Gold’s Gym: The Lost Legacy

Let me preface this by saying, I am a gym snob. I am a self-proclaimed meathead. As a personal trainer, I am comfortable in gyms surrounded by dumbbells and men on steroids. When I first became a trainer, I was offered a job at both Gold’s Gym and Fitness 19. I chose GG because of the legacy I knew it carried. This was the beginning of bodybuilding. This was Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was what I wanted to be associated with.

Fast forward, I ended up leaving the corporate gym world to be my own boss. However, I always stayed loyal to Gold’s. I worked out there, inspired by the hardworking and dedicated people around me. I saw powerlifters, bodybuilders, and the people like me trying to find the strongest versions of themselves.

Eos Fitness bought Gold’s Gym Socal in November 2025. All 23 of them, excluding Venice Beach. My local gym immediately was painted blue and silver in the midst of a busy day, fumes filling the space. Cheap deals were posted, causing an influx of high schoolers to take the benches and crowd the space around machines. My safe haven quickly changed into waiting 10 minutes for each and every machine. The picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger was replaced with a cheesy Eos ad.

The disrespect.

I went from having never heard of Eos to having a legacy I was proud to be apart of torn apart brick by brick in front of me. The legacy lives on now in each of us that have trained there, that know the power of being surrounded by strength and motivation and, yes, steroids.

Alright, getting off my soapbox. What’s your go-to gym?

Me at Gold's Gym ❤️