Northern Virginia Gyms

Hey guys,

I am in the process of moving from Richmond up to Arlington, Va, at present, and am looking for a place to train in the area. I remember there were a few NoVa guys on here at one time…if any of you are left, I’d be in your debt for any thoughts on a facility.

My needs are simple. Just chalk, lots of weight, and no one complaining if I’m not gentle enough setting down a heavy deadlift.

Much obliged!

CVABarbell.com Check it out. We’re located in Stafford. Probably about 45 mins from Arlington. Plenty of chalk, weight and cussing. If you’re interested, just give Carlos a call. His # is on the site

Powerhouse gym in Woodbridge. Not too too far from Arlington.
3115 Golanksy Blvd
Woodbridge, VA 22192
Business Number: 703-680-0208

Ramo,

Olympus Gym in Burke is a good option - cheap as hell and has decent equipment plus an old school feel to it (including a disgusting bathroom/locker room). Before I got my garage gym, I trained there for about 18 months and never had a problem of any kind with the people running it, and I was bringing in bands, chains, etc.

If your transportation options are limited (or you don’t like to spend all of your time in a car stuck in traffic), there are several Golds locations in and around Arlington. Of course, you’ll have the typical commercial gym donkeys populating these facilities and if you train at peak hours these places are PACKED. If you ever want to stop by my place, just let me know. I’ll even allow you to use chalk ;-).

Brute Strength Gym outside of Virgina Beach is one of the best that I have ever been to. Full equipped for strongman, powerlifting, and olympic lifting (they host meets for all three). A lot of serious / accomplished athletes train there and the manager is a nice guy.

Take a look on Powerliftingwatch.com as well. That will give you a basic idea. Others have listed some good ones. The place I am at is FuFu as shit so I hate it. When/If I move back to Fairfax, I might be able to bring you in to my friends gym.

I train and teach at Tyson’s Fitness First. I would not call it a powerlifting gym per say, but the manager is very cool (trains hard himself) and you can use chalk as long as you are just not tossing it around. There are bands, some chains, gymnastic rings, etc. For Fitness First it all depends on who is there, the free weight room is not huge but it has 3 squat racks and 3 benches and DB’s up to 150’s. Sometimes there are 4 or 5 PLers or strongman in there throwing things around, sometimes there are 10-15 normal folk happy to bench 135. If you want to go there talk to Carl Martin, the manager there and tell you were on T-Nation. Ceilings are a little low so that is annoying. Bottomline for me is it is not as hardcore as some of the other gyms mentioned but if you are really in NoVA it is a lot more convenient. I train there at 2:30 most days.

Take it easy,
Tim

I agree with Tim that Fitness First is actually a great gym and they have locations very close to where you’ll be living Ramo. The other gyms are going to be a nightmare to get to during rush hour around here. Fitness First has lots of locations in the area, allows chalk and generally has pretty good equipment. Plus the monthly fee wont break the bank and it’s good for every location in the Metro area. I train at Tyson’s and Alexandria. There are some serious beasts at both. Weekdays at 6pm I routinely see guys squatting 400+/benching 315+ and whatnot at Alexandria.

[quote]Shakes wrote:
Brute Strength Gym outside of Virgina Beach is one of the best that I have ever been to. Full equipped for strongman, powerlifting, and olympic lifting (they host meets for all three). A lot of serious / accomplished athletes train there and the manager is a nice guy.[/quote]

I trained at Brute a couple days and it’s definitely a good place with nice people. The cursing on the radio was a bit excessive for me, so I may have to wear headphones next time.

Probably a bit far from NoVa though.

Thanks a million for these suggestions guys. Tim, I will get in touch w/ Carl, thanks for the lead.

i train at Gold’s gym in manassas. it’s powerlifter friendly. i’m good friends with the owner. he’s cool with chalk and heavy lifting. I built a deadlift platform, have bands and a couple bumper plates. it’s all i need.

you are more than welcome to head our way if you want. i train with two other competitive powerlifters.

I work at the Gold’s Gym in Clarendon, so depending on where you are in Arlington, that’d probably be closest for you. We have a few heavy lifters here and MOST of the time, the rest of the staff will be pretty cool with you. Me? I don’t care what you do so long as you aren’t a prick. :wink:

I have a few bands in the back room, and I’ll be bringing in some chains by the end of January, if all goes well. Right now, the most prominent strong guys at the gym are:

Me, of course! Lol… I’m not THAT strong, but I’m a tiny little Asian dude… Hold the Virginia state records with USA Powerlifting for all three lifts and total in both open and junior divisions. I’m a trainer there.

Orrie - He’s this 5’7" blond guy who competes at 198lbs and was a Norwegian National lifter in IPF. Considering his size, his max raw bench being in the 400s is pretty damned impressive.

Alex - Huge guy with a soft spoken voice. He was a collegiate powerlifter back in his day and is preparing for a strongman competition right now.

I’m always looking to try to get more strong guys into this gym. I’ll slowly turn it into a nice strength place. :wink:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
i train at Gold’s gym in manassas. it’s powerlifter friendly. i’m good friends with the owner. he’s cool with chalk and heavy lifting. I built a deadlift platform, have bands and a couple bumper plates. it’s all i need.

you are more than welcome to head our way if you want. i train with two other competitive powerlifters.

[/quote]

Are you going to enter the unsanctioned Bench competition in January at the Golds? Im in fairfax and was considering entering - the old guys division for sure!

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
i train at Gold’s gym in manassas. it’s powerlifter friendly. i’m good friends with the owner. he’s cool with chalk and heavy lifting. I built a deadlift platform, have bands and a couple bumper plates. it’s all i need.

you are more than welcome to head our way if you want. i train with two other competitive powerlifters.

[/quote]

Are you going to enter the unsanctioned Bench competition in January at the Golds? Im in fairfax and was considering entering - the old guys division for sure!

[quote]GVpilot wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
i train at Gold’s gym in manassas. it’s powerlifter friendly. i’m good friends with the owner. he’s cool with chalk and heavy lifting. I built a deadlift platform, have bands and a couple bumper plates. it’s all i need.

you are more than welcome to head our way if you want. i train with two other competitive powerlifters.

[/quote]

Are you going to enter the unsanctioned Bench competition in January at the Golds? Im in fairfax and was considering entering - the old guys division for sure![/quote]

that wouldn’t really be fair considering i’m the one putting the meet on:)

If you live in Arlington and take the suggestions to train in Woodbridge, Manassas, or Stafford, you will hate yourself. I try my hardest not to leave the beltway anytime remotely close to rush hour! haha

I train at the Golds’s (Gold’ses? Gold’s? whatever the plural form of Gold’s is) in Arlington. Usually the one in Rossyln, but the ones in Clarendon and Ballston are decent too.

The one in Rosslyn is closest to my house and has free parking in the nearby garages. Its also a little less “metro” than the other Gold’s in the area IMO. I bring in chalk and nobody says shit. I don’t think I have ever even see someone that works there back in the weight area truthfully.

The one in Clarendon has the nicest equipment, but only one squat rack (!). IMO, this is the least hardcore one in the area and there are a lot of guys in there I see just going through the motions (lots of hot chicks though). Plus the parking around this one is a pain in the ass and you have to pay $3 (after they validate it) to park in the garage if you can’t get street parking (which is often). I didn’t realize fellow T-Nationers worked there though, I’ll have to say hey next time I’m in there.

The one in Ballston is probably the best in Arlington, but is kind of far from where I live on the other end. They have 4 squat racks and probably about 10 benches (but only enough weight to legimately operate 4-5 benches at a time haha). There are a lot of big strong guys at that one too, and I can’t see them really getting too anal about chalk and noise there. Free ample parking around the building, but it gets a little crowded.

If you decide to go the Gold’s route, hit me up! I train alone and would like to start meeting up with people