The original outdoor gym that gave bodybuilding its postwar Californian image: a fenced patch of sand on the boardwalk crammed with free weights, pull-up bars, and gymnastics rings. Arnold Schwarzenegger trained at the nearby Gold's Gym and worked out here in the 1970s, and the spot still draws a parade of muscle-bound regulars and curious onlookers.
Visitors can watch from the railing for free or pay a small fee to lift alongside the locals. It is as much a piece of theatre as a gym, busiest on warm weekend afternoons, and a fixed point on any walk along the Venice boardwalk.