lack of facilities in gym

[stinger70]

i work away and stay at a hotel about half the time which will be going on for another year. Ive been doing well in the hotel gym and gained 16lb in 4 months most of which is muscle. Went to check out my local gym though so i could keep going when im home, and there isnt a great deal of free weights. There is a bench press, and a rack of barbells which all have numerous smaller weights on them. I didnt think to ask while i was there, but is there a possibility that those are fixed weight barbells? There were no big 20kg plates and it didnt look like there were any weights heavy enough to deadlift, or that you could put more weights on one bar. Also, no squat rack, no dip bar or assisted pull up machine. Is there any way around using the facilities to keep building muscle without these essentials?

 

[Gibonius]

I'd find a better gym. No sense in paying for those kind of facilities.

 

[globetrotter]

find a better gym, or get a kettlebell.

 

[stinger70]

Yeah, actually found out just now that there is a new gym thats only been open about a month and i didnt know about it. Its a little further away but less than half the price of the one i viewed today, and looks to be pretty good from the website. Loads of machines inc pull ups, dip bar etc, several benches and plenty of dumbbells. Still dont think they have a squat rack but i will have to make do with deadlifts i think. They have the thing pictured below is that a power rack or what is it?

 

[rjmaiorano]

That thing is just meant to hold numerous barbells.

 

[stinger70]

ah, thats no use then. It would still do the job though hah. But no good if its just used for storage.

 

[Gibonius]

I'd never go to a gym without at least a basic rack, and would seriously have to think about one with a real squat rack/cage. There's just so much you can do in a cage that you can't do safely in any other way.

 

[Surfrider]

^Amen. You should live in the power rack. Any place that didn't have such a basic piece of equipment wouldn't get my patronage.