Iron Throne describes itself as Vancouver's destination gym for powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman, and I would say they're pretty right! It's a small gym, but it has everything you'd need as a powerlifter (not so much as great for hypertrophy training).
The equipment is wonderful. There are four bench/squat rack stations, dumbbells ranging from 3 to 125lbs, plates ranging from 0.5 to 25kg, one rack of pound plates, chalking stations, two platforms, three deadlift platforms with deadlift jacks, and more. See my pictures! I will say, it's an adjustment going from pounds to kilograms but you get used to it! There are also so many bar clips! Basically more than enough for every station.
There's a really great speaker system where you can play music off their tablet or through your phone's Bluetooth. Choosing music is on a first come, first served basis though. Unless you ask around or are doing a personal record attempt.
They recently put in a snack machine to replace their fridge--filled with very affordable snacks, protein snacks, and drinks. There are cubbies to put your bags/jackets. There are two washrooms, both toilets equipped with bidets! They also provide feminine products, a weight scale machine, and air freshener.
Becoming a member was simple--I bought my membership on their website and then someone contacted me to get my key card set up. I only wanted to go to the gym at 5am, which was still no problem. They are able to set you up to open the gym door with your phone, and then you can pick up your key card at the office desk. The key card is a white credit card-sized card with a sticker label of the gym logo and your name.
The gym is 24/7 so you can fit a session in at anytime in your daily schedule. At 5am, the gym is pretty empty. I went once at a peak-ish time and it was pretty full. You may have to wait for someone to finish before you can start your set. Some people also play music way too loud for my liking--bring noise cancelling buds/headphones!
The gym has no AC for the summer but there are two large garage doors you can open with large industrial fans.
The biggest con to this gym is the price. Paying for one year at this gym is equivalent to paying for about 2.5 years at Fitness World. They also don't grandfather your original pay rate. If the price goes up, it goes up for everyone. But I'm lucky to have such a great local gym in Surrey! read more