any rules. Although without chalk I probably would drop the db.