Studio Eskap: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Behold my final conveyance from Munich to Prague, today's last leg of the journey from Ann Arbor to Prague.  The airline was Air Dolomiti, a subsidiary of Lufthansa with a nice Italian flavor.

All of this just to visit Studio Eskap at the Czech Management Center in Celakovice.  Studio Eskap might be thought of as a Czech version of Outback, Nancy Arnold's hometown gym in Michigan.  However, unlike Outback, I'm not sure it's worth the trip.

One need only start with the rather drab exterior.  As we saw with Outback, this need not be a fatal flaw.  However, Studio Eskap does not exactly contain wonders within like Outback.  Rather, there is a collection of home fabricated equipment missing important features like the ability to adjust benches to work well ergonomically.

With this in mind from my last visit two years ago, I determined I would do a limited workout.  For me, it was back, abs, and biceps.  Arnold did this routine over the weekend.  Truth be told, I'll probably manage one cycle to Arnold's two here because the facilities are so limited.

Of interest are the dumbbell rack and the pulley machine.  You can see the dumbbell rack in this photo to the right.  Weights are in kilograms, interesting to an American used to lbs, but range is limited, topping out below the equivlent of 100 lbs.

Next is the pulley machine to the left.  This thing had to be an antique from the soviet era.  I swear the pulleys creaked.  I did a straight arm pushdown and a rope curl there.  The main limitation is that the weight stack did not exceed 50 Kg.

So you might be getting the impression at this juncture that I see nothing of merit in Studio Eskap.  Well, it has one saving grace.  It's a real weight lifter's gym in spite of its modest assets.  The atmosphere is illustrated by their extensive collection of bodybuilding competition photos from in and around Celakovice.  I even found some worthy competitors for Arnold who has been complaining about the lack of female bodybuilders. Okay, Arnold look to the right for some competition if you think there's not enough yet.

Lest my readers think that all I did on this trip was scope out female bodybuilders to spur Arnold forward.  I did do a workout.  Everything was 10 sets of 4.  I report maxima in Kgs.

• Bent dumbbell rows (tripod stance):  35 Kg.  It was hard to tell the exact weight.  I had to add up the plates.
• straight arm pushdowns:  50 Kg.  I have done 130 lbs. with a wider grip.
• Dumbbell curls: 15 Kg.
• Rope curls:  35 Kg.
• Three sets of 20 upper ab crunches.

Cranking on like this will be okay for this week.  I can't really do anything else because we are in a remote location out here.

Comments

[Scott]

Ahh, it's great seeing things in kg. Saves me converting them :)

Was there a bench + barbell at all? Or were you limited to the DBs and the cable stuff?

[Bud Gibson]

There is actually a bench and barbell, but they are extremely ancient. And, the barbell is not the standard weight. The gym is a little underequipped, bottom line.