Meathead Gyms

Good "meathead" gyms are hard to find, hard to find information on and seldom the most welcoming of places. The staff are usually unwelcoming because they are run by people who want their own gym and to pay the bills are forced to charge others to use it. They usually have the same resentment as you would for getting $5 to let a stranger sit on your couch watching your TV. After a suitable number of months you can hope they (or at least the other regulars) warm to you and treat you as a friend over coming over.

These places usually don't want to lock people into long memberships, as said above they usually (initially at least) don't want you there at all. The overheads are covered by the regular meatheads and the owner who gets their ideal gym on condition they sit around watching it for no wage. This does have the bonus you can check the place out without getting locked into stupid membership plans.

For the equipment they have a plethora of free weights and good sectorized machines in functional but often shabby condition however the cardio section is normally pathetic. The other amenities (pool, hot tub, sauna even changing rooms) are usually nonexistent and the general cleanliness is often sub-par.

At these places there are always people there who can lift more than you, that said there are always people to learn from (and get a spot from). These are normally in far from ideal places to keep the rent low, let's face it when you are a regular at a meathead gym you have no fear walking in an unlit industrial unit late at night. With the shady location, poor cleanliness, suspicious staff and huge patrons rumors (from non-members) of steroids are frequently rife; that said I have never seen any problems at these and have trained in some really shady places.