Olympic Weightlifting Coaching Archives

Powerlifting and Weightlifting gyms in London One thing I found insanely frustrating about finding Olympic weightlifting gyms in London, is that there's no real guide to good gyms. Weightlifting gyms that have at the bare minimum some proper squat racks, Olympic style Eleiko or rubber plates and somewhere unbreakable to drop them. Or powerlifting gyms that have chalk residue over the floor, deadlift and SSB bars and some elite equipped bench racks. Now bear in mind these are just gyms that I have been to, so that I can actually vouch for their quality and availability of equipment. In the below review section I'll give each gym a score out of 15 based on the above plus their prices on Payasugym. That's usually what I use for gym variety and the lack of membership fees or cancellation cost. I also refuse to rank crossfit gyms because they're insanely expensive and Fitness First because they remind me of how difficult it was to cancel my contract even though I pretended I was leaving the country. Bastards. I've also reviewed all of London's best bodybuilding gyms and London's best strongman gyms - I highly recommend you read them both. The 13 Best Olympic Weightlifting and Powerlifting Gyms in London One Ldn - Imperial Wharf and Tower Hill I've been a member of the Imperial Wharf gym via One Ldn Payasugym monthly membership and the facilities are superb and it's never too busy. 3 great squat racks plus a crossfit section with a rubber floor, additional racks, a lifting platform, rubber weights and additional bodybuilding equipment and boxing / must thai bags and a ring. One LDN gym floor over in Imperial Wharf You can buy a one-off, weekly or monthly pass on Hussle. Imperial Wharf can be purchased here. It's such an exceptional gym that it would be a crime to miss out. Quality: 5 Equipment quality and availability: 4.5 Price: 3.5 (£70+ / month but that includes no classes) Bounce - Wimbledon and New Malden Bounce in Wimbledon is a facility designed for the 'average athlete' with really excellent equipment, lifting platforms, bodybuilding equipment and a short running track. It's good value for the hi-tec equipment on offer and tends not to be too busy, with 6 squat racks, platforms and 3 regular bench presses. It also has a reverse hyper machine which has meant I have just joined it for a month - plus Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting classes. Bounce Gym in Wimbledon complete with running track Quality: 4.5 Equipment Value and availability: 4.5 Price: 4 (£60/ month | £30 for athletes). Great value for one-off visits at only £10 and 5 passes for £45. Pure Gyms - Various locations I've been to the Clapham, Holborn and Camden branches when they were Soho Gyms and they're always good quality and well looked after. However they don't always have the range of equipment on offer I would like and only the Clapham one has numerous Squat racks, platforms and rubber weights available. There's rumours of a new 24/7 Lewisham branch but who wants to go to Lewisham for the gym? Update: They got bought by pureGym so christ knows what's going on Quality: 4 Equipment value and availability: 3.5 Price: 3.5 (£60+ / month) Nuffield Health - Various locations Very well kept gyms that usually have rubber weights and lifting platforms available. However I have only visited the Battersea and Wandsworth branches which only have 1-2 squat racks and lifting platforms, so it can be a wait to get started. However changing rooms, bodybuilding equipment and in some cases swimming pools are readily available. Location based links for Nuffield are below: Monument - one of the more premium Nuffield's with a wide range of classes and reasonable powerlifting equipment Covent Garden - reasonable gym in the heart of London with 2 decent squat racks and a deadlift platform. Bloomsbury - a small, very central gym with limited weightlifting options Battersea - one of the less premium options in my opinion with one squat rack and deadlift platform. Wandsworth Southside / Wandsworth Paddington - the best I've been to regarding powerlifting. 4 squat racks and 3 deadlift platforms, the recent refurb has come up trumps for us! Quality: 3.5 Equipment variety and availability: 3 Price: 3 (£70+ / month) Physical Culture - Putney This is a real old-school powerlifting gym; great platforms, eleiko weights and numerous squat racks with great bodybuilding and hypertrophy equipment to supplement your training. It's right in the heart of Putney in an couple of old houses knocked into one training facility. Really fantastic place to train and meet likeminded iron addicts, metal heads etc and they promise 'to never be on Payasugym style websites' so I can't help you there. However it gets properly busy and the platforms and racks are crowded. But a phenomenal place to learn Powerlifting. Physical Culture Gym in Putney - a Powerlifter's dream Quality: 4 Equipment variety and availability: 4 Price: 4.5 (£40 / month for this quality can't really be sniffed at) SPACe - Hackney SPACe in Hackney is definitely the lower end of the market in terms of equipment and quality. But it's incredible value and does have some decent enough weightlifting racks and racks. The space itself is quite small and the gym is probably Split about 50/50 cardio and weights, which absolutely devastates me! Quality: 2.5 Equipment variety and availability: 2.5 Price: 4 (£6.75 a session on Hussle isn't to be sniffed at) Performance Ground - Holborn A really top class facility for those training to be athletes. I did my Olympic weightlifting level one course there and the gym is absolutely outstanding. Perfect condition racks, weights, platforms, elephant bars, eleiko and rubber plates, bans, chains etc. Whatever program you run, whatever your goal is Performance Ground is exceptional. Especially for the more serious weightlifters. I'm not sure of the cost but it's definitely not on Payasugym and is only for the serious, but if you get the chance check it out. The exquisite Performance Ground Gym in Holborn Quality: 5 Equipment variety and availability: 5 Price: (?) - likely to be rough on the old wallet Sunbury Weight training club - Sunbury Like Physical Culture this is another real old school weight training gym. Admittedly you can't really call it London as Sunbury is so far southwest it's basically Surrey (shite), but it's great. Tucked away in a beautiful little cricket ground, bathed in sunshine and full of serious lifters. Place to make friends and enjoy lifting. However it's not the best for pure Olympic lifting and much more of a powerlifters paradise as you can only drop weights up to 85kg- although rumour has it it's going to be doubling in size soon. It's such incredible value that if I lived closer I would join in a heartbeat. Quality: 3.5 Equipment quality and availability: 4 Price: 5 (£165 a year which includes a key and basically 24 hour access is exceptional) Hackney Weightlifting club - Hackney Over near Homerton in Hackney, this is a great place for East Londoners to train hard. Good coaching, passionate dudes and the sort of surroundings you need to improve. People above you to aim for and people below you pushing you on. Weightlifting specific platforms, weights, space to snatch - the whole shabang! 6 platforms, racks, walls of achievements and top class lifters- well worth a visit. Quality: 4.5 Equipment quality and availability: 4.5 Price: 3 (£15 per session or 10 for £120, so if your ambition is to go a lot then this is an expensive option- personal training at £40 / head too) Bethnal Green Weightlifting club - Bethnal Green The opening hours are quite rigid, so I wouldn't say it's a monthly gym you can rely on. But good equipment and space, serious lifters, geared powerlifting sessions and weightlifting coaching all make it a top place to train. It's been going for almost 100 years, so they must be doing something right. Really great value too, so it's another fantastic option for East Londoners. Quality: 4 Equipment quality and availability: 4.5 Price: 4.5 (£50 for a monthly membership here isn't something to be sniffed at with open sessions only costing £7.50 a go) London Olympic Weightlifting club - Lambeth This is an excellent facility under the old railway arches in Lambeth. Really good quality coaching from people passionate about the sport and highly recommended in terms of learning and focusing on the Olympic lifts. I've only been a couple of times myself, but would definitely recommend you go as a beginner or intermediate lifter. However it's not a cheap option and you have to book on a class based system, so monthly is expensive! Again obviously no Payasugym links so I am useless here. Quality: 4 Equipment quality and availability: 4 Price: 3 (£15 a class for single classes or bulk membership options available) Westway Barbell club - Ladbroke Grove Performance Pro - Fitzrovia Alright if I'm honest I haven't been to either of the above 2, but they look good and I have been reliably informed they're both good training facilities. Westway Barbell club has just been refurbished so that's another great option for those living out West. Well I hope you found all of this useful anyway. I'll add to it whenever I visit one that deserves to be on the list and if there are any that you think I have missed please do let me know in the comments below.

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