Gymtopia: What The Perfect Training Environment Looks Like

If Utopia is a perfect society, then Gymtopia is the perfect gym. What’s yours?

Utopia is supposed to be the perfect place, a land of absolute bliss where everything is absolutely perfect.

Of course, one person’s Utopia is another person’s dystopia.

As I sit and write this, I’ve just gotten back from a session in the commercial gym, and there were some things there that I truly liked. Things I’d missed by training at home.

It’s enough to make me embark on a bit of an intellectual journey to describe my perfect gym, my gymtopia, if you will.

First, Gymtopia would probably be a home gym. I like the idea of everything being here at the house and not having to really travel to get there. I hate traffic, after all.

So Gymtopia will be a home gym, but it won’t just be for personal/family use. Ideally, I’d have a group of folks who would come over to train with me, friends who I can cut up with and talk to between sets, but who all know the importance of getting in there and killing it with their training.

The gym itself would be filled with reminders of why I and my friends train, pictures of heroes like Audie Murphy and Alvin York would be interspersed with Frank Frazetta prints. The walls themselves would be reminiscent of what we’re trying to create. Either brick or stone walls, a certain amount of grunge permeating the feel of the place.

A hard place to create hard men.

The equipment wouldn’t necessarily be all-encompasing, but there would still be a sufficient variety of exercises possible that everyone can train in their own way. Everything from power racks and squat racks to deadlift platforms to EZ-curl bars to a complete set of dumbbells would fill the space. The flooring would be covered with mats so we can train pretty much anywhere we want.

Also present would be a full range of kettlebells along with a GHD and a reverse hyper.

Just outside the back door–because yes, there’s a back door–would be the strongman area. Platforms and atlas stones, the yokes, farmer’s walk handles (the real ones, not the minis like currently have), all under a covered awning and with a door big enough to move the stuff inside if needed.

One large corner of the space would have mats on the floor and walls for MMA sparring. Just to the side would sit the heavy bag and speed bag, as well as any other requirements for the sport.

Music would blare out of the speakers as we lift, just quiet enough that we can still communicate but loud enough that those who want to focus on their lifts can do so easily enough.

You see, I like training at home, but I missed the sense of comradery you get at a commercial gym when you’re around other people. It’s better, though, when they’re your people; when they’re your tribe.

After all, man is a tribal creature, and there’s no point in pretending otherwise.

Plus, having a tribe makes it harder to slack off. If everyone is counting on you being there, it’s hard to bow out without a really good and compelling reason. You feel beholden to your brothers and sisters, after all.

And frankly, while training isn’t necessarily supposed to be fun, it is helpful as hell when it is.

Will Gymtopia ever become a thing for me? Who knows. 

But I can work toward it because, like anything else, it’ll never happen if you just sit around thinking, “What if?”

So tell me, what does your Gymtopia look like?

Author: Tom

Tom is a husband, father, novelist, opinion writer, and former Navy Corpsman currently living in Georgia. He's also someone who has lost almost 60 pounds in a safe, sustainable way, so he knows what he's talking about.

One thought on “Gymtopia: What The Perfect Training Environment Looks Like”

Leave a Reply
