Procrustes forced travelers to fit his bed or be cut down; chain gyms force bodies into machines built for a mythical average. In open floor spaces coaches use simple tools like barbells and pull up bars to meet each individual where they actually are. Gym Force helps you find those gyms where training is built around you.
In Greek mythology, Procrustes offered travelers a place to sleep, but the bed had to fit them exactly. If they were too short, he stretched them. If they were too tall, he cut off their legs or head to make sure they fit. The person had to fit within Procrustes’s system, not the other way around.
That’s how most big-box gyms operate. Walk into one and you’re surrounded by machines built around the concept of the “average” person, which doesn’t even exist according to Todd Rose, author of The End of Average (Great Book!). The equipment is adjustable, sure, but only within a tight range. It’s still built off a template. The leg press assumes you have average limb length. Other machines assume your joints and levers move like everybody else’s. You move from one station to the next and think you’re working out, but what you’re really doing is fitting yourself into a series of compromises.
Now think about a CrossFit gym or a martial-arts school. There’s open space. And yes, there’s equipment like barbells and kettlebells, but these tools respond based on how your body moves, not the other way around. The coach isn’t watching a screen or counting machine reps. They’re watching you. Even something like a pull-up bar isn’t so much exercise equipment as it is a natural tool (tree branch, fence etc.) used to build gymnastics strength.
I know some of you may be thinking, what about the barbell? There’s no natural comparison to the barbell? Maybe not, but when it comes to getting stronger, there is no equal. Science and technology have been free to find a better way to make humans stronger for years, but they have yet to do so. Until then, the barbell reigns supreme.
Then you have places like Orangetheory, which try to package health into heart-rate zones and color-coded performance metrics. But chasing those numbers only makes you better at chasing numbers. You don’t check your heart rate when you’re running from someone trying to hurt you. You don’t get to pause and recover when you hit the red zone in a fight. And in jiu-jitsu, you don’t get to tap just because you’re tired. Evolution didn’t reward staying in the orange for 12 minutes. It rewarded surviving when it counts.
Gym Force connects people to gyms that still understand this. These gyms are independently owned and built around coaches who actually coach. There is no corporate handbook telling them how to run a class and no machines mandated by headquarters. They are run by people who understand that our needs as humans are unique. They know how to train individuals, not averages, and they know there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to fitness.
So don’t force yourself into someone else’s idea of what should work for everyone. Find a gym that meets you where you are, with your needs and your ability level. This is what you’ll find inside great gyms, not rows of minimally adjustable shiny machines that don’t work.