Our Gym, Our Philosophy
Who Are We: The Gym
If you’d prefer to judge yourself by what the mirror tells you, here’s the link to 24-Hour Fitness. If you’d like to know who you really are by what you can actually do (and be able to kick anyone’s ass at 24-Hour Fitness), come say hi.
“This vibe has drawn people to Bodytribe for nearly five years since it opened on 21st Street, near J Street, in midtown. The flora and fauna of the place, the art on the walls, the absence of mirrors and the use of nontraditional gym equipment such as sandbags, kettle bells and giant tires – all of that has drawn a close-knit following of swim-against-the-mainstream types.
A tribe, if you will.” - Sacramento Bee, 2008.
We’re Bodytribe Fitness, Sacramento ambassadors to the Physical Subculture. We’re a small but intense gym, highly unique, in Midtown Sacramento. You can find us at 920 21st Street [Google Map]. Contact us at chip@bodytribe.com or at 916 444 2384, (honestly, expect a much quicker response via email). Our open gym hours are from 11 - 7 pm every weekday and the rest of what we do is by appointment with one of our 5 coaches. Contact us for more info.
Open Gym Membership: $55. Personal training and class costs depend on the trainer. Group rates and classes are available!
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Upcoming Events and Specials:
NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION WORKSHOPS
Every couple of Saturdays we introduce new members of Bodytribe to philosophy and basic movements through this 2-hour workshop. More information about this, and all of our workshops, here.
SATURDAY TUNE-UPS
Two hours before the New Member Orientations will find us learning new skills and tools for our ever growing workout arsenal. The list of upcoming workshops is constantly being updated. This Saturday (December 20th) is a primer on Leverage Clubs. Free to members, $15 for everyone else.
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Creating the Unstoppable Force
FIGHTER CONDITIONING WORKSHOP
Saturday, January 10th, 11 am- 2 pm
Info and payment information here.
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Steve Maxwell’s
Bodyweight Training Certification
February 7th, 2009
9 am - 6 pm
Modern Physical Culturalist Steve Maxwell will be offering one of his renowned certification courses here at Bodytribe the first Saturday of February.
Sign up and payment info here.
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The Book
LIFT WITH YOUR HEAD, Bodytribe’s tome about the concepts of the Physical Subculture, makes a wonderful holiday gift!
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What We Do:
Who we are: The philosophy:
What is Physical Subculture?
The body is a tool for greater purpose, not just the end result of your training. Therefore, training is the means to an increase the quality of life through movement. The Physical SubCulture movement is the modern organized effort to incorporate centuries of physical rituals and beliefs in exercise and movement into an integral part of all aspects of culture. Whether through lifting heavy objects of all shapes and sizes or finding new ways to move the body by itself, the Physical SubCulture movement is about strengthening the spirit through pushing the limits of the body.
Why a SubCulture?
Simple. We’re independent from the mainstream modern fitness movement, practicing and playing almost as an underground movement beneath the modern corporate structure. Sure, this sounds like the ramblings of a wannabe Abbie Hoffman or Crass fan, but it’s nothing new or particularly revolutionary. In fact about a century ago, the quest for strength and ability WAS the fitness movement, and Physical Culture was the banner it fell under.
So What Went Wrong?
Since more money can be made from trying to sell the quest for aesthetic perfection and exploiting exercise as the snake oil for ‘beauty,’ a very limited view of exercise and training has emerged. The obligatory path to a better appearance. Marketing and promoting of exercise as the tool for simple appearance helped usher in decades of self image woes and issues that have created entire industries to both feed and cure low self esteem (and give therapists job security for centuries). The formula was easy, and is still used today (look at any ‘health and fitness’ magazine cover). Here’s the equation that has proven an effective money maker for many years:
You are ugly. We can help.
This marketing formula sure works better in our society then trying to sell the Physical Culture concept of movement; that physical strength and performance increases other qualities of life as well. As Bernarr MacFadden used as a slogan for his Physical Culture magazine that he started in 1899, “Weakness is a Crime – Don’t be a Criminal.”
Movement should be that integral to our existence, but not through the obligation of aesthetics. Over time the performance and ability of the body, which has a direct and strong impact on the spirit and mind, took a minor role in training. Today, the ‘fitness’ industry is a sham, selling gadgets, supplements and imagery, not actual exercise or ability. Curves, 24-Hour Fitness, and their kin, promote and perpetuate aesthetic stereotypes while providing very little in REAL exercise science or training. The mere fact that there are such things as ‘ab’ machines just proves how silly the industry has become. But the Physical Culture movement has always been around. It just may be hard to find these days. It has become a subculture, a movement forcing the mainstream to evaluate what training really is.
So What is the Physical Subculture?
- A passion for strength, not an obligation of the scale.
- Training without mirrors
- Understanding the mind and spirit better through movement.
- Picking up something heavy. Really heavy.
- No fear of the body’s abilities.
- Using REAL training tools with long histories. No gadgets or fads.
- Embracing training as intense play-time.
- Acknowledging and exploring capability.
- Training techniques that are useful, enjoyable and sacred.
- Banishing weakness.
