Head coach
Asha Patel
Specialist in first-time lifters and people who never thought gyms were for them. L4 S&C, eleven years coaching.
14 trial spots open · June intake
Train hard.
Stay consistent.
A strength-first gym in Holbeck for people who want structure, coaching, and visible progress. Small-group lifting, programming that progresses weekly, and a room full of people who actually train.
№ 01 · The floor
Tuesday, 18:32
On the board
This week at Forge House
240
Active members
18
Coached sessions / week
4.9 ★
Average trial rating · 168 reviews
The room
— on the floor
Eight Rogue racks·
Calibrated competition plates·
20m sled lane·
Powerlifting & general strength·
Real coaching every session·
Mobility & recovery built in·
Open six days · open-gym seven·
§ 01 — The room
A converted unit on Foundry Yard. Built for one thing.
Forge House sits in a converted Foundry Yard unit in Holbeck — open seven days a week and coached six. We are not a chain, not a circuit-class studio, and not a CrossFit box. We're a strength gym, and that's the whole pitch.
The 240-member ceiling is the point. Eight platforms, three lifters per platform at the busiest hour. You will not wait twenty minutes for a squat rack. You'll learn everyone's name inside a month.
2019
Year opened
4,200
Sq ft on one floor
82%
Trial completion rate
§ 02 — Classes
Coached lifting. No random workouts.
Members mix and match these across the week. Everything is capped for coaching quality. Programming progresses weekly off your actual numbers — not a one-size template.
-
01
Lift Club
Four-person small-group strength sessions focused on squat, bench, deadlift and smart accessory work. Technique feedback every set, programme built around your numbers.
8 / week
-
02
Engine Room
Intervals, sled pushes, carries, low-skill conditioning that makes you fitter without trashing recovery. 45 minutes, moves fast, scaled by coach.
6 / week
-
03
Open Gym
Train on your own schedule with coaching staff nearby and a room that takes training seriously. Programme delivered through the member portal.
7 days
-
04
Mobility & Movement
Soft-tissue work, breathwork and joint-by-joint mobility. Sunday mornings, included with every membership above Starter.
1 / week
Classes are capped at 8 (Lift Club at 4). Bookings open six days in advance through the member portal.
§ 03 — Coaches
Strong people. Low ego.
Three coaches, all on the floor. No commission-paid sales staff, no PT slots to fight for. Your coach writes your programme and is in the room when you train.
Programming lead
Rory Field
Keeps training plans brutally effective and quietly sustainable, so members stick with them. Writes every twelve-week block.
Movement coach
Mina Okafor
Brings mobility and recovery into the real world, not just the warm-up poster on the wall. MSc Sport Science, Loughborough.
§ 04 — The floor
Four thousand feet. No mirrors.
Iron, wood, chalk, concrete. Daylight from the skylights. Filmable from any angle for technique review.
§ 05 — Your first week
Seven days. No mystery.
A trial isn't a single class. It's a coached week so you actually know what membership feels like before you commit.
Day 1
Intro & screen
Sit down with Asha. Movement screen, training history, what you're trying to actually do. Forty minutes, no upsell.
Days 2 – 3
Two coached classes
A Lift Club and an Engine Room. You meet two of the three coaches and the kind of members who train here.
Days 4 – 6
Open-gym access
A short programme written specifically for your trial week. Train solo, coach on the floor if you need a check.
Day 7
Decide
Sit down with Rory. He maps your first twelve-week block, or you walk. Either is fine. No contract until day eight.
§ 06 — Memberships
Join without the weird sales pitch.
Every membership starts with the coached intro week. No joining fee. Rolling monthly — no twelve-month trap.
Starter
£79 / mo
For people who want the room and the rack, with a coached anchor each week.
- · Open-gym access, 6am – 9pm
- · One coached class each week
- · Monthly progress check-in
Most members
Unlimited
£129 / mo
The default. Everything we run, all the time, with a personalised block every six weeks.
- · Unlimited Lift Club & Engine Room
- · Full open-gym access
- · Personalised block / 6 weeks
- · Mobility & recovery class
Performance
£189 / mo
For competing lifters and people training for an event. Hands-on coaching and event-specific programming.
- · Everything in Unlimited
- · Two 1:1 coaching slots / month
- · Competition or event prep
- · Annual InBody & movement screen
No joining fee. Memberships are rolling monthly — cancel any time with a calendar month's notice. First week is the coached trial.
§ 07 — Results
"I joined because I was tired of wandering commercial gyms pretending I had a plan.
Twelve weeks in, I added 35kg to my deadlift
and actually enjoy training now."
— Molly · Member since 2024
★★★★★
"The best thing here is the coaching. Small adjustments stop you feeling broken all week, and you still get stronger."
★★★★★
"I expected gym culture to be shouting and mirrors. This place is intense in the right way and welcoming in the useful way."
§ 08 — Book a trial
Come in for
a week.
Your trial is fully coached, end to end. One intro session with Asha, two coached classes, three days of programmed open gym, and a sit-down to decide. No salesperson, because we don't have one.
What it costs
£0 — coached week, no contract.
If you stay, membership starts on day eight. If you don't, we wish you well.