So, after checking out Gold’s Gym and Muscle House Gym, I decided to try out the gym that I was originally thinking of just skipping: NET Fitness. The reason I was thinking of passing on it was kind of shallow, but it shows how much a first impression matters. When I walked into the place, the immediate thought that ran through my mind was “This place has seen better days”. There are a couple of old couches to sit in immediately upon entering, and unlike the shiny spectacle of the other two gyms, NET Fitness has a lot of older machines and mismatched plates. However, that can also be seen as a positive sign, which I’ll come to in a bit.

Anyway, I entered and walked up to the front counter (unmanned) and waited. There were five or six people there that morning, and I had no idea if any of them were staff or not, but two guys were obviously coaching two other people, so I assumed they were trainers. After waiting a few minutes, one of them breaks off and comes over. He was a pretty nice guy, but obviously didn’t really have any time to show me around. He did give me the run of the place, though, and was quick to answer my questions.

Anyhow, after leaving, the impression I had of the place was not hugely positive. However, that’s why I went to train at each place a week before making my decision; you never can tell until you spend some time in the gym just how you are going to fit in. And for me, this is an interesting quandary.

See, I’m not exactly the most outgoing, sociable person you are ever likely to meet. And when I’m trying to lift, I’m even less so. I simply want to get in, knock out my work sets, and get out. I don’t want to chat. I don’t want to spot you. I don’t want to hear you moan and groan. And I sure as hell don’t want to flirt with you. I’m there to work. Period.

Unfortunately, in most gyms, I’m the minority. This was most apparent at Gold’s, but somewhat apparent even at Powerhouse Gym in Pensacola. Luckily, here, that’s what most people seem to be doing. That’s not to say it’s a hardcore, chalk infested powerlifters dive. Pretty far from it, actually, but at least most folk here seem to be going about their exercise with some degree of work ethic as opposed to trying to get every head to turn while they quarter squat 225.

Anyhow, turns out there’s a lot to like here once you get past the first impressions. For example, I present to you exhibit A:

And here I never though I’d actually like reading a poster in a gym…

For those of you who don’t see it right away, that’s a RPE scale poster on the wall. I saw this while doing weighted hypers over in the bodyweight exercise corner, and almost fell over. This is the first place I’ve ever been that even knew what the RPE scale was, much less had a poster of it.

As far as the equipment goes, let me first give you the bad news: It’s all old, and some of it has tape over the padded bits to keep them together. However, it is all well maintained, and there’s a metric ass-ton of it.


Just as an example, Gold’s had two leg press sleds. This place has at least 4, one in every imaginable variety, including a selectorized lying one. This one, however, is my current fave:

I felt like a rock star the first time I bottomed this thing out with a flat back.

Despite the fact that I have zero clue how much the sled weighs (I’m marking down 100 lbs, though it’s probably closer to 200), this one is my favorite because of the depth. See where the chrome ends on the slide? That’s bottom.

Bottom on this sled is a very scary place, and you better have a lot of flexibility and supreme faith in your ability to push before you load this puppy up and try for full ROM. I like that, makes me feel like maybe I can make the best out of not being able to squat.

Anyhow, the other thing I like about this place is that, even though the plates are all mismatched (mostly Standard and Pacific, though), there’s no end to them. They even have loads of 2.5’s which is something I’ve had to sell a kidney for in most other gyms. No micro plates though, so I’ll have to bring my own if I get to that point.

The gym’s not just about strength training, though. They also have a couple of rows of cardio machines (along with the requisite big screen TV’s), a bunch of punching bags, fitness balls, a tractor tire, and all kinds of other stuff if you are into that.

Additionally, they supposedly have tanning beds (though I haven’t used them), showers (same, have not used), and a towel service (use daily).

Finally, they are priced lower than everywhere else: Something like $18 a month with a $50 initiation.

Anyway, after lifting there for a week, I was sold, and this is where I’m calling home for the next few months. Hopefully, after that I can dead and squat again, and can go back to training the way I want to and not the way I have to.

Since this ran a little longer than I expected, I’ll save the program I am using while recovering until next time. See you then.