By Mitzi Archer
BodyTek

My husband and I are cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway on a breezy April afternoon. The 40-minute drive from our Hollywood apartment to our destination is a chance for him to take his sports car for a spin so he’s more than amiable when I tell him about my mission.

I’m determined to find the original Gold’s Gym. “The man is a legend,” I tell Jake and brief him about Joe Gold who was born on March 10, 1922 in Boyle Heights, California and who died last year on July 11 at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Marina Del Rey, California.

Gold helped build a nationwide empire of gyms tailored to bodybuilders. He was himself a competitive bodybuilder and movie stuntman in the 1950s. Before that he served in the Navy during World War II and was injured during the Battle of Leyte, Philippines. Then he joined the merchant marines and sailed around the world with a set of weights to build his muscles.

“Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out at Gold’s first gym?” I ask Jake.

“No I didn’t,” Jake says. “That’s kind of cool.” Jake chuckles.

Having lived in Virginia all my life, this is my first time to explore the West Coast.
So Jake is amused that I’m so intent on finding a gym instead of shopping on Rodeo Drive or taking a tour of movie star homes.

Instead, I’m set on finding Gold’s original gym, which he opened in 1965. A quick internet search gave me the place’s history. One article mentioned how Gold welded most of the equipment himself. Another article mentioned how the gym was “dungeon like.” Nearly every article only had vague directions to get there. “One block from Venice Beach,” is how most of the stories pinpointed the place.

I had been to Venice Beach earlier that week and didn’t see the gym. My cousin Kookie and her boyfriend, Tim, took me to Venice for breakfast while Jake was at work.

Venice Beach is a canvas for artists, writers and musicians. Outdoor cafes beckon birds to feast at your table and friendly people offer you love messages written on rocks.

But above all, Venice Beach is the perfect hang-out for fitness freaks like me.
Main Street is sprinkled with whole-food health stores, organic coffee shops and fitness clothing boutiques.

I walked up the block with Kookie and Tim and spotted an older man who strutted down the street in a pink tank top and booty short set. He carried weights in each hand and had worked up a pretty good sweat.

“Welcome to Venice Beach,” Kookie said.

We stopped into the Omelet Parlor for breakfast where I overheard a bodybuilder ask the waiter to hurry up with his meal because his blood sugar levels have dropped. Even though the cooks were more than willing to scramble up egg whites, I decided to have my cheat meal for the week and order the eggs benedict with potatoes.
I think about that tasty breakfast as Jake and I still cruise the Pacific Coast Highway and pass through Santa Monica Beach where a row of cars and surfboards line a small stretch of asphalt and, not far beyond, surfers ride the swells of the Pacific.
We then pass the famous Santa Monica Pier where I had read the original Muscle Beach was located. This was the place where - among other awesome fitness gurus - men bench pressed woman instead of dumbbells, where Paula Boelsems taught an elephant how to water-ski and Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton showed her stuff as the first great female weightlifter.

I’d like to stop and admire the view, take a moment to bask in the sun and dream about what those days were like, but Jake reminds me that we haven’t found Gold’s Gym yet so we keep cruising.

We’re in Venice Beach in minutes.

Jake hears a live jazz band and parks the car. The Venice Beach boardwalk beckons artists, dancers and musicians to play for the crowd and sell their wares. It’s also the place for basketball courts, tennis courts, volley ball nets and swing sets. Watch out for skaters, roller bladers, BMX bikers and Frisbee throwers too.

Sidetracked from our search for Gold‘s, we stroll the boardwalk dodging all the above when, like a castle on a hill, I spot Muscle Beach. The outdoor gym draws photographers, wanna-be bodybuilders and spectators alike to watch men and woman work out under the sun and coastal breezes that make the palm trees sway.
The gym has a small covered section as well as an outdoor fenced area with weight machines.

I leave Jake in a trail of dust. I have to find the entrance to this place.
It’s nothing but a chain link fence gate with gym fees posted on a sign. Five bucks gets you in for the day. Year-long memberships are only $100. Nine, six and three month memberships are available for less.

I spot the gym’s office (a small shed-like place nearby) and walk over to see who's inside.

I ask Ken Park, a recreation assistant sitting behind the office desk, if he’s seen anyone famous work out recently at Muscle Beach. He told me he spotted the Governator himself ride his bike there two weeks ago. Mario Lopez and Lee Priest also occasionally come by.

Muscle Beach isn’t only for the confident and ripped. Park tells me folks who still have a long way to go to reach their goals aren’t shy about working out in the open either.
The city manages the park and TuffStuff donates all the equipment every two years.
I’m impressed but still have to find Gold’s Gym so I tell Park “thank you” and Jake and I walk back to the car.

We end up on Pacific Avenue and I keep my eyes peeled for anything that says Gold’s Gym. I spot the gray building with the faded painted words at the corner of Breeze Avenue and Pacific.

Jake parks the car at a nearby dog park and we walk there. 1006 Pacific Avenue is nothing but a block of concrete. I can’t believe we found it so I ask a couple walking by if this is the original Gold’s Gym. They confirm.

The front doors are locked. There are no windows, only the small opening for the mail. I flip the lid up and strain my eyes into the darkness. I imagine Arnold and other hard-core bodybuilders working out in this place, the sweat running down their temples, veins throbbing and faces grimacing with pain.

Wow. I’m getting an adrenaline rush just standing here.

I drag Jake around the corner to the alley to see if there’s a back door. We find it, behind a fence and next to a parked BMW. There are windows on this side of the building. We assume it’s now someone’s home or apartments.

I’m a little disappointed that the building still isn’t a gym but not surprised.

Gold sold the gym in 1970 and returned to the merchant marines while the new owners made Gold’s Gym a humongous franchise. Gold opened World Gym in 1977 in Venice, later moved it to Marina Del Rey and expanded it into a franchise. He worked behind the front desk at the World Gym headquarters for years until he passed away.
Nevertheless, 1006 Pacific Avenue still stands and the new owner has not painted over the old “Gold’s Gym” sign. Perhaps, he or she knows just how much Joe Gold means to anyone who knows something about fitness.

For now, the building serves as a monument to Joe Gold who, as Arnold Schwarzenegger described in a statement after Gold’s death, “was a bodybuilding legend, a pioneer, but above all, deep in his heart, he was a bodybuilding fan.”