Questions, Answered

Is strength training safe for a growing child?

Strength training can be appropriate for a growing athlete when it is properly coached and scaled to that child. We do not start by seeing how much weight they can lift. We start by teaching them how to control their body, hold good positions, and perform each movement correctly.

We can make an exercise challenging by slowing it down, adding a pause, improving the range of motion, or asking the athlete to maintain control before we ever add much weight. We also pay attention to growth spurts, soreness, sport practices, and competition demands. The goal is to build a stronger, more capable athlete without treating a growing child like a smaller version of an adult.

What makes Forge different from other gyms?

What a first-timer experiences at Forge happens in layers.

First, they notice the facility. Forge provides a state-of-the-art training environment built for strength training, conditioning, and mixed martial arts. People notice the mat area, the strength equipment, the power cable training area, and the overall look and feel of the gym.

Then they notice the people. Forge has a positive-minded culture and a harmony among the people who train here. Students, clients, and families are welcomed, seen, and appreciated. Great people attract other great people, and that creates an environment where people can work hard without the attitude or impersonality they may have experienced elsewhere.

Then the coaching takes center stage. Our coaches and staff genuinely care about the people who walk through the door. Students receive personal attention, detailed instruction, and corrections that help them understand what they are doing instead of simply being told to keep moving. Every student should leave having learned something new or improved something they already knew.

There is also integrity behind the martial arts being taught. These are not random fitness movements with martial arts names attached to them. The techniques, skills, and character traits developed at Forge are founded on decades of experience and a real teaching heritage. Every system taught at Forge traces through named teachers to the art's source. Coach Wil was trained and mentored by respected martial arts masters, and he passes the best of what they taught him to Forge's students.

Another gym can buy equipment or copy a class format. What it cannot honestly copy is this particular combination of culture, coaching, personal care, facility, experience, and martial arts lineage.