Top 10 Hardcore Gyms

_{By Susan Cashdollar and Erik Bonini}

_{September 9, 2024}

What makes a gym a hardcore gym? According to Reddit, a hardcore gym is just the opposite of a Planet Fitness, it blares music that’s not on the American Top 40 charts and its bathrooms come equipped with sharps containers. The less comedic comments on the forum will tell you a hardcore gym has lots of benches, racks and platforms and simply “more gainz.” While some of these statements hold true, there’s more to a hardcore gym than meets the eyes, ears and even nose.

A hardcore gym has a no-B.S. reputation and a history rich in sweat, muscle and plain old hard work. The members are married to the iron and the music is just as stimulating as your pre-workout. Usually the gym’s founder or owner has made a name for themselves in the industry, for better or worse, and has built their gym (their baby) from the bottom up out of sheer passion. The gym spawns champions out of underdogs whose triumphs can be seen in trophies and photographs plastered across the walls. The equipment is hand-selected for functionality, making the gym floor a hodgepodge of old and new machines of various brand names and colors. All of these factors and more create a gym that embodies what we like to call hardcore.

In our quest to rank the hardest of the hardcore gyms (which was no easy task), we took all of the aforementioned into consideration and constructed a list of ten beauts that best fit the bill. Without further ado, here are Gym Crasher’s Top 10 Hardcore Gyms.

10. Gold’s Gym Venice

While this may come as a surprise, Gold’s Gym Venice is ranked at the bottom of the Top Hardcore Gyms list. While the Los Angeles gym is no doubt THE MECCA of bodybuilding and its history has been the subject of numerous books, articles and documentaries, its present-day state has become a little more, how do we say it, “mainstream” than would otherwise warrant a higher hardcore ranking. Still, the massive 40,000+ sq. ft. gym isn’t shy on heavy-duty equipment, oversized gold dumbbells, Schwarzenegger appearances and just pure awe. For the sake of its hardcore history and awe factor, the O.G. Gold’s Gym hangs on to a spot on the list.

9. Montanari Bros. Powerhouse Gym

What makes “The Super Gym” so . . . super? Maybe it’s the red neon lights, the seemingly endless dumbbell rack topping out at 200 pounds, or perhaps it’s having at least six of every type of machine to pick and choose from, and all beautifully arranged across a 30,000 sq. ft. warehouse. The New Haven Powerhouse Gym began in the mid-eighties with brothers Richie, Jerry, Darin and the late Dino Montanari and continues its mission today as a haven for local meatheads, a stomping ground to former pro bodybuilder Evan Centopani, a favorited drop-in spot to many road warriors and home of the National Physique Committee (NPC) in Connecticut. If you see red, lift heavy and train hard.

8. Body Worx Hardcore

Welcome to the Hood. Body Worx Hardcore is a New Jersey gem that we just couldn’t keep off the list. The Paterson gym was built by a bodybuilder for bodybuilders and its founder and IFBB head judge Maz Ali runs the place with an iron fist. The no-frills iron warehouse contains a mix of vintage and modern machines and dumbbells, hard-hitting music and locked-in members. Since the late eighties, Body Worx has served as a shrine for pro and novice meatheads to come together and praise the pump, earning it a spot on today’s hardcore list.

7. Westside Barbell

Who hasn’t heard of Westside Barbell. The notorious Columbus, Ohio gym had its humble beginnings in founder and late CEO Louie Simmons’ basement in 1972 and grew and exploded from there. Through a repetitive process of “training, refining, fucking up and repeating” Westside’s methodology was established, says Tom Barry, now CEO of Westside. The words “Westside” and “Louie Simmons” are synonymous. When Louie passed is 2022, a big piece of Westside died too, but the strength education company continues his legacy today and maintains a spot on the hardcore list.

6. Strong & Shapely Gym

Regarded by many as the Original East Coast Mecca and a treasured favorite here at Gym Crasher, Strong & Shapely Gym in where-else-but New Jersey claims the number six position on the hardcore list. Owner Paul De Robertis prides his gym on being “the best equipped gym in New Jersey since 1984.” The gym is like a hands-on meathead museum with its vast number of machines from different eras of bodybuilding neatly organized by muscle group across a 25,000 sq. ft. facility — and we can’t fail to mention the 250-pound Ronnie Coleman dumbbells commissioned specifically for The King to use when he trained here. Strong & Shapely has your powerlifting needs met too with specialty bars, platforms, a competition bench, calibrated weight plates and a TSS combo rack and monolift. Pin this East Rutherford gem on your map and drop in the next time you’re in The Garden State.

5. Quads Gym

Serving the Chicago area since 1976, Quads Gym takes the number five spot on the hardcore list. Quads was the brainchild of the late Dave DeYoung and Tom Milanovich — lifelong best friends who shared a love for lifting weights and grew their gym out of a basement before it exploded into a 48,000 sq. ft. iron sanctuary on North Broadway, which was Quads’ second and now only location. Dave once said, “I want everyone to have the best possible workout” and he meant it. The Chicagoland gem has every type of training apparatus you can imagine and perhaps some that you can’t.

4. Apollon Gym

“Train Hard or GTFO,” that’s the motto written boldly on the door at Apollon Gym and one reason why it takes the number four spot on the hardcore list. The rugged gym in Edison, New Jersey had its hardcore beginnings in 1975 and throughout its existence has housed the likes of Dorian Yates, Rich Gaspari, Guy Cisternino and Kai Green. The gym’s broad history is preserved in original signs and old photographs covering its mostly red interior and the gym floor is equipped with first generation Hammer Strength, vintage Icarian and FLEX and new Arsenal Strength machines. In 2015, Apollon’s owners launched Apollon Nutrition and the “hard hitting” supplement brand took off and is now repped by top athletes from various sports.

3. Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym

All hail the queen. Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym on Long Island solidifies the number three spot on the hardcore list. The legendary Bev Francis and IFBB and Mr. Olympia head judge Steve Weinberger established Bev’s Gym together in 1987. Bev paved the way for strong, muscular women throughout the eighties and early nineties during her reign as a powerlifter and bodybuilder in what was very much a male-dominant world at the time. Walking into Bev’s Gym, you immediately see the history and feel the significance of where you are. The hallway leading to the reception desk is plastered with photos and clippings spanning decades of hard-earned bodybuilding and powerlifting achievements and the 30,000 sq. ft. facility is saturated with equipment covering the same timeline, including first generation Nautilus machines and the latest Panatta pieces. There’s no doubt, Bev’s Gym takes the crown and reigns today as The East Coast Mecca.

2. The Original Metroflex

Sitting dirty at the number two spot on the hardcore list is the Original Metroflex Gym in Arlington. If it’s not the hardest, it’s certainly the grittiest gym in the States. Erected in 1987 by trainer Brian Dobson and former training ground to “Light Weight Baby” Ronnie Coleman, the Texas gem continues to cater to the toughest locals and frequent passersby dropping in for the experience. The combination of the gym’s history, its ultra-rugged interior, heavy-hitting music and diehard members puts the O.G. Metroflex at [almost] the tiptop of the hardcore list. If you’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, make sure to drop in, lift something heavy and sign the wall on your way out.

1. Diamond Gym

A cut above the rest, Diamond Gym in Maplewood, New Jersey clenches the number one spot as the hardest of the hardcore gyms in the U.S. of M.F. America. Founded in 1976 by late bodybuilder John Kemper, the gym’s extensive history is on display throughout its tough, almost intimidating interior in pictures dating back to the early days of bodybuilding, short shorts, tucked-in tees and lots of flexing. The intensity at Diamond Gym is palpable. The gym’s rugged equipment, stacks of colossal dumbbells, tough as nails members and wood paneling­ all factor in to make Diamond Gym our pick for the hardest gym in America, and for fifteen bucks you can drop in any day of the week and train here . . . if you dare.