"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Raymond Chandler
As I walked into Bev Francis' Powerhouse Gym, these words from Chandler rang out in my head. In order for his words to be realized in a bodybuilding sense, Chandler would agree that you'll probably need some kind of factory. If that factory isn't equipped to foster a hardcore attitude, you're not going to grow any muscles. Environment plays a big role in your training attitude. Having had the good fortune to have trained for many years at Gold's in Venice, I know hardcore. And I am all too aware of what was missing for the five years I had just spent training at LA Fitness. Tonight I walked in the door at Bev's and took a deep breath. It smelled familiar; it smelled like the factory where I needed to set up shop. Sure I've been there plenty of times, but now it's my gym and I'm not visiting.
I grew up in the next town over from where Bev's (located in Syosset, NY). I was thinking it was perhaps the proximity to my childhood roots that makes me feel at home there. But tonight I knew that had nothing to do with it...it's my roots in Gold's Venice that stretched all the way across the country, and across time, to make me feel at home at Bev's. Bev's feels like Gold's did back in the day. I just moved back to NY after being gone for 37 years, so it seems odd that I would walk into Bev's and run into 10 people I know. I know them because Bev's is a destination. It is the place to train on Long Island and its members are loyal. For example, Big Sean Andros was filming the Billy Guns bench challenge at Titans and he left to drive 30 min to Bev's for his workout. He left another gym to go train at Bev's and as strange as it seems, I totally understand why he did it.
I feel like doing deadlifts for a couple of hours when I go to Bev's. I don't feel like that anywhere else. Big Sean feels the same way and so does Jeff "The Producer," to just name two. Dave Palumbo can only take Bev's in small doses because his motivation there exceeds his physical abilities. Dave is so banged up that he actually has to train most of the time at a boring gym near his house. If he trained at Bev's with any regularity he would surely destroy the last couple of fibers holding his shoulders together. All of us who train there drive by multiple well-equipped gyms on the way to Bev's, but we never stop for a quick workout. We are the guys who say, "What the hell, I'm already in the car. I might as well drive the extra 15 minutes to the good gym."
I'm midway through my third week at Bev's and I've already noticed things changing. The big thing, the thing that means the most to me, is that I want to come to the gym in the morning. My training mojo has been re-mojenated. I feel like I want to train more than I want to do anything else. That feeling is one of those feelings that you never appreciate until it's gone and getting it back has made all the difference in the world. Training at Powerhouse in Syosset is the stuff I like.
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