“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.
If I trained in Wichita Falls I would never leave. Unless of course I wanted to get laid. Or so I’ve heard.
Justin,
Is that quote from Pumping Iron?
Yes! Yes! Yes! Gym directory is a great idea. I need some major facility help in San Fran. I know I have Catalyst down the road but being an hour away is not ideal. I think I’m out of luck and will be lifting stop sign metal plates foooorrreeeeevvvverrrrr…
“Make it hard, Dad.”
Yeah it’s Lou Ferigno in pumping iron.
I had been lifting at the local Y for a few months. After some really in depth searching I finally found an Oly Training Gym that was nearly as close. I’m sure they could really use some more exposure given how hard it was for me to find them. Its in Jacksonville, Fl. PS I’ll be hitting my first competition in June (Hopefully I’ll have learned the lifts by then).
Id suggest having them lay out their pricing scheme as well and if they run a class style gym or its open.
Crossfit gyms tend have great equipment but
a)Theyre fucking expensive as hell
b)They dont want you doing your own thing. They make you participate in 3 rounds for time of flaming hoop somersaults, followed by inverted sausage slams, with one legged thruster squat snatch snack attacks
I’m not going to accept their pricing scheme — their website can do that. I can clarify on the directory whether it is an open gym format or not.
Also, it has been my experience with CrossFit (including traveling around the country helping out at Rippetoe’s seminars) that CF affiliates do not have very good equipment to lift with. I don’t blame some of them — they just want bars that they can do their conditioning workouts with and keep the overhead cost down, but gyms like these are not strength training facilities. There are some CF affiliates that would be open to an experienced lifter using their facility at designated times, but this would be up to the owner. It wouldn’t hurt to ask; I have a friend who has been able to do this.
–Justin
Its fucking annoying…I pay the dues, let me use your shit and bounce.
This is for all the marbles Louie!
Good gyms are really hard to find. I really hope someone has any suggestions regarding the Northern Virginia/ Arlington Area as I will be there this summer. I am already planning an intense trek to Balance Gym in D.C. which is a pretty solid place to lift. They have an olympic platform, three squat racks and a ton of weight. Kettlebells, Sandbags, tires, sledgehammers, ropes, chains and a really hard working atmosphere. They are located in an old catholic high school gym so the vibe is very grimy, very hard work and no nonsense.
strongerthanyesterday, In the DC Area there is Supreme Sports Performance Training its the best gym in all of Maryland, and the co-owners are a 2x world/13 or 14x national champion powerlifter and an American IPF World Games Coach.
They have ER Racks, Squat Racks, competition benches, an olympic platform with jerk boxes and extremely high quality bars/plates.
SupremeSportsPT.com
I did a mock meet there once, everything is superb and the atmosphere is great.
Sounds ideal. Hopefully they’ll want to be on the list.
–Justin
This Gym Directory thing is a great idea. Many people are going to benefit from that list. Keep up the good work!
This is an awesome idea. Is this directory gonna be posted on the front page or how will it work?
Yeah, I will be getting a link up to it soon. It will separate by state.
–Justin
Off topic: Where would you recommend getting a singlet?
For what sport?
–Justin
I am tearing up at how good WFAC looks. Fuck…
Justin, do you know when you might next be having a Starting Strength Seminar at WFAC? Possibly over the summer? It would be cool to kill two birds with one stone as far as attending the seminar and visiting the gym…
There will be another one this year, possibly more. I don’t know the tentative date.
Josh Wells and I also have a Training Camp where we get a group of people in for a weekend of coached training. Look at the “Services” tab at the top of the page to read about it.
–Justin
@NolanPower Thanks for the heads up the only problem is that the idea of going through the DC beltway after an intense workout does not sounds great or safe to me. I really want to find a place in VA and hopefully closer to my house.
Justin, it would be for powerlifting, probably in the USAPL. The site is awesome, by the way.
Inzer makes some pretty sweet ones.
–Justin
@strongerthanyesterday
http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/node/4420
search VA, theres like 20 gyms, I don’t where any of those cities are in VA, but theres got to be a couple close to you.
As a warehouse gym owner, I would really appreciate a Gym Directory. It is hard to find a balance of accepting members that you want working out at your place as well as paying the bills. Are you going to post a formal application or should we just compile the information requested together and put it in an email?
Just do it old school right now. I’ll get a formal app ready later.
–Justin
ok who’s the asshole who went through and put at least one dislike on everyones comments? asshole! YES PLEASE GYM DIRECTORY!
Keep firing assholes!
In SF, Valencia Street Gym has one pair of round gympak forty fives for dead lifting (the stopsign 25/35 fit on the bar without touching the floor).
They also hide some Eleiko bumpers in the spinning room – but I’m not sure if those are for everyone to use or not.
2 power racks, one squat rack
In Sacramento BodyTribe is pretty rad. It’s in midtown.
They have two power racks, two squat stands, three platforms, tons of bumpers, sleds and flippin’ tires.
http://www.physicalsubculture.com/
This couldn’t have come at a better time as my gym put up a nice “NO DEADLIFT AND NO POWER CLEANS” sign yesterday.
> Supreme Sports Performance Training
> its the best gym in all of Maryland
Agreed. I had the privilege to work out there while I was traveling. Great facility, great owners, an excellent place to get strong.
@Jake
That’s unbelievable.
Are they retarded?
…rhetorical question, I guess.
Next thing you know they’ll put up a “No Sweating” sign.
I imagine everyone in BC already knows this, but the TCC in Kamloops is decent. One end is horrendous – computerized isolation machines and ellipticals galore, enough to make a grown man puke – but if you walk down the hall a bit you’ll find the “Athlete Performance Centre”, where there are three power racks (fancy ones), three platforms, benches, and more than enough plates (oly and regular).
There are some knowledgeable and damn strong guys that come in, and staff that lets you train.
I don’t know how many patrons of this site will be swinging by Kamloops any time soon, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to mention it.
South Jersey is hurting as far as good gyms. I currently work out at “Vanity Health Clubs” haha. 2 squat racks. The gym owner is cool as shit though, very knowledgeable and down to earth.