me and my friend have advanced +30kg in Back squat and +30kg in clean and jerk and more than 30kg in snatch from January to August with 15 week weightlifting program. Is a very good program🤟🏼🔥
I was in a family member's town for a few days once. Google maps'ed "powerlifting." Went to the first result: an oldschool warehouse full of all the powerlifting equipment I could ever want, tons of space, garage doors wide-open to just walk in, open 24hrs. I walked in and there was one guy there who says to me , "yeah the owner only comes by on Tuesdays, you can just train man don't worry. You can play Spotify on the computer over there through the loudspeakers." Eventually he left and I was completely alone in this heaven. I long for that gym
This is why I've grown to hate a lot of performance gyms as well. The payment options are never transparent and I feel like I'm talking to a fucking used car salesman when talking to the owner. Some of them seemed real shady with how they operate. The part about toxicity/drama and opening hours is spot on too.
I recently moved to a new area and found a small local gym with great kit for weightlifting that runs no contract one month at a time subscription (at a really reasonable price) or PAYG for £5 a session. Feels like finding a unicorn
I went from paying $55/mo to go to a performance gym w/ no air conditioning to $20/mo to go to a community gym. I can do all the same work. It’s also a 10 minute walk instead of a 15 minute drive. People just get caught up in the hype with these performance gyms.
@@elonmusk69forever40 lmao I trained there for 3 years and was well embedded in the community. I was just sick of paying $110 (for my wife and I) and training in 95 degrees 100% humidity, when I could use the same equipment for $40 a month. The only benefit to the performance gym was the strongman sundays and the calibrated plates, BUT, I can pay $5 a session to do the strongman Sunday and do all of my base work at the community gym.
I just wanted to thank you for being huge motivation for me to start lifting weights. I am not really interested in Olympic weightlifting, more for health and aesthetic purposes, but without you and your insane strength display, none of what I do currently would be possible. Thank you.
@@Victus2000 I got a nice and barely used rouge bar from facebook marketplace with the appropriate diameter for less than 200 bucks. It won't break the bank if you really need it and can't deal with commercial gym bars.
I think there’s more to it than that. These were my experiences at my commercial gym before I left. 1. Pain in the ass to carry around a barbell 2. The stupid ass death stares you get walking in with your own barbell 3. People constantly asking how many sets you have left on the platform. Which I don’t mind sharing but they want to use your barbell… 4. And people fighting over the limited amount of bumper plates.
I train at an all-incluse type commercial gym with great performance equipment, platforms and huge space. The membership costs 40usd per month (in Norway this is cheap af) and you get access to 4 different locations in the same city with various equipment and they even have squash halls a boxing bag and cage-football. With eleikobars rogue plates and eleiko bumpers and eleiko powerlifting bench with IPF bars even. Opening hours every day from 05:00-00:00.
Perfect timing on this video. I’ve been going to a commercial gym for years and lately it’s been getting a bit crowded. Was just starting to look around for a new gym. Now I know what to consider. Thanks much Clarence!
I've had the same experiences with the more "exclusive" more "selective" performance gyms here in the U.S. It was especially negative when trying to work out at a local "performance gym" out of town or when on vacation. It always seemed like no matter how willing to pay or how nice I was to the staff or owners, they tryed to make it as hard as possible or seemed like they went out of their way to be rude so as to make me go away just because I wasn't a local or because I wanted to buy a one week pass. Terrible way to run a business. Just of note, I'm a clean cut presentable guy who's been seriously training and lifting for over 12 years and I always go out of my way to be friendly and introduce myself to people. Apparently these types of places only want juiced up a holes who have been "initiated" into the club somehow. Clarence totally nailed it!
Yeah, you really hit the nail on the head here. I lift at a performance gym since it's the only "decent" gym in my area, and I can't say I'm fond of the dumb drama that happens, or the poorly maintained equipment and hygiene of the place. But unfortunately I live in bumf*ck nowhere Virginia, USA where all the good gyms are in bigger cities. A gold's gym had freaking eleiko plates and bars and for half the price I'm currently paying. Might invest in a home gym soon
Clarence’s recommendations for performance gyms to improve? Love it! I have never been able to afford coaching or a performance gym. I’m just self taught and go to a commercial gym and do the best I can. Sometimes I’ll get glanced, but I’ve never gotten in trouble for dropping weights. And even though I’ll never be an elite Olympic weightlifter, I just do it because I love it and want to stay healthy. :)
Most of them are small businesses being run by people with 9-5 jobs, and the margins are thin because they don't have that large population of people who pay but don't show up. Going to be honest I don't see these arguments holding up that much.
I've been at the same commerical gym since 2006. It's open 4-midnight, a spa/steam room etc/ and the best bit, is nobody ever uses the weight lifting platform, so even though its 10 years old equipment, it looks brand new XD I chat with a huge cross section of people everyday, different ages, races, all sorts. I love it.
My local indoor bouldering spot for some reason has a platform, machined plates, bumper plates, legit barbells, power racks...opens early, closes late, only $64 a month for access to everything and it's a 10 minute drive. No brainer place for me to lift.
I actually went to a weightlifting club in my town the other day, opening hours are... from 6-8 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays...safe to say it's actually in a backroom of a commercial gym that opened very recently...basically you have all the really shiny new gym equipment in the front and through a hallway you get into a quiet tiny room with some really rusty old bars, plates, squat stands and some wooden blocks. I actually went there to have someone assess my self-taught form on the snatch and I feel like the advice and cues they gave me really helped me. While there is a certain charm to training in some vintage old backroom it's kind of sad to see how little priority weightlifting seems to have at least where I'm from it's a really really niche sport that 99% of people never heard of
You answered your kind-of-question yourself. It gets little priority because few people partake in, let alone have heard about it. Very technical movesets that can require years of dedicated training to master. The benefits and learning curve of other exercises are far more beneficial for a random guy off the street.
Yeah I was going to say the lifts are very technical, and do they offer the day-to-day benefits of squats, bench press, overhead press, pull-ups, rows etc.
@@andrewhezekiahdaniel they offer more day to day benefits than all of those except maybe squats. Full cleans and snatched are gonna build more mobility than squats as well as more explosivity its why track athletes and football players do power cleans
I used to love my local "commercial" gym (it wasn't really, but it wasn't performance either). Great owners, equipment worked, friendly goers and very clean. Made all my noob gains there, great times! I have a garage gym now, which I must say being able to train in my underwear with no shoes or socks on at 5am is great.
I can definitely sign this. In my old hometown there are both commercial and performance gyms. Over the past 15 years I've noticed that there's been a shift towards a sort of "hybrid" model. Some gyms still order all of their machines from the same manufacturer/importer and don't really cater to anyone specifically, which is fine, but it's also a lot of wasted money and space for equipment that gets very little use. But many gyms turned into 24/7 gyms during lockdowns and they're staying that way (thankfully). There's at least one "elite" gym/club whose membership costs way more than it's worth. There's also a couple of awesome gyms; one in my old hometown (where I still work) and one in my current hometown. One is focused on bodybuilding with some crossfit and strongman equipment. The one closest to me has a huge focus on strongman with lots of stones and other sport related instruments. They also have platforms for weightlifting and a lot of entry level pieces of equipment e.g. smaller dumbbells and kettlebells. Most importantly, an atmosphere that encourages everyone to move. Despite catering to strongman, the gym is a fun place to show up to and it almost feels like a garage gym at times. TL;DR It doesn't matter if the gym is top notch quality or completely makeshift. If the opening hours, price and/or location don't make sense then don't join. The best gym is the one that allows you to stick to your workouts without making unnecessary sacrifices in your daily life.
Commercial gyms are phenomenal. Many weightlifters in the US train at a chain called Crunch Fitness. We're talking 8-10+ combo rack/platform setups. Enough machines to make a bodybuilder's head spin. Enough iron plates for 99.9% of powerlifters. Bumper plates galore.
Something about hearing clarence's voice is comforting, good to see you continue to make content brother. Sucks about performance gyms not really being more casual friendly, seems you have to jump through a lot of loops to have access and pay so much more. Granted I use to go to crunch which is decent enough for a commercial gym due to it being affordable and them having bumper plates and you have access to platforms...The main downside is usually always packed no matter the time of day.
I bought clarence kennedy powerlifting program and I went from doing 110 kg atg squat 1 RM to do 180 kg atg squat 1 RM after 7 months, from 96 kg bench to 124 kg bench, its the best program i ever done and i repeated it for 3 times, tomorrow i will start first week of strenght phase for the third time.
I have a much better programme than Clarence which invented myself...i went from 150kg back squat to 210kg power clean from 100kg to 140kg and bench press from 120kg to 150kg and all this in just 6 months of non stop training
That's called noob gains. Dependent on bodyweight the real grind begins at 140+ bench and 220+ deadlift. You'll gain on any program with strength below these levels pretty much
@@lawrencebaker1811 before trying the clarence program I did the starting strength, the texas method and the madcow (when i started the starting strenght my bench was 60 kg after 2 years of training) , I had been stalled for months, I remember that to go from 60 kg of bench press to 80 it took me 10 months with the starting strength, I failed in almost every workout, clarence's program is done well and that's it.
coincidentally we had very similar starting numbers and on the same program. Currently on the peaking phase and can guess my squat may go up to 150 and hopefully i can get a 200 dl
"And I hate this, I just want to be treated like a normal person". Yeah. Since I've gotten strong I've noticed I get treated differently at some gyms. I hate that. I was so weak for so long. If anything beginners need more help but strength gyms brush them off in favor of clout or strong lifters.
You are mistaking 2 things here. “Comercial gyms” bussiness model is to rent you a part of the facility to be used. In the “Performance gym” the facility is just a tool of the owner/coach to provide their service (coaching)
There's a chain called 'JD Gyms' 24 hour opening and fitted with multiples lifting platforms, eleiko bars and bumper plates. Can't go wrong tbh.. times most certainly have changed
Great video, very nice to see the pros and cons for both sides. Just for consideration, I think a large number of performance gyms must operate like a small business and can't provide the same level of service that a commercial gym can, and quality is going to vary significantly among performance gyms.
I feel like performance gyms are a thing of past. 15, even 7 years ago was extremely difficult to find a gym where you could do weightlifting/powerlifting in peace, so you had to take the inconveniences of find and go to a performance gym. CrossFit boxes were like a little of sun in the dark, but they had all the hours problems, classes predominance, price, and still pretty far away. In this days comercial gyms has evolved to much to considerate the others
Great analysis. The characteristic that most turn me down from commercial gym for me is the rules, I've been uncountable times warned for dropping weights (only in deadlifting, i wouldn't dare to drop the bar on the top of a jerk) and lifting barefoot , despite of this, commercial gyms are great for me.
There's a crossfit gym right across the street from my work. An ideal place to train for me, however 20 open box visits are 80 euros, not to mention that due to opening and group practice hours I cannot come in either in the morning before my work or during my lunch-break. Instead I'm going to a huge commercial gym 5 minutes from my work for 30 euros a month. Only two squat racks and horrible weights, but at least it's 24/7 with unlimited access.
The best attribute of commercial gyms to me is, that they seem to lack these so called ''characters'', that is overly extraverted trainers who talk to people they don't know (at length), scream from the top of their lungs, always want to use the same equipment you are using etc. I feel like these people are probably the ones who bash commercial gyms all the time on the internet. It's great that these types of people go to the semi- and non-commercial gyms to train with like minded people
Did not expect you to use omori soundtrack at 2:30. I kept thinking "which song is that and why does it feel so nostalgic?" and then I remembered... everything 😥
There's quite a few gyms nearby and none of them have deadlift/weightlifting platforms or bumper plates. Some of them have more than one rack for squats or other stuff. There's some crossfit gyms farther away, but they are stupid expensive, like actually ridiculous and they don't even list prices for just training there in whatever hours. They list like training programs where you can participate and you have to pay extra to join the instructed classes. Literally the only place where I have found to be able to do weightlifting (they actually have national equivalent to Eleiko for bars and bumper plates on top of even having gear) is the sort of community pastime center's concrete basement gym. The lucky and silly thing is that it's the cheapest and quietest place (I tried training in different hours throughout the day on different days and most of the time I was training alone or didn't have to queue for any rack or bar or machine) and you'd expect it to be the most ghetto gym as well, but in actuality it's the most geared towards people who have goals in the gym with barbells in mind. Also it was interesting how it was such a small place that people would actually say hi when walking in. That's totally unheard of for me in Finland. But that made me realize that the commercial gyms at least here are completely clueless about any sort of professional lifting or amateur/casual lifters who want to do more with resistance training than just train their muscles. The only negative was that it was closed in the weekend and closed at 2 pm on friday. Other than that it had pretty tolerable opening hours, like from 7:30 to 21:30. You could also use your public transport card to pay your visits per use. It's like for once somebody in the town hall knew what people actually want to pay for. Actually there's one exception, there's a sports hall where I go to train judo, that has the local weightlifting club. You'd have to pay for the membership and weightlifting class and you'd be only allowed to lift on their scheduled training hours so there would be no freedom and flexibility in your training, but you'd also get similar people and good coaching.
Funny, commercial gyms in my area cost quite a lot (600€ for students for a year) while the powerlifting gym i go to is just 100€ yearly, with all the same equipment.
Real weightlifting gyms (National team associated) here in Italy are cheap as hell, literally they almost pay you to go there 😆 and coaching is ofcourse top notch and free too, equipment aswell. The only drawback are the times are super strict, and you need to know someone.
Solid video boss. Go through this frequently when traveling to visit family and what not...usually see myself having to use crossfit facilities. Local gyms are hit or miss but feel like you'll always find one within a 30 min drive that should be able to satisfy the weightlifting requirements...unless you're in carriage County 🤣
complete opposite for me here in nyc commercial gyms are packed to the maximum with almost nothing to use 10 hours out of the day and have shit hours whereas the few "performance gyms" we have here are actually quite nice
Most commercial gyms are owned by dude who owns multiple business and is looking for a way to spend money and grow his assets rather than burn them on taxes. The startup costs are insane, but the long term investment on that equipment is pretty solid, so that's pretty much why you get some asset rich millionaire who can afford the luxeries of nice equipment and staff to clean the place. Most performance gyms are operated by some dude who probably has some shitty 9-5 and goes around looking for used equipment the best he can. Same thing with most crossfit gyms that ive noticed. They are typically run by a couple, who work a 9-5 or one of them runs the business full time and hires help to fill scheduled hours on the cheap, like free membership cheap and not paid.
My experience with commercial gyms is simply how busy they are. All the LA Fitness / Goodlife gyms in my area are CLOGGED with people any time between 4pm-10pm on the daily. Not to mention there is plenty of machines but few racks, which means you are waiting a lot. I know this isn't the norm everywhere, but where I am it's the only option unless you want to fork over 2-4x as much for a limited schedule CrossFit experience. sad times :(
yep when you live in a busy area you have to choose between an expensive gym or being packed in like sardines. Clarence doesn't have a real job so it doesn't really apply to him
Man, the drama is real is these performance gyms. The little cliques between certain lifters, the odd romance dramas, and yep the "we don't allow X fed members here" bullshit. Hated all that crap.
I can agree with this from experience. I had the pleasure of having access to a 24/7 cross fit gym in my hometown in California. You just have to be mindful of the classes that go on during some hours which isn't a big deal since there's plenty of space. To be fair, the gym did have plenty of drama going on as well such as the owners hooking up with members and spouses cheating with others in the classes. It wasn't that big of a deal if you just minded your own business lol. The only place I've had issues with weightlifting was at my university gym where they banned dropping weights from shoulder height, but you were allowed to slam your deadlift like some uncultured brolifter. The only way to weight lift at my uni was by receiving the bar from OH back to front-rack shoulders, then back to the hip, then gently lower it onto the lifting platform. All of that, even with bumper plates.
@@caleb2159 most crossfit gyms are like that. The gym I mentioned is the only one I've ever seen that is accessible 24/7, however, the classes do run at regular times just like any other cf gym.
It's been a few years since I've been to a commercial gym. Maybe things have changed for the better! Literally NEVER visited a commercial gym where with bumper plates and a place to drop them.
I'm thinking he has a unique experience, cause I also can't find a single commercial gym near me that has all the benefits he says at once (24/7, weightlifting platforms, elieko plates, not overcrowded, etc) Believe me, I tried. And you'd be hard pressed to find one too.
I built a home gym which is basically just a power rack with a few heavy dumbbells and have gotten stronger quicker than I ever did get in commercial gyms and performance gyms
I'm very thankful for my powerlifting gym. It's the best place where I live, great varied equipment, inclusive to anyone but there's a max membership, 24 hrs keycard, CHEAP, it's $20 a month. I love that place so much that I've kept my membership for when I'm more able to train consistently again.
A lot of commercial gymns may have a weightlifting platform and bumper plates, but very few commercial gymns will also have squat and deadlift bars, so they aren't viable for non IPF powerlifters. Plus, the greatest asset performance gymns have in my opinion is the members themselves (less toxicity, better gymn etiquette, less people obnoxiously trying to showboat). When you go to performance gymns, you're not necessarily paying for better equipment, you're buying a better peer group.
For me personally crunch has a decent rate and everything you need to get fit I had my doubts at first but when I got a tour I knew I was set for the rest of my days. Only downside is it gets busy quick but my schedule works perfectly where I can workout during my lunch break or in the early morning
Based. I tried a small performance gym a while ago, it was basically just a personal training facility, and when the trainers weren’t with clients, they’d be lifting taking up the limited equipment 😬
I've never seen a performance gym that has a proper cable stack setup. I understand that they're expensive, but they are pretty necessary for any and all accessory work.
I've never used a performance gym (except when my younger brother used to go to a sport school with weightlifting, so they let me exercise sometimes). When I go to sign up to a comercial gym, I always explain them first that I practice olympic weightlifting movements and ask if it's fine to do it there. I can't use very heavy weights, my personal bests are 90/110, and I can't even do those now (I'm 38, never been a competitive weightlifter, taught myself). I've seen a weightlifting platform only once in a cemmercial gym and most times the people walking around are quite a problem. Not to mention that some of them aren't even on the ground floor so they'd never allow me to do it there and it probably wouldn't be safe... I used to do it at fit4less and anytime fitness in London, it was mostly fine (except for the business). Didn,' drop the weights at all though, even on max attempts, which has probably held me back significantly...
Interesting, haven't ever seen such a performance gym before, only weightlifting/powerlifting clubs (which may be a bit different here bc of German club culture) and commercial gyms (some of which cater to lifters, most cater to the average person).
I've only been to commercial gyms, but I'd imagine one advantage of a performance/specialist gym would be that the equipment is where you expect it to be. I often have to walk around looking for plates/collars because people just don't put them back. You also have the issue of lighting. Commercial gyms use spot lights which are apparently designed to burn out your corneas. These are unavoidable if you ever do any bench work.
I just found a cheap 24 hour gym that has a sick underground section for free weights but they only have one deadlift platform and squat rack idk if it'll be a good idea to train there
@fwomp What ElonMusk69 said, and that ONLY barely opens Pandora's Box. We haven't mentioned how u can't use chalk, the ONLY good commercial gym here (a Crunch) having WAYYYYYYY TOO MANY PEOPLE, the equipment being definitely inferior (i dunno what Clarence is talkin about), people being absolute idiots, and a really toxic environment. In powerlifting gyms, people are much nicer and more humble even though they are way stronger than people in commercial gyms. I workout at home now, with CALISTHENICS, i'd rather do that than go to the only commercial gym i can go to these days. All the good gyms are too far
I live within walking distance of a commercial gym. Thankfully that gym let's people do things like bench press and squats but not Olympic lifting as they don't have bumper plates. It's been a huge blessing as now I am more dedicated and motivated because I dont have to drive 20-30mins to my old gym
Unfortunately it is still a little hard to find a decent commercial gym in the third world. I had to visit every gym I could find in my city to finally find a decent one. No platform, no bumper plates, only one squat rack, and very awful plastic (not bumper) plates. But at least they allow me me deadlift. Only kind of performance gyms in my town are CrossFit gyms and I’ve visited them all,they only work in clases. Sigh. Still, I feel mostly comfortable in my current gym. Free water, great locker rooms and showers and big parking lot.
The nearest oly gym or open crossfit gym to me is 30 minutes drive to Birmingham, where as my 24h commercial gym is 3 minute drive with full selection of bumper plates and a platform. no brainer
The advantage of a performance gym is that it's a neat lil club. The disadvantage of a performance gym is that it's a neat lil club. Also, discounting the level of trainer available at a commercial gym to 'no coaching' is hilarious and 95% accurate.
great vid, when i was trying to find a new gym to train at all the "performance" gyms would never have their membership prices listed which was automatically a red flag to me.. i ended up finding a good commercial gym that has 5 squat racks and 5 platforms its only $30 a month
Squat, Weightlifting, and Powerlifting Programs on my website: weightliftingfix.com/
First
@@pierlosky second
me and my friend have advanced +30kg in Back squat and +30kg in clean and jerk and more than 30kg in snatch from January to August with 15 week weightlifting program. Is a very good program🤟🏼🔥
Thanks
I'd be interested in seeing a supertotal program from you
Finally, the real face reveal. Clarence was always just spirit energy manifesting as a human man.
the twist is everyone is the same except theyre not always on steroids like clarance
@@ruschev2 Technically we're all always on steroids, maybe we just need to realize our potential and transcend lol
@@ruschev2 ?
@@dylanreithel6212 wat
@@ruschev2 I’m confused by your comment is all. I just didn’t see how it applied to the dudes comment about the real face reveal joke lol
*"The gym is useless if it's closed."*
_- Clarence Kennedy, 2022_
Never heard so much truth on a single sentence
That’s philosophical man.
That blew my mind.
Ancient chinese proverb
That's not true you can still inject roids with your gym bros while you suck each other off in the back of the gym by the gym dumpsters
I was in a family member's town for a few days once. Google maps'ed "powerlifting." Went to the first result: an oldschool warehouse full of all the powerlifting equipment I could ever want, tons of space, garage doors wide-open to just walk in, open 24hrs. I walked in and there was one guy there who says to me , "yeah the owner only comes by on Tuesdays, you can just train man don't worry. You can play Spotify on the computer over there through the loudspeakers." Eventually he left and I was completely alone in this heaven. I long for that gym
This is why I've grown to hate a lot of performance gyms as well. The payment options are never transparent and I feel like I'm talking to a fucking used car salesman when talking to the owner. Some of them seemed real shady with how they operate. The part about toxicity/drama and opening hours is spot on too.
I recently moved to a new area and found a small local gym with great kit for weightlifting that runs no contract one month at a time subscription (at a really reasonable price) or PAYG for £5 a session. Feels like finding a unicorn
I went from paying $55/mo to go to a performance gym w/ no air conditioning to $20/mo to go to a community gym. I can do all the same work. It’s also a 10 minute walk instead of a 15 minute drive.
People just get caught up in the hype with these performance gyms.
The thing is that performance gyms have SO much potential if it gets managed really well..
@@XXLRebel The problem is that every performance gym wants to be calstrength.
@@toximan2008 Had to look up what calstrength was. Not sure if that's the case😅
@@elonmusk69forever40 lmao I trained there for 3 years and was well embedded in the community. I was just sick of paying $110 (for my wife and I) and training in 95 degrees 100% humidity, when I could use the same equipment for $40 a month. The only benefit to the performance gym was the strongman sundays and the calibrated plates, BUT, I can pay $5 a session to do the strongman Sunday and do all of my base work at the community gym.
@@elonmusk69forever40 Assumptions and conjecture. Christ I bet you slack off in your lifting also if this is your character. Sound familiar?
Welcome back to the real world Super Sayan Clarence.
I just wanted to thank you for being huge motivation for me to start lifting weights. I am not really interested in Olympic weightlifting, more for health and aesthetic purposes, but without you and your insane strength display, none of what I do currently would be possible. Thank you.
Clarence speaking to us through paths
The toxicity aspect entirely relate to.
I was part of a powerlifting gym, and the drama was unreal
My only complains with commercial gyms are the bars knurling is usually almost nonexistant because of guys doing rack pulls and whatnot over the years
I missed a hang snatch double because my strap slipped off the bar because it was so slick
Most commercial gyms I've been to let you bring in your own barbell, either every time, or to store in a closet somewhere. Just ask!
@@toximan2008 why that is true. A lot of people don’t have the money for a nice barbell
@@Victus2000 I got a nice and barely used rouge bar from facebook marketplace with the appropriate diameter for less than 200 bucks. It won't break the bank if you really need it and can't deal with commercial gym bars.
I think there’s more to it than that. These were my experiences at my commercial gym before I left.
1. Pain in the ass to carry around a barbell
2. The stupid ass death stares you get walking in with your own barbell
3. People constantly asking how many sets you have left on the platform. Which I don’t mind sharing but they want to use your barbell…
4. And people fighting over the limited amount of bumper plates.
I like how he's talking about weightlifting and there's just a picture of The Paths in the background. Week through and through. Keep it up Clarence.
I train at an all-incluse type commercial gym with great performance equipment, platforms and huge space. The membership costs 40usd per month (in Norway this is cheap af) and you get access to 4 different locations in the same city with various equipment and they even have squash halls a boxing bag and cage-football. With eleikobars rogue plates and eleiko bumpers and eleiko powerlifting bench with IPF bars even. Opening hours every day from 05:00-00:00.
Sounds like heaven. Access to all those facilities for only 40usd/month is INSANE.
@@toximan2008 definitely lucky to be able to go there
Perfect timing on this video. I’ve been going to a commercial gym for years and lately it’s been getting a bit crowded. Was just starting to look around for a new gym. Now I know what to consider. Thanks much Clarence!
I've had the same experiences with the more "exclusive" more "selective" performance gyms here in the U.S. It was especially negative when trying to work out at a local "performance gym" out of town or when on vacation. It always seemed like no matter how willing to pay or how nice I was to the staff or owners, they tryed to make it as hard as possible or seemed like they went out of their way to be rude so as to make me go away just because I wasn't a local or because I wanted to buy a one week pass. Terrible way to run a business. Just of note, I'm a clean cut presentable guy who's been seriously training and lifting for over 12 years and I always go out of my way to be friendly and introduce myself to people. Apparently these types of places only want juiced up a holes who have been "initiated" into the club somehow. Clarence totally nailed it!
Is your youtube name intentional pun? Dick Dick?
@@VeganSemihCyprus33 Didn't ask. BOT Cyprus hold this report.
1:52 the Bullet for my valentine in the background is great for some heavy lifts
Yeah, you really hit the nail on the head here. I lift at a performance gym since it's the only "decent" gym in my area, and I can't say I'm fond of the dumb drama that happens, or the poorly maintained equipment and hygiene of the place. But unfortunately I live in bumf*ck nowhere Virginia, USA where all the good gyms are in bigger cities. A gold's gym had freaking eleiko plates and bars and for half the price I'm currently paying. Might invest in a home gym soon
Clarence’s recommendations for performance gyms to improve? Love it! I have never been able to afford coaching or a performance gym. I’m just self taught and go to a commercial gym and do the best I can. Sometimes I’ll get glanced, but I’ve never gotten in trouble for dropping weights. And even though I’ll never be an elite Olympic weightlifter, I just do it because I love it and want to stay healthy. :)
Most of them are small businesses being run by people with 9-5 jobs, and the margins are thin because they don't have that large population of people who pay but don't show up. Going to be honest I don't see these arguments holding up that much.
Its awesome how humble Clarence is
That Omori ost was very unexpected, nice
I've been at the same commerical gym since 2006. It's open 4-midnight, a spa/steam room etc/ and the best bit, is nobody ever uses the weight lifting platform, so even though its 10 years old equipment, it looks brand new XD I chat with a huge cross section of people everyday, different ages, races, all sorts. I love it.
Thank you Clarence definitely buying that squatting program, cheers
My local indoor bouldering spot for some reason has a platform, machined plates, bumper plates, legit barbells, power racks...opens early, closes late, only $64 a month for access to everything and it's a 10 minute drive. No brainer place for me to lift.
Glad to see you’re starting to put together programs bro, great part on your end. Keep it up Clarence, good shit
I actually went to a weightlifting club in my town the other day, opening hours are... from 6-8 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays...safe to say it's actually in a backroom of a commercial gym that opened very recently...basically you have all the really shiny new gym equipment in the front and through a hallway you get into a quiet tiny room with some really rusty old bars, plates, squat stands and some wooden blocks. I actually went there to have someone assess my self-taught form on the snatch and I feel like the advice and cues they gave me really helped me. While there is a certain charm to training in some vintage old backroom it's kind of sad to see how little priority weightlifting seems to have at least where I'm from it's a really really niche sport that 99% of people never heard of
You answered your kind-of-question yourself. It gets little priority because few people partake in, let alone have heard about it.
Very technical movesets that can require years of dedicated training to master.
The benefits and learning curve of other exercises are far more beneficial for a random guy off the street.
Yeah I was going to say the lifts are very technical, and do they offer the day-to-day benefits of squats, bench press, overhead press, pull-ups, rows etc.
@@andrewhezekiahdaniel they offer more day to day benefits than all of those except maybe squats. Full cleans and snatched are gonna build more mobility than squats as well as more explosivity its why track athletes and football players do power cleans
I feel most at home in Crossfit gyms, but I definitely agree with the strengths and weaknesses you mentioned here.
I used to love my local "commercial" gym (it wasn't really, but it wasn't performance either). Great owners, equipment worked, friendly goers and very clean. Made all my noob gains there, great times! I have a garage gym now, which I must say being able to train in my underwear with no shoes or socks on at 5am is great.
I can definitely sign this. In my old hometown there are both commercial and performance gyms. Over the past 15 years I've noticed that there's been a shift towards a sort of "hybrid" model. Some gyms still order all of their machines from the same manufacturer/importer and don't really cater to anyone specifically, which is fine, but it's also a lot of wasted money and space for equipment that gets very little use. But many gyms turned into 24/7 gyms during lockdowns and they're staying that way (thankfully).
There's at least one "elite" gym/club whose membership costs way more than it's worth. There's also a couple of awesome gyms; one in my old hometown (where I still work) and one in my current hometown. One is focused on bodybuilding with some crossfit and strongman equipment. The one closest to me has a huge focus on strongman with lots of stones and other sport related instruments. They also have platforms for weightlifting and a lot of entry level pieces of equipment e.g. smaller dumbbells and kettlebells. Most importantly, an atmosphere that encourages everyone to move. Despite catering to strongman, the gym is a fun place to show up to and it almost feels like a garage gym at times.
TL;DR It doesn't matter if the gym is top notch quality or completely makeshift. If the opening hours, price and/or location don't make sense then don't join. The best gym is the one that allows you to stick to your workouts without making unnecessary sacrifices in your daily life.
Commercial gyms are phenomenal. Many weightlifters in the US train at a chain called Crunch Fitness. We're talking 8-10+ combo rack/platform setups. Enough machines to make a bodybuilder's head spin. Enough iron plates for 99.9% of powerlifters. Bumper plates galore.
Crunch Fitness is amazing for weightlifting, indeed… for 10 bucks a month
@@elonmusk69forever40 dude your name on here is elonmusk69 and you’re talking crazy. Go sit and pee like a good little girl
@@elonmusk69forever40 Crunch is legit for a commercial gym. Actually has racks and platforms and you can do just about anything.
i started lifting only cause of him, its been a year now
Same man Clarence is one of my biggest inspirations 💪🏽
olympic lifting or just lifting in general?
Something about hearing clarence's voice is comforting, good to see you continue to make content brother. Sucks about performance gyms not really being more casual friendly, seems you have to jump through a lot of loops to have access and pay so much more. Granted I use to go to crunch which is decent enough for a commercial gym due to it being affordable and them having bumper plates and you have access to platforms...The main downside is usually always packed no matter the time of day.
I bought clarence kennedy powerlifting program and I went from doing 110 kg atg squat 1 RM to do 180 kg atg squat 1 RM after 7 months, from 96 kg bench to 124 kg bench, its the best program i ever done and i repeated it for 3 times,
tomorrow i will start first week of strenght phase for the third time.
I have a much better programme than Clarence which invented myself...i went from 150kg back squat to 210kg power clean from 100kg to 140kg and bench press from 120kg to 150kg and all this in just 6 months of non stop training
That's called noob gains. Dependent on bodyweight the real grind begins at 140+ bench and 220+ deadlift. You'll gain on any program with strength below these levels pretty much
210kg power clean? Okay lmao
@@lawrencebaker1811 before trying the clarence program I did the starting strength, the texas method and the madcow (when i started the starting strenght my bench was 60 kg after 2 years of training) , I had been stalled for months, I remember that to go from 60 kg of bench press to 80 it took me 10 months with the starting strength, I failed in almost every workout, clarence's program is done well and that's it.
coincidentally we had very similar starting numbers and on the same program. Currently on the peaking phase and can guess my squat may go up to 150 and hopefully i can get a 200 dl
"And I hate this, I just want to be treated like a normal person". Yeah. Since I've gotten strong I've noticed I get treated differently at some gyms. I hate that. I was so weak for so long. If anything beginners need more help but strength gyms brush them off in favor of clout or strong lifters.
yooo Clarence video! best day of Sept.
my gym has it all for powerlifting and armwrestling but its also 24/7 oppen all days all year ;)
@@elonmusk69forever40 in norway the city is trondheim and the gym is nidarø
Invest in your own gym equipment. Problem solved.
You are mistaking 2 things here. “Comercial gyms” bussiness model is to rent you a part of the facility to be used.
In the “Performance gym” the facility is just a tool of the owner/coach to provide their service (coaching)
There's a chain called 'JD Gyms' 24 hour opening and fitted with multiples lifting platforms, eleiko bars and bumper plates. Can't go wrong tbh.. times most certainly have changed
Depends on the gym. Commercial gyms in my area forbid chalk use.
Great video, very nice to see the pros and cons for both sides. Just for consideration, I think a large number of performance gyms must operate like a small business and can't provide the same level of service that a commercial gym can, and quality is going to vary significantly among performance gyms.
I feel like performance gyms are a thing of past. 15, even 7 years ago was extremely difficult to find a gym where you could do weightlifting/powerlifting in peace, so you had to take the inconveniences of find and go to a performance gym.
CrossFit boxes were like a little of sun in the dark, but they had all the hours problems, classes predominance, price, and still pretty far away. In this days comercial gyms has evolved to much to considerate the others
The biggest issue with performance gyms is that they don’t have a sauna. Everyone knows the sauna is what will give you huge lifts.
Great analysis.
The characteristic that most turn me down from commercial gym for me is the rules, I've been uncountable times warned for dropping weights (only in deadlifting, i wouldn't dare to drop the bar on the top of a jerk) and lifting barefoot , despite of this, commercial gyms are great for me.
Squat program is amazing Clarence.
There's a crossfit gym right across the street from my work. An ideal place to train for me, however 20 open box visits are 80 euros, not to mention that due to opening and group practice hours I cannot come in either in the morning before my work or during my lunch-break. Instead I'm going to a huge commercial gym 5 minutes from my work for 30 euros a month. Only two squat racks and horrible weights, but at least it's 24/7 with unlimited access.
The best attribute of commercial gyms to me is, that they seem to lack these so called ''characters'', that is overly extraverted trainers who talk to people they don't know (at length), scream from the top of their lungs, always want to use the same equipment you are using etc. I feel like these people are probably the ones who bash commercial gyms all the time on the internet. It's great that these types of people go to the semi- and non-commercial gyms to train with like minded people
Did not expect you to use omori soundtrack at 2:30. I kept thinking "which song is that and why does it feel so nostalgic?" and then I remembered... everything 😥
My only problem is you're typically not allowed to use chalk.
And yes, I've tried the liquid.
There's quite a few gyms nearby and none of them have deadlift/weightlifting platforms or bumper plates. Some of them have more than one rack for squats or other stuff. There's some crossfit gyms farther away, but they are stupid expensive, like actually ridiculous and they don't even list prices for just training there in whatever hours. They list like training programs where you can participate and you have to pay extra to join the instructed classes.
Literally the only place where I have found to be able to do weightlifting (they actually have national equivalent to Eleiko for bars and bumper plates on top of even having gear) is the sort of community pastime center's concrete basement gym. The lucky and silly thing is that it's the cheapest and quietest place (I tried training in different hours throughout the day on different days and most of the time I was training alone or didn't have to queue for any rack or bar or machine) and you'd expect it to be the most ghetto gym as well, but in actuality it's the most geared towards people who have goals in the gym with barbells in mind. Also it was interesting how it was such a small place that people would actually say hi when walking in. That's totally unheard of for me in Finland. But that made me realize that the commercial gyms at least here are completely clueless about any sort of professional lifting or amateur/casual lifters who want to do more with resistance training than just train their muscles. The only negative was that it was closed in the weekend and closed at 2 pm on friday. Other than that it had pretty tolerable opening hours, like from 7:30 to 21:30. You could also use your public transport card to pay your visits per use. It's like for once somebody in the town hall knew what people actually want to pay for.
Actually there's one exception, there's a sports hall where I go to train judo, that has the local weightlifting club. You'd have to pay for the membership and weightlifting class and you'd be only allowed to lift on their scheduled training hours so there would be no freedom and flexibility in your training, but you'd also get similar people and good coaching.
Funny, commercial gyms in my area cost quite a lot (600€ for students for a year) while the powerlifting gym i go to is just 100€ yearly, with all the same equipment.
4:49 Bro you literally used a photo from my university gym
clarence, could you do a video talk about how to protect joints such as knee, when lifting over the years ?
Real weightlifting gyms (National team associated) here in Italy are cheap as hell, literally they almost pay you to go there 😆 and coaching is ofcourse top notch and free too, equipment aswell. The only drawback are the times are super strict, and you need to know someone.
That's why I have decided to build a home gym in the future with Olympic bar, bumper plates, half rack and a deadlift platform
Solid video boss. Go through this frequently when traveling to visit family and what not...usually see myself having to use crossfit facilities. Local gyms are hit or miss but feel like you'll always find one within a 30 min drive that should be able to satisfy the weightlifting requirements...unless you're in carriage County 🤣
The AoT background in the beginning really is something
complete opposite for me here in nyc
commercial gyms are packed to the maximum with almost nothing to use 10 hours out of the day and have shit hours
whereas the few "performance gyms" we have here are actually quite nice
Plx man make a podcast or more videos. You is the only one who speaks the truth. Saludos from Brazil.
my commercial gym gives free coaching and access to a sauna and a hammam with the subscription. Best thing.
the literal only problem with commercial gyms is they will never have jerk blocks.
Most commercial gyms are owned by dude who owns multiple business and is looking for a way to spend money and grow his assets rather than burn them on taxes. The startup costs are insane, but the long term investment on that equipment is pretty solid, so that's pretty much why you get some asset rich millionaire who can afford the luxeries of nice equipment and staff to clean the place. Most performance gyms are operated by some dude who probably has some shitty 9-5 and goes around looking for used equipment the best he can. Same thing with most crossfit gyms that ive noticed. They are typically run by a couple, who work a 9-5 or one of them runs the business full time and hires help to fill scheduled hours on the cheap, like free membership cheap and not paid.
My experience with commercial gyms is simply how busy they are.
All the LA Fitness / Goodlife gyms in my area are CLOGGED with people any time between 4pm-10pm on the daily.
Not to mention there is plenty of machines but few racks, which means you are waiting a lot.
I know this isn't the norm everywhere, but where I am it's the only option unless you want to fork over 2-4x as much for a limited schedule CrossFit experience.
sad times :(
yep when you live in a busy area you have to choose between an expensive gym or being packed in like sardines. Clarence doesn't have a real job so it doesn't really apply to him
Man, the drama is real is these performance gyms. The little cliques between certain lifters, the odd romance dramas, and yep the "we don't allow X fed members here" bullshit. Hated all that crap.
Wtf is this video for bro🤣
DUDE I PEEP THE ENDER LILIES OST YOU USED FOR THE BACKGROUND MUSIC RESPECT I LOVE THAT GAE
I can agree with this from experience. I had the pleasure of having access to a 24/7 cross fit gym in my hometown in California. You just have to be mindful of the classes that go on during some hours which isn't a big deal since there's plenty of space. To be fair, the gym did have plenty of drama going on as well such as the owners hooking up with members and spouses cheating with others in the classes. It wasn't that big of a deal if you just minded your own business lol.
The only place I've had issues with weightlifting was at my university gym where they banned dropping weights from shoulder height, but you were allowed to slam your deadlift like some uncultured brolifter. The only way to weight lift at my uni was by receiving the bar from OH back to front-rack shoulders, then back to the hip, then gently lower it onto the lifting platform. All of that, even with bumper plates.
I didn't even realize their were 24/7 Crossfit gyms. I figured they all ran on whatever class schedule they had for the day.
there*
@@caleb2159 most crossfit gyms are like that. The gym I mentioned is the only one I've ever seen that is accessible 24/7, however, the classes do run at regular times just like any other cf gym.
I go to a powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting gym that is 24/7
Welcome back Bradda 🤙🏾
love the omori background music
The virgin performance gym vs the Chad commercial gym
It's been a few years since I've been to a commercial gym. Maybe things have changed for the better! Literally NEVER visited a commercial gym where with bumper plates and a place to drop them.
I'm thinking he has a unique experience, cause I also can't find a single commercial gym near me that has all the benefits he says at once (24/7, weightlifting platforms, elieko plates, not overcrowded, etc)
Believe me, I tried. And you'd be hard pressed to find one too.
I built a home gym which is basically just a power rack with a few heavy dumbbells and have gotten stronger quicker than I ever did get in commercial gyms and performance gyms
I'm very thankful for my powerlifting gym. It's the best place where I live, great varied equipment, inclusive to anyone but there's a max membership, 24 hrs keycard, CHEAP, it's $20 a month. I love that place so much that I've kept my membership for when I'm more able to train consistently again.
A lot of commercial gymns may have a weightlifting platform and bumper plates, but very few commercial gymns will also have squat and deadlift bars, so they aren't viable for non IPF powerlifters. Plus, the greatest asset performance gymns have in my opinion is the members themselves (less toxicity, better gymn etiquette, less people obnoxiously trying to showboat). When you go to performance gymns, you're not necessarily paying for better equipment, you're buying a better peer group.
Clarence’s words but Zack’s tone😂
0:45
Ended that man's whole career
Is that the tree from attack on titan in the intro/background?
For me personally crunch has a decent rate and everything you need to get fit I had my doubts at first but when I got a tour I knew I was set for the rest of my days. Only downside is it gets busy quick but my schedule works perfectly where I can workout during my lunch break or in the early morning
Found a regular looking commercial gym near me that has Eleiko bars/ plates/ racks.
Based. I tried a small performance gym a while ago, it was basically just a personal training facility, and when the trainers weren’t with clients, they’d be lifting taking up the limited equipment 😬
So many small gyms do not have good rowing machines, or any rowing machines. And i think rowing machines are essential
I've never seen a performance gym that has a proper cable stack setup. I understand that they're expensive, but they are pretty necessary for any and all accessory work.
I've never used a performance gym (except when my younger brother used to go to a sport school with weightlifting, so they let me exercise sometimes). When I go to sign up to a comercial gym, I always explain them first that I practice olympic weightlifting movements and ask if it's fine to do it there. I can't use very heavy weights, my personal bests are 90/110, and I can't even do those now (I'm 38, never been a competitive weightlifter, taught myself). I've seen a weightlifting platform only once in a cemmercial gym and most times the people walking around are quite a problem. Not to mention that some of them aren't even on the ground floor so they'd never allow me to do it there and it probably wouldn't be safe... I used to do it at fit4less and anytime fitness in London, it was mostly fine (except for the business). Didn,' drop the weights at all though, even on max attempts, which has probably held me back significantly...
The opening hours are so important. I go to a commercial gym because the only time I can go is before sunrise. No performance gyms are like this
This Clarence guy seems to be really strong…
This guy really sounds like madseasonshow
Interesting, haven't ever seen such a performance gym before, only weightlifting/powerlifting clubs (which may be a bit different here bc of German club culture) and commercial gyms (some of which cater to lifters, most cater to the average person).
Clarence summoning us with his newly acquired Founding titan powers
glad someone else noticed
Aah I see a fellow fuckcars user, very nice.
no way clarence knows and likes omori enough to put "by your side" in a video. thats dope as heck.
I've only been to commercial gyms, but I'd imagine one advantage of a performance/specialist gym would be that the equipment is where you expect it to be. I often have to walk around looking for plates/collars because people just don't put them back. You also have the issue of lighting. Commercial gyms use spot lights which are apparently designed to burn out your corneas. These are unavoidable if you ever do any bench work.
I just found a cheap 24 hour gym that has a sick underground section for free weights but they only have one deadlift platform and squat rack idk if it'll be a good idea to train there
lul, no...hardcore gyms will always be vastly superior to commercial gyms. Commercial gyms have their place, though!
@fwomp What ElonMusk69 said, and that ONLY barely opens Pandora's Box. We haven't mentioned how u can't use chalk, the ONLY good commercial gym here (a Crunch) having WAYYYYYYY TOO MANY PEOPLE, the equipment being definitely inferior (i dunno what Clarence is talkin about), people being absolute idiots, and a really toxic environment. In powerlifting gyms, people are much nicer and more humble even though they are way stronger than people in commercial gyms. I workout at home now, with CALISTHENICS, i'd rather do that than go to the only commercial gym i can go to these days. All the good gyms are too far
24/7 hours is the reason i have a cheapo commercial membership
I live within walking distance of a commercial gym. Thankfully that gym let's people do things like bench press and squats but not Olympic lifting as they don't have bumper plates. It's been a huge blessing as now I am more dedicated and motivated because I dont have to drive 20-30mins to my old gym
Unfortunately it is still a little hard to find a decent commercial gym in the third world. I had to visit every gym I could find in my city to finally find a decent one. No platform, no bumper plates, only one squat rack, and very awful plastic (not bumper) plates. But at least they allow me me deadlift. Only kind of performance gyms in my town are CrossFit gyms and I’ve visited them all,they only work in clases. Sigh.
Still, I feel mostly comfortable in my current gym. Free water, great locker rooms and showers and big parking lot.
The nearest oly gym or open crossfit gym to me is 30 minutes drive to Birmingham, where as my 24h commercial gym is 3 minute drive with full selection of bumper plates and a platform. no brainer
or when the gym doesnt allow you to use liquid chalk, or dont even have a barbell with working bearings in it
my gym is about 50/50, it's commercial but has plenty of powerlifting equipment from ER, eleiko, leoko, ivanko, etc
The advantage of a performance gym is that it's a neat lil club. The disadvantage of a performance gym is that it's a neat lil club. Also, discounting the level of trainer available at a commercial gym to 'no coaching' is hilarious and 95% accurate.
great vid, when i was trying to find a new gym to train at all the "performance" gyms would never have their membership prices listed which was automatically a red flag to me.. i ended up finding a good commercial gym that has 5 squat racks and 5 platforms its only $30 a month
@@elonmusk69forever40 ?