Gyms Where You Can Do StrongLifts 5x5 (Add Yours!)

[Shox]

* Country * United Kingdom
* Region* Reading, Berkshire (South)
* Name of gym* Sportspark
* Address* Reading University Campus
* Equipment* Squat rack,deadlift area, olympic bars, smith machine, dumbells from 1kg up to 50kg, ez curl bars, 2 benches for bench press, 4-5 benches for dumbells, tons of machines (who needs machines), pull up/chin up cage with assist pad
* Short review * Good gym for everyone, 2 floors, downstairs free weights area, upstairs cardio area with 20+ running machines, 10+ olyptical trainers, 10+ bikes, 5 rowing machines, many of the bikes and running machines are also equipped with TV. Also if you're a student they do many student offers.
* Website if available * http://www.sport.reading.ac.uk/

[Mazikins]

Country: Iceland
Region: Hafnarfjörður (town south of Reykjavik, west)
Name of gym: Super gym
Address: Drangahrauni 1B
Equipment: Squat rack with adjustable bars, olympic bars, Smith machine, dumbbells, 2 benches for bench press, some machines I have no idea what they do. They have a special area for strongman training.
Short review: No-nonsense gym for power lifters and strongmen/strongwomen. The gym is ran by Gemma Magnússon (you might know her as Gemma Taylor) and her husband, Benedikt Magnússon, Iceland's strongest man. They're also wholesalers for Captains of Crush grippers.
Website: No website yet, but they have a Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=92462265335

[guru]

Updated the list. Good response so far. We need more from Australia & Canada.

[NotNowChief]

* Country-Australia
* State-ACT
*City-Canberra
*Location- Southside, Weston Creek
* Name of gym-Edge
* Equipment- 2 squat racks, 2 benches with an olympic bar each. Heaps of plates but no bumper plates. smith machine, jones machine (with a nice bar to chin off), extensive range of hammer strength machines, all the usual lat pulleys and cables. At leat half the 15 or so cardio machines are broken at any one time. 3 dumbell sets but a maximum of 100lbs and 47.5kg. just the one 32.5kg dumbell, for a year now!

* Short review- A bit run down, decent staff, cool owner who lifts too. Used to be quiet but has been discovered.


* Country-Australia
* State-ACT
*City-Canberra
*Location- Southside, Phillip
* Name of gym-Elite Physique
* Equipment- Alot!

* Short review- Run by former Australian deadlift record holder (355kg at 100kg). Enough said.

[bephf]

Country: USA
Region: Brooklyn, NY
Name of gym: 5th Ave Gym
Address: 555 5th Ave, Brooklyn NY 11215
Equipment: Three squat racks, heavy dumbbells (up to 150lb), pullup bars, benches, and everything else you need.

Short review: 4/5. The Fifth Ave Gym is where I’m sweating it out these days. It’s a cheap, dirty basement gym with squat cages, heavy dumbbells (up to 150lb), and is filled with some really strong cellar dwellers. There’s almost no cardio equipment, no classes, no TVs – just a bunch of dudes pushing heavy, rusty weights around. No other gym in Park Slope has all the tools I need for my strength training and no other gym is nearly as affordable at $40/month. They keep pretty good hours too. I like that I can go really early in the morning or really late at night if my schedule is hectic. They lose one star for overall cleanliness and the horrible, horrible dance music they play. Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Website: http://5thavegym.com

[AD69]

* Country * United Kingdom
* Region* London, East End
* Name of gym* Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club
* Address* Bethnal Green Centre
* Equipment* Squat racks, olympic bars, chains, bands, dumbells, bench press, 2xstationary bikes, 2xrowers, 1xrunning machines, GHR station. Lifting platforms, bumper plates, etc for olympic lifts.
* Short review * BGWLC is a club that coaches and competes in both powerlifting and weightlifting. Members of the public can sign up to a course (over 10 weeks) of tuition at http://www.learningladder.co.uk and search for course titled Weight and Power Lifting. Coaches include Commonwealth medallists and British record holders.
* Website if available * http://bgwlc.blogspot.com/

[AD69]

* Country * United Kingdom
* Region* London, West End
* Name of gym* Jubilee Hall Club
* Address* 30 Jubilee Market, The Piazza, London, WC2E 8BE
* Equipment* 2xSquat racks, olympic bars, dumbells, 2xbench press, 1xdecline bench press, lots of machines and cardio equipment.
* Short review * Jubilee Halls is a huge gym which overlooks Covent Garden. It is pay as you go, so good for people looking to train while in London. Squat racks occassionally get full, but 3 Smith Machines usually get taken first, leaving squat racks free. Massive selection of dumbells.
* Website if available * http://www.jubileehallclubs.co.uk/jhc_coventgarden/covent_intro.htm

[KyleAaron]

* Country - Australia
* Region - Melbourne, southeastern suburbs
* Name of gym - Clayton Health & Aquatic Club
* Address - Cooke Street, Clayton
Tel: (03) 9541 3100 Fax: (03) 9541 3111
Email: cahc@monash.vic.gov.au

* Equipment -
1x closed power rack with chinning bar
second chinning bar on cable machine
assisted chin/dip machine (can set assistance to zero)
1x fixed bench with rack
4x mobile benches
1x decline bench
1x Smith machine (useful for inverted rows)
8x 20kg, 4x 15kg, 4x 10kg, 8x 5kg, 8x 2.5kg, 8x 1.25kg rubber-coated plates
Dumbells in pairs, 2.5 to 25kg in 2.5kg increments
Rubber matting floor

* Short review - Located near shops, supermarket, and near intersection of two main roads. A small community gym in the upstairs section looking over an indoor pool. 2/5 the gym space is taken up with treadmills and bikes, 1/5 with machines, and 2/5 with weights, benches, etc.

No manager is present on the floor (he's downstairs around the pool) but 1 or 2 trainers are always present. They are all qualified personal trainers, but only about 1 in 4 have thorough knowledge of basic compound lifts; it's pretty obvious who they are. The focus is on "community health and fitness", so it's not very hardcore. Most of the women are strictly cardio, most of the men strictly chest and biceps.

TVs line the cardio area, and pop music is played fairly loudly (depending which staff member's on duty).

No-one has ever objected to squatting, deadlifting, grunting and so on, though when I took the safety racks out of the cage and dropped them both clanging to the floor a personal trainer made fun of me. If you have 2 or more 20kg plates on each side of the bar, your lifts will draw attention and friendly comment. As in all gyms, people tend to ignore you for the first month or two because they expect you'll drop out, after that the regulars become friendly.

Cost is relatively cheap at A$55/month or so, which includes use of the gym, the pool, and as many classes as you want to go to (body combat, yoga, pilates, etc).

* Website - http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/cahc/index.htm

[H4d193]

Country: United Arab Emirates
City: Dubai
Name: Fitness First
Location: I go to the one in al hana center satwa but there are ones in burjuman, ibn battuta mall and DIFC
they have a power rack and olympic bars with plates as small as 2.5kg
they have a bench and places to do pull ups so this is pretty much perfect for strong lifts.
dumbells range from 4kg to roughly 60kg
they have a power rack as aforementioned, a smith machine, separate benches for incline decline and straight.
I started stronglifts this week

[rere]

* Country * United Kingdom
* Region* London, West End
* Name of gym* Jubilee Hall Club
* Address* 30 Jubilee Market, The Piazza, London, WC2E 8BE
* Equipment* 2xSquat racks, olympic bars, dumbells, 2xbench press, 1xdecline bench press, lots of machines and cardio equipment.
* Short review * Jubilee Halls is a huge gym which overlooks Covent Garden. It is pay as you go, so good for people looking to train while in London. Squat racks occassionally get full, but 3 Smith Machines usually get taken first, leaving squat racks free. Massive selection of dumbells.
* Website if available * http://www.jubileehallclubs.co.uk/jhc_coventgarden/covent_intro.htm

Nice one AD69, i travel to london about once a month, ill log this address, although i hope there is no drunks in the gym though, convent garden is famous for them.

[itsbruce]

Country: United Kingdom
Region: London
Name of gym: Portobello Green Fitness Club
Address: 3-5 Thorpe Close, London, W10 5XL
Equipment:Free weights room has 2 squat racks, 1 smith machine, 2 olympic bench racks, 1 olympic incline bench, 1 preacher curl bench, 4 benches for dumbells, 1 dip/pull-up rack, 1 crunch bench, cable crossover rig, 2 looong racks of dumbells, half a dozen olympic bars (straight and curl), tricep bars, full range of olympic plates, t-bar row machine (also a peck deck, a lat machine and a leg press). The larger main area (where all the treadmills, cross trainers, cycles and resistance machines stand) has a separate mini weights area for all the non-powerlifters (keeps the weights room clear for us) and a free space at one end that is good for push-ups/crunches/kettlebells etc.
Short review:Staff are cool (deadlifts definitely allowed), some are also good trainers. They run a bunch of classes (dance, yoga, martial arts, the usual) in upstairs studios. Membership is cheap compared to typical London gyms and it's part of the UK Fitness Network (adds a few pounds a month to the membership if you want into that). Was recently refurbished. I like this place.
Website: http://www.portobellogreenfitnessclub.co.uk/

[AD69]

although i hope there is no drunks in the gym though, convent garden is famous for them.

That'll be me!

[kidsoftheblackhole]

very good thread, keep it up.

[wade]

* Country: UK
* Region: Birmingham
* Name of gym: Aston University Gym (yes, open to the public)
* Address: Aston uni campus
* Equipment: Power Rack, multiple benches, incline + decline benches, dumbbells from 1kg - ~30kg, plates from 1.25kg - 25kg
* Short review: Uni gym with large free weight area. Very well equipped, having just undergone a renovation. Everyone's friendly, good atmosphere!
* Website: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/prospective-students/sport/gym/

[luco]

This might be completely useless for mostly everyone, but here's the one I go to.

Country: Netherlands
Region: Utrecht
Name of gym: All-inn Fitness
Address: Vlampijpstraat 79, Utrecht
Equipment: Powerrack, squatrack, 2 regular benches, 2 decline and 1 incline, pullup/dip-stations, plenty of olympic bars and plates from 2.5 to 50 kg (I don't use the 50kg ones cause they're such a pain to pick up). Also nautilus-crap and cardio area with lots of treadmills, rowing machines and bikes.
Short review: Staff is a little arrogant, but stay out of your way. Most people only use the machines and cardio equipment so no long waits for the squatrack. Never had a problem finding someone to spot me, though instruction is required. Also no problem banging heavy weights on the floor. Lots of bodybuilders and random roidmonkeys, so no complaints. Opening hours are alright, 8.30am to 11pm on weekdays, 10am-4pm on saturdays and 10-12am on sundays. I pay about 35 euros a month, single visits are 12 euros for anyone but students, for whom it's only 3,25. There's also a squashcentre attached as well as a couple of tanning beds if you're into that sort of thing.
Website: http://www.allinnfitness.nl