Over the years the owner of Land Of The Giants Gym™ has been fortunate to train at dozens of gyms across the country including numerous Powerhouse and World Gym locations as well as unique places such as East Coast Gym in Daytona Beach Florida, the Mecca Of Bodybuilding, Gold’s Gym Venice which was the filming location of Pumping Iron starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbu and Mike Katz and last but not least the world famous Muscle Beach Venice in California.
However, the place where he was most positively impacted and heavily influenced from a young age, that changed the very DNA of his thought process by seeing and most importantly experiencing everything that a world class gym could and should be and how none of the others came close to measuring up was at the time a single location underground hardcore strength and cardio gym which in spite of it’s very humble beginnings ultimately rose to national prominence by being voted one of the top 10 gyms in America by Muscle & Fitness Magazine.
In all of America. Let that sink in for a minute!
The Mecca Of Muscle
The 2 owners, local guys from the neighborhood distinguished themselves from 327 million other Americans by being recognized for building one of the 10 best gyms in the ENTIRE country.
Talk about being in rarified company!
How did they do it? In a word.. Passion.
The gym was built by a couple of childhood friends for who it was easy to see were passionate about what they did.
They managed to create a unique muscle head Shangri-la, a virtual Mecca which attracted an eclectic mix of world champion athletes from across the country as well as the local guys from down the block who all harmoniously trained alongside each other.
Band Of Brothers
The first thing you would notice walking through the doors, in spite of the beastly intimidating look of some individuals, was the immediate sense of family. Become a member and you would be instantly welcomed into the fold. The owners and members alike took a genuine interest in each other, their work, school and families.
The Not So Secret Greeting
Most obvious was that everyone always said hello but not in the usual sense of “Hello Larry” oh “Hello Bob” but rather with a nod and a simple “Hey Big Guy”.
That was the universal greeting for EVERYONE.
You could take the shortest skinniest string bean of a man and he would be greeted by everyone in the same way “Hey Big Guy”.
Why?
As a show of respect and support.
No matter where each of us began our own journey, whether skinny, fat, short, tall, slow, strong, weak, naturally athletic, or, even in some cases physically handicapped, we were all there for the shared goal of consistently challenging each other to get bigger, better and stronger. Creating a better version of ourselves.
We Were Once Giants
While the bright glowing gym name insignia was officially emblazoned on the exterior of the building for all the passing civilian outsiders to see, the members on the inside unofficially nicknamed the gym “Land Of The Giants”. It was like our own private little club.
You don’t have to ask yourself why.
It truly was “Land Of The Giants” but not only reflective of giant lifts (of which there were MANY) or those of a giant physically imposing stature but also in giant ideas, giant goals, giant amounts of energy, giant challenges, giant personas, a giant camaraderie and giant personalities as well as what all this amounted to, giant achievements! It truly was a great group of people.
All Good Things Come To An End
Sadly, as is the case with many other legendary landmarks, that gym now only exists in memories.
Many years ago after being sold to an individual who did not share the founders same enthusiasm, passion and drive to be the best, the lights went out for the last time when the gym closed it doors for good, robbing future generations of athletes of the same great transformational experiences which influenced me and so many others like me.
Into The Future
What better way to show respect and honor those past traditions and those that came before than continuing to build on those ideals and traditions while adding new ones to what’s become The Midwest MECCA Of Muscle™. It’s our goal to be the same positive influence on all current and future athletes that walk through the doors of and call Land Of The Giants Gym™ home.
New gym
New name
Same champion DNA
The unrelenting drive to be the best, to be a GIANT!