Bay Strength — Attraction in Berkeley

Increased my deadlift by 200lbs in 1 1/12 years! I love this gym; everyone is nice, equipment is good and available, and the coaches are great. I have been coming to Bay Strength for about 1 1/2 years working with Giacomo Pizzo. I’ve come a long way since when I first started.

When I started, I had very limiting lower back pain. I’d recently received a less than ideal medical diagnosis about the injury. I worried I was fated to follow the path of invasive surgery and opioids to manage the pain like I’d seen happen to people close to me. After some physical therapy and further research, I felt the next step to my recovery should be making strength training center stage.

I’d never done much powerlifting before. Katherine Bickford did my Learn to Lift sessions and reassured me I was doing the right thing, even though my lower back didn’t feel great in the beginning. She helped me find my entry points to training, which was at a very low weight- luckily Bay Strength makes any entry point accessible as they have plenty of 15lb bars. When I started in May 2021, deadlifting 35 lbs caused aches for a couple days; same with squatting 35 lbs.

This past week, I was able to deadlift 235 lbs and squat 200 with no pain. Throughout the process, Giacomo Pizzo wrote my programming and patiently showed me how to do everything. He is so kind, good natured, knowledgeable, and plays great music :).

When I had a couple set backs, he reassured me and helped me dial down the weight to keep going. Consistency and discipline with methodically tracking and increasing or decreasing the weight week to week paid off (also paying attention to protein intake and supplementing with creatine).

I can’t thank Giacomo, Katherine, and Bay Strength enough - getting my health back is priceless. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been and excited...

Want to feel good in your body? How about carry your groceries from the car in one trip? Or just feel the sleeves of your shirt tighten around your growing arms? Or maybe you’re just needing slight adjustments in your technique. Lifting can be intimidating (for many reasons), but Katherine and the Bay Strength team make it really accessible! Feeling like you can show up comfortably in your body and give it the exercise it needs matters. Training in an inclusive space matters, and Baystrength and its coaches intentionally curate a comfortable environment for you to be fully there so that you can get the most out of your training.

In designing a training program for you, Katherine and the Team invite you to contribute, whether you know exactly what you need or have no idea what an RPE or safety is. If you join one of the morning classes (especially the 6am class), Katherine makes it extra enjoyable, lighthearted, and totally worth waking up before the sun rises! In fact, she and the 6am classmates even make it worth crossing the Bay Bridge from San Francisco!

I trained with Katherine for about 13 months, and then moved much further from the gym. While I’m unable to attend in person anymore, Katherine offers programming and support to help me continue with my goals. You deserve to feel good in your body (and to carry your clothes or laundry in one trip), and Katherine and Baystrength might just be what you need to support you...

I came here as a new lifter with a background in endurance sports. I always knew that I needed to lift in order to advance in my other sports but I felt intimidated by going to a gym and just lift. I didn’t know anything about lifting technique, workout programming, or even how to setup the equipment. But then I found Bay Strength, I scheduled my learn to lift sessions and I was hooked. But the learning doesn’t stop there, on every regular session my coach was next to me making sure I understood the exercise, I did the proper technique and that I didn’t injure myself. They also take care of the programming and of keeping the gym bro vibes out of this place. It’s a special place where I feel welcomed and supported. It’s been a bit over a year since I joined and I’ve won first place in a couple of races, turns out lifting works very well 😄.

They have coached me through good times and injury times always keeping my wellbeing first. Huge shoutout to all the team at bay strength but specially to my coach, Kelly. She goes the extra mile to keep my multi sport needs in mind and has taught me a ton! From posture changes to mindset ones she has provided a fundamental part in my fitness journey and I’m very grateful for that.

Join us folks!...