Lifting when traveling

[Yonason Herschlag]

Hi Rip,

I'm planning on doing some traveling for "business", and I will be away from my home and (garage) gym for 8-9 weeks straight. I will be on a tight schedule, but I can make time for 1-2 workouts per week for maintainence. Since I will be in most locations for just one week, the only sensible option for me is to find gyms that one can enter and pay for just a single workout. Where I live in Israel, a one time fee ranges between $10-$20 (most gyms being around $10). Apparently in the States the rates are higher. I'm on a tight budget, but I can manage with a $25 drop-in-fee (grudgingly). However, one gym I looked into charges $75 for a one-time visit. That's surely over my budget (no matter how good the facilities and service).

So my question for you is how to find the most affordable decent places to get in a bi-weekly workout. I will be in Brooklyn (NYC), and Queens (NYC), Baltimore, Lakewood NJ, Toronto, London, and 2 weeks in LA. What suggestions do you have, and what's the most affordable rate for a decent place in the US?

PS, I'm 54 years old, training since I was 49. My best bench was 110kg 3x5, squat 160kg 3x3, deadlift 230kg for a single. My benching was curtailed due to strained tendons, so I feel I can eventual hit better PRs on that. But I don't expect to get much stronger on the DL and squat, although I will keep trying.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Barry Charles]

Hi Rip,

I'm planning on doing some traveling for "business", and I will be away from my home and (garage) gym for 8-9 weeks straight. I will be on a tight schedule, but I can make time for 1-2 workouts per week for maintainence. Since I will be in most locations for just one week, the only sensible option for me is to find gyms that one can enter and pay for just a single workout. Where I live in Israel, a one time fee ranges between $10-$20 (most gyms being around $10). Apparently in the States the rates are higher. I'm on a tight budget, but I can manage with a $25 drop-in-fee (grudgingly). However, one gym I looked into charges $75 for a one-time visit. That's surely over my budget (no matter how good the facilities and service).

So my question for you is how to find the most affordable decent places to get in a bi-weekly workout. I will be in Brooklyn (NYC), and Queens (NYC), Baltimore, Lakewood NJ, Toronto, London, and 2 weeks in LA. What suggestions do you have, and what's the most affordable rate for a decent place in the US?

PS, I'm 54 years old, training since I was 49. My best bench was 110kg 3x5, squat 160kg 3x3, deadlift 230kg for a single. My benching was curtailed due to strained tendons, so I feel I can eventual hit better PRs on that. But I don't expect to get much stronger on the DL and squat, although I will keep trying.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I travel all over the US and have never missed a training day.

The big chain gyms (golds, 24hr fitness, la fitness etc) are almost always good enough. $10-$20 day pass.

A couple tricks. Some offer free 3 day trials with a valid email and a sales pitch. Just tell the “kid” you don’t live there. He/she doesn’t care, they just want to produce a valid contact.

A lot of times the kid at the desk doesn’t know how to charge for a day pass (or take cash make change) and they just let you in. Sometimes they don’t want to fill out paper work any more than you and just let you in.

A final trick that can work is the day pass is usually good for 24hrs. With a little planning you can train the evening of one day and the morning of the next.

Im more than happy to pay for a day pass but their business is clearly memberships and personal training. Be honest and clear that you’re just there to use their equipment, and you’re not a liability. Then it’s fairly painless.

[Frankie]

Why is "business" in quotes like that it makes it sound so creepy.

[Yonason Herschlag]

Why is "business" in quotes like that it makes it sound so creepy.

I'm a person that likes to work hard. I prefer to give charity than collect. But on occassion I'm called upon to collect for some Jewish cause, and then I go door to door in Jewish neighborhoods collecting for that cause (I've done this a few times already). I would much prefer staying home and doing my scribal work. Right now I am called upon to raise $70,000. That would take me more than two years at the pay salary of my regular scribal work. I hope to raise that much in about two months. It's a "business" of sorts, but not a business that I have a taste for.

The big chain gyms (golds, 24hr fitness, la fitness etc) are almost always good enough. $10-$20 day pass.

A couple tricks....

Extremely helpful Charles. I've already located the gyms near where I will be traveling, and I feel I can get through this trip without losing ground in my lifts, and without burning a hole in my pocket. Your very practical advice is much appreciated.

[Barry Charles]

Extremely helpful Charles. I've already located the gyms near where I will be traveling, and I feel I can get through this trip without losing ground in my lifts, and without burning a hole in my pocket. Your very practical advice is much appreciated.

One last tip. NEVER drink your pre-workout before you are past the front desk and are actually touching the squat rack. I once drank mine in my rental car outside of a "24 Hour Fitness". It was 6am. The kid behind the desk said yes they have day passes but I had to meet his manager who wouldn't be there until 0730. I tried every angle, to include beating him to death, but he prevailed.

[BradN]

Hi Rip,

I'm planning on doing some traveling for "business", and I will be away from my home and (garage) gym for 8-9 weeks straight. I will be on a tight schedule, but I can make time for 1-2 workouts per week for maintainence. Since I will be in most locations for just one week, the only sensible option for me is to find gyms that one can enter and pay for just a single workout. Where I live in Israel, a one time fee ranges between $10-$20 (most gyms being around $10). Apparently in the States the rates are higher. I'm on a tight budget, but I can manage with a $25 drop-in-fee (grudgingly). However, one gym I looked into charges $75 for a one-time visit. That's surely over my budget (no matter how good the facilities and service).

So my question for you is how to find the most affordable decent places to get in a bi-weekly workout. I will be in Brooklyn (NYC), and Queens (NYC), Baltimore, Lakewood NJ, Toronto, London, and 2 weeks in LA. What suggestions do you have, and what's the most affordable rate for a decent place in the US?

PS, I'm 54 years old, training since I was 49. My best bench was 110kg 3x5, squat 160kg 3x3, deadlift 230kg for a single. My benching was curtailed due to strained tendons, so I feel I can eventual hit better PRs on that. But I don't expect to get much stronger on the DL and squat, although I will keep trying.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

In Brooklyn there's a small hole in the wall place called Elite Gym (782 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218), I go there when I'm visiting family Erev Chag. You may be able to get there from Queens as well. If you will be in the Flatbush/Boro Park area, it's really convenient. It's actually a full powerlifting gym, and the last time I was there I watched someone squat 450 which is always nice.

If you don't mind, do you know where in Jerusalem I can find a good gym to drop in? The other side of my family is all there, and I always just end up missing a week or two of training when I travel.

[Yonason Herschlag]

If you don't mind, do you know where in Jerusalem I can find a good gym to drop in? The other side of my family is all there, and I always just end up missing a week or two of training when I travel.

I have my own gym in Beitar Illit, so I never went to any gyms in Jerusalem other than where I was certified as a trainer in Wingate in Teddy Stadium. But I've heard there's a few good men's gyms near the central bus station. One is called Giraff, another "Kosher Gym", another "Jump", and there's probably more. Here's a map of gyms.