One of the greatest joys in the world is the iron gym.

What's an iron gym? It's hard to describe. It's easier to say what it's not.

An iron gym isn't a fancy fitness club.
An iron gym doesn't offer jazzercise.
An iron gym doesn't have wooden panelling and beautiful adornment.
An iron gym doesn't have awesome, clean bathrooms.
An iron gym's locker room is spartan, at best.
An iron gym has mostly free weights, with very few machines.
An iron gym isn't a place to mingle with the opposite sex.
An iron gym doesn't offer yoga or other classes.
An iron gym has no amenities, niceties, or anything like.
An iron gym is usually obscure, with nothing special in real estate. It's often in a basement.
An iron gym doesn't have a salesman to give you a tour of the place and show you around, doesn't ask for a one year commitment to join, or anything like that.
An iron gym doesn't have fancy membership cards, swipe-in/swipe-out, or anything like that. You just show up and nobody hassles you.

So what's an iron gym? It's a spartan, bare bones place with free weights and a few very basic machines. It's often dirty and disorganized. There's no classes offered there. There's almost never women in an iron gym, if you go every day for an hour you'll maybe see a woman once a week. Maybe.

And I fucking love it. I love being at an iron gym. It's just a place to push iron. There's no posturing, no showing off, nothing like that. If you need a spot, someone will give you a spot. Everybody's cool. People don't talk too much, don't socialize too much. Nobody's doing business or trying to get a date or trying to move up the social hierarchy. There's just one thing there. Iron. And you lift and it's good.

It's hard to find a good iron gym. They don't have nice real estate and don't advertise and aren't usually part of a chain.

I found one here in Mongolia. $15 a month, unlimited access. Some personal training included if a trainer is around. The trainer is really just a Mongolian guy who hangs out and lifts weights all day, and answers questions if you've got them, but sometimes he isn't there. He's cool though. He helped me with my form on a couple lifts, since I haven't lifted for a while.

I've been a member or visited gyms at all ends of the spectrum. From the barest bones iron gym to a middle of the line health club to super high end luxurious places. The last one can be good, I've been as a guest to a couple super high end gyms. Maybe a good place to do business.

I like some nicer gyms. I like swimming. Richard Branson's Virgin Active clubs in England are nice to get some swimming, some sauna, and there's a good cheap cafe in them to do some work right after your workout.

Middle of the road gyms can be good value. Yoga's okay. Kickboxing can be good.

But for me, nothing is as good as a pure iron gym. A dirty, disorganized room with no conveniences, no frills, nothing fancy. It's not a social club, a dating club, a meeting space. You really don't want to "hang out" there for very long. You get in, you put the weight up, you get out.

I love the place. Long live the iron gym.