New black-iron gym in Seattle Area

[Travis Rask]

If you're been praying for a Seattle area black-iron gym with easy access, flexible scheduling, ample equipment, and reasonable rates...your prayers have been answered.

Stumbled across EGO Strength and Performance on FB last week. Dropped in yesterday and signed up immediately.

Gym is located near Alderwood mall in Lynnwood, off Evergreen way. In an industrial area warehouse. Very similar feel and layout to Duffin's Elite Performance Center in PDX (albeit, a touch smaller).

Equipment compliment includes:

• Texas Power and Deadlift bar(s)
• Multiple DL platforms
• Duffalo bar (played around with this - very nice)
• Elite FTS SSB
• Cambered squat bar (Sorinex)
• Several Titan Power Cages (h/t Hanley - I was very impressed with these)
• Several bench setups including Rogue Westside bench with Thompson fat pad
• Several Thompson Fat Pads
• Prowler track
• Vertical leg press (apparently these are hard)
• Chest supported row
• Dip stand
• Universal power thingy (cable rows, lat pulls, etc.)
• Dumbbells (the nice ones rip uses)

...a bunch of other stuff I haven't listed. Sounds like the owner has plans to continue adding to his compliment of gear.


Membership is $45/mo. Keycode access. Train when you'd like. Plenty of parking. Apparently evenings are pretty electric. I trained in the morning after work and there was one other dude. Also, they have an amplifier with iPod connection. Loud music is encouraged.

Hope to see you there. It's about a 15-20 minute drive from Seattle. Unless you live in the bowels of Ballard. Then it's 90 minutes.

(pics are during move-in...more stuff now)

[Les Hahn]

Thanks for the info. Did you try the Duffalo bar for benching? I was looking for a bar to help me ease back into benching and heard good things about it.

[ForbiddenDonut]

Does anyone know what material is in the Thompson fat pad? I wonder how easy it would be to just make one.

[anniemichael]

Hot damn! Unfortunately I do live in the bowels of Ballard. But we might move in the next 1-2 years...

Do you know by any chance if they allow drop-ins? I'm sometimes up that way and I'd love to train there if my schedule allows.

[Travis Rask]

Thanks for the info. Did you try the Duffalo bar for benching? I was looking for a bar to help me ease back into benching and heard good things about it.

Not yet. Probably will at some point.

Hot damn! Unfortunately I do live in the bowels of Ballard. But we might move in the next 1-2 years...

Do you know by any chance if they allow drop-ins? I'm sometimes up that way and I'd love to train there if my schedule allows.

Yeah, it's on the website IIRC.

[Travis Rask]

Callador, do you live in Seattle?

[Les Hahn]

Callador, do you live in Seattle?

No, I live in WI. Otherwise I would stop by and check it out. :-)

[OCG]

Thanks for the info. Did you try the Duffalo bar for benching? I was looking for a bar to help me ease back into benching and heard good things about it.

I'm not sure extending the ROM at the bottom of a bench press is going to be useful for most people.

[Travis Rask]

Vid of playing around with Duffalo bar. First time doing LBBS in over a year.

[Les Hahn]

I'm not sure extending the ROM at the bottom of a bench press is going to be useful for most people.

Useful to the injury, yes I do sort of agree on that piece depending on what the injury is. Useful for training, I think having an increased ROM could help here. Mike Bridges had the same idea many years ago with his bar. We actually have one at our gym. Most people use it for shrugs. I read that the grip angle difference can help for some people using the Duffalo bar. I actually tried to imitate it by using the suicide grip on a normal bar. You can really tuck your elbows in more this way, but I found that I actually have more pain touching the bar lower, even though the ROM is reduced slightly because of my gut.