The Anti-Gym

I heard about this in a podcast. It's a gym in Denver called "The Anti-Gym". The website is found here.

When I first heard of the "Anti-Gym" I thought it was referring to a lounge, spa, or restaurant. Some kind of hedonistic self-indulgent resort where you do everything but exercise. I was wrong.

Apparently it's a self-styled extreme gym with their own "no chubbies" policy, generating controversy and publicity galore. They apparently endorse alcohol and marijuana as part of a healthy lifestyle (or at least they aren't against having them integrated with your lifestyle). They have their own brand of motivation to keep you going in your workouts.

You should really check out the commercials they have posted online. The owner has this thing for popping out of fridges.

In all seriousness, this gym seems...interesting? Is that the right word for it? I think it's novel. It definitely has a narrow appeal...it's expensive, it's crass and crude, and it has a very driven philosophy by which it works.

If you're someone looking to lose weight and get in shape by the use of being berated and bullied (name calling, pastries thrown at you in public, basic humiliation) then this is the place for you.

The owner makes some good points. I think he's also making them in what is quite possibly the most politically incorrect way I could have imagined, and despite this the gym looks like it's making a decent amount of money. It seems to endorse a lifestyle change to lose weight and get in shape. Portion control. "Eat to live, don't live to eat". Assessment of your progress. Things that ordinarily would make a good gym great. This gym simply crosses the border into obnoxiousville, though.

I admire the novelty of it. Personally I think it seems to be one long hazing ritual, and that just isn't for me. I can get humiliation enough just from walking through the mall and letting my imagination run free as to what other people are thinking as they pass my wide load arse. This place takes those fears and makes them real.

Here's an article that was run on the gym in the Denver Post. Yelp.com had some sparse reviews of the gym. One blog has some experiences from someone who wanted to go but was chased off by the extremely high price of admission.

Then again, if Jezebel dot com is to be believed, the gym isn't even open anymore (and the owner was critizing our new surgeon general for being too fat to serve at her post). If this is true, then the appearance of the website and the reality of this story is a wonderful example of some of the principles behind effective marketing. That is one slick website for a company that doesn't exist anymore...