Hey,
I am moving to D.C. at the end of April and will need to find a gym. Does any one have any good recommendation for a great gym? I am trying to avoid the big chain gyms as they are usually expensive, crowded, and not designed for a T-mag follower.
I will be living off the Eastern Market Metro stop and working at McPherson Square Metro. However the location of the gym doesn’t matter too much if it is near a metro that is somewhat close.
Thanks.
Steve
Try http://www.thirdpower-fitness.com , I havn’t been there myself but their virtual tour shows a lot of good equipment i.e. racks and platforms and such. Being in DC it’s probably pretty expensive though.
I just moved away from that area, but to be honest it is very hard to find a good gym in the DC area. Almost all are big chains and the environment sucks! I am a powerlifter so i decided to move to a better area to train with others in my sport. If I could recommend a gym, I would say try Olympus Gym, they have a location in Falls Church which is about a half mile away from the East Falls Church Metro station on the orange line. Its cheap, has a ton of equipment, its pretty dirty and there are still a few hardcore lifters there. Dave Batista of WWE fame used to train there along with King Kamali the bodybuilder. They have plenty of free weights and best of all they pretty much leave you alone, you can use chalk, so it is basically the best you can find in a bad area for gyms that is near a metro.
I have to agree with the others, good luck on a good gym. You are moving to not only moving to the Nations Capital but also the Capital of metrosexual, non weightlifting, overdue the cardio to the point of physical wasting, then stop at one of the 5000 Starbucks and the local Krispy Creme for your PWO nutrition.
I suggest you w/o @ home.
Another option would be to go to one of the Universities in the area and see about the possibility of using their weight equip…
Good Luck,
Phill
I haven’t had to have a gym membership in about 10 years (thank you God)but if I HAD to have one, I’d go to Olympus like OGuard said. I used to belong to the one in Falls Church and on in Silver Spring. I think you are more likely to find serious weight lifters at those gyms than any others. Good luck.
Yea my mom lives near DC, and when I’m home for any length of time, I hit the weights at the Olympus in Alexandria, VA.
Living in DC and I have to agree that it’s a bunch of pencil-necks Euro-sucking freaks.
If you’re moving to the Georgetown area, PM me. I could use someone from the real US to train with.
Check out the thread “Good Gyms in D.C.”
I just moved to DC about 3 months ago and I am going to Gold’s. Its SOOOO much cheaper than everything else, the equipment is ok, and there are tons of them everywhere. I currently use the Capitol Hill one, and the Downtown. I would love to find someplace else, but for convienience and price it cant be beat. I do get some weird looks doing box squats or board presses though
Thanks everyone. I’ll have to check out the suggestions once I move at the beginning of May. I’ve only been a T-man for a year, so I may not be as picky as some of the more hardcore lifters. It can’t be too much worse than some of my past gyms.
Steve
biltritewave:
I just got a membership to Gold’s here, and it sucks ass - it has the same number of squat racks as Smith machines for Christ sakes… Anyway though, I currently have memberships at both Gold’s and Boston Sports Club, as they are the only options other than Fitcorp in downtown, and my choice should give you an idea of how bad Fitcorp sucks.
My question is how do they compare in D.C.? I’m probably moving down in May sometime, but I don’t want to pay for both memberships for the next two months just to get rid of the one that sucks worse when I get down there. Unfortunately, I’ll again be working downtown for long hours, so the Falls Church suggestions probably won’t help.
Sorry if I’m a bit delirious, but I’m running on about 3 hours sleep over the past two days.
Thanks.
Don’t know if they ever finished taking the Metro (Green Line) out to Camp Springs, but Marc Challet had an awesome gym there. I used to go there when I was stationed at Andrews.
BB
I used to use the Boston Sports Club in Copley. They are pretty similiar in terms of the DC Golds in Downtown, although the DC one is bigger and newer equipment. THere are as many smith machines as squat racks (racks, no cages mind you) but you can do what you need to do without too much problem. The one in Cap South is a little more ghetto and a little more along my lines, although not as convenient for me. They have plenty of benches a few racks and one cage.
I cant complain though, Golds costs me 35 a month (soon to be 15 a month) whereas Boston Sports Club cost somewhere in the 70-90 range I believe.
The one thing about WSC is that there is one every 5 blocks in the dupont downtown area, its ridicilious. THere are plenty of Golds though.
BostonBarrister - If your Golds and Boston Sports Club memberships are still good in May, you can check out both gyms before you decide. I’m almost positive that Boston Sports Clubs are the same as Washington Sports Clubs. So I assume your membership would work here as well. I’ve been in a couple of WSC’s and I’ve seen some good equipment. The problem with them that I hear most often is that they are VERY crowded.
dcb –
WSC is the same as BSC – and NYSC, and probably some more as well. I suppose I may keep both just to check out the D.C. facilities – I got a special deal at Gold’s with no sign-up fee (Grand Opening of the downtown Boston location) that I don’t know if I could replicate, and I’ve had the BSC for awhile, so I don’t want to incur another sign-up fee for it either.
I just want to find a gym with more squat racks (preferably power racks, but I am so jaded I would take whatever) than curl stations – I know asking for one with more free-weight room than cardio room would simply be a pipe dream.