Chizzad’s BodyBlog

To all those that have been asking and wanting to see the gym I am working on here it is. I uploaded one to my profile via youtube so check it out.

For all those interested I posted two videos on my profile using my dumbbells for the first time. I still have several things to add to the home gym but it is coming together nicely. Feedback appreciated!

Hey everyone I just wanted you to know that I have not given up on my "GYM DREAM". However I have decided to just do a small home gym just to see how buying equipment and all that goes plus it will be very well equipped so that working out at home will be a blast. Everything that have bought and will be buying is truly commercial equipment. Hammer Strength dumbbell racks, Hammer Strength adjustable bench, Life Fitness standing calve machine, and Star Trac plate trees. I have made a deal with the guys at Christian Fitness to purchase York Rubber dumbbells 10 thru 110 lb in 10 lb increments plus added a pair of 125 lb dumbbells since that is the highest that particular dumbbell is made. Another thing I added was 3/8" rubber flooring, black with white speckles, just like you would find in a commercial gym. 600 square feet of free weights with a cable crossover soon to come. Keep up and follow whats next!

OK so things are not going the way I want them to lol. I am now looking for small investments/donations to help get a small gym built on the property I already own. Donations can be small or large and so far I have raised 10K. I myself have about the same amount that I can invest which would be enough for some decent equipment but I need a place to put it. This gym would be soley for this purpose of myself and friends to make videos and do live workout chats on my website in hopes to raise enough money for the gym of my dreams. Email me with any questions you may have and anyone donating $150 would get a years membership to the site. Thanks

Just a note to touch base with everyone as last year was a very bad year for me not only in fitness but in life. Life sometimes deals us some not so playable cards but we have to realize that there is a shuffle coming soon. Towards the end of 2007 things started looking better and thank God they did because I was at the end of my rope it seemed. Now that things are back in order I plan to try and follow up with my gym dream as well as website adventures for standard fitness and the great looking guys that like to show off. Say hello if you wish and support me as I get fitness back into my life!

Well I have recently gotten some good news about some property that I had originally inquired about that supposedly was sold. The buyer has backed out which opens this property up for buyers once again and I am trying to get things rolling before someone else with money comes along. The building is perfect for what I want in the fact that it is two levels. I can keep the strength training area seperate from the cardio and circuit training area. This space is also big enough to add everything I wanted without having to choose between certain pieces of equipment. Keep them fangers crossed LOL. Im trying my bestest Anyone looking to invest that lives in NC or SC I am accepting backers but silent ones only. I want total control of how this gym is run!

OK here’s the latest on the gym. I have recently found a space that is only 3,000 square feet but after some thought I think it would be a good place to start as long as it will hold all of the equipment that I plan to have. I am going to go inside this place today and actually measure it up and do an online layout to see if I can at least get the majority of stuff I want inside. Keep your fingers crossed because if this goes through then hopefully within a few months I will be the proud owner of an old school hardcore strength training gym.

OK so I went again to look at the dowtown property, took photo’s, made a short video, and have drawn everything to scale only to find out that it most likely not would not pass for gym usage. The engineer that has it for rent said the code for flooring is 100 lbs. per square foot and with him being an engineer he knew that it does not meet that. I will try to still post the video and photos that I took just to show you all the character that this place has, it’s awesome. There was some good news however as the same guy has another place that would actually be better and the utilities would be a lot less expensive. The problem here is that it is in a better commercial building, in a better location, and not for rent but is for sale. Not knowing the price as of yet I can assure you it will be out of range for a guy that earns only 28 G’s a year. So onward I march to find something else sighhh……..

OK I was able to gather some very important info on equipment yesterday which previously I have had no luck with. The big words for today "PRICES", you would not believe the hassle it has been for companies to give me something as simple as prices for their equipment. It’s as if they do not know how much their stuff cost which I think it is terrible business practice and very unattractive on a prospective buyers end. I have emailed and called the following companies; Life Fitness, Nautilus, and Precor only to have one company call me back after I contacted their home office. Not wanting to sell or not taking me serious? Either way how would they know if they do not contact me with a follow up? Seems like a very odd way of doing business to me and if Wal Mart sold commercial equipment I would have already turned my nose up at these major companies since they do not have the time for me. To make matters worse the comapny that finally did reply has still not sent me pricing as they said they would nearly 2 weeks ago. Yesterday was a turning point though. I finally decided to contact a local equipment supply that sells for various companies and it seems that this is the way to go. Returning my phone call within 2 days this lady spent almost 2 hours with me on the phone talking equipment and just talking fitness in general. I told her what I was wanting to do and she said that she will be glad to work with me and do everything she could to get me the equipment that I want, not the equipment that they want me to have. So as I wait patienly for that email that I desire I honestly think I have found the one I will buy from if the prices are not too " through the roof" as they say. I have been pricing used/refurbished circuit equipment which is most likely the way to go for me since I am concentrating mainly on strength training and free weights. I want so badly to go back to old school training and more of a Gym type atmosphere. Remember my dream is to break away from the club feel and get back to basics.

I woke up today to check my email and finally received a reply from the company of choice about some equipment pricing. If all goes well I should have a semi accurate price list sometime by the weekend. I have also found a prospective place to open the gym but the only problem is that the parking would be limited due to its location in the downtown area. I honestly think that the gym will survive once open however there is a lot of planning involved just to open the doors. If there is anyone out there that has good knowledge of building a business plan please contact me so that I can find the resources that I will need in order to present it to a bank. As I said earlier if the gym only housed around 400 members it would survive and also it would seem to be more of a private hardcore gym. Of course all the lawyers and courthouse employees would be welcome to come a pump up on there lunch break LOL.