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HARDCORE GYM #93
January 2010 - Vol. 33 No. 3
OHIO'S GORILLA PIT GYM
by Rick Brewer | rick[at]houseofpain.com
www.houseofpain.com
A lot of the Hard Core Gyms we tell you about are still just diamonds-in-the-rough.
They are in basements or garages, with very limited space, but
they still have lifters who are making progress and getting stronger.
If these gyms never grew any larger, they would still be cool
places to train. But a few of them DO grow—like bodybuilders on
Growth Hormone!
There are two very important things to know about the Gorilla
Pit gym. First, it has grown from a garage into a larger warehouse,
and second, this hard core gym is in Ohio. As far as I can tell,
Ohio is not in CA, TX, or PA. I thought that weightlifters outside
of those 3 states had to do Olympic lifting or become bodybuilders.
Any powerlifting gym outside the Iron-State-Triad (TX, CA, PA)
gets my attention and respect! So when Ty Phillips told me about
his Gorilla Pit, I was interested. If he had told me that he was
raising an actual woodland gorilla to compete in BB shows and
teach high school wrestling, I would have been less impressed.
But that’s enough geography, let me get back to Ty:
Rick, thanks for getting back to me! I am sure I can give you
more than enough to run a feature on my facility. I have sent
several pictures of me in the Gorilla Pit 1.0 (my garage) and
others of the facility as it is now.
Gorilla Pit was designed by strength athletes to cater to strength
athletes. Outside of private gyms like EFS and Westside Barbell,
Gorilla Pit is the only gym like this in Ohio. We are open to
the public, with 24/7 access, and we have literally everything
you could need to train for powerlifting, strongman, and Olympic
lifting. The gym is about 4,000 sq. ft. I have four power cages,
four flat benches, a GHR, a chest supported row, a mono lift,
two stone platforms, lat pull machine, leg sled, six tires 300
lb. to 1000 lb. (I’ve never seen a 1000 lb. tire! RB), super yoke,
farmers implements, logs, two 85’ athletic lanes, 12 atlas stones
from 200–420 lb., six texas power bars, axle, incline bench, 2,000
lb. in bumper plates, 1,000 lb. in 100 lb. plates, 1,800 lb. in
45’s, and I am sure I am forgetting other things.
We are a meat-and-potatoes facility for those looking to get stronger
and better at what they do. (Reminds me of the YouTube video of
“Normal Kid Meets A Powerlifter,” when the powerlifter explains
that there is no such thing as toning—only weaker and stronger!
RB)
I offer strength and conditioning classes for high school and
collegiate athletes. We also have a relationship with the US Military.
They run their recruits through PT at our facility, and I also
offer PT prep work for enlisted military. I am also working with
a few Marines to get them back into hard-core shape.
RB: When/where/why did it open? Is it possible to train for powerlifting
outside of TX, CA, and PA?
TP: I got sick of all the commercial fitness centers and took
out a personal loan, to create a perfect place that I would want
to train at.
The reason I opened is pretty simple. No one caters to real lifters.
Who wants to train on a smith machine for the big three? For a
while I was actually training at the fitness center at my work,
until they kicked me out for breaking the smith machine...twice.
When I brought my chalk in for deadlifts they threw a fit. It
was the same story at Fitworks. No chalk, no power racks, and
deadlifting brought the 18 year old “personal trainer” running
to tell me I was going to hurt myself. Also, I was making the
other gym patrons uncomfortable.
Step one was to move to my garage. I bought some equipment, and
got a training partner who also bought some equipment. We cleaned
out my garage and set up shop. We quickly outgrew the place, as
it was only a small 2 car garage, and my wife was not happy about
her car sitting outside in the winter when we paid good money
to have a garage to avoid that very issue. (If mama ain’t happy,
ain’t nobody happy. RB)
So step two came within a few months. Site hunting and equipment
hunting. After a few months of looking, I found what I felt was
an ideal place to create a facility of this kind. By ‘ideal place,’
I mean it was a mess. It was a granite-cutting facility that had
not been cleaned or aired out in probably 5 years. I cannot even
begin to describe what a dump it was when I took it. After sweeping,
cleaning, and pressure-washing it 5 times, it was still dirty
(if that gives you any idea how bad it was). So I went out and
rented an industrial paint sprayer, and went to town. After a
month of round-the-clock work, with my whole family involved,
we had a usable facility. (And mama’s car was back in her garage!
RB)
Gorilla Pit Strength Sports is in Mentor, Ohio. We are about 20 minutes from downtown Cleveland. I am in a pretty heavily populated suburb just east of Cleveland. We opened our warehouse doors on November 1, 2009.
We have a varied group of lifters. My most impressive achievement
to date is a 16 year old wrestler that I work with. He is 140
pounds and pulling 475 on raw deadlifts; he doesn’t even wear
a belt. (Dang, put a belt on him quickly! RB) He currently has
the state DL records, and once his season is done, we will be
training for world records!
We also have some former bodybuilders turned into strongmen and
powerlifters. We have our own team (Team Gorilla Pit), and several
of us competed in the April 24, 2009, Lexen Xtreme IPA meet. My
original training partner Bryce was part of the Caribbean IPF
team.
My father-in-law is a national judge for USAPL, so we will hopefully
be hosting meets for USAPL as well. We’ll definitely make our
presence known in the USAPL federation.
We have several Marines—even a few of their Elite Socom/Recon
guys training there—as well as several high school athletes (who
can play Socom/Recon video games. JK. RB) I have a few MMA fighters
that I do strength conditioning for, as well as a few ‘Average
Joes’ who just like the gym environment and attitude.
Our environment and equipment set us apart. We are a hard-core
warehouse-gym with brand-new bad-ass equipment. (I have a relationship
with Legend; the same company that makes Lou Simmons line). Gorilla
Pit is a brand image that I would like to create, with clothing
and equipment.
Another thing that sets us apart is that the management and owners
(my wife, myself and my partner Bryce) all compete in some form
of strength sport. This is personal. I didn’t open the facility
looking to make money. I opened it so that I would have a badass
place to train, and I wanted to offer that to other people who
felt like I did. Membership is cheap (only $280/year) and day
passes are free. There are no gimmicks, no cancel fees, and no
bull-shit. Just a straight up hard core environment.
Another plus is our relationship with these lifters. I know them,
and I am friends with many of them. I end up working with them
and offering hours of free PT because I want to see them excel
more than I want to make money. From my 16 year old record breaker
(who is like a little brother), to our Marines (trusted friends),
to our older clientele, I let them know we truly appreciate having
them here. We try to get to know our lifters. Of course, not everyone
wants that, and for those who just want to walk silently in/out
(with their hood up)...I get it and I respect that.
Maybe the most unusual thing about my facility is the fact that
I have a jazzercise group right next door. They have exercised
in the space next door to us for 13 years. She has a dedicated
following of women who look just like they did 13 years ago...it
is hilarious. We have our heavy-metal music blaring, with guys
dropping weights and growling out great PR’s, and then when it’s
quiet for a second, you hear the ladies next door hoopin and hollering
with their “whooo’s” and “you go girls.” The whole place breaks
into laughter. I have often wondered if it’s the same way over
there when one of us gets a great lift, and turns around growling
and yelling—the ladies next door probably laugh at us!
We also have an inspiring handicapped lifter. He is a younger
guy with no fingers on one hand, but he doesn’t let it slow him
down! He uses a strap, and found a way to make it stick to the
bar. He deadlifts along with the rest of us with only one functional
hand. It’s pretty awesome and pretty damned motivational!!
RB: Way cool to hear about the one-handed deadlifter. Awesome!
Reminds me of the 72 year old one-handed deadlifter that Brian
Dobson (of Metroflex Gym) trains. If he needs ideas for a way
to stabilize a squat bar on his back, please contact Brian.
Since you just now opened the full-sized warehouse version of
Gorilla Pit, what else needs to be done? What is next?
TP: Well, we feel pretty complete. We have everything we need
aside from a reverse hyper. I think the big push now is marketing
and members, but I would like to get an MMA cage in there as well.
I tried my hand at fighting, but had a severe orbital bone break,
and almost lost my eye. That kind of put the kabash on that for
me. I would still love to work with fighters and condition them.
We have quite a few that come in for conditioning, but it would
be even better if I had a cage for them too.
RB: If you get a cage, you could keep real gorillas in it. That
would really keep the fighters on their toes, and what an awesome
marketing tool!
Do you have room to host a competition?
TP: Yes. I plan on hosting both strongman and
PL meets there during 2010. We will probably host a USPF meet
in February.
RB: Perfect! Tell the PL USA readers how to find
you.
Gorilla Pit Strength Sports
7472 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
216-310-2283
Gorillapitps[at]gmail.com
Congrat’s to Ty Phillips on building his own Hard Core gym in Ohio! Big iron-plate kudos to Ty! All of the rest of you need to take note! Seriously, dudes, the gauntlet has been thrown down! If Ty can build a cool gym outside of the Iron-State-Triad (TX, CA, PA), then so can YOU! Don’t be scared!
Tell me about where you train, and send photos and info! Heck,
tell us how you train with your plastic-and-concrete weights if
that’s all you got! Holla!
*photographs courtesy Ty Phillips/Gorilla Pit Strength Sports
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