The Importance of the Gym

I’ve spent a significant amount of time over the past 36 days convincing you that you can workout at home. That all you need is your body or one kettlebell or dumbbell and you’re on your way to stellar performance while training at home. While I stand by that, and think it's an important message of encouragement, I miss the gym. 

Having a physical place, where you can test your limits, be vulnerable and spend time with people, who you’re united with in your determination to get better, is so important. It’s easy to forget how valuable a place like that is until it’s taken away. 

In my early twenties, anytime someone recommended a business book, I immediately read it. One of those books was Onward, written by the Founder/CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz. You may have seen it at the gym, I keep a selective stack of books there that had an influence on me and the way I run Gain. 

The big takeaway from that book was the concept of the Third Place. We all have two places we spend most of our time: home and work. Your Third Place is where you spend additional time, somewhere you feel at-home, that isn’t your home. 

Before opening Gain, when I took a new job, I lost my Third Place, which was the gym I used to train at. A different schedule and new apartment in a new town meant I could no longer train with my friends whom I had been lifting with for years. I was lost. And I stopped working out for almost a year. I know how important a Third Place can be.

Gain is that Third Place for many of you. The community, camaraderie and connection is equally as important as the deadlifts and push ups and coaching. We’re doing our best now to recreate that feeling, to give you that sense that you belong, but it’s true, it just isn’t the same. 

I’ve been feeling tremendous sadness that our place is closed and I know you’re feeling it too. I know it isn’t the same, but all we can do now is keep living the Gain life. We can embody the philosophy of the gym through our thoughts and actions everyday. Keep your head up, we'll get our place back.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain