How To Love Your Gear

...and it IS your gear. It's more than metal and chalk and bearings on the line: it's your 
wrists. It's your back. It's your chin, maybe. 


We make a big deal out of caring for our equipment. We're proud of it. We're proud of the
things you'll DO with it. We love the future you - the chick you can't see yet, but we can -
 and we know that she'll be made with a barbell.

This is our first installment of "How To Love Your Gear." 


1. Bars and Plates. A great bar - like ours at 
the Park - are precisely turned, cut, and 
packed with tiny parts that you won't
 ever see. Our plates are built to absorb shock that will damage the bar.
Dropping an empty bar damages the bushings that make it turn smoothly. You really 
want that sleeve to stick when you're attempting to catch your first 250lbs clean? 
Likewise, a bar that's unevenly loaded - one
 side tight, one side loose - or dropped 
unevenly won't keep its nice spin for long.
Prying a plate - using the bar as a lever to tip plates off one side - rips the rubber 
away from the steel. When you drop a separated plate, it has the effect of driving 
on a flat tire - an unpredictable bounce and roll. Forget the high cost of bumper 
plates: what's the replacement value on your SHINS?


2. Platforms. Our platforms are made of wood, because wood is much better to lift on.
It's safer - you can slide away from a missed attempt. It's predictable - your feet don't
 suddenly stop and twist when you're jumping your feet apart. It's louder, and it just 
feels cooler.
DENTED wood loses all of these characteristics. Dropping a kettlebell, dumbbell, or 
empty bar on a platform makes a dent. Dragging a bench or plyo box across a platform
 makes a scratch. Dents and scratches make you catch your toes when you're doing a 
split jerk, and your rope when you're doing double-unders.


3. YOUR stuff. Like your stuff? That's okay - you can keep it. We don't need it. We 
do need cleanliness and room for our other members, though, so if you leave it behind,
we'll donate it to charity. Thank you in advance.


Treat your barbell like you'd treat your pet. Treat other gym members like you'd 
treat your grade-school crush: believe the best, disbelieve the worst, and care enough 
to carry their lunch box.


...or Vance will kill you.