Have you ever woken up at three in the morning and thought 'gee, I sure could use a workout about now' - well, now Steel Gym offers 24 hours of operation during the summer Monday - Friday. Back in the day (aka the mid 90s) when I was go go dancing, there were times when I'd get a special 'day pass' to the then only gym in town that offered 24/7 service - the infamous Johnny Lats Gym just off Union Square (no longer in business, I'm sure it's a nail salon now) which, among many attributes was known as the 'ex con gym' because so many of it's members were huge and mean looking. You'd walk in the place and you could literally smell the testosterone in the air - you didn't need to inject steroids, I think it just was pumped into the air filtration system and you'd get a dose just by being there. Johnny Lat's was a great place because the guys were serious about getting big - and man was it crowded at 1 in the morning! I never got the idea that the guys were there to cruise - it was more like, like me, the guys were there to get pumped before going to work whatever that work happened to be...
Steel is a pretty serious gym too and I've been going on and off for the past few months and keep doing that middle aged guy thing of "oh I really gotta get to the gym today.. oh well, didn't make it, definitely tomorrow".. because after being obsessed for about 20 years of my life, I've needed to spend the past three or four just going when I felt like it.
Anyway, check out the gym here and read my interview with Steel Gym owner Ken Hunt here.
And if you're really in the zone to get fit and get big, you might want to check out the newest eatery in the gay hood - the appropriately titled Muscle Maker Grill (92 8th Ave. in Chelsea) a franchise started over in New Jersey, where you can find grilled chicken breasts and whole wheat pasta and salads and wraps galore.
I haven't eaten there yet but there was a super muscled guy standing out in front of the store on Saturday passing out flyers. You know, he could have been passing out live grenades and I probably would have taken one. But maybe that's just me. :)
That's it for the moment, more later on this first day of June 2010!
