Central NJ Based Hardcore Powerlifting Gym


I see some postings on the forum from lifters in New Jersey. For those local to Warren, NJ (central NJ) and looking for a good hardcore powerlifting gym, I work out at and recommend Renegade Barbell Club (http://www.renegadebarbell.com). It’s a gym utilizing Westside Barbell principles and has all of the required equipment (Westside power racks, rev hyper, glute ham raise, various bars, sleds, squat boxes, chains, bands, etc.). Jason Ferruggia (owner) designs and maintains/ updates the programs for everyone. We usually change up our routines every 3-4 weeks. Basically, you are getting Personal Training support for the price of a commercial gym. Lifters, including beginners/ new members, are typically grouped together at prescribed times and you work out in teams. Everyone supports one another and assist each other by motivating, offering technique improvements, etc. We also videotape alot of our workouts and watch it afterwards to I.D. improvement opportunities. I joined as a beginner to powerlifting in April, 2003 (40yrs old and not lifted in 15 years) and ,thanks to Jason, have gone from 159lb bw/ 160lb raw bench to 179lb bw (20lbs/+12%, same waist size)/ 265lb (+105lbs/+65%) raw bench in 8.5 months. Not strong compared to most on this forum but a great gain.

We are always looking for new members dedicated to getting strong.

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope you all meet your strength goals for '04

how far is warren from I-80? because me and my family is making the move to dirty jersey sometime this summer and i’m really fucking tired of the old people giving my dirty looks when i load more than one 45lb plate on each side of the bar.

Damn crook, to far away from me. Gym looks like the type of place I could throw some weight around though. Good luck man. I’ll have to give you a shout if I’m ever up in that area.

Just watch out the way you use the word Renegade. Because, thats Coach D’s way of style.

crook also, Warren is more Northen Jersey not Centeral.

Centeral Jersey os more towards where I live Middlesex County area. Where your basically 45 min away from everything, NYC, Jersey shore, and some parts of PA.

what does it take to join? you said you joined as a beginner so i take it jason ferruggia is not as exclusive as, say louie simmions?

Lumberjak- The gym is right off of Rt 78. If you look on a map, you’ll see other towns right around it such as Watchung, Green Brook, Berkeley Heights. It’s 30 minutes SE from where Rt 80 and Rt 287 meet. As FITONE stated, it is centrally located to everything. Good luck with the move. Hope to see you later this year.

FITONE- Thanks for the feedback! Well aware of Coach D and his Renegade training “style/ system”. And I could be way off in speaking for the gym and Jason but my opinion is this…Though both (and many) use the word “Renegade”, people who view the sites, read articles, etc. can/ will quickly know the difference and realize 0 affiliations. Renegade Barbell Club has been around for 10 years. I think Jason chose the name back then because it’s an aggressive name and captures the “attitude” of the people who go there.

You live in Middlesex Cty? You should pop in one day to check us out. We have a session on Mon (DE upper), Tues (ME lower), Thurs (ME upper), Friday (DE lower) that starts around 5:45pm. Let me know if you’re interested or shoot an email at the Renegade Barbell site. Thanks again.

Dude that sounds awesome. I’m in East Brunswick

Yea, warren is more like North Jersey. Its 40 min from me.

Sorry this is a bit long but I want to answer the question as best as possible.

Lumberjak- Regarding joining… No it is not as exclusive as Westside but not everyone off the street is welcome and it does uphold to high standards. If someone is interested, Jason will set up a meeting where you’ll visit the gym and talk for about 30 minutes about what your goals/ attitude are. If your dedication is apparent and there appears to be a match, you’ll be invited to join. There are few other requirements:

-The members follow the Westside principles. We have adapted them a bit, as most do, to find the appropriate program and what works best for each.

-We prefer everyone works out together on one of the teams during set times (obviously there will be exceptions when you have the occassional schedule issue like working late, sick that day, etc.). In addition to building up bonds, members will learn more/ quicker and studies have shown that working out with others produces greater gains than working out alone.

-The exception to the above are those who are being personally trained one on one by Jason. These sessions are typically during the day and consist of college/ professional athletes on specific programs (both training and nutrition) designed by Jason(still based on WS principles)to eliminate their weaknesses.

-Everyone (including the pro athletes)are expected to be dedicated, to make gains and to keep track of their daily workouts/ #'s. If you are not making gains, not showing up consistently and not trying to improve on a weekly basis, your membership will be revoked. Whether Jason is personally training someone or a member is part of a team, it’s a serious gym and bad apples are removed quickly.

It’s because of the above that I was able to make such good progress. It could never have happened at Golds or any other typical commercial gym. What impressed me most about Renegade Barbell was getting phone calls at home at night from Jason or a team member to check in either asking how I felt after a workout, giving me a pep talk after being stapled to the bench or congratulating me on a new PR. You just don’t find that sense of team and caring in 99% of the gyms and it’s what makes the good gyms great gyms.

Hope that helps.

I’m very interested in this, but i go to college in central ny so i’ll only be around summers and winter break. other than that…expect to get a pm from me when i move to nj because i’m very interested