Strength and conditioning has become one of the “cool” terms being thrown around a lot these days. People who live, breathe and take training and fitness seriously preach it and nerd out regularly. For the uninitiated or average Jane or Joe looking to lead a healthier lifestyle, proper strength and conditioning can go a long way in injury prevention and keep you moving well. Be gone bad posture and (painful) muscle imbalances!
No 30 day gimmicks, or sitting on your ass while you magically shed weight packages here. The folks at these following gyms, have their hearts in the right places. More than just a bunch of muscle-heads, we visited their gyms to find out their stories, while exchanging thoughts on the changing fitness industry.
1. Gym Brigade
A fairly new gym to the scene, owner Iylia is adamant about creating an inclusive culture and community at Gym Brigade, or as Iylia calls it “family”. There’s no boisterous posturing here, just people looking to get strong and have fun doing it.
Facing a highway, Gym Brigade’s location is perfect for training with strongman implements like the yoke, as the traffic drowns out any noise created. Having a background in rugby, Iylia preaches the effectiveness of the prowler sled.
With a focus on strength training, and strength based sports like strongman and powerlifting, Gym Brigade caters to those looking for things like yoga as well. A surprise for the rough and raw looking gym that does away with air conditioning.
Gym Brigade, 480 Upper Serangoon Rd, Singapore 534515 | Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 9am-11pm, Sat: 9am-10pm, Sun: 9am-8pm | Facebook | Website
2. The Strength Yard
“We like lifting” said Edmond, coach and one half of the duo behind The Strength Yard. Fed up with the judgemental stares shot your way when lifting at public gyms? So were the two secondary school friends, turned owners of The Strength Yard. Their desire to create an unapologetic environment for themselves to train in gave birth to this gym, nestled in the heart of Joo Chiat.
Pulling in novices to the experienced, and ultra-marathoners to powerlifters, The Strength Yard’s coaches boast a wealth of experience when it comes to getting people stronger. Edmond, wasn’t the first to share the sentiments that knowledge and experience makes a good coach, and not just a piece of paper to boast your capabilities.
The Strength Yard, 58 Joo Chiat Pl, Singapore 427782 | Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 9am-10:30pm Sat-Sun: 9am-8:00pm | Facebook | Website
3. Grit Gym
You might have stumbled past Grit Gym once or twice during a night out drinking. This is where you should go if you want to learn how to get down and dirty — where you can practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, boxing and Muay Thai.
Gene, is a History major turned gym owner, explained that while still a strength and conditioning gym at its core, Grit Gym stands out with the expertise in martial art skills among the coaching staff. On top of that, working closely with physical therapists and osteopaths, Gene and his coaching staff help their clients with injuries and muscular imbalances.
With so many gyms offering packages and all the trimmings, Grit Gym does away with all of that, and have created a space to learn and train while paying only for classes you attend.
Grit Gym, 39 Carpenter St, Singapore 059918 | Opening hours: Mon-Sun: 6am-9:30pm | Facebook | Website
4. The P.I.T
Performance, improvement and technique, are the values and virtues of The P.I.T. Acronym loving Singaporeans like you and I. A gym that has breathed life into the strength and conditioning scene a few years ago, Coach Chua Ming Siu, or Ming, for short explained how they build their clients from the ground up.
Teaching clients to move properly, they then get them strong, before getting them to do the often more impressive looking high intensity interval training (H.I.I.T). No short cuts or miracles here.
The training ground of both high level athletes and your average office worker looking to lead healthier lives, The P.I.T has been leading the way for strength and conditioning gyms in Singapore.
The P.I.T, 123 Devonshire Road, Singapore 239883 | Opening hours: Mon-Fri 7am-10pm, Sat 7am-5pm, Sun 7am-1pm | Facebook | Website
5. Elevate Strength & Conditioning
Located in the heart of Upper Thomson, better known for its cafes, prata and bak chor mee, Elevate Strength & Conditioning adds variety to the neighbourhood. Now you can lift weights, before lifting that overpriced cup of coffee or morsel of eggs Benedict to your mouth.
Besides getting strong, fit and healthy, Twain Teo, director of Elevate Strength & Conditioning believes in education and self sufficiency. If clients choose to have personal training, the trainers at Elevate Strength & Conditioning aim to make them self sufficient in roughly 50 sessions. No endless cycle of aimless training.
Elevate Strength & Conditioning, 213 Upper Thomson Road #01-01, Singapore 574348 | Opening hours: Mon-Sun 8am-10pm | Facebook | Website
6. Iron Fitness Singapore
Opening its doors in 2012, or should I say rolling up its shutters, Iron Fitness Singapore can be considered one of the veterans in the local strength and conditioning scene.
Coach Kelvin, went from coaching primary and secondary school, and of course dabbling in personal training at commercial gyms like so many others — to opening his own gym. Iron Fitness Singapore is no stranger to leading the way for training methods in Singapore, with the development of a series of online home workouts meant for busy individuals in the works.
Iron Fitness Singapore, 6 Lor 1 Geylang, Singapore 389117 | Opening hours: Mon-Fri 6:30am-9pm, Sat 8am-2pm, Sun closed | Facebook |Website
7. Solitude Of Strength
Lewis “Buffalo” Chua — a name people are familiar with in the local fitness scene. Built like a tank, most would feel intimidated by his presence, however, 25 year old national weightlifter Chua, is a gentle giant.
On the seventh storey of an industrial complex in Aljunied is Solitude Of Strength. Chua set out on a mission three years ago to not only grow the sport of weightlifting in Singapore and but to support local athletes and provide a no nonsense space for the rest of us to train at.
Junior national athletes train for free, while senior athletes enjoy 50% off, a promise that hasn’t changed once since Solitude Of Strength opened its doors. Talk about commitment. If you’re looking to learn weightlifting basics, there couldn’t be a better place to start, with Chua personally conducting basic weightlifting workshops every six to eight weeks.
Solitude Of Strength, #07-09, 388410, 110 Lor 23 Geylang | Opening hours: 6:30am-11:30pm | Facebook | Website
8. Strength Avenue
Head strength coach and owner Andyn Kadir may come across as unapproachable. Heavily inked, the solidly built man is genuine and is all about his clients. Strength Avenue is his new born baby, opening for business in September, the place didn’t even have a front sign up when I visited.
“Cosy”, is how Andyn described his gym. By far the smallest gym I had been to, he meant for it to be this way, as he and his coaching staff are able to fully focus on their clients.
With ties to many national powerlifters and the female dominated Strength Avenue powerlifting team training out of the gym, you might mistake this as a powerlifting only gym. However, couldn’t be further from the case, as strength and conditioning is still the name of the game here.
Strength Avenue, 63 Kampong Bahru Road #02-02, Singapore 169369 | Opening hours: Mon-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat-Sun Closed | Facebook
9. CELL
Comprehensive is how I’d describe Cell. Owners Han and Dan never graduated from university, with Han dropping out and Dan declining an offer, they set out on their foray into the fitness industry.
Cell gives its clients access to physiotherapists who have an office within the gym, and fitness meal providers on a discount. Creating an ecosystem enabling people to make fitness part of their lives
With a facility boasting both a clean well lit gym space and a raw authentic courtyard, Cell brings the idea of a holistic gym to life.
CELL, 54 Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555950 | Opening hours: Mon-Fri 7am-11pm, Sat-Sun 8am-10pm | Facebook | Website
With 2017 just around the corner, get a head start on your resolutions and get lifting, moving and sweating.
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