Training Facility Design

[jillingworth]

I am not sure if this is the best place to post this question, so apologies in advance.

The college I work at is looking at renovating the so-called fitness center in the next 1-3 year range and I've made enough noise that I've been asked to be on the design committee (probably mostly to try and shut me up for awhile). There will be a lot of squirrelly stuff I won't have any control over (how can you have a fitness center without dozens and dozens of Bosu balls and televisions for watching???) but I still want to do what I can. I was wondering what the various folks here think about the following ideas and if there are any other suggestions or observations from your own training experiences:

Providing a TV or computer monitor someplace that won't broadcast, but can be used to review footage. There's been a few times I wished I could have watched my lifts back on a screen bigger than the one on my camera.

Install chalkboards or dry erase boards (any preferences?) to record the day's lifts and that sort of thing. This might also help get rid of wall space that would otherwise end up with mirrors.

Do you all find normal HVAC o.k. or do you like having directional fans around as well?

This is kind of frilly, but I think I'd like to train in a gym that has either sky lights or daylight corrected lighting. I spend most of my work day under craptacular florescent lights and a really well-light gym might be a nice thing.

How many chalk stands/buckets are enough? The gym is currently b.y.o.c.

Another frilly-froo-froo question - any color schemes you've found particularly good or bad? Any feelings regarding spot marks/lines on the walls?

I would like to see an ice machine or two someplace in the complex (maybe in each locker room) with plastic bag dispensers.

Any other suggestions, ideas, etc.? Do you all like having all the power racks in one place, all the benches in another, and similar segregation, or have you found it better to cluster them. Say a rack, bench, and platform in a merry little group?

[Cambero]

Color scheme? I can see why they try to shut you up. Hehe. Honestly, think you are over-thinking this. But maybe that is not that bad, the more you request of, the more you may get them to agree on.

Others may be more helpful, I just need a fairly ventilated area with a power rack and bench. Good luck.

[OCG]

Honestly, sometimes when I squat or bench my hearing goes. At this point I don't really care about the colour of the walls. Just make sure that there are lots of racks and some decent bars. The rest doesn't matter so much.

[yorick]

I can see why color might matter. My old gym had mostly off-white walls that looked pretty shitty from people moving plates and equipment, which happened to be too close to the wall in the first place.

I would say ceiling fans and directional fans are good additions.

I wouldn't worry about having boards for people to write on, in my opinion. That's gonna piss somebody off when they erase something somebody wrote, "Hey bro - thought you were done with that."

Don't have any equipment that places a person facing the rising or setting sun through a window. This led to some squinting workouts in my old gym...

I would probably segregate the equipment - keep the power racks together, etc. That might cut down on some bro doing circuits, trying to hog three things at once.

If possible, face some of the equipment towards whatever area girls are doing aerobics or yoga. Just because it's nice to look at booty between sets while pretending you are staring off into space while resting.

[JoelleG]

Check out some of Rip's videos, they might give you some ideas.
I especially like the blue line on the wall. It gives you something to focus on while doing the lifts.

[FatButWeak]

Are they letting you have plenty of good bars, power racks, full size plates, rubber mats for flooring and high quality benches? If so, the rest of it only matters to you, since I actually prefer a relatively dark, dingy, dirty gym with no windows to work out in with a higher than typical ambient temperature. Fans are good though. Pick your battles wisely.

Also, mirrors are not so bad. Learn to stare at a fly speck or smudge on the mirror. If you are that easily distracted by your own image, you have other problems.

[melody]

The gym I'm at now is black and red. I was just thinking yesterday how much I like it. Dry erase boards are better than chalkboards. Not as messy.

[jillingworth]

I'm mostly keeping my fights to the so-called "free weight room" area. They can do whatever they want in the "cardio" and "machine" areas. I think I have a pretty good handle on the racks, benches, plates, bars and the like, but am more than open to any suggestions on stuff you've really liked or hated.

[JoelleG]

Since you're going to have chalkboards there, you might as well set one aside as a "Gym Records" thing, that only a designated person can tamper with. It'll hold the records for the heaviest squat, bench, clean, etc.. along with the person who made them(supervised, of course).It'll help keep the guys motivated. And will encourage the BB crowd to actually lift heavy. You can even make an event out of it: Like Friday is "Beat the current records day".

[jillingworth]

I like the idea of a record board of some sort. I'll have to talk with some folks here about how to manage it so that only legitimate lifts get posted. It would really piss me off to see a 1,000 pound 1/8 squat listed above any of my lifts - not that my lifts are anything to brag about, but I'm sure you all know what I mean.