“I want more weight! I wanna beat him!” (voice crack)

WFAC Virtual Tour from A.C. on Vimeo.

Over the past year I’ve had the pleasure of training at the Wichita Falls Athletic Club. As you can see in the video above, the gym is stocked full of squat racks, barbells, plates, and conditioning equipment — it’s a training paradise. I guess you could say that I’ve been spoiled and I’ve forgotten how bad it can be for some people. In reality, you can’t get effective training done in an ineffective facility. How many of you are stuck in a shitty training facility? What if there was a facility five miles away that you never knew about? What if you were that facility’s owner and you were missing out on some potential business and/or lifters?

Well, this is where we come in. We are now taking applications from gym owners to be included in our Gym Directory. In your application you will need to submit a list of your equipment, pictures of the equipment and facility, as well as contact information. As of now there is not an objective criteria to be included in this directory, but it should be considered an honor because only the finest training facilities will be accepted.

Some basic requirements (that are subject to change) will be decent bars, squat racks, benches, and plates. There is no square footage requirement, and ideally these facilities should be commercially available (in other words, you training alone in your garage doesn’t count). The credentials of the gym owner or coach should also be included so that folks browsing the directory will know what crowd the facility caters to (i.e. beginners, experienced lifters, or both) and what sports they can get involved with (Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, etc.). As we induct more gyms to our directory, I’m sure there will be some kind of form to fill out, but as for now, stick to the information above.

The goal here is to provide a very useful and comprehensive directory for gyms around the country so that people can find a proper gym to train properly in. Gym owners will get more exposure to their websites and facilities, readers of this site will be able to find gyms wherever they live or if they are on the road traveling, and we all help each other get stronger. Fuckin’ A.

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Update, as of 7:53 AM CST
Concise list of requirements and info to send in:
– Decent bars, plates, squat racks, and benches (bars and plates must be identified by brand and model)
– Commercially available facilities only
– Credentials of the gym owner or coach
– What kind of crowd does your facility cater to (beginners, experienced lifters, etc.)?
– What sports trainees can get involved with (Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, throwing, judo, etc.)?
– Open gym/personal training only/class only?

And be sure to include:
– pictures of your facility
– your website URL and public contact information
– list of equipment
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Charles Staley continues to bring useful information to the internet training community with this new audio interview. Charles, a funny guy, good coach, and new friend of mine, plays the part of moderator in a discussion about programming with a panel of the following top-notch coaches: Pavel Tsatsouline, John Godina, Mark Rippetoe, and Yosef Johnson. That’s a pretty stellar cast, and I’m sure it will be very interesting (I’m in the midst of listening). Click here to listen.