Yesterday, I had the privilege of visiting a new strength facility in the DC area: Unleash’d Strength, in Manassas. Unleash’d is owned by powerlifters Joe and Margo Strada, and it’s got some great goodies, like a full compliment of brand-new Elitefts power bars. (If you haven’t tried the Elitefts power bar before, its got some vicious knurling and makes an Elieko power bar look whippy!)

In fact, I’ve been lucky enough to have been welcomed into a ton of awesome gyms in the DC area, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites for those of you who live or might visit here during the holiday season!

My Favorite Gyms

Since I already mentioned Unleash’d, I’ll touch on a few of my other favorites here!

    • The Shop Gym (Manassas): My home base has a ton of equipment offerings for bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman, and Olympic weightlifting. The Shop hosts both powerlifting meets and bodybuilding shows and contributes more to the Northern Virginia strength community than any other gym I’ve been to!

  • Olympus Gym (Burke): This isn’t really a powerlifting gym, but if you’re looking to get in a quick session, Olympus is a hidden gem. It’s got some of the best old-school Nautilus equipment along with heavy dumbbells, several squat racks, and plenty of benches and plates.
  • Supreme Sports Performance & Training (Rockville): Home to the legendary USAPL coaching duo Sioux-Z Hartwig and Matt Gary, SSPT is all about serious powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and strongman. The facility is a bit small but it’s packed with some high-end competition equipment for all three strength sports.

Other DC Gyms I Haven’t Visited

All of these are still on my to-do list!

  • DMV Iron (Alexandria): A high-end bodybuilding gym with a ton of specialized equipment.
  • The St. James Sports, Wellness, and Entertainment Complex (Springfield): Definitely not a powerlifting gym, but I want to go just for the experience. The place looks like a freaking resort – hell, it has a water park.
  • Tyson’s Playground (Vienna): A high-end sports-performance facility with lots of strongman equipment.

There’s a whole lot of other awesome gyms in the area. If you own or belong to one, give it a shoutout in the comments below!

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