Fitness Lessons From Brooklyn

I began my serious weight training and learning in R&J Health Studio in Brooklyn.  R&J was made famous by all the athletes that would train there.  R&J was the home of Lou Ferrigno and the movie Pumping Iron was filmed there.  Which is precisely what attracted me to this hard core dungeon of a gym.  Several years after joining I ended up buying R&J.

Gym like R&J were the laboratories for our current fitness revolution.  Many don’t realize it but the bodybuilding community has been leading the pack with regards to developments in the wellness, weight loss, or fitness arena since the beginning.  If you want to know what the next diet frenzy will be, just look at what the bodybuilders are doing today.

Back in Brooklyn we had some of the best physiques you would ever see.  All of these people had jobs so they had to make sure they were effective in the gym.  They came in the gym ready to work out, found their training partner, said hello to a few people and then they trained.  You didn’t see them sitting on equipment texting or making a phone call.  Back then we didn’t have this technology but they didn’t eve waste time with chit chat.  They were there to train and that is what they did.

This video clip below is a scene from the movie Pumping Iron.  It shows Lou Ferrigno getting prepared to compete against Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Mr. Olympia title in South Africa.

I had some guys that only came in once or twice a week but looked great.  Others came in  three or four days a week and seldom did you see someone at the gym more then four days a week.  They trained hard and heavy.  Did what they had to do and got out of there.  The mindset was the gym was for training, you lift as hard as you can and go home because you grow when you are at home not in the gym.

Now don’t get me wrong, they had fun, bantered with each other but only in between sets.  You never saw anyone get into a deep conversation, there was no time for it.  They were there for a reason.  Also in these old gyms you never had to go around and look for a spot, everyone looked out for everyone else, so someone was always there with a helping hand or a word of encouragement.

In gyms today I see people “living” on pieces of equipment and it is not uncommon when you ask someone if you can work in or share the equipment that they say, I only have four sets left (meaning no you can’t work in you will have to wait)  This never happened, everyone shared the equipment and helped one another.  It was an environment to train and get into shape.

What you can learn from my Brooklyn days is this.  When you enter the gym you know why you are there.  Do what you have to do and go home.  Be focused but nice to everyone and help anyone who needs help and hopefully they will start doing the same for you.  You don’t have to do anything fancy, just be consistent and you will get into fantastic shape.

Let me know how much time you are spending in the gym or putting into your fitness regimen.  The key to getting and staying in shape is to enjoy what you do and to do it consistently.

If you can’t get into shape doing this then… forgetaboutit!