Olympic Lifting in Washington DC

I’m looking to start training to compete in Olympic lifting and was wondering if anyone knows of any gyms in DC that train towards that end.

Hmmm, don’t know of any. But the good thing about Oly lifts is that all you need is a bar and some weights. how about a home gym?

I go to school in DC so let me know if you find anything. GW’s gym sucks, I want a GHR and a box for squats

the closest place i know of is in fredrick, md, and east coast gold team affiliate, actually there is a new crossfit type gym over by CUA in ne dc, they usually have oly lifting, i believe its called primal fitness

Here’s a response I put in a similar thread
( http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1372356&pageNo=0#1373150 ). This thread was No.VA, don’t know if that does you any good or not.

This info is a little old, I left No.Va. in 2003:

There was a Gold’s Gym in the Bailey’s Crossroads area that I worked out at occasionally. They had those multi-colored rubber covered Olympic lifting plates and some powerlifting stuff off in one corner. However, they kept it locked up. I wonder if they had a group who came in at scheduled times to do Olympics/Powerlifting or something? Maybe worth checking out if you’re a Gold’s member.

Also, Olympus Gym, right near Seven Corner’s was a good gym with a lot of bodybuilders and powerlifters who worked out there. They had quite a few squat racks and good floor space for DL’s and Olympics. I think they let people use chalk too. I was able to do all my Olympics there. Oh, yeah, they also had those thick, black rubber bumper plates too for Olympics.

sadly the Olympus in seven corners sold out to planet fitness last year. Don’t bother with them. The other Olympus locations are pretty far out and don’t have bumpers. Try Balance Gym off of Connecticut ave. opposite the hilton its basically an old school gymnasium that was converted into a commercial gym. Its tucked away down a residential side street so call for the exact address.

They have an O-lifting platform and bumpers. Not sure what the monthly membership is but daily fees are 10 bucks. its not the best gym in the world but if you just want access to bumpers and a platform then I think this is the only option within the city limits that’s open to the public. outside of the city, Rockville fitness is probably the best gym right now, both for o-lifting and powerlifting.

They have bands, chains, platform bumpers everything. Bit of a commute for me but if you’re up near that area or don’t mind the drive, it’s well worth it. There are a few other places like velocity off 395 and this new primal fitness place near catholic univ. but you have to sign up for a coaching package to use those facilities, which can be very expensive.

Has anyone tried Velocity? They seem to be geared toward student athletes and aspiring pro athletes. It also looks like they probably charge a lot.

It’s hard to believe there isn’t one gym in D.C./NoVa with powerlifting/Olympic equipment. Has anyone lifted at G’Town or Catholic?

[quote]plikkkk wrote:
It’s hard to believe there isn’t one gym in D.C./NoVa with powerlifting/Olympic equipment. Has anyone lifted at G’Town or Catholic?[/quote]

No it’s not. Look at the majority of the people around the area. Then consider how many would be interested in olympic or power lifting. Can you see why there wouldn’t be too many?

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:
No it’s not. Look at the majority of the people around the area. Then consider how many would be interested in olympic or power lifting. Can you see why there wouldn’t be too many?
[/quote]

You’re telling me Tucker Carlson hasn’t mastered the power clean? Phooey.

I know what you’re saying. Frankly it’s hard to find many athletic-related facilities other than yuppie gyms and running clubs. I play a lot of basketball and you can count the decent pick up games/gyms around here on one hand (really two fingers). Same for decent competitive adult sports leagues.

As it turns out, the Olympus Gym in Woodbridge apparently has a ton of powerlifting/olympic lifting equipment. It’s right on Rt. 1.

[quote]plikkkk wrote:
As it turns out, the Olympus Gym in Woodbridge apparently has a ton of powerlifting/olympic lifting equipment. It’s right on Rt. 1.[/quote]

And with the millions residing in our area, you can tell me one powerlifting friendly gym in the area.

My point exactly, and yours. There is no good sports, club leagues anything around here anymore.

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:
plikkkk wrote:
As it turns out, the Olympus Gym in Woodbridge apparently has a ton of powerlifting/olympic lifting equipment. It’s right on Rt. 1.

And with the millions residing in our area, you can tell me one powerlifting friendly gym in the area.

My point exactly, and yours. There is no good sports, club leagues anything around here anymore.
[/quote]

woodbridge is a solid 30min at least outside of dc

I realize this. I work in Alexandria. It’s about 15 min down the highway. Closer than ROckville for NoVa residents.

I go to school in DC and whenever I walk in the city and see the “gyms,” I seriously just wanna go in there and go on a punching frenzy. Not one time have I seen any apparent serious lifters thru the window.

Am I messed up? lol

[quote]gags wrote:
woodbridge is a solid 30min at least outside of dc
[/quote]

Yes. But I was referring to the metro area as a whole. We have one in Rockville, 30 minutes outside of DC, and one in Woodbridge, 30 mins outside DC.

The area as a whole extends through 270 up to Fredrick, 95 up to Beltsville and down to Stafford, and as far west on 66 as Manassas. How many square miles is that? How many power or olympic friendly gyms? How many people living in that area? My county is over a million alone.

[quote]TrainerinDC wrote:
gags wrote:
woodbridge is a solid 30min at least outside of dc

Yes. But I was referring to the metro area as a whole. We have one in Rockville, 30 minutes outside of DC, and one in Woodbridge, 30 mins outside DC.

The area as a whole extends through 270 up to Fredrick, 95 up to Beltsville and down to Stafford, and as far west on 66 as Manassas. How many square miles is that? How many power or olympic friendly gyms? How many people living in that area? My county is over a million alone. [/quote]

i know what you’re saying it just doesnt seem in dc itself there is a hardcore oly or pl scene, i know there are those out there who venture to the darkside but most seem to be content to do thier ordinary muscle and fitness routine…at least from what i have noticed, i’e been to about 10 of the gyms in the dc area and i may have seen 10 other people than myself actaully do a real squat, but not with anything over 225…end rant…
…oh and there is a place called EATS…elite athlete training whatever(in gaithersburg i think) but i believe you have to purchase a pretty costly package and be trained

EATS is all personal training and not the great of a facility either. Most of the PL/OL scene out here is located in the far suburbs. Great if you live in NOVA or baltimore but sucks for those of us in the city. There are quite a few powerlifters in this area though.

most of us schlep around the commercial gyms till we get thrown out and then move on to the next place. I just finished building a gym in my basement so im finally breaking free from metrosexual gym hell.

Good luck finding a spot. Check the message boards and go to some of the local meets and you’ll find some potential training partners as well as meet gym owners or managers who are PL friendly. or if you get enough guys (or girls) together you can just overrun a commercial gym by bringing in a lot of your own equipment until they get hip to what’s going on.

As the owner of Balance Gym in Washington, DC, I can tell you a little about the gym.

Location: 2200 California St, NW. Right off the Dupont Circle metro (red line).

What we have: 1 lifting platform. Plenty of rubber weights in both lbs and kgs. Kettlebells, plyo boxes, climbing ropes, sandbags, kegs.

Cost: $15 drop-in fee. $65 per month.

You can get more info at www.balancegym.com

Capital Barbell is an Olympic lifting club in Washington DC that comes to the developmental meets we hold in Baltimore. If you’d like, PM me and I’ll get you in touch with the head of the club.

Also, if you make it up to Baltimore, you are welcome to train at Baltimore Gold, a satellite of East Coast Gold. Contact either myself or Dfreezy if you’d like to swing by to lift for free with us. We have 3 platforms, a number of mens and women’s bars, 9835083475 kgs in bumpers, and a few coaches who frequent the place (including an International coach.)

[quote]robo1 wrote:
sadly the Olympus in seven corners sold out to planet fitness last year. …[/quote]

NOOOOOOOO!!!

never been there myself but that is just wrong.

Supreme Sports Performance & Training opened up in Rockville, MD a few months ago. It’s where I train. Two lifting platforms, werksan bars and bumpers. Lots of other nice equipment for the powerlifter and olympic lifter. www.supremesportspt.com