I competed at Foundry Barbell in Greenville Nc on Saturday 11-16. This is a write-up about the meet. My performance will be in another post. I was bench only so I had time to watch great lifting and chat with folks.
The owner’s, Skyler and Carrie (husband/wife), couldn’t have done anything better.
First of all: their gym is totally badass! Lots and lots of high end Rogue stuff everywhere. Lots of space and the thing that stuck out most to me… the gym was clean…along with the cleanest gym bathroom I’ve ever been in…ever… WITH TOILET PAPER!
The weigh in:
The 24 hour weigh in a day earlier went perfect. They recorded weight, squat/bench rack height and openers. The staff were very efficient and nice. I ended up chatting (as usual) with one of their members who ended up winning cash. I knew it was a great place when the staff and one of their, arguably, “big boy” members is nice and willing to talk to a newbie on their turf.
The day of the meet:
It was apparent they put a lot of work in between the time I left after weigh ins and meet day. I mean like a whole crew moved a bunch of heavy equipment, set up partitions/curtains and a giant warmup area along with plenty of seating and freaking bleachers!
Can’t say enough for the judges, loaders, spotters, staff in general. The judges explained the rules perfectly and answered questions. There was flawless calling of lifters, correct loading and the score table folks keeping everything straight. They even had staff in and about the whole venue including assisting loading in the warm up area. Perfect!!!
I didn’t get a headcount but there were a lot of lifters but you wouldn’t know it once the flights started moving through their attempts. The meet moved just right. Not too fast not too slow.
It’s been right at 20 years since I’ve lifted in a meet… this was more than a pleasant surprise for several reasons… zero douche bags… I had the impression that bad behavior wouldn’t be tolerated and rightfully so! The staff was extremely helpful before/during and after the meet.
I got to see some great lifting from ladies, men, young and a handful of us old bastards. With that being said, everyone was treated very well.
Final thoughts and takeaways:
Instagram · thefoundrybarbell1.5K+ followersThe Foundry Barbell (@thefoundrybarbell)
THE FOUNDRY BARBELLhttps://www.thefoundrybarbell.comTHE FOUNDRY BARBELL
The owner’s, Skyler and Carrie (husband/wife), couldn’t have done anything better.
First of all: their gym is totally badass! Lots and lots of high end Rogue stuff everywhere. Lots of space and the thing that stuck out most to me… the gym was clean…along with the cleanest gym bathroom I’ve ever been in…ever… WITH TOILET PAPER!
The weigh in:
The 24 hour weigh in a day earlier went perfect. They recorded weight, squat/bench rack height and openers. The staff were very efficient and nice. I ended up chatting (as usual) with one of their members who ended up winning cash. I knew it was a great place when the staff and one of their, arguably, “big boy” members is nice and willing to talk to a newbie on their turf.
The day of the meet:
It was apparent they put a lot of work in between the time I left after weigh ins and meet day. I mean like a whole crew moved a bunch of heavy equipment, set up partitions/curtains and a giant warmup area along with plenty of seating and freaking bleachers!
Can’t say enough for the judges, loaders, spotters, staff in general. The judges explained the rules perfectly and answered questions. There was flawless calling of lifters, correct loading and the score table folks keeping everything straight. They even had staff in and about the whole venue including assisting loading in the warm up area. Perfect!!!
I didn’t get a headcount but there were a lot of lifters but you wouldn’t know it once the flights started moving through their attempts. The meet moved just right. Not too fast not too slow.
It’s been right at 20 years since I’ve lifted in a meet… this was more than a pleasant surprise for several reasons… zero douche bags… I had the impression that bad behavior wouldn’t be tolerated and rightfully so! The staff was extremely helpful before/during and after the meet.
I got to see some great lifting from ladies, men, young and a handful of us old bastards. With that being said, everyone was treated very well.
Final thoughts and takeaways:
- I wished we had a gym like theirs by us. It’s about an hour and a half away…bit more with traffic.
- I’m of the opinion that Skyler and Carrie set the tone for zero BS. That enables EVERYONE to go and compete, from washed up meatheads like me at the bottom tier to nationally ranked lifters (yes there was lifters I’m real sure are ranked very high there).
- I spoke to many folks and made a couple of new friends.
- The meet had a lot of great energy and there were a lot of young folks putting up great numbers.
- Skyler opted for cash payouts to the best lifters male/female. I get this due to there being a gazillion weight/class/age/etc categories. Not sure how you could ever cover all those.
- I would highly recommend checking out Foundry Barbell if you’re in Eastern NC.
Instagram · thefoundrybarbell1.5K+ followersThe Foundry Barbell (@thefoundrybarbell)
THE FOUNDRY BARBELLhttps://www.thefoundrybarbell.comTHE FOUNDRY BARBELL
