Gold's Gym was started over 45 years ago by Joe Gold. The first location opened in 1965 in Venice Beach, California, where weight training was common among bodybuilders. Gold's Gym has opened over 600 training facilities in 40 states across the nation and in 30 countries, with a company mission to help people realize their goals and find their inner strength. Gold's Gym has evolved into a fitness center where members at all fitness levels and ages come to weight-train.
Free Weights
The free weight section includes dumbbells, which can be used to perform exercises including bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, shoulder press and chest press. You will also have access to barbells and EZ curl bars, which are useful when training your hamstrings, glutes, shoulders, triceps and chest. Gold's Gym provides weight plate racks throughout the floor for easy accessibility and a designated section for squat racks and smith machines for use when executing squats, lunges or exercises for other major muscles. According to Bodybuilding.com, the main benefit of free weight training is its use of more stabilizer muscles while targeting a specific muscle. Weight training increases energy and calorie expenditures.
Machine Weights
Machine weights operate with a weight stack guided by a pulley system; this allows for an easier workout that is safe and reduces the use of poor body mechanics. Gold's Gym weight machines include lat pull down for sculpting the back, hip adductor/abductor to strengthen hip flexors, leg curl to target hamstrings, leg extension for developing definition in the quadriceps, and a fly/rear deltoid machine for chest and shoulder work. According to Bodybuilding.com, utilizing machine weights allows you to train a targeted muscle group through an optimal range of motion.
Fitness Equipment Brands
Gold's Gym carries a versatile collection of specific, reputable weight training equipment brands: FreeMotion, Life Fitness and Hammer Strength. FreeMotion's machine weights offer flexibility and mimic a range of motion comparable to free weights, yet continue to provide safety and convenience. Life Fitness' machine weights supply natural movements and instructional placards that assist with identifying the targeted muscle, in addition to exercise instructions. Hammer Strength's plate-loaded and weight stack equipment simulates natural and ergonomically correct paths of motion. More importantly, the iso-lateral technology allows the user to move one limb or both limbs at the same time while providing safe and controlled movements.
Floor Layout
Gold's Gym places the free weights and machine weights strategically into separate sections to create a more effective training space and to avoid deterring members from weight training. Using free weights requires a lot of movement among members when transferring weights or benches across the floor; this tends to create a clutter of equipment (dumbbells, weight plates and accessories). Machine weights are more user-friendly, because they offer a quick, efficient and convenient workout that keeps the floor space open. Gold's organizes its weight training sections according to body part---chest, back, arms, and legs---so that members can easily locate the equipment they need for specific exercises.
Personal Training
Certified personal trainers at Gold's Gym educate members on how to properly use the weight training equipment and demonstrate the various uses. Personal training sessions are also available to guide you through an effective weight training program for achieving desired results.
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