General Behaviour / Gym Etiquette

1. Always sign in at reception when you come to the gym. This is so we can monitor gym usage and that we know who is on the premises, and at what times, for insurance reasons.
2. Try to greet people when entering the gym, and be friendly and courteous to other members. Also make an effort to say goodbye to people when you leave.
3. Always ensure if lifting close to failure or testing your maximal strength that you use appropriate safety measures. If in the power rack use the safety bars appropriately and preferably ask for help from other lifters to spot you. Please remember that a single lifter back-spotting on the squat is NOT an effective and safe method (unless your spotter can easily Zercher squat your bodyweight plus the weight on the bar you are lifting). Always when possible on the squat get a minimum of one person either side of the bar side-spotting.
4. If you want other people to spot and help you out then you must be prepared to do the same in return for other members.
5. Remember no one lifter is more important than another, no matter how strong they are. So no-one has more rights to use any particular equipment than anyone else.
6. We are not a gym who will put any one lifter on a pedestal and whilst we encourage support and encouragement of one another, remember that those around you are not simply your cheerleaders, and are there to train just like you are. Encouragement and support is a two way thing, so if you like to chat about your own lifts, then make sure you take an interest in other people’s lifting too. No-one comes to the gym to listen to someone else brag or show-off.
7. If a lifter/ member is attempting a new personal best on a competition lift, the entire gym must watch and give their support.
8. Harassment or bullying of other members will not be tolerated and could result in suspension or termination of membership.
9. Steroids or other banned performance enhancing drugs may never be used or discussed in my gym.
10. When leaving the gym ensure you have removed all drinks containers (cans and bottles), personal items etc have been either taken with you or thrown in the bin.
11. The gym will not accept liability for any personal items or personal equipment whilst on the premises.
12. Regarding closing time: Please begin packing up personal items and equipment with enough time to exit the premises by the official closing time, rather than waiting until closing time before beginning packing up.
13. Please do not wear outside boots or shoes into the gym if they are muddy.
14. Whilst we are happy for members to use cameras and film their training for technical analysis and some social media content, ensure this does not interfere with anyone else in the gym or their training. Please be mindful that not everyone will wish to be filmed so ensure you get anyone’s permission who happens to feature in your videos before you post them to social media.
15. We request that anyone wanting to film footage for any social media channels whilst on the premises please ask permission first, as this could lead to a conflict of interests and may not be permitted. It will be taken on a case by case basis, but anyone found to be doing so without having received permission, will be asked to leave and their membership will be rescinded.
16. Toilets and Showers – Toilets and Shower Facilities are available for your use, if required, but we request that you leave them in the same state as you found them.
17. Music – we allow access to the speaker system for member’s to play their own music through a bluetooth device. Ensure the nature of the music and especially the volume does not not disturb other members and preferably check with the other lifters around you that they are happy for you to play your music before doing so.
18. When a class or seminar/workshop is running (usually on the astroturf) then please ensure your own training and personal items aren’t obstructing the space where the class/workshop is running.
19. Please do not leave the front door open.
20. Liquid chalk is not permitted under any circumstances in the gym. Loose and/or block chalk is provided.
21. Under no circumstances are members allowed to remove items of equipment from my office without expressed permission.

Equipment usage

1. CLEAN UP THE EQUIPMENT AND THE AREA YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING IN. When a workout is completed lifters MUST clean the area where they were training. Primarily this refers to cleaning up any chalk/sweat where you have been working. All benches and kit must be wiped down with the antibacterial wipes as well so as to be courteous to the next person who may wish to use that piece of equipment. Following the use of any of the bars in the gym, you must use one of the wire brushes to remove the chalk. Care of the bars ensures they last longer before they need replacing.
2. PUT ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT AWAY – Upon finishing with a piece or multiple pieces of equipment it must all be returned to the way you found it. This means return J-hooks and safety bars to their original position. Put all bars, plates and collars away etc. All bands and chains and mats etc to be put back in their usual storage area.
3. When using the astroturf, please ensure mats are placed down where any heavy equipment will be on the floor. Some equipment has pointed edges which will tear holes in the astroturf if it’s not protected. We are trying to preserve the quality of the astro for as long as possible so members can really benefit from the conditioning training area so please treat it with care and use the mats as appropriate. As an extra incentive, damage the astroturf and you receive a bonus 1 mile sled push.
4. If you cause any damage to any piece of equipment or flooring, please inform the owner straight away so we are aware and can either remove the piece of equipment from use before someone else attempt to use the broken piece of equipment or make safe the flooring to avoid anyone injuring themselves. Please do NOT simply hide broken equipment in the gym as this could be potentially dangerous if someone else goes to use a faulty piece of kit.
5. The Monolift is joint owned by a group of lifters at the gym (including the owner, Phil). Priority use goes to these lifters and so whilst they welcome others to use it, please ask permission before doing so to ensure it doesn’t coincide with a team or team member’s training session.
6. USING KT OUTDOORS – If you choose to use equipment outdoors in the carpark please be mindful of the other businesses and do not inconvenience anyone else on the site. Bridge Road Barbell and Phil Horwood training will hold no responsibility for any damage caused or injury sustained whilst any of its members are training outside the gym (please see disclaimer for our policy on liability regarding training on the premises) If the equipment is used when the ground is wet or it is raining then it must be dried and cleaned before putting away.
7. We have a full set of competition powerlifting plates, and welcome members to use these in the gym, but request that anyone asks permission before going to use them. We would like use of these limited to the power lifts (and variations of the main lifts). These comp plates must never be used outside.
8. We have several speciality bars in the gym, and request that these get used appropriately. If you are unsure what the bar is for or how to appropriately use it, then please ask for assistance and we will advise you. This particularly is the case with the Texas Deadlift bar and Texas Squat bar which are for deadlifting and squatting respectively.  We do not allow the Texas deadlift bar to be used for rack pulls.    Whilst on the topic of rack pulls, we have one bar which we have allocated for rack pulls (it has red, yellow and green tape on it) so please ask for this bar if you want to do rack pulls.

Memberships / Admin / Day Passes

1. If you intend on terminating your membership, we request that you give at least month’s notice. This is out of common courtesy to the gym and enables membership numbers to be managed. A simple email to info@ironforgegym.co.uk, phone call to Phil, or text message to 07788268672 will suffice. Please note this applies even if you are freezing your membership while away or at university. You must inform the gym if you are cancelling your membership payments.
2. We will be holding an AGM (annual general meeting) where development of the club will be discussed and members feedback will be requested. This will be your opportunity to give suggestions for how you would like to see the club improve (new pieces of equipment, new classes etc).  We will always strive to ensure the club is providing what the members want, and the AGM is an opportune moment to play your part in its development. Attendance to the AGM is not mandatory but we would encourage as many of you to attend as possible.
3. Standard opening hours on weekdays are 7am-9pm, however if you require to start your training session prior to 7am, please contact us via email ( info@ironforgegym.co.uk) and we can make arrangements for this to be possible.
4. Failure to adhere to the above rules can and will result in your membership being terminated. We may allow a 3 strikes policy, but reserve the right to terminate anyone’s membership immediately if we feel the breaches of the rules are sufficient to do so.
5. Day passes MUST be booked in advance (24hrs notice minimum) by emailing info@ironforgegym.co.uk
6. . Please do not show up at the gym without arranging your day pass first. This still applies even if you have trained on a day pass before.
7. Day passes must be paid for prior to starting training. Please do not enter the gym and start training without paying first. You can pay with cash, card or via PayPal, but if paying via PayPal you must inform the owner (or anyone minding the gym) that you have done so and show the transaction on your phone).
8. If you bring any friends down to the gym on a day pass, they MUST sign a disclaimer and pay for their session prior to starting training. You will also be responsible for them whilst they are on the premises so you must ensure they adhere to the rules as well.

Team

1. Attending comp to assist and handle other team members
2. Competing at least once per year (unless injured)
3. Attending at least 1 team training session per week (on average).
4. Following training plan as written or else must discuss with coach reasons for not doing so, so a suitable alternative plan can be arranged if necessary.
5. Failure to adhere to the plan repeatedly without sufficient justification will result in dismissal from the team and associated privileges.
6. If you are running one of my plans or are under my coaching and supervision then you must ensure you record your training and keep me updated with progress reports.
7. If an athlete asks to lift more than what I recommend or the plan dictates then they are warned that if they do not make the lift, two additional sets will be added to the workout.
8. If a lifter performs a set with incorrect form (eg squat not going to depth) then the set will not count and should be repeated.