Where?...does it make a difference?

[5kgLifter]

So, many of you go to a gym, lift at home, and lift with others, in their homes and such. People go to meets which means the lifting area is not familiar to them.

Generalised question to those that lift in a variety of places: do you feel it affects your lifts and is it in a positive or a negative manner, or does it all depend on the day (if it affects your lifts)?

[BendtheBar]

Some are positive. If it's a good energy love a basement or meet with good music it doesn't heighten my motivation.

The worst places for me are commercial gyms with the blah music and fluorescent light. I can't get in a great lifting session. Mentally it's a battle.

[LtL]

I'm with Steve: I feel physically weaker in commercial gyms and stronger when surrounded with like-minded people.

[Trevor Ross]

The atmosphere is a huge thing with me. I trained in every major facility in my city, and the one that I spent 80% of my time in and made my biggest gains, was the first gym I trained at. I'm still there today, and I'm not going anywhere. The guys there call the power rack "my squat rack".

[Fazc]

I don't think it matters a great deal, to be fair.

I used to get a good kick out of training around guys who were bigger than me and lifting more than them or just being around good lifters and trying to feed off the energy. That played well with my insecurities when I was younger, like most young guys you're finding your way in the world, finding yourself as it were and these little mental games are fun but really they were just a reflection of my own insecurities. Now, that's not a bad thing in my opinion. Insecurities when channelled correctly can be immensely powerful as a motivator, but it did lead to some reckless lifting and unnecessarily charged sessions.

But my training is much more internalised these days. Much of my focus is inward, my form is tighter as a result, my focus is crystal clear and my aggression is controlled and explosive. That matches much more closely who I am, I don't have the insecurities of my youth any more and as a result I'm less volatile and I'm far less effected by my surroundings.

NB. Not saying any of this applies to anyone else. I'm sure everyone else was a perfectly balanced young man/woman as they came out of the womb. I was not.

So I guess it would depend on your personality, for want of a better word.

[jdmalm123]

I have trained at home for well over a decade. Much of lifting heavy/seriously is focus and pacing. Public gyms usually mess with your flow. Some of them don't have the equipment for serious lifting or they do and won't let you...

So, after training at home that long I feel like it does negatively affect my lifting at a commercial gym (usually happens when I'm out of town on vacation/business).

You can't always do the same warmup/prep routine at a comm gym and routine is important for heavier lifts. Also, your overall routine is often screwy...if you travel, your sleep, food, hydration, etc. can all be out of step.

Currently, I train in my garage for the serious stuff and my apartment complexes basic gym for some BS stuff. Since the work I do in the apartment's gym is simple and I made it part of my routine, I don't notice any difference there...

[J_Byrd]

I would have never touched the numbers I have reached without a good group of training partners and a private gym.

Nothing like having some others lifters to push you to the next level.

[thumpinos]

Commercial gyms are hard for me too. I still rise to the equation and go the work, but I feel stressed out and unhappy. It's such a bad environment.

[leefarley]

i have always trained at home i wont pay the monthly fee or sign the yearly contract or set up the direct debt plus i like to switch off and lose my self while i workout.

[Davis]

I enjoy lifting alone- as in, no partners or friends. The only problems I have with any of the two gyms I go to are these:

Main gym: Just a squat rack with no adjustable safety pins. Gotta hit depth and no lower(which I tend to squat about an inch below parallel). That causes a problem if I'm not used to it. Easy to adjust though.

School gym: Other than it often being annoying to be in there, there are only two things that effect my lifts: There isn't chalk allowed. That's why I have always made it a point to come home on the weekends to deadlift. I'm too dumb to figure out how to use straps.

Secondly are the bench presses. The j-hooks have an incredible incline. I have to press the bar up, and then pull it out, which causes me to lose a good bit of tightness. That of course causes an effect on my lift.

Other than that, going somewhere else to train doesn't or hasn't really effected me in a great deal yet if it ever will.