Since I’m a huge mogul in the gym world I get just about every trade magazine and journal in the fitness industry whether I want it or not. Usually the mailman throws them down on my counter, I look down and see the front cover and they make me ill. It’s always some sharpy business man in his best five thousand dollar, custom made suit holding a gleaming, chrome dumbbell smiling with his overly whitened smile and fake tan staring back at me. The cover copy usually reads something like, “The Top 100 Health Clubs that are better than Steve’s”. And on the inside they will list out the top globo clubs in order of home much money they made last year. Half of which are just forecasted and not actual . . . BLAH!

Who cares about how much revenue these huge clubs generated when half of them file for bankruptcy a month after the trade magazine came out? How many power racks do they have? How many thousand pound squatters do they have? How many world champions have they put out? What is their heaviest dumbbell? How many of their members have the club’s logo tattooed on their body? These are the things that used to actually matter in our industry, back in the days when things were right.

I just got this one in the mail today and just cracked up when I saw it. (pictured here)Talk about overkill, this contraption . . . I mean health club innovation combines elements of a recumbent bike, a rower, Nordic Track cross country skier, a Chuck Norris home gym, a juice tiger and for added good measure a stability ball is throw in just in case you are so instable that you are in constant fear of toppling over. Are you kidding me? Give me my old basement gym that I had when I was a kid, a York 410lb Olympic set, squat stands and a bench and I’ll be good to go. As far as I’m concerned 95% innovations made in the health club industry after 1955 have been shit.

It would be nice to see the trade rags recognize some of the independent gyms that are all out there sweating it out every day. Companies like Iron Sport and many other clubs around the world that are in business to change people’s lives not just making money. Also it would be great to see innovative equipment companies featured like EliteFTS that are on the REAL cutting edge when it comes to putting out products.