Back to the Past

This is the first of a three part series. I had the "opportunity" the other day to get a workout in at a commercial gym. To say that it was an interesting experience would be an understatement. It was mid day in Southern California and the gym had approximately 30 people working out at the time. Just enough people to observe the current state of fitness training. Chain store gyms these days are still designed in what I referred to as Noah's Ark style in my second book, Designing Strength Training Programs and Facilities ( you can download it as an ebook at www.strengthcoach.com ). A Noah's Ark gym has at least two of every piece of equipment. The gym owner seems to have just picked up a few brochures from the major manufacturers and said give me two of everything. Usually, there is actually an overabundance of flat bench presses, treadmills and elliptical trainers. . . . (to read the remainder of this article, please log in below.)