A lot of people today wouldn't know a hardcore gym if they were standing in one. That's because there are hardly any left. I
hate to say it, but these days you have to weed through an awful lot
of glass and chrome to find anything remotely hardcore, and when you
do, it pretty much needs work. But back in the day hardcore was all
there was.
I landed in Santa Monica in 1979 and before long joined
World Gym. It had half the gym outside on a deck with a view of the
ocean. Coming from the bitter cold of NYC, the thought of training
outside and looking at the azure blue Pacific between sets was
definitely motivating - almost as motivating as the 20 bucks a year I was saving over joining Gold's.
Little did I know it at the time, but training at World Gym
would define for a lifetime the true meaning of "hardcore." I'm
talking about a time before the World Gym was moved to Washington and Lincoln,
before franchising, before Cybex and Hammer Strength and rubber coated plates.
I'm talking about the original World Gym on Main Street in Santa
Monica-- the second iteration of hardcore after Joe Gold sold the
original Gold's Gym on Pacific and opened up World at the behest of
the likes of Arnold, Franco, and company.
The first floor of the gym was a parking garage, so if you entered
from either the Main St. entrance or through the garage, you had to
climb stairs. There were no glass elevators, no stainless steel
escalators. Entering through the garage entrance meant you had to
pass the men's locker room/shower, to which there was no door. You
could look right into the showers as you passed by. This is probably
because at the time it was conceived, there were no women
bodybuilders. They came a little later, and when Rachel McLish
joined, they built a tiny little "women's" locker room upstairs in the
corner near one of the doors to the outside deck, but never put a door
on the men's room down stairs.
All the "machines" were hand built by Joe Gold. They were all the
same color too - mostly black with some rust in places, but everything
worked and glided really smooth. There were guys who trained at
Gold's during the week but came to World on Saturday just to train
legs because the equipment was so much better. There was no air-
conditioning, no heat (there was a heater, but Joe was too cheap to
turn in on) so when you trained at 4:30 in the morning, you pretty
much had to bundle up. Did you get that? 4:30 AM. Other than 24
Hour Fitness, how many gyms are open at 4:30? There was no music
either. In fact, if you dared to even wear headphones Joe called you
"dumbo ears." Cardio equipment consisted of four ancient stationary
bikes with a big fan for a front wheel which provided the only
ventilation other than the ocean breeze blowing through the windows.
There was no "juice bar" either; like the one they had at the last
glass and chrome "health club" in which I trained during a recent trip
to the mid-west. It was a "private club" to which I had to pay $25.00
for a day pass and was told I couldn't wear a tank top! You could
train at World with no shirt! After I trained - on plastic coated
equipment which I had to "wipe down" when I was done, I went up to the
juice bar and was able to order a grilled chicken breast sandwich.
That sounded good on the surface, but reading the fine print on the
menu, I found that this was a rather done-up affair served on a seven
grain bun with sun-dried tomato Mayonnaise! And, when I ordered it-
without the mayo, of course - the girl asked me if I wanted cheese on
it!! Sun-dried tomato, mayonnaise, and cheese on a chicken breast? In a
gym? Oh-mi-God!!
The real hardcore age is long gone; replaced by chrome, plastic, fancy
machinery, certified personal trainers, sun-dried tomato mayonnaise
and cheese. Places such as Planet Fitness where you're not allowed to do
deadlifts, the leg press only holds 4 plates and if you grunt they sound an alarm and throw you out,
seem to be the norm rather than the exception these days. The future should stand for progress,
but as far as bodybuilding is concerned, it's going backwards. We could all use a
good dose of the old days. Thankfully, there are a few hold outs around the country: Diamond Gym, Apollon Gym
and Strong and Shapely in New Jersey; Bev and Steve's Powerhouse on
Long Island, and the three Metro Flex Gyms in Texas to name a few. The
rest can be found on the Hardcore Gym Registry. Keep adding to it!
It's up to us to keep the hardcore movement alive. Just think of
cheese melting on a perfectly good chicken breast. That should
motivate you!
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