By Dylan Kelley
BANGOR, MAINE- What started out as a dream for Bomarc Muscle owner James Strout, is now entering its fifth year in Bangor. Located 2 miles away from Husson on Bomarc Road, Strout says that this gym is different from the others.
“If you want to come in at 1 a.m or 10 p.m. and workout, that’s okay. You get your own code with membership which is used for the keypad on the door. So if you are one of those people that may be a little timid or hesitant to workout in front of others, you are guaranteed to have a time to yourself at some point in the day.”
Strout says that his gym is geared more towards powerlifting, and doesn’t have any cardio machines. Instead, it has a mix of state-of-the-art machines and retro, obscure equipment. He has an area for deadlifting, bench presses, as well as a free weight station to compliment nearly 20 workout-specific machines. “If you want to work on cardio, you can buy a membership and run around outside,” he jokes. Potential members don’t need to be a powerlifter or an aspiring powerlifter, though, Strout says that you just need to have a determination to better yourself.
Memberships cost $50 a month, with unlimited access to the gym. You will get a unique code to the door pad, and once you are in you can stay as long as you want, and go as many times a month that you want. There is a locker room available store your belongings. The busiest hours are early afternoon to early evening, with ‘bench nights’, nights that a bunch of the members do a group workout centered around bench pressing, meet on Tuesday nights.
As far as security, “If anyone is able to carry those machines out the door, good for them. I won’t hold my breath though,” Strout smiles. The gym is run by the honor system, but Strout warns that if anything were to happen, he guarantees that both him and the other members will get to the bottom of it. members do workout at your own risk, and every member signs a waiver (which is archived) when they first sign up disclaiming that you are at your own risk.
Aaron Boumil, who has been with the gym for three years, says that finding Bomarc changed his life. “The other gyms that I went to before were strict,” Said Boumil. “We had to listen to music with headphones, we had to gently put weights down, and we had to be mindful of what you say. At Bomarc, you can connect your phone to the sound system and blast whatever music you want. You can drop your weights on the ground with force, which is sometimes safer than setting them down.”
Any Husson student that is interested in Bomarc Muscle is encouraged to contact the gym or owner James Strout via their Facebook page.