question about sport training facilities

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what's up jan 2005 students,

I'm comin down in may 2005, name is ****,

Can someone do me the favor of letting me know if the gym that SABA has, has a squat rack, in case some of y'all aren't sure what that is,

Its just a rack on which you place a barbell , so you can do squats,

If they don't have one , I'm gonna make arrangements to have on eshipped to the island,

thanks :D

[*miamigirl*]

Hello there, I saw some picts of two gyms on the island and it appeared that they had a smith machine. I hope so!! If not, can I use the one you ship? :D

[Patrik Leonard]

http://www.valuemd.com/album_cat.php?cat_id=3
If that link doesn't connect you, just click on "Album" up at the top of your screen & go to the Saba Photo Album.
Pictures I posted of the gym here at campus & the one in windwardside.
Anyway, I work out in Windwardside, and it has a Smith Machine to do squats at, but nothing really to do free weight squats with. The gym here on campus has changed a little bit since I took those pictures, for the better. They've got some new cardio stuff, and if I remember right, it's got a Smith machine too, but can't remember if there's any kind of rack to do free weight squats if that's what you're looking for.
Patrik

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here's my plan,

I'm looking for the best way to set up my workout regimen,

I'm either shipping dumbbell sets from 5-125 or 5-90lbs to the island, if one of the two gyms has a real barbell, with at least 6 - 45lbs plates, then I'm good. I'm hoping that is they have a barbell its an 7ft olympic one, then even if neither gym has the squat rack, I'm sure I can gather some wood or something and have one built, cause, since I'm shipping my dumbbells, that's all ready near 1000 dollars in expense. Saba's gym has dumbbells only up to 45lbs, that's why I'm shipping my set down, its a one piece set so that's not so bad.

Does anybody have the # to the other gym that's off campus??

Of course, anyone can use any of the equipment that I bring down, not even a question, :D

thanks for the info guys,
see ya soon

[Patrik Leonard]

Ok, I really think you should save your money & the effort on shipping all that down, you can really get all you need at the gyms here. If it's cardio you want and a little bit of weight lifting, the gym on campus will do the trick. For you, sounds like the weights are the more important issue, in which case, just join the gym in Windwardside. I can find you the # of the woman who manages it, but seriously, if you have any questions about it, I've been using it for 7 semesters now (that's another story) so let me know if there's anything you want to know. It's got dumbells from 5-100lbs, except I think the 20's got filched. For barbells, there are standard olympic 45lb bars, and a 25lb EZ curl bar, with plenty of weights to load on, in 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, & 45 sizes. The biggest issue I'd see is in your first semester, living in the dorm, and probably not having a car, getting up to winwardside & back most days to lift could be a pain, but doable, if you catch the bus after school up there, then walk/hitch back down to the bottom. Anyway, again, I think it'd probably be pretty excessive to ship all that stuff down here for $1000, when the gym in Windwardside will cost you $100 per semester, so $500 over 5 semesters. Again, let me know if you've got any more questions about it.
Patrik

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you have saved my life my brotha,

The cost would have been insane! but I have one final question, Does the gym at wind..ward.. have a free weight squat rack, if it doesn't I'll make one out wood or something.
Thanks so much for the detailed info, It definitely sets my mind at ease to know there's a place to throw some heavy weights around.
When I heard saba had only up to 45lbs, I almost vomited. Also is it possible to buy a bike. That would make the trip to the gym easier?

again thanks for all the info,
saved me a lot of time and effort,

**** Chou chou

[Patrik Leonard]

No, that's one thing that's missing, is a rack to do free weight squats. Like I said before, there's a Smith machine, which is the closest it gets at the gym in windwardside, plus they've got one of those angled sit down close to the floor squat machine things, can't think of a better name for that!! So if you really want to do your squats completely free weight, your idea of building something yourself will be the way to go. Just thought about another thing with the dumbells though, after 50lb, they only go up in 10lb increments, ie there's a 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 & 100, but no 55, 65, 75, 85, or 95. Under 50 there are 45's, 35's, 25's, 15's, so sometimes that can be either a barrier to moving up, or a motivation to make big gains, depending on how you work it. :D As for getting up to Windwardside, I really know of only one guy that does a lot of biking on the island, & he does it. You've probably heard that the roads on Saba are all pretty steep either up or down, so it probably takes a pretty wide ranges of gears to do it effectively. I'm not much of a cyclist to be able to speak to what kind of bike you'd need or anything though. And probably wouldn't be able to get a bike here, so would have to ship it, or get one in St. Maarten & have it sent over. Not sure if that guy who bikes a lot will be selling his when he leaves or not, or even when he's leaving actually, think he's probably got at least another semester to go. I've known other folks who shipped their bikes down and didn't really even use them once they got them here b/c they found the terrain too intimidating. So, in the end, not really sure how feasible that would be for you. Well, hope this all helps.
Patrik

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The variety of weights they have are perfect, I would be more concerned if they went up in 20lbs increments but that would be very unusual.

Random lifting tip, if the next level dumbbell is too heavy , start with heavy partials for a couple of weeks, meaning work the movement in the range in which you have the most leverage and thus are strongest, before you know it you'll be popping out full reps! :lol:

I'm a total workout nerd, lol,