Gym Experience (real weird)

[BigGreen]

Okay, I thought you guys might appreciate this - I kind of held off on posting it because I wasn't sure that you'd even believe me, but this is a gym story that just has to be told.

So, I'm out with my gf this weekend, and we're looking in southern NH, northern Mass for a place to tough out the next year, before I return to the hallowed halls of academia (mostly I just want to live near Pain, so I can pester him for sources) and we check out a friend who lives in southern NH and crash with him for the night. In the A.M. we decide to work out at his gym, to get a feel for the local flavor in this department. He warns me that it might not be my type of place....boy was that an understatement. To make a long story ass short, we get there, and, right above the dumbbell racks (which only went up to 80 btw!!) is a huge fire truck type light and siren set up on the wall. Painted in huge purple and yellow letters is either "Lug Alarm" or "Lunk Alarm" (forget which) and then a caption stating that the alarm is for those who "make others feel uncomfortable, grunt, drop weights or JUDGE". What a cute, but DUMB little joke, I thought. OH NO, not a joke my friends.....in the middle of my set, a guy next to me put down his 70 lbers hard enough to set off what i was later told are sensors in the floor and I almost friggin puked from the shrill, piercing noise that penetrated my brain as this light started flashing. THIS THING WAS FOR REAL!! Apparently, it goes off every time someone deadlifts or does any exercise that necessarily gives the floor a little vibration.

What is this world coming to???!!!?

[abstrack]

So did you sign up??

[Buddha_Red]

LOL wierd indeed

[mammoth]

OMG...I would have had so much fun there! Stupidity like that only invites sarcasm! That reminds me of the stoplight that we had in the lunch room in high school where the lights indicated sound levels. We decided that this was stupid so we would get about 20 people to walk by it and scream in it. After about a week of doing that the thing broke and no longer worked! In a situation like that I would have probably been thrown out soon after I discovered the damn thing!

[Terinox]

Wow, that is crazy, really crazy!! What kind of people do they expect at the gym? Is it a gym for kindergarten students? Maybe elementary school?! Or is it a seniors gym?!?! And why on earth would your friend even work out there?!? Must be a better gym around you could find.

[ripped4fsu]

creepy bro....

[BIG TEXAN]

Hell at my gym they have signs on all the walls that have some of the dumbest rules. I won't list 'em all but here's #6

#6. No yelling, grunting, or obsesive noises. No dropping, banging, or clanging together of weights. This is a "family" atmosphere gym so lets act like it.

What in the hell...... like Monday I was doing deadlifts, well you know how you give the weight a little bump on the floor as you come down and begin to lift again, well one of the owners comes over and asked me to quit. He said try setting the weight down "gently" and than picking it back up. I damn near twisted him into a pretzel...... where has all the hardcore gyms gone?

[palme]

Good! Maybe now you will learn to obey the rules! Trouble maker!



And yes that is alittle fucked up

[novicemarine]

Screw that. When I was a little pussy, I used to be all against that stuff... but then when I started listening to headphones and getting lost in my routines, I realized that it's just natural. Now when songs switch and there's that moment of silence between tracks, I realize I do it too, cause I'm in mid grunt. It's all good. If anyone's got a problem, they're just jealous.

As for the alarm, I'm with Mammoth, I'd definately find a way to take the ridiculousness to a whole new level.

[daem]

why would your friend work out there? i would have busted out laughing and turned to walk out the door if i took a look around before joining.

locate a better gym and get your friend out of there! friends don't let friend's use dbell racks that only go up to 80!

[halifaxsteve]

it sounds like a 'pretty' gym..lol

[BigGreen]

My friend works out there solely for the quality of females present (and i have to admit that there were quiet a few...by new england standards of course).

ANyway, a little more about this place: Here is their "mission statement":

we at (gym name) are here to provide a unique environment
in which anyone, and we mean anyone, can be
comfortable. a diverse, judgment free zone
where a lasting, active lifestyle can be built. our
product is a tool, a means to an end; not a brand
name or a mold maker, but a tool that can be
used by anyone. in the end, it's all about you. as
we evolve and educate ourselves, we will seek to
perfect this safe, energetic environment, where
everyone feels accepted and respected. we are
not here to kiss your butt, only to kick it if
that's what you need. we need you, because face
it, our planet wouldn't be the same without you.
you belong!

Also, on the door when you walk in they have a big sign saying, "Dumbbell: A person who grunts, drop weights, uses chalks and judges. NO DUMBBELLS IN THIS GYM!"

[BigGreen]

Here is the pic of the lunk alarm in case you didn't fully believe me....you can see it in the background. If "badmouthing" a gym and then posting a pic that could presumably allow people to see what gym it is is considered poor policy on here, I apologize and feel free to edit. Yes, this pic is likely copyrighted by the gym, but it is put on their site for all to see, so I don't see how this is wrong. Note the giant flashing light in the middle...it actually goes off just like on on a firetruck or something...grand stuff really.;

[halifaxsteve]

YEP..LOOKS PRETTY

OOHHH, AHHHHH...LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY MACHINES!


what's the world comming to?

[Big Rush]

oh you've got to be kidding....so, if some 120 lb kid feels "inferiro" or like some is laughing at him, he can run hit a button and sound off the alarm? please clarify

[BigGreen]

Originally posted by Big Rush
oh you've got to be kidding....so, if some 120 lb kid feels "inferiro" or like some is laughing at him, he can run hit a button and sound off the alarm? please clarify

sort of....I've since asked my friend to explain more, and this is what he came up with: He thinks it is a combination (from what he's heard) of sensors in the edges of the floor picking up the vibration of someone dropping their weights and/or an employee of the gym hits it at their discretion if someone is grunting, dropping or being intimidating. He's not sure, as it has gone off (as was the case when I was there) when there was only one employee on duty who was nowhere near enough to notice the guy "dropping" (and he hardly "dropped") the weights. Unless, of course, there are undercover "lunk detectives" on the premises?! I'll find out more, as this has become intriguing to me.

[ripped4fsu]

WTF is this world coming too?!? I do the same thing NM does, put on my head phones,,, crank it up and F*** everybody else!

one thing I DON'T do is throw/drop dumbells... that annoys the shit out of me.

[mammoth]

NO CHALK?!?! WTF?!?! F@#$ THOSE GUYS!! THEY WOULD REAAALLLY HATE ME THEN!!

[peam]

What if there was some huge person who was just trying to walk over to the treadmills and the alarm went off? I think that would go against their mission statement of making people feel comfortable! haha.. just imagine that though.... if they were just walking... and it.... lol

[HorseFace]

what the mother fuck?

a big gym like that and the dumbells only go up to 80lbs? weird.

I guess the idea is if you set the siren off you piss off everyone else in the gym... just imagining that siren going off in the middle of a set... yesh.

the gym is obviously intended to keep the hardcore intimidating gym rats out so the fatties/girlies feel more comfortable. I can honestly understand that.

[BigGreen]

Originally posted by HorseFace

I guess the idea is if you set the siren off you piss off everyone else in the gym... just imagining that siren going off in the middle of a set... yesh.

Honestly, while it happened and I was in midset, it scared me sufficiently to cause me to "jump/jerk" a bit. Had i been doing heavy seated dumbbell presses (of course, at that gym I couldn't do heavy seated presses with dumbbells and suspect most could not, but you get the point) or some similar exercise that required some stabilizing and concentration, I easily could have lost it and injured myself. In that sense, the thing is a liability.