Catalyst Athletics Gym Tour

[@steveornelas2956]

Your description of the ski erg... “repeatedly bending over slightly” 😂😂😂

[@krisjaynav]

and 30:50 assault bike too

[@Cat-Washing-ton]

Thank you for sharing your space! I really enjoy listening to you - your diction, how you convey wisdom, as well as natural and genuine you are in your explanations make following truly enjoyable. Please continue sharing your passion with people like me who are absolute beginners to the sport.

[@edbauerfit]

Thanks a bunch Greg! I have a gym downsizing soon as I make my permanent exit from California on to a smaller garage gym as well, so this speaks my language.

[@iowa_don]

Very nice facility. The Jerk blocks are great. I could have used them, long, long ago as my Jerk was the weaker part of my Clean & Jerk.

[@ClarksvilleBarbellClub]

Thank you for sharing this! I'm getting ready to set up a commercial gym later this year, and this has given me some great ideas.

[@LynnW1956]

Thanks Greg for the tour!

[@stevewonderlin5892]

Thank you for posting the video helped out a lot you’re the best

[@AFatWhiteShark]

Always wanted to see a OWL gym such as yours sir, thank you.

[@bradr539]

Awesome home and gym.

Great gym!

[@mountainlife2411]

Very impressive.

[@briancheng8243]

Hey Greg, I got into weightlifting 1 month after you moved out of your Sunnyvale location to Oregon in 2016. These days I lift with quite a few other weightlifters at Planet Granite Sunnyvale, not too far from your original gym! I was always curious, how did you get started in the Sunnyvale location in the beginning, especially since everything costs so much here in the Bay Area? Keep up the great work! Your content is some of the best out there!

[@CatalystAthletics]

Started there because I grew up in that general area (Planet Granite was originally right off of central expressway) and my wife and I moved back there in 2008 with intentions of staying. It hadn't reached peak insanity at that point but it just got too ridiculous and the area totally lost its appeal to both of us, financial viability of a weightlifting gym aside.

[@Fid3lCashFl0]

Yo Greg. Your voice is meant for ASMR. I love you.

[@Dr.TGraham]

This was awesome - Thanks for taking the time to walk through everything! For someone wanting to open their first (smaller) weightlifting gym, what do you feel is an ideal size for it to be adequate to support a few athletes at a time? Curious because you have been in both ends of the spectrum size wise. I’m looking at facilities that are 500-1000 sq ft currently, but market in Michigan to purchase is insane.

[@S2k_GRsti]

very cool place Greg!

[@QuarterHater9]

Peeed on lol 😂 hahaha still loves the old school shit!

[@Dhobby517]

Badass gym. Which weksan bumpers are those and where did you get them? Can’t seem to find them on their website but the layout is funky on mobile.

[@CatalystAthletics]

Bought those almost 15 years ago directly from Werksan. Hard to get Werksan these days because the US distributor shut down a while back and apparently a new one has acquired the rights but not started sales yet.

[@markoschie]

Hey Greg. Moving in next Monday. Are you going to pick me up from EUG. Is Amy okay with me moving in?

[@hjaltalinator]

some tips there I think I will implement

[@Send513]

Hahah your gym is bigger than the square footage of my house. Lolz.

[@fredastaire6156]

Wow! This looks like paradise. Do you allow drop-ins, by chance? I'm not a competitor nor do I lift houses but I'm a middle-aged man that has recently fallen in love with the sport of Olympic weightlifting and I would love to train with those that are infinitely better than I am; glean some awesome tips to better lifting.

[@CatalystAthletics]

We keep this gym strictly for our competitive team lifters.

[@TDace25]

“Sound like Woody Allen after doing a gram of blow” 😂💀😂

[@krisjaynav]

that kettlebell is the equivalent of two supermodels

[@Gumbisan]

Could you go into more detail on barbells? why the old ones vs new? which bars would you buy new if you were to make a new gym? include the snatch C&J and the bars used for other purposes.

[@CatalystAthletics]

Old because they're mostly the same bars we bought many years ago when opening the original gym. If I absolutely had to buy new bars, I'd probably stick with Eleiko, although I stand by my claim that barbells peaked in quality 10 or so years ago - of course I will likely never have to buy new bars because I bought quality ones to begin with, and that's part of the reason you spend a lot of money on a bar. My wife will be selling them for good money after my funeral.

[@Scott-zh5ip]

So many good ideas! Do you have issues with moisture at all in any of your spaces? If so what do you do to mitigate that?

[@CatalystAthletics]

Fortunately, no. Climate here is very dry, and the garage is well sealed and insulated.

[@Scott-zh5ip]

@@CatalystAthletics I'm in uk. We're made of 90% rain here 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@meisdetermined]

“A cheap, easy way to set it up and you will regret it almost instantly”- rofl

[@drukqs12]

Which 2.5 kg collars do you guys use? They look similar to the DHS collars but not sure. I am still debating which ones to get and have heard the Eleiko training collars aren't that great.

[@CatalystAthletics]

Werksan. None of them work as well as they should considering the cost.

[@loganjmcmahon]

Any recommendations on where to find used plates (eleiko, werk san, pendlay, etc)? I’ve been scouring the internet but haven’t had any luck. Your gym looks awesome, thanks for the video!

[@CatalystAthletics]

Pretty much just have to be constantly searching because these days any available are bought almost immediately. Always check with the companies like Eleiko and Rogue because they typically sell plates/sets used in competitions at discounts immediately after the events.

[@loganjmcmahon]

Catalyst Athletics I’ll keep an eye out, thanks for the info!

[@briancheng8243]

Look on Craigslist daily..also Uesaka has used plates from the Las Vegas youth worlds for sale on their website

[@loganjmcmahon]

Thanks for the heads up, Brian!

[@jesse5897]

Greg, As a new lifter I am wondering if is more beneficial to have a squad rack, half power rack, or a full power rack for my home gym?

[@CatalystAthletics]

If you can only have 1, and you have enough space, get a good power rack because you'll be able to do things like jerk support and pull-ups. Otherwise I'd go with a squat rack over the half rack unless the latter is an amazing thing I've never seen before and you can ensure it's level and stable.

[@theylivewesee1674]

what are the biggest numbers lifted in the gym??

[@CatalystAthletics]

Off the top of my head, 116 jerk by a 58, 118 clean by another 58, 95kg snatch by a 58, 120 CJ by a 76, 80 snatch by a 49... I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

[@theylivewesee1674]

@@CatalystAthletics Greg what's your biggest lifts at a given weight category??

[@CatalystAthletics]

@@theylivewesee1674 145/180

[@BjPeyton]

My I ask if you have encountered any permitting or jurisdiction issues with running a gym in a residential area verses commercial or industrial? I'm sure all states and communities have their own rules.

[@CatalystAthletics]

No, for a number of reasons. First, we're not running the gym as a business here. Second, we're in unincorporated area in the county, not within any city limits. Third, our nearest neighbor is a 1/4 mile away and blocked by a big hill. So we are in no way a good example of running a commercial gym from a garage.

[@BjPeyton]

@@CatalystAthletics thank you for answering. I love your content and commitment to the practice of coaching.

[@hilmyrahmadani3114]

Open in indonesia plz

[@zachhyde802]

Fucking epic

[@Love-ql7rd]

Where did you get those long silver bar clips?

[@CatalystAthletics]

Good question... it would have been Muscle Driver (out of business) probably because we were a distributor at the time, but you can get them anywhere, like here - smile.amazon.com/OneFitWonder-Diameter-Olympic-Barbells-Collars/dp/B00MEVAX28/

[@Love-ql7rd]

Wow! Thank you! Beautiful gym tour BTW!

[@VanWatches]

no uesaka bars? if so, why?

[@CatalystAthletics]

Good bars, but so are Werksan and Eleiko, which I preferred at the time, and we were a Werksan retailer, which meant we got them at a reduced price.

[@CodyDunlap]

Funny how there is like 10k+ worth of bumpers in there, but he's complaining about the price of plywood.

[@CatalystAthletics]

Bumpers and bars last a lifetime if you invest decent money into them. Our gym was outfitted with Werksan econ bumpers - the least expensive they made at the time, and purchased at our distributor discount - and we'll never have to buy bars or weights again, and even be able to sell them in the future if we shut the operation down. Platforms can be made less expensively and still perform well, and arguably better, with MDF over plywood. And when you're opening a business, or just building a garage gym, you prioritize on spending and channel as much money into the most important elements as possible while reducing the costs of everything you can in order to keep it within your budget. It's simple arithmetic. More importantly, it strikes me as odd to be upset about my giving people building a gym an idea of how to save some money. It's unlikely they'll be spending as much money as I did on bumpers to outfit a 5,000 square foot gym business, so maybe in that case you'd find it acceptable for them to save a few bucks.

[@1229high]

How can I train here?

[@CatalystAthletics]

Either be on our competitive team or come to one of these - www.catalystathletics.com/olympic-weightlifting-seminars/schedule/?eid=35765

[@stoycho9776]

how much for a workout?

[@CatalystAthletics]

We don't offer training here for clients, just our competitive team lifters.

[@sdo917]

Who gets to work out in this gym?!

[@CatalystAthletics]

Our team lifters - www.catalystathletics.org/

[@GeorgeZimmermen]

Meh

[@turdusmerula1831]

Mmmmmmh, thigh fat. Do tell. :-D :-D :-D