There's something to be said for the notion that all of the young guys have left San Francisco. If they're still here, they sure weren't at Gold's Gym Brannan last night.
It's an older crowd, guys in their 30's and 40's mostly, good-looking in a butch or faux butch or just poz and a little juiced way. As I paused to look out across the crowded room, I noticed that most of them could stand to lose a little weight.

I think it was then that I realized that Gold's Gym Brannan, and probably nearly every other gym on the planet, is not likely to produce a ripped clientele. Except for the seriously roided dudes (and some seriously mannish dudettes), most people in that gym carried ten or twenty (or more) extra pounds of fat.

I suspect this generally is due to two reasons:

1. A belief that muscle growth can occur only in a period of a calorie surplus
2. A fear that cardio leads to muscle loss

A third reason may be at play as well: it is far easier to throw a few weights around than it is to go for a 6 mile run. Not that there aren't a lot of fat runners (or swimmers or bikers) out there.