Greetings, fellow fitness aficionados and seekers of swole! Today, let's embark on a whimsical journey through the wild and wonderful world of finding and picking up gym equipment.
Or as I call it ....my only vacations! Strap in your weightlifting belts and get ready to chuckle, because this quest is no ordinary shopping spree—it's an odyssey!
The Quest Begins
Simply put in my household, the quest for any type of gym equipment is lead by the "Hunting Gym Equipment" legend, Mike Ives.
Normally this starts at 1AM or 2AM when he gets up to get something to drink or eat thus moseys his way to the office computer. This results in Facebook Marketplace searches for roughly another hour. At 8AM (in the summer) I wake up and I'm greeted with ..... "I found..." which results in a whole process of what Mike has found and where it is located and how we can get it. In some cases the equipment is new thus we just have it shipped to the gym. Finding equipment is easy but finding great equipment I have been told is the needle in the hay stack.
The Facebook Marketplace Conundrum
Ah, Facebook Marketplace—the treasure trove of "gently loved" fitness gear. The hope and prayer is the message your send is actually answered and they don't treat you like a bad date and ghost you.
Once communication starts its like an auction block and its a back and forth game of what will you pay. You finally arrange to meet a seller in a dimly lit parking lot (just kidding don't ever do that), hoping they're more of a gym rat than a catfish. Will they show up with the goods or leave you pumping iron with disappointment? It's a gamble worthy of Vegas.
The "We are Closing" Sale Gambit
You stumble upon a gym that is closing or downsizing with the famous promise of "everything must go!"
Intrigued, you find a rusted bench press covered in cobwebs and a set of weights that seem better suited for medieval armor. Which they want an arm and leg for because they think they have the Holy Grail of equipment. Over in the corner you spot the actually Holy Grail but of course when asked the answer is immediate, "No, not for sale." So it's back to the Adams Family equipment and negotiations ensue: you haggle like a pro, trying to convince the seller that this relic belongs in your home gym, not theirs.
Initiation into Traveling for Equipment
As of right now Mike and I have done two trips for equipment. The first trip was like the frat initiation into buying equipment. The deal felt like the deal of a life time, three pieces of Maxicam from a high school in Colorado Springs. Mike was on it, coordinating everything to pick up the pieces. Off we went making it to CO by 2pm roughly, we pick up the equipment (yes, it actually was a Holy Grail find) and back out with the trailer (trailers are the most challenging thing to learn to drive with by the way).
As we start our journey home, the tire sensor goes of and we are low, like running flat low. SO....we make a stop at one of the local discount tires and fill up the tire thinking we should be good. Nope not 2 minutes down the road the light is back on, we head back to Discount Tire and proceed to have all the tires replaced because the one tire had two small puncture holes on the side wall. As they replace the other tires as well, we find out that each tire had a nail in them. Yup you read that correctly all of the tires had nails and holes!!! We ended up staying in Colorado Springs with no clothes or anything as we didn't get done until 6:15PM. Moral of this story ... if you see a nail in the road PICK IT UP!!!
The Triumph
Finally, after days (or weeks) of searching, negotiating, and possibly sweating more than in an actual workout, the gym is complete, or so I thought. Sure, your dumbbells or other equipment will not match (we have a purple Arsenal Leg Press, like Grimace Purple)
but lets be honest Mom and Pop gyms don't ever match and 99% of the time they are the coolest gyms. The triumph for many gym equipment hunts is not the final product though they love to give it to their members but the actual hunt and finding that one piece no one has.
Conclusion: Laughter is the Best Rep
Through the ups and downs, the rusty weights and the Marketplace mysteries, remember: the journey to fitness is not just about reps and sets—it's about the stories you gather along the way. So, embrace the chaos, enjoy the ride, and keep laughing. Because sometimes, the best exercise is the one that works your abs from laughter-induced spasms.
Until next time, keep lifting, keep laughing, and may your gym equipment adventures be filled with as much joy as sore muscles the morning after leg day. Cheers to the comedy of muscles!
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