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Comment by levint | Hacker News Reader

I've never signed up for a gym, and don't know the first thing about the customs that rule the place. So, I guess here's a question to start with: do normal gyms have workout trainers I could pay to get guidance from? Or do I just ignore everyone and try to follow the SS book to the best of my abilities.

Question #2: are all gyms created equal, should I 'shop' around for a decent one with decent equipment or whatever, or just join the 'snap fitness' gym that is literally 2 minute walk away from my place of residence?

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The same kind of self-consciousness motivated me to build a gym in my garage. If that's an option and you have the space, go for it. I built a power rack using the plans from home gym bodybuilding[1], got a Burgener & Rippetoe Olympic Bar from Rogue Fitness[2], and weights from Play it Again Sports. I read SS for detailed tips on form, and started on Stronglifts 5x5, which has a really handy app to track your progress. The total cost of the gym was probably in the neighborhood of $500, though you could get it done for much less if you went with a cheaper or second-hand bar -- that was the highest-cost item.

[1]http://www.home-gym-bodybuilding.com/homemade-power-rack.htm...

[2]http://www.roguefitness.com/burgener-rippetoe-men-s-bar.php

That's incredible! I might have to try building that sometime. I love the idea of walking out to my backyard with my shirt off and doing a bunch of squats in the sun! Plus I would never have to wait on people doing curls in the squat rack ;)

There's only a few exercises you'll need to learn, all described very thoroughly in SS. A good gym will have people working there that will happily critique your form for free. They want you to be safe!

Avoid gyms without a squat rack (yes those exist, ugh). Things that matter: squat rack, affordability, and operating hours that work for you. Not being super-packed all the time is also really nice.

I joined a local Snap Fitness with a friend a few months ago, they're not too bad. They're also inexpensive. (I've only visited my gym and a gym that was in another state when I was visiting family, they had comparable equipment.) The major benefit is that they're open 24/7, which is nice for those of us who are mildly self-conscious. (Or don't want to deal with hook-up people, or trainers annoyingly trying to get new clients, etc.) I typically go (with or without my friend) between 11pm-4am and almost all the time there's no one else there; when there is, it's no more than 4 other people and they usually leave before me. (Especially if I spend my first 30 minutes on the treadmill/cycle/elliptical machine.) Your area may be different.

The main downside to my gym at least (I don't know if it's the same at all Snaps) is that they have a Smith Machine, not a Power Rack. This is only a downside to me because I just recently started the Stronglifts 5x5 program, which gives a convincing argument for the Power Rack over the Smith Machine. While not a big inconvenience in the grand scheme of things (all the 5x5 exercises but the bench press can be done with the bar starting from the floor) it's something to consider. Other (typically more expensive) gyms have showers, pools, hot tubs, or climbing walls, all of which might factor into your choice too depending on what conveniences you care about.

Edit: If you can get a friend to sign up with you, that will help a lot. Instead of midnight snack trips (okay we still do those sometimes), my friend and I have midnight gym trips.

Smith Machines are awful. Gyms choose to get them rather than squat racks because it reduces their insurance payments. When you go to an inexpensive gym, this is the kind of tradeoff you get.

If you feel embarrassed there is nothing to do but suck it up. It lessens each week and your desire to achieve your goals should be greater than your desire to avoid mild embarrassment.

Good trainers are hard to find but invaluable. You can try: http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/coaching#dir or,if you are lucky, finding a Starting Strength training camp in your area.

Otherwise, take a video camera and film yourself. Review it after your set and later at night and compare it against the technique described in Starting Strength. It will be very wrong at first. Fix it. When you think you finally got it right post a video form check on the Starting Strength forums and they will tell you what you missed.

A few things to know about gyms:

Personal trainers are either terrible or expensive. If you can afford a personal trainer for a long time, either you have hired a great one because you are loaded, or you are paying for a crappy one and probably not getting great results. I know I am stereotyping, but I'm just trying to encourage a little skepticism. The gym I go to has multiple squat racks, rubber "bumper" plates for doing Olympic style barbell lifts, and has personal trainers/staff that have been stolen away from chains like Gold's, LA Fitness, etc. Why? Because the gym I go to has a premium business model where they pay their staff much more than other gyms do. Rather than paying a low monthly rate and then hiring a personal trainer, I pay a higher monthly fee for using my gym but don't need a trainer.

Anothe thing about trainers: Too often, their goal is to keep you coming back. They tend to have constantly changing, high variety workouts. These are fine, since the body adapts to exercise and the point is to prevent plateaus. However, this is not good if you are trying to learn to work out on your own. Also, variety is overrated for people trying to get fit. I've noticed trainers mix in strength with aerobic conditioning. Gaining muscle and losing fat are goals which are most easily met when they are done one at a time. If you want to get stronger, lift weights and eat a lot. You will make progress. If you want to lose fat, get up every morning and do cardio before eating ANY breakfast. Just water, then straight into cardio. Your body will be in fat burning mode with depleted blood sugar, and your energy expenditure will come primarily from fatty acids released by fat cells. But for the love of God, don't try to do both in the same workout. Cardio interferes with muscle building and vice versa, requiring ridiculously oprimized nutrition that is hard for people without professional chefs/dieticians to achieve.

Here is what I would look for in a gym:

1) 2 or more squat racks

2) 1 or more trainers who keep themselves fit using barbell exercises (my gym, despite having the standard cardio floorplan for the masses, has a section with the good strength equipment, and the staff who are into Olympic/Barbell lifting walk around and happily give advice/tips/form checks). When I am doing squats in the morning workout, I will frequently look over and see a staff member doing the same workout on the other squat rack. 3) Large numbers (5 or more) of benches for doing bench presses with barbells (not machines)

4) A rack of dumbbells that is complete (missing dumbbells is a sign of a gym that doesn't maintain their equipment) and ideally goes up to 120 lbs. per dumbell

5) Lots of pull-up bars

Just remember, people go to the gym to improve their fitness, not to demonstrate it.

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