I studied the people who are members of Gold’s Gym. I conducted my observation at
the 7800s and Redwood Rd location. I observed that certain types of people work out in
different parts of the gym. And, that what machine people use and where it is positioned
influences the way people exercise, the speed, intensity, and duration. I learned that what time
it is influences what groups of people are at the gym. I studied the different types of clothes the
people here wear. The members of the gym do not interact with each other very much. The
ones who do are young men who try to show each other up. The employees are forward and
good looking and try to convince people to sign up for the gym and personal trainers. The gym
uses various forms of advertising including posters, promotional deals, drawings for prizes, and
the employees themselves are a form of advertising. The gym emphasizes the importance of
physical beauty and this is how they draw people in.
I used participant observation. I worked out on various machines in different areas of the gym. I
felt self-conscious whenever the trainers approached me or talked to me. This is because they
usually approach the overweight people whom they think need the most help. Other than that,
I wasn’t really affected. Most of the people at the gym ignore each other, including me.
The people at the gym work out on machines at least one machine apart if there is
room. They break this rule only when it is too busy to have open machines. There is a giant area
in the center of the gym. This is where all of the weight-training machines are located. The
whole area is surrounded by mirrors. This area is occupied by mostly males. There are very few
females in this area. Most of the men are young and very fit. Many of them strut around
displaying their physical prowess. I think others avoid this spot because they are intimidated. To
the right of side, there is a glass-enclosed pool and hot tub. There aren’t many people in here.
To the left side, there are basketball and racquetball courts. These too are occupied by mostly
men. There is another area in the open, off to the side, for only cardio machines. This is where
the majority of the gym members work out. This spot is smaller than the gigantic weighttraining space. There is another area that is partially enclosed and in a corner. This is a separate
area for only women to work out in. There are weight-training machines, free weights, a yoga
ball and mats, an elliptical machine, and a stationary bike. It is like another miniature gym for
women only. There is nothing like this for the men. There is another room that is completely
closed off called Cardio Cinema. In here it is completely dark and there is a big movie screen so
you are able to watch movies while you exercise. There are not as many people in this room as
the other cardio area. I did notice that there are more females in this room than males. The
biggest area in the gym is occupied by men. It is in the center of the gym and is twice as big as
any other part of the entire center. Men also dominate the basketball and racquetball courts.
They are welcome to work out in any part of the gym apart from the women’s area. Women are
not banned from the center area but very few feel comfortable enough to exercise here. The
women work out in the cardio area, the women’s area, and the Cardio Cinema. These places
are all smaller, off to the side or completely enclosed.
The area people work out in seems to affect the way they exercise. It influences speed,
intensity, and duration. I observed people in various locations throughout the gym. The people
who work out in the center area are serious fitness enthusiasts. They exercise long and hard.
This may be because they are surrounded by other alpha male types. They have to compete
with each other. They need to prove that they are worthy to work out with the others. Mirrors
surround this area so they can see what they look like while they work out. I believe this would
motivate someone to exercise harder. It could just be for people to admire themselves. The
individuals in the cardio area all work out in varying degrees of intensity. These are all of the
average people. The ones on the slightly reclined bikes didn’t work out as hard as the people
on the treadmills and elliptical machines. Also, the closer people are together the harder they
work out. I think they work out longer as well because everyone in the gym can see them. In
the Cardio Cinema, people tend to go at a slower pace. It is dark in this room and there is a
movie playing so no one is watching them. They don’t feel pressured to work out harder or
longer. There aren’t any mirrors in Cardio Cinema and there aren’t any of the posters of the
really good looking people that are all over the rest of the gym. The people in this room are the
ones who feel uncomfortable being on display in the larger area.
The types of individuals at the gym vary from area to area. This is also true about which
machines they use. The type and position of the exercise machines influence who uses them.
There are big televisions in the main area of the gym for everyone to watch, they are all on
various stations. In addition to these, there are smaller monitors on every other cardio
machine. The stationary bikes, which are slightly reclined, sit right in front of the big monitors.
They are positioned in front in the Cardio Cinema as well. Behind the bikes are the treadmills,
this does make sense because they are taller. Behind the treadmills sit the elliptical machines.
The people on the bikes watch the televisions while working out more than anyone in the gym.
I think this is because they are sitting down. Many of the people on the bikes are older and less
physically fit than others in the gym. I noticed that people who rode the bikes with the monitors
on them pedaled slower than those who didn’t watch TV; however, they did stay on the bikes
longer. There are monitors on every other treadmill as well as the bikes. Unlike the cyclists,
many of the treadmill users do not watch TV while they exercise. A lot of them seem too preoccupied with their routine to bother with the TVs. Even in the Cardio Cinema room they don’t
really watch the movie. These people exercise at a more determined pace than the bikers.
These people are more diverse than the other groups. They are young and old, in and out of
shape, and thin and overweight. The treadmill allows for a little more variety in a workout than
the other machines. This might be why this is the most used machine in the gym. The elliptical
machines are in the back of both the Cardio Cinema and the main area. Hardly any of the
people on these machines watch TV. They get their work out done and go. They don’t slow
down or linger to watch TV. Overall, the elliptical users are in pretty good shape and are young
to middle aged. In the giant area with the weight-training machines, there are only TVs that
hang from the ceiling. No one in this area watches them. They concentrate solely on their
workout. These individuals are all young and very fit.
There are very few people at the gym during the day because most people are still at
work. Most of the people here during the day are women and older people. What I find most
interesting is that when most of the men are absent, the women work out in the center area
that at other times they avoid. More people start to trickle in from 3:30-4:00. Many of the first
to come in at this time are teenage boys who are just getting out of school, not surprisingly
they head toward the center area as the women and older males leave it. The busiest time is
from 5pm to 8:30pm. It is so busy during this period that it’s hard to find an open machine to
work out on.
The clothing people wear at the gym is not very diverse. Many people wear variations of
the same types of clothes. Almost every single male is wearing the same thing. The men wear
knee-length basketball shorts, baggy t-shirts, and athletic shoes of some sort. There are some
slight variations to this. The young fit males will wear sleeveless, tighter shirts to show off their
muscular bodies. Some men wear long pants but not many do. There are a few more variations
in the women’s wardrobes. The average women who are young to middle aged generally wear
a longer short or a Capri length pant. Many of them wear tight-fitting t-shirts or tank tops or a
light track jacket or hoodie. The young attractive women are a little more daring. Many wear
very short shorts and little tank tops or in some instances, a sports bra. I believe they wear
these revealing outfits to display their great bodies, just like the men do. The older or less fit
women generally wear extremely oversized t-shirts to hide themselves and long pants or capris,
very few wear shorts. They try to cover themselves just as much as the others try to show off.
As for social interaction, there is not very much to report. Nobody really talks to each
other. There is not much social interaction going on. Everyone just ignores each other.
However, some of the males who work out in the center area come to the gym in groups or
pairs. They socialize as they work out and lift weights. I think this is so they can show off and try
to out-do each other. On the other hand, many of the women come to work out alone. I
thought that this would be the exact opposite. The females don’t talk to each other they keep
to themselves. The employees, however, do not keep to themselves. The physical trainers stand
at the entrance and look for possible clients. I noticed that the people they proposition are
mostly overweight whom they think need the most help. They even asked me if I was
interested. When I declined, the guy tried to use his good looks and charm to talk me into
training with him. I said no again but he didn’t seem convinced that I really meant it, but he did
move on to others coming through the door. I quickly moved away to avoid him coming back.
The employees here want to get the most they can out of everyone who comes through the
door. When you work out as a guest, they push you to join. They do not take no as an answer.
They keep pushing and pushing until you either give in or you have to tell them, rudely, that
you don’t want to be a member of the gym. Also, when I was leaving after a workout, one of
the employees gave me several free guest passes to “bring in my friends to check the gym out”.
They are always trying to get people to become members or if you are a member they want you
to pay for a personal trainer, which would mean a lot more money for them.
All around the gym, there are posters of really good looking, physically fit people who
owe their “success” to Gold’s Gym. There are advertisements for various fitness supplements
and diet pills. They have drawings for various prizes. They have promotional gimmicks meant to
draw you in or tempt you to sign up. There is a nutrition store attached to the gym. There are a
tanning salon and a beauty salon in buildings near the gym as well. They all seem to profit off of
each other. Individuals who regularly go to the gym might go tanning or to a beauty salon and
vice versa. The employees themselves are an advertisement. They are all very fit and good
looking. They are examples of what one can look like if you work out at this establishment. They
flirt with everyone who walks in the door and try to charm everyone out of their money. They
represent what people want to be- physically fit, good looking, charming and confident.
The people who come to the gym have various reasons for being here. They all have
different goals and motivations. Some are merely here to make themselves more attractive,
others are here to be more active and healthy, and some are trying to change their lifestyle.
Some are more successful than others at achieving these goals. Some push themselves harder
than others. Many of the people here keep to themselves they want to accomplish what they
are here for alone and do not seek input or influence from others. They don’t want attention or
interaction from their fellow gym members. Others are more social, they like to display
themselves to others and they seek input from their peers and they motivate each other in a
competitive way. There are some who are not successful in accomplishing their goals so they
enlist the help of personal trainers. They help push their clients to achieve success and they
motivate them by encouraging them and also by the way they look. Overall the gym provides
these people with what they want, a variety of means to exercise. The people who want to be
ignored can go in the women’s area or the Cardio Cinema room. The ones who don’t really care
if they are visible or not can work out anywhere they please. The ones who want to be on
display can work out in the center area where everyone can see them. There are numerous
machines that people can use that they might not have access to elsewhere. Everyone seems
content overall with the way the gym works. When I go to the gym I feel like a fish out of water
because I am overweight and I feel self-conscious. I feel like the employees judge me or look
down at me. I feel more comfortable in the women’s area and the Cardio Cinema. When I
worked out in the main area, I felt more uncomfortable than the closed off areas. I didn’t like
when the personal trainer approached me because that means I look like I need help and that is
not very comforting. However, I liked observing people more closely than I usually would. This
made me focus on them and less on myself so I was able to forget my inhibitions and just work.
If I were to return, I would focus on the people more as individuals rather than as
groups. I would go further in-depth in the groups that I did focus on and I would study more
groups than I did this time. I might interview as well as observe to figure out more about how
things were in the gym. I would find out how people felt about the setup of the gym as a whole.
I would venture into the giant area to see how these dominate figures interacted and reacted
to each other and to me. I would also like to talk to the employees and get their opinion on the
establishment as a whole.
“The Members of Gold’s Gym”
Ashley Urbain
Anthropology 1010
Prof. Melissa Schaefer
October 12, 2010