I'm a member. Thank you for stopping the madness with the music. I know some people are upset they can't listen to their stuff anymore, but it was getting INSANE.
I would take monastery leves of silence over ANY kind of music in the gym any day of the week. You know those moments of quiet you get when the music stops in between the clowns choosing what to play next and you're like "Damn, I can hear myself training and straining and it's badass."
@@fdu6 one of my best training sessions ever was in a gym where obnoxiously loud music was the norm. I hated that aspect of it. But I got there very early in the morning, they had just opened it, so there was no music playing yet. I started my bench press sets, and all I could hear was my breath, the plates hitting each other, the bench slightly creaking, and my heart beating. That was therapeutic.
@@fdu6 In my gym, they put the same reggaeton songs over and over. I wake up and I have this reggaeton songs in my head. this morning there was no music. Amazing x)
It's weird how some people think everyone likes their music and if they don't they should listen to it anyway. Like, headphones do exist and are pretty cheap.
24:42 “Don’t say something about someone that you wouldn’t say to their face” is the best social advice that I needed when I was in college. This is the best way in the world to never be involved in drama.
@@DevOpsNerd It’s one of the ideas we’ve lost since I was a kid. Gossip and backbiting are so much EASIER than just addressing a concern directly with the person in question, so that’s what people do. Who wanted to solve things like an adult?
Really proud of you big dog and glad to see Untamed Strength doing well. Always loved your drive, motivation, and training mindset ESPECIALLY the ability to break out of old habits and find what training style suits your needs instead of straight power, hypertrophy only, etc. Hope you and the family are doing well and have a great rest of the year!
That Alan kicked the guy out because he didn't give people their shirts they paid for and not because he was selling merch for his gym in Alan's gym makes Alan 100x more awesome.
It’s so disrespectful. I’ve just changed gyms. At my old gym everyone put their weights away. At my new gym, I would say at least half don’t. There are signs everywhere…
I just wanted to say congrats on 11 years and building something that really reflects your values. I started my powerlifting career in my late thirties about the same time as you started putting out vids and have followed the whole journey. Yourself, the Barbell Medicine guys and Stronger by Science associated guys get the most respect from me in all of TH-cam lifting. It's not just your great information, but the attitude, professionalism and aforementioned values. Nothing toxic in my gym, because it's my mate's shed on a rural property and it's just 3 or 4 dudes gittin' 'er done. We each take turns for it being out night to pick music. My mate likes to play the same shit from his youth over and over, which drives me mad, but hey, I like to get all exploratory with new stuff that can be hit or miss, which probably drives him mad. One of the good things about the pandemic were all the home gyms that people created. We built one with a wooden rack and bench out of skip-bin timber when our commercial gym got closed, and then expanded it down the track into this large shed we have now. I'm just lucky my mate is a homeowner with a lot of space and the funds to have done that (and I've helped by picking up cheap gear off Marketplace and such).
This is awesome. Love this casual chat and the honest, down to Earth perspective as a gym owner. I work as a coach at a mainstream group fitness gym and while we are supposed to use standardized play lists for the music, I have a multitude of playlists I've put together because I am a music LOVER. The majority of people love it because they are burned out on the generic playlists with the same BPM, same thumping bass & snare. Periodically, someone will tell me they didn't like "X" song and I ask them if they liked the other 58 minutes worth of music. That is eye opening for them when they realize they are more perturbed by 2 minutes of music they don't like instead of appeased by the other 58 minutes of music they enjoyed. Still, if I remember, I try to skip those songs if these particular members are in class. But seriously, you are here to workout, if you are that focused on the music, work harder. But yeah, mumble rap, slow BPM music, niche stuff, that is a no go.
Yeah that's why I have on ear buds; so I don't listen to the generic garbage that's being played in the background. I've only been to a few gyms where the music was actually awesome.
Truth. I put on a youtube workout mix the other day and kept skipping through songs because the songs were all about popping bottles and hosing off cats if you catch my drift!
If you want to test the durability of equipment, start training middle school football players and take your eyes away long enough to take a leak. When you return something will be broken. I had a 190k tensile strength power bar that withstood years of use by strong people, I mean frequent 600lb+ deadlifts a few 800lb squats, etc. These kids bent it, broke a plate on the weight stack of a cable machine, and, of course, cracked a wall mounted mirror. None of them were strong enough to handle what anyone would consider "heavy" weight. After talking to others, I discovered this is a common experience. Apparently, on occasion they manage to break actual plates in the high school weight room, not the lip or edge of a deep dish, but the actual plates get broken.
If someone can figure out how to harness the wonton destruction of middle school aged boy's, they'd become the richest man alive. Unfortunately, the very driving force behind their destruction is the desire to not be controlled. So it's a paradox.
Just got back to training after a ten-year break, and it’s been brutal. No one makes eye contact, and the vibe feels completely off. I held the door for a couple of people who couldn't even say thanks, and when I asked someone if they were using a barbell left out as a tripping hazard, they just threw back, 'Do whatever you want!' with zero eye contact. Tried smiling and saying hi to a guy who’d been staring at me, and he looked at me like I was in the wrong! People used to be friendly and social-makes me wonder if it’s just me or if something's seriously changed.
No, you're not wrong. It's different, now. I experienced the same thing when I joined a big box gym (for the kid care aspect). I blame the "Me Too" movement, combined with Gen Z growing up socially stunted on social media and imprisoned during high school with C-19 lockdowns. It's sad, man.
On the topic of gym-music, the gym I used to go when I lived in Germany was a standard commercial gym with a backroom for powerlifting and weightlifting. Standard part had your normal boring pop-music, but the backroom, no matter the time, no matter the day, had an old CD-player with Appetite for Destruction cranked to the max. Best gym ever.
I appreciate GnR. I also know from similar past experiences where some guy played Led Zeppelin IV every time I was in the gym and if I heard Black Dog again i wanted vomit
Good on you for not getting mixed up and everybody else’s bullshit. The healthiest position when it comes to everybody else’s drama is “ I’ve got problems of my own, your shit doesn’t concern me.” And pay no mind to the trolls in your comments. Everybody is a tough guy safely behind the veil of anonymity and armed with a keyboard.
Love you Allen, helped me majorly during my youth unlearned lifting time, when i drop by someday, i WILL be paying the drop in fee amd probably something extra from all the lessons you've helped me learn
Looking at this thumbnail it got me thinking about the phrase "live free or die" as pictured and for some reason it appears to only be associated with one political party, but I would say it is relatable for both. One party emphasizes freedom from government financial control while the other promotes policies primarily about freedom from corporate control, control over health choices, control over employment freedoms, control over an individual's right to choose who, how, what, and when to love. Control comes in many forms and what specific responsibilities and therefore control we want to allow our government to have over us as individuals is important to consider. Personal freedoms are as valid a concern as financial freedoms.
Better Business Bureau is basically Yelp. They are not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with any government, at any level. "You have x-amount of time to respond" is meaningless.
Hey alan, just want to say you are one of the best TH-cam Gym guys out there. You are really one of the OG's when it comes to youtube fitness. Been watching you for 10 years now. HOOYAH
Loved the rant on music while lifting. In my garage my friends are only subjected to it on Friday mornings. Just a little something extra before the weekend.
The gym I go to allows members to choose music. Works 90% of the time, but it has caused conflict and some people, as you said, are very socially "tonedeaf" Smooth jazz, ultra chill classical, super soft/slow pop, and new age Enya -type stuff has been on at various times. One old guy always had weird meditation music with flutes and ocean sounds if I went in the morning. People are weird.
Hahaha love the music part. My gym mostly plays early late 90s, early 2000s hiphop and rock non-stop. It's stuff that almost everyone is okay with even if they don't like it.
The only example of “toxic gym culture” I would say I’ve experienced kind of falls in line with what you were saying about senior members/coaches/staff abusing their power. What happened was one of my buddies was trying to sell of some strongman equipment he had. Some of this equipment was kept at his home and some of it was at the gym full time, and he did allow others to use it (mainly a 12inch log, axle bar, farmer handles, and some stones and sandbags). He and his wife wanted to downsize, as his some of his kids had/ were close to moving out, so he wanted to sell off some of his equipment. He had offered to sell the equipment to the owner of the gym (basically gave first dibs to him), but the owner said that they were over budget and couldn’t afford it. He went up to the manager in person multiple times asking if he wanted to purchase the equipment, and was told that every time (that’s important for later). I had no idea that this situation was going on at the time, and I happened to ask that friend if he was/knew anybody who was selling second hand strongman equipment second hand, cause I wanted to start building my home gym. He then offered to sell me the equipment that he had previously offered to sell to the owner (I didn’t even know about all that until the night before the actual sale), and when the owner found out about that, he was pissed. He was being all pissy and kind of being an asshole over text, but he would barely even look me or my friend in the eye in person! He then made a “new gym wide rule” that private equipment couldn’t be stored at the gym “to clear up any confusion”. Thus far this rule has only been applied to me and my friend. And then it seems to me like he basically harassed my friend until he switched to another gym. And the worst part was, he was using my friend’s strongman equipment to teach a paid strongman class, to beginners, without even asking for permission! I just try to mind my own business and not engage with him now, and luckily it didn’t put a huge dampener on the community (at least now, since it happened quite a few months ago), but there was definitely a lot of tension at first.
I agree completely with the music topic, the few times I got to choose the music for my gym I tried to play something that everyone likes or at least can ignore. It's crazy how people dont realize we're all sharing the gym, it's the main reason I always take my headphones with me now, I seem antisocial but I can't lift listening to horrible music, I'd rather there be no music at all.
The people I hate the most at the gym are the ones that play music on their phones speaker or with an external bluetooth speaker. The other person I hate is the one that's singing along with the music they are listening to with their ear buds.
Dude at my gym screams obscene rap lyrics in between his sets. At first I thought he was trolling for youtube views but later realized he is dead fkn serious
"Braindead cough syrup brrup brrah brr" is the exact reason why I took away the "customer ipad" when I was a taxi driver. Man, I thought to myself "it would be a cool business maneuver to let the customer choose their own music, how cool". How wrong I was...
31:55 there’s this phenomenon that occurs in primarily powerlifting/strength sport based gyms in LA, where stronger members of the community will sometimes look down upon those that don’t meet their strength standards-often condescending them or treating them poorly, even in groups in classic high school jock / mean girl clicks. I guess it’s not like a massive issue, but it can be problematic. For example, sometimes the members that waltz around like they’re decorated veterans of their sport will feel entitled enough to jump ahead of lifters in meet prep waiting more than an hour on a combo rack, then occupy it for upwards of 2-3 hours doing just squats or just bench-often abandoning it for long drawn out conversations (conveniently dubbed as ‘rest periods’) on the other side of the gym. I try to encourage the lifters I coach to speak up but most people are pretty non-confrontational, which I think is generally a good thing, but I haven’t quite figured out a repeatable solution to recommend if all other options are exhausted. Also worth mentioning, I don’t think it’s always appropriate to compromise to some of these entitled members at risk of either allowing them to continue if they’re unaware or to embolden their actions further.
Not saying I'd do it to you Allen, but me and my friends have definitely pulled some schemes like u mention to sneak in workouts at gyms with $20-30-40 day passes and $100+ monthly membership fees cuz we were young, stupid and broke but loved training and finding cool new gyms lol
I am about to embark on this journey myself. I have really enjoyed this series of videos and would love to contact you personally if you are open to it. We are building the gym from scratch in Clarksville, TN. You can see where we are in the process in the featured video on my channel. I know you get a ton of comments and are very busy, so I won't take offense if i don't hear from you. Keep doing what you do, brother! We need more positive influences in our community.
Toxic gym culture: like the stuff Joey Swoll posts about I guess. Or gym members bring inappropriate with one another. Last gym my wife and I belonged to used to have a few members that would constantly try to hit on her. Idk I just show up and lift.
Used to go to a gym that Friday morning like the really early crew, would play this super heavy metal. I just knew that’s what it was going to be not my music, but I don’t care especially if it’s not so loud that I can just put my headphones in, plus I always knew that was what I expected.
Pro tip: Don't play louder than a pair of well sealed In ears cant keep out on normal volume. Then everyone is happy. Don't like the music? Listen to your own.
I wish people would keep politics out of the gym entirely. Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, it’s nice to have a place where for once that shit doesn’t matter. Politics constantly encroaches our lives, keep that shit out of the gym. Most Americans are politically reasonable, despite what the extremists say.
Alan have you ever thought about having no music in the gym or just very very low volume? Personally I've always thought that the sound of people talking or weight being moved was always way nicer and if someone wanted to listen to something they can go ahead and do it with headphones
Well, devil's advocate: having people not take you as seriously as they do a corporate gym also comes with the job description. What everyone hates about big business is the lack of personality. But part of the fun for the corpos is that lack of personality is a shield. If you wanna have that mom n pop feel, people are going to be more chill about things.
I 100% agree with your music opinion. That's what I hear at the powerlifting gyms and it's awful and always blasted so loud. I have to put my earbuds in just to dampen it. I also hate when people only play 3 seconds of every song and keep changing the song.
@@SaulFemm It's kind of true, at least from my own perspective I feel like living with and around other people, it's just intrusive to have your phone ring instead of vibrate or just answer messages when you get to them. It's not really often that you need to instantly answer a voice call.
Maybe not a toxic culture memberside, I used to go to a public powerlifting/strongman gym, the only real open one in the town and the coaches there just always had this mean girl snarl coming from them. Sometimes I'd get kicked off the equipment I was using because they decided just then they had to have their class right there even at very not rush-hour times and even if I was about to hit my top set they were adamant I needed to pack it up that second and find another spot. Every now and again I'd get a nasty side-eye or spot them and their clients looking over their shoulder seeming to have a giggle. I can get it, sometimes I'd be at the height of a strength peak and I'd get incredibly intense to go full RPE 11 so we gotta see the freak show, but other members would usually come up and chat and compliment after the set, they came to recognize me for that. One coach I was friends with later confirmed my suspicions and said he really didn't like the clique stuff either as he didn't often get to positively interact with his coworkers, which is unfortunate as he was the strongest one of all of them but would get tense like I did when it came to max sets. Best move was to just ignore it, really not a big deal, it was just mildly annoying to go to a powerlifting gym to lift solid heavy ass pounds and catch attitude when my mental clarity is already blurred with the energy and tunnel vision of going for a new PR.
Toxic gym culture I’ve seen in my many years at gyms: men not washing their hands after using the bathroom or smelling like ass in the gym and men hitting on women during a workout and after they’ve clearly shown disinterest.
@@fedyno4reviewsWhat kind of sensitive neanderthal are you to get offended by being able to see the shape of a woman's body? I gotta wipe down some previous guy's piss covered hands and ass sweat and you're over here clutching pearls because you can't function if you can make out a woman's ass cheek through her shorts. Give me a break.
I am CEO of a California licensed Pharmaceutical Wholesale Corporation in Garden Grove C.A, it's wonderful to see how you've evolved into a well informed seasoned businessman now.. You are AWESOME and motivate me to keep pushing hard, intense and heavy!!!!!!!!!!
Music can definitely be a problem. My previous gym had a bloody awful playlist they almost never changed and it was mostly some girl whining about her shitty relationships, or R&B. Except one time when they swapped it to... Swedish pop hits from the 70s! Try getting into the groove for some max effort deadlifts with ABBA on full blast. Terrible music aside, members would also constantly fiddle with the volume so you could be mid-set and some booty builder cranks shitty relationship girl to 11 because she was the only one in the gym who didn't bring headphones.
GOD the music one is so relatable. I workout in headphones and have anything from HipHop to swing music playing and sometimes can barely hear it over the garbage being played on the bluetooth boom speaker in my gym. Mumble rap or bachata booming while I can't hear my Hall and Oates. If I ever heard Tom McDonald, I would move to another gym, lmao.
I like the training along with the commentary/message. Makes you stick around during the whole thing. Will Ratelle does the same thing. In relation to the weird old man not getting punished for false allegations: You live in Commiefornia - no criminals get punished there man, havent you noticed?
Im old 60 and gyms have changed so much. Most gyms I go to now, everyone is wired into their own music and their own world. In the 80's I remember going to a gym in NY, Greg Valentino trained there and it was so much fun. Greg is an extremely funny guy, I looked forward going to the gym. Years later in GA , I joined a boxing gym and that was the closest to that experience. Imagine walking into some place and the weights are in the back and everyone says hello to you. I dont know if its because it was a boxing gym and you have to work with others but it was the best. People busting each other balls, I would have to plan an extra hour because when it was time to go . I would windup talking at front desk for an hour. You are a cool guy Alan and I wished I lived closer to your gym. I used to be a service advisor so we could share customer experience horror stories lol.
I once trained in a gym here in Iceland, owned by a strongman competitor named Georg. One time some guy walked away, leaving a 60kg barbell loaded on the bench. Georg grabbed it and ran after him through the entire gym, then almost threw it into his arms with a cheery "you forgot this on the bench!"
You could create a gym playlist that members collaborate on for music recommendations for a playlist you privately manage but that's a lot listening to crappy music
the music is a huge problem at my gym. first, it's constantly cranked so loud that my Apple Watch decibel app is constantly warning me I'm about to go deaf, and the content is extreme. I'm tired of hearing all the details of various body parts and sexual practices and racial slurs.
When I was in college the only gym I had access to had members who were passive aggressive and demeaning to me and others. I did my best to just avoid them and still attended but had I been in a city with different gyms I likely would have left.
2 irritating things: - People who occupy equipment while using their phones, instead of exercising and getting off of the equipment to allow others to us it. - offensive music played over the intercom like rap with cursing.
Stalker story is gross. I had an older member of my old gym who would stand behind me whenever I would squat. It didn't matter in what order I did my workout, when I went to the rack he would follow. Things like this happen and shouldn't. It's great you got rid of him. I switched gyms
Most unrealistic part of the story is that someone was able to cancel their memberships at golds gym
😂😂😂
I known a guy who had to get a new bank account to get out
😂😂😂
I'm a member. Thank you for stopping the madness with the music. I know some people are upset they can't listen to their stuff anymore, but it was getting INSANE.
I would take monastery leves of silence over ANY kind of music in the gym any day of the week. You know those moments of quiet you get when the music stops in between the clowns choosing what to play next and you're like "Damn, I can hear myself training and straining and it's badass."
@@fdu6 one of my best training sessions ever was in a gym where obnoxiously loud music was the norm. I hated that aspect of it. But I got there very early in the morning, they had just opened it, so there was no music playing yet. I started my bench press sets, and all I could hear was my breath, the plates hitting each other, the bench slightly creaking, and my heart beating. That was therapeutic.
@RafaelAlbuquerque-c7f truth. I believe peace and quiet when exercising is criminally underrated.
@@fdu6 In my gym, they put the same reggaeton songs over and over. I wake up and I have this reggaeton songs in my head. this morning there was no music. Amazing x)
It's weird how some people think everyone likes their music and if they don't they should listen to it anyway. Like, headphones do exist and are pretty cheap.
24:42 “Don’t say something about someone that you wouldn’t say to their face” is the best social advice that I needed when I was in college. This is the best way in the world to never be involved in drama.
That's the best social advice for everyone, everywhere, everytime
@@DevOpsNerd It’s one of the ideas we’ve lost since I was a kid. Gossip and backbiting are so much EASIER than just addressing a concern directly with the person in question, so that’s what people do. Who wanted to solve things like an adult?
“Sucking dees and eating pees” & “keep your mood to yourself” was too much for me, I’m dying
"I realize not everyone wants to hear about cumming blood and burning churches." I'll be bringing this up verbatim at my next staff meeting.
⏸️
Really proud of you big dog and glad to see Untamed Strength doing well. Always loved your drive, motivation, and training mindset ESPECIALLY the ability to break out of old habits and find what training style suits your needs instead of straight power, hypertrophy only, etc. Hope you and the family are doing well and have a great rest of the year!
That creepy old man turning out to be a stalker was a horror movie tier plot twist.
Spoilers
It was Mark Rippetoe.
Untrue, the word pink wasn't mentioned at any point nor did they go "you wanna hip drive some faihves" instead of the lunch @@lemarscottwhyte3260
@@lemarscottwhyte3260
*breaths over your shoulder with hot, milky breath*
@@lemarscottwhyte3260 when you don't do ya fahves
That Alan kicked the guy out because he didn't give people their shirts they paid for and not because he was selling merch for his gym in Alan's gym makes Alan 100x more awesome.
Alan is a genuinely good, chill guy. I've been following him for a decade now and now he's just more mature and kinder it would seem
Absolutely love the unscripted talks you give from the Q&A. It is a sign of true expertise to be able to talk fluently about a subject.
I hate people that don't rack their weights/plates. Like the gym is their living room.
It’s so disrespectful. I’ve just changed gyms. At my old gym everyone put their weights away. At my new gym, I would say at least half don’t. There are signs everywhere…
I wouldn't want to be in their living room.
The only thing more annoying is people that rerack them in the wrong pin, and then you have to move 100kg in plates to get the 1.25kg behind them
@MollymaukT animals!
@@MollymaukTThis! 😢
I just wanted to say congrats on 11 years and building something that really reflects your values. I started my powerlifting career in my late thirties about the same time as you started putting out vids and have followed the whole journey. Yourself, the Barbell Medicine guys and Stronger by Science associated guys get the most respect from me in all of TH-cam lifting. It's not just your great information, but the attitude, professionalism and aforementioned values.
Nothing toxic in my gym, because it's my mate's shed on a rural property and it's just 3 or 4 dudes gittin' 'er done. We each take turns for it being out night to pick music. My mate likes to play the same shit from his youth over and over, which drives me mad, but hey, I like to get all exploratory with new stuff that can be hit or miss, which probably drives him mad. One of the good things about the pandemic were all the home gyms that people created. We built one with a wooden rack and bench out of skip-bin timber when our commercial gym got closed, and then expanded it down the track into this large shed we have now. I'm just lucky my mate is a homeowner with a lot of space and the funds to have done that (and I've helped by picking up cheap gear off Marketplace and such).
This is awesome. Love this casual chat and the honest, down to Earth perspective as a gym owner. I work as a coach at a mainstream group fitness gym and while we are supposed to use standardized play lists for the music, I have a multitude of playlists I've put together because I am a music LOVER. The majority of people love it because they are burned out on the generic playlists with the same BPM, same thumping bass & snare. Periodically, someone will tell me they didn't like "X" song and I ask them if they liked the other 58 minutes worth of music. That is eye opening for them when they realize they are more perturbed by 2 minutes of music they don't like instead of appeased by the other 58 minutes of music they enjoyed. Still, if I remember, I try to skip those songs if these particular members are in class. But seriously, you are here to workout, if you are that focused on the music, work harder. But yeah, mumble rap, slow BPM music, niche stuff, that is a no go.
Yeah that's why I have on ear buds; so I don't listen to the generic garbage that's being played in the background. I've only been to a few gyms where the music was actually awesome.
This has been the only time I have been excited to watch someone talk countless minutes in between sets. Thanks Alan
“I don’t need to be listening to sucking D’s while I lift.” -Alan Thrall 2024 lmao 😂
I read this before I got to that part of the video 😲. I was thinking "What the heck goes on at his gym!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Truth. I put on a youtube workout mix the other day and kept skipping through songs because the songs were all about popping bottles and hosing off cats if you catch my drift!
If you want to test the durability of equipment, start training middle school football players and take your eyes away long enough to take a leak. When you return something will be broken. I had a 190k tensile strength power bar that withstood years of use by strong people, I mean frequent 600lb+ deadlifts a few 800lb squats, etc. These kids bent it, broke a plate on the weight stack of a cable machine, and, of course, cracked a wall mounted mirror. None of them were strong enough to handle what anyone would consider "heavy" weight. After talking to others, I discovered this is a common experience. Apparently, on occasion they manage to break actual plates in the high school weight room, not the lip or edge of a deep dish, but the actual plates get broken.
If someone can figure out how to harness the wonton destruction of middle school aged boy's, they'd become the richest man alive. Unfortunately, the very driving force behind their destruction is the desire to not be controlled. So it's a paradox.
Just got back to training after a ten-year break, and it’s been brutal. No one makes eye contact, and the vibe feels completely off. I held the door for a couple of people who couldn't even say thanks, and when I asked someone if they were using a barbell left out as a tripping hazard, they just threw back, 'Do whatever you want!' with zero eye contact. Tried smiling and saying hi to a guy who’d been staring at me, and he looked at me like I was in the wrong! People used to be friendly and social-makes me wonder if it’s just me or if something's seriously changed.
No, you're not wrong. It's different, now. I experienced the same thing when I joined a big box gym (for the kid care aspect). I blame the "Me Too" movement, combined with Gen Z growing up socially stunted on social media and imprisoned during high school with C-19 lockdowns. It's sad, man.
@@michelleh.7010 You can blame whatever you want dude.
Eating peas is actually pretty darn healthy Alan. Lots of fiber and micronutrients.
peas suck
And sucking dees?
@@keytonbush3925The daily dose of vitamin D
@@keytonbush3925 good cardio workout, I follow Greg Doucette's advice and do it for minimum hour and a half a week :D
On the topic of gym-music, the gym I used to go when I lived in Germany was a standard commercial gym with a backroom for powerlifting and weightlifting. Standard part had your normal boring pop-music, but the backroom, no matter the time, no matter the day, had an old CD-player with Appetite for Destruction cranked to the max. Best gym ever.
I appreciate GnR. I also know from similar past experiences where some guy played Led Zeppelin IV every time I was in the gym and if I heard Black Dog again i wanted vomit
A gym of culture : the older the equipment (audio included) the better.
@@Pleksilasi True that, they had this old hammer strength abdominal oblique crunch machine, it is by far the best abs exercise I ever did in my life.
@@MollymaukT gym equipment is like cars : anything built before computers is better than what came after.
Good on you for not getting mixed up and everybody else’s bullshit. The healthiest position when it comes to everybody else’s drama is “ I’ve got problems of my own, your shit doesn’t concern me.” And pay no mind to the trolls in your comments. Everybody is a tough guy safely behind the veil of anonymity and armed with a keyboard.
Its a common issue in Powerlifting gyms where I go to, lots of ego but the majority of the people are nice.
13:25 The subgenre you're referring to is called hardstyle and is the funniest possible choice for a public speaker
Love you Allen, helped me majorly during my youth unlearned lifting time, when i drop by someday, i WILL be paying the drop in fee amd probably something extra from all the lessons you've helped me learn
Congrats on the gym success and sending good vibes to your family
Playing Mortician on the gym speaker is a serious power move
I love lying under the bar to bench waiting 2 minutes 30 for the sample to end so I can lift to music
Looking at this thumbnail it got me thinking about the phrase "live free or die" as pictured and for some reason it appears to only be associated with one political party, but I would say it is relatable for both. One party emphasizes freedom from government financial control while the other promotes policies primarily about freedom from corporate control, control over health choices, control over employment freedoms, control over an individual's right to choose who, how, what, and when to love. Control comes in many forms and what specific responsibilities and therefore control we want to allow our government to have over us as individuals is important to consider. Personal freedoms are as valid a concern as financial freedoms.
Better Business Bureau is basically Yelp. They are not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with any government, at any level. "You have x-amount of time to respond" is meaningless.
Yeah, some people mistake the BBB for the Department of Labor which is government
Hey alan, just want to say you are one of the best TH-cam Gym guys out there. You are really one of the OG's when it comes to youtube fitness. Been watching you for 10 years now. HOOYAH
lmao the music issues were hilarious
Loved the rant on music while lifting. In my garage my friends are only subjected to it on Friday mornings. Just a little something extra before the weekend.
Its wild that people were trying to buy out others memberships to get them kicked out, glad you put your foot down Alan!
There’s no way in hell I’d let people choose music lol. Most people have no taste. UNLESS it’s RICK BOOOOOOOOGS. Just put Money For Nothing on repeat.
nowdays its mostly mumble rap
NO
“Hammer Smashed Face”
It's either mumble rap, or that generic Tiktok music that people use to death for their videos on IG or Tiktok.
It will just be co-worker core 99% of the time. Stuff like imagine dragons.
I discovered many great metal bands through the Stick: Wintersun, Kreator, Dissection. He has really good tastes.
Alan, I LOVE the music you play in your gym! If I lived closer, I’d be signing up for a membership right away.
Eh, heavy metal is pretty divisive imo.
Dude, you’re there to work out, not worry about politics. Metal is PERFECT for pumping iron!
Congratulations on the 11 years! Stay awesome 😎. I hope to visit one day 💪
49 minutes of total substance, I was listening every second. Very accessible and informative
You’re killing it - killer, keep growing and stand by your values.
The gym I go to allows members to choose music. Works 90% of the time, but it has caused conflict and some people, as you said, are very socially "tonedeaf"
Smooth jazz, ultra chill classical, super soft/slow pop, and new age Enya -type stuff has been on at various times. One old guy always had weird meditation music with flutes and ocean sounds if I went in the morning.
People are weird.
Friend of mine, Ryan Krauss trains at your gym, seems like he really likes it! You've built something awesome
14:12 Alan's impersonations of music are so spot on 👌
Hahaha love the music part. My gym mostly plays early late 90s, early 2000s hiphop and rock non-stop. It's stuff that almost everyone is okay with even if they don't like it.
11:09 - 15:54 for Alan's old man get off my lawn music rant. Just playin, just playin
The only example of “toxic gym culture” I would say I’ve experienced kind of falls in line with what you were saying about senior members/coaches/staff abusing their power. What happened was one of my buddies was trying to sell of some strongman equipment he had. Some of this equipment was kept at his home and some of it was at the gym full time, and he did allow others to use it (mainly a 12inch log, axle bar, farmer handles, and some stones and sandbags). He and his wife wanted to downsize, as his some of his kids had/ were close to moving out, so he wanted to sell off some of his equipment. He had offered to sell the equipment to the owner of the gym (basically gave first dibs to him), but the owner said that they were over budget and couldn’t afford it. He went up to the manager in person multiple times asking if he wanted to purchase the equipment, and was told that every time (that’s important for later). I had no idea that this situation was going on at the time, and I happened to ask that friend if he was/knew anybody who was selling second hand strongman equipment second hand, cause I wanted to start building my home gym. He then offered to sell me the equipment that he had previously offered to sell to the owner (I didn’t even know about all that until the night before the actual sale), and when the owner found out about that, he was pissed. He was being all pissy and kind of being an asshole over text, but he would barely even look me or my friend in the eye in person! He then made a “new gym wide rule” that private equipment couldn’t be stored at the gym “to clear up any confusion”. Thus far this rule has only been applied to me and my friend. And then it seems to me like he basically harassed my friend until he switched to another gym. And the worst part was, he was using my friend’s strongman equipment to teach a paid strongman class, to beginners, without even asking for permission! I just try to mind my own business and not engage with him now, and luckily it didn’t put a huge dampener on the community (at least now, since it happened quite a few months ago), but there was definitely a lot of tension at first.
I agree completely with the music topic, the few times I got to choose the music for my gym I tried to play something that everyone likes or at least can ignore. It's crazy how people dont realize we're all sharing the gym, it's the main reason I always take my headphones with me now, I seem antisocial but I can't lift listening to horrible music, I'd rather there be no music at all.
I hope this series never ends
The people I hate the most at the gym are the ones that play music on their phones speaker or with an external bluetooth speaker. The other person I hate is the one that's singing along with the music they are listening to with their ear buds.
What is with the people and their blue tooth speaker!!!
Like WTF!! Do they not know other people can hear it?!! Fu@k sakes!
'Powerlifting lifestyle' enjoyers are bad for that, you know the types.
I'm from England if someone did that here my head would explode how absolutely inconsiderate it would be!
I do the latter but very quietly :(
Dude at my gym screams obscene rap lyrics in between his sets. At first I thought he was trolling for youtube views but later realized he is dead fkn serious
"Braindead cough syrup brrup brrah brr" is the exact reason why I took away the "customer ipad" when I was a taxi driver. Man, I thought to myself "it would be a cool business maneuver to let the customer choose their own music, how cool". How wrong I was...
These Q & A's were great dude. I appreciate the content and you are a wealth of information.
Alan's music impressions were gold
31:55 there’s this phenomenon that occurs in primarily powerlifting/strength sport based gyms in LA, where stronger members of the community will sometimes look down upon those that don’t meet their strength standards-often condescending them or treating them poorly, even in groups in classic high school jock / mean girl clicks.
I guess it’s not like a massive issue, but it can be problematic. For example, sometimes the members that waltz around like they’re decorated veterans of their sport will feel entitled enough to jump ahead of lifters in meet prep waiting more than an hour on a combo rack, then occupy it for upwards of 2-3 hours doing just squats or just bench-often abandoning it for long drawn out conversations (conveniently dubbed as ‘rest periods’) on the other side of the gym.
I try to encourage the lifters I coach to speak up but most people are pretty non-confrontational, which I think is generally a good thing, but I haven’t quite figured out a repeatable solution to recommend if all other options are exhausted. Also worth mentioning, I don’t think it’s always appropriate to compromise to some of these entitled members at risk of either allowing them to continue if they’re unaware or to embolden their actions further.
If the gym plays zeppelin I'm joining
Always thought provoking and worthwhile! Awesome channel!
Not saying I'd do it to you Allen, but me and my friends have definitely pulled some schemes like u mention to sneak in workouts at gyms with $20-30-40 day passes and $100+ monthly membership fees cuz we were young, stupid and broke but loved training and finding cool new gyms lol
I am about to embark on this journey myself. I have really enjoyed this series of videos and would love to contact you personally if you are open to it. We are building the gym from scratch in Clarksville, TN. You can see where we are in the process in the featured video on my channel. I know you get a ton of comments and are very busy, so I won't take offense if i don't hear from you. Keep doing what you do, brother! We need more positive influences in our community.
Toxic gym culture: like the stuff Joey Swoll posts about I guess. Or gym members bring inappropriate with one another. Last gym my wife and I belonged to used to have a few members that would constantly try to hit on her. Idk I just show up and lift.
Used to go to a gym that Friday morning like the really early crew, would play this super heavy metal. I just knew that’s what it was going to be not my music, but I don’t care especially if it’s not so loud that I can just put my headphones in, plus I always knew that was what I expected.
Pro tip: Don't play louder than a pair of well sealed In ears cant keep out on normal volume. Then everyone is happy. Don't like the music? Listen to your own.
14:12 someone please make an Alan out of context short going blublublublubububu 😵💫
I wish people would keep politics out of the gym entirely. Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, it’s nice to have a place where for once that shit doesn’t matter. Politics constantly encroaches our lives, keep that shit out of the gym. Most Americans are politically reasonable, despite what the extremists say.
Alan have you ever thought about having no music in the gym or just very very low volume? Personally I've always thought that the sound of people talking or weight being moved was always way nicer and if someone wanted to listen to something they can go ahead and do it with headphones
My university gym had the music so loud it hurted my ears and also went through my headphones. Music is ok, but don't cause hearing damage please.
I go to a gym that usually has no music, lifting in silence is so nice.
I couldn't handle that. It would be difficult for many with adhd...if I forget my headphones, I'd hate to be at the mercy of someone's BS banter
Yeah, I almost never lift to music. I thought I was weird for that
Well, devil's advocate: having people not take you as seriously as they do a corporate gym also comes with the job description.
What everyone hates about big business is the lack of personality. But part of the fun for the corpos is that lack of personality is a shield.
If you wanna have that mom n pop feel, people are going to be more chill about things.
You're right, people should pay only when they want to. Just keep it chill.
@seankeenan9144 nice strawman, big brain
CCR goes hard, yeah baby
As someone who has owned a gym for only just over a year and a half I can confirm most of this.
Untamed Strength would be a dream gym man. Great atmosphere and unique equipment
I 100% agree with your music opinion. That's what I hear at the powerlifting gyms and it's awful and always blasted so loud. I have to put my earbuds in just to dampen it. I also hate when people only play 3 seconds of every song and keep changing the song.
I want Alan's dubstep impersonation as a ringtone
Ringtones aren't a thing anymore
@shadowaccount Your phone doesn't make a noise when someone calls you?
@@SaulFemmthat guy’s phone has been on silent since 2006
@@SaulFemm It's kind of true, at least from my own perspective I feel like living with and around other people, it's just intrusive to have your phone ring instead of vibrate or just answer messages when you get to them. It's not really often that you need to instantly answer a voice call.
Maybe not a toxic culture memberside, I used to go to a public powerlifting/strongman gym, the only real open one in the town and the coaches there just always had this mean girl snarl coming from them. Sometimes I'd get kicked off the equipment I was using because they decided just then they had to have their class right there even at very not rush-hour times and even if I was about to hit my top set they were adamant I needed to pack it up that second and find another spot. Every now and again I'd get a nasty side-eye or spot them and their clients looking over their shoulder seeming to have a giggle. I can get it, sometimes I'd be at the height of a strength peak and I'd get incredibly intense to go full RPE 11 so we gotta see the freak show, but other members would usually come up and chat and compliment after the set, they came to recognize me for that. One coach I was friends with later confirmed my suspicions and said he really didn't like the clique stuff either as he didn't often get to positively interact with his coworkers, which is unfortunate as he was the strongest one of all of them but would get tense like I did when it came to max sets. Best move was to just ignore it, really not a big deal, it was just mildly annoying to go to a powerlifting gym to lift solid heavy ass pounds and catch attitude when my mental clarity is already blurred with the energy and tunnel vision of going for a new PR.
Toxic gym culture I’ve seen in my many years at gyms:
men not washing their hands after using the bathroom or smelling like ass in the gym and men hitting on women during a workout and after they’ve clearly shown disinterest.
Woman working out in clothing that was considered underwear 8 years ago is pretty toxic.
Woman filming or taking photos of other members without their consent and broadcasting it to 1000s of people is also toxic.
@@fedyno4reviews meh not that big a deal to me. Just gotta have self control..
@@fedyno4reviewsWhat kind of sensitive neanderthal are you to get offended by being able to see the shape of a woman's body?
I gotta wipe down some previous guy's piss covered hands and ass sweat and you're over here clutching pearls because you can't function if you can make out a woman's ass cheek through her shorts. Give me a break.
Sure sure, men are evil bla bla.
I love these business videos. keep em coming!
Hey just checking in after a couple years off. Gotta say the shorter beard looks great! Real makeover :)
I am CEO of a California licensed Pharmaceutical Wholesale Corporation in Garden Grove C.A, it's wonderful to see how you've evolved into a well informed seasoned businessman now.. You are AWESOME and motivate me to keep pushing hard, intense and heavy!!!!!!!!!!
Music can definitely be a problem. My previous gym had a bloody awful playlist they almost never changed and it was mostly some girl whining about her shitty relationships, or R&B. Except one time when they swapped it to... Swedish pop hits from the 70s! Try getting into the groove for some max effort deadlifts with ABBA on full blast. Terrible music aside, members would also constantly fiddle with the volume so you could be mid-set and some booty builder cranks shitty relationship girl to 11 because she was the only one in the gym who didn't bring headphones.
@14:13 gotta be talking about Future.. great impression btw lmao
GOD the music one is so relatable. I workout in headphones and have anything from HipHop to swing music playing and sometimes can barely hear it over the garbage being played on the bluetooth boom speaker in my gym. Mumble rap or bachata booming while I can't hear my Hall and Oates. If I ever heard Tom McDonald, I would move to another gym, lmao.
I like the training along with the commentary/message. Makes you stick around during the whole thing. Will Ratelle does the same thing. In relation to the weird old man not getting punished for false allegations: You live in Commiefornia - no criminals get punished there man, havent you noticed?
stalking is weakly punished literally everywhere lmao
Im old 60 and gyms have changed so much. Most gyms I go to now, everyone is wired into their own music and their own world. In the 80's I remember going to a gym in NY, Greg Valentino trained there and it was so much fun. Greg is an extremely funny guy, I looked forward going to the gym. Years later in GA , I joined a boxing gym and that was the closest to that experience. Imagine walking into some place and the weights are in the back and everyone says hello to you. I dont know if its because it was a boxing gym and you have to work with others but it was the best. People busting each other balls, I would have to plan an extra hour because when it was time to go . I would windup talking at front desk for an hour. You are a cool guy Alan and I wished I lived closer to your gym. I used to be a service advisor so we could share customer experience horror stories lol.
Absolutely gym culture has tanked due to technology and social media.
Learning judo was the best decision i think in recent gym throat goat era
I'd like to hang out with Alan. We listen to the exact same music based on what I hear in the background of these videos.
I once trained in a gym here in Iceland, owned by a strongman competitor named Georg. One time some guy walked away, leaving a 60kg barbell loaded on the bench. Georg grabbed it and ran after him through the entire gym, then almost threw it into his arms with a cheery "you forgot this on the bench!"
Thank you for sharing your stories
I lost it at the bad dub step music haha.
I totally get what you saying about music dude. Made me laugh too
I was DYING during the music portion. Keep your mood to yourself lol.
You could create a gym playlist that members collaborate on for music recommendations for a playlist you privately manage but that's a lot listening to crappy music
44:24 for sure. I wanna some day head down to your gym just to play with the spider bar.
loved this series
the music is a huge problem at my gym. first, it's constantly cranked so loud that my Apple Watch decibel app is constantly warning me I'm about to go deaf, and the content is extreme. I'm tired of hearing all the details of various body parts and sexual practices and racial slurs.
I love the examples of the music 😂
Damn, you've slimmed down bro
When I was in college the only gym I had access to had members who were passive aggressive and demeaning to me and others. I did my best to just avoid them and still attended but had I been in a city with different gyms I likely would have left.
I love the thumbnail bro
Can we get the Untamed Strength playlist?
omg, when you hear such creepy stories and you just want it to end, but then they go "and it did not end there" - aaarrrrrghhh!!
My biggest question is, if you own a gym, why are you working out in your garage?
Is Alan’s music playlist in Spotify? It sounds very good
The only music allowed on gym speakers should be the Pumping Iron soundtrack
Turns out Alan has a pet peeve anyways - that music rant was gold 😂
The songs about Ds and Ps is all they play at my current commercial gym :(
Honestly it doesn't sound bad.
2 irritating things:
- People who occupy equipment while using their phones, instead of exercising and getting off of the equipment to allow others to us it.
- offensive music played over the intercom like rap with cursing.
The lunk alarm at Planet Fitness Defintely toxic gym culture :-)
Talk about music in the gym....I heard you playing Manowar's 'Metal Daze' on one of your early EARLY days videos!
Stalker story is gross. I had an older member of my old gym who would stand behind me whenever I would squat. It didn't matter in what order I did my workout, when I went to the rack he would follow. Things like this happen and shouldn't. It's great you got rid of him. I switched gyms
The thumbnail looks like Alan here is to save us.