Grinder Gym San Diego — Attraction in San Diego

I discovered Grinder Gym about a year ago, and it is easily my favorite gym that I've been to. Due to family/work/commute reasons, I still mostly workout in my home gym and supplement with trips to Grinder, especially when prepping for a competition, but I wish I could workout here regularly. They do offer a nice option for people in a similar situation to me by selling 10-packs of day passes rather than requiring a regular membership.

Despite my very part-time status at Grinder, I've found the community extremely welcoming, including showing me around the gym when I was new, giving training advice, and making friends (not least of whom is Rogue, the sweetest gym dog you'll ever meet).

My focus at Grinder has primarily been strongman, and I certainly don't know of any other gym in San Diego that comes close in terms of community and equipment. Besides strongman, I've also seen plenty of powerlifting, bodybuilding, and general fitness.

There is a substantial amount of equipment at Grinder (I surely haven't used and couldn't name all of it), split between both large indoor and outdoor training areas, which give the gym a great atmosphere overall. To highlight some of the equipment:

A huge selection of bars, including power bars, deadlift bars, squat bars, and weightlifting bars, as well as an ample variety of specialty bars including: axle, SSB, spider bar, swiss bar, bamboo bar, and trap bar (plus others I'm forgetting). A large selection of power racks (indoors and outdoors) as well as monolifts and competition benches. A huge amount of standard cast iron plates plus a smaller inventory of calibrated kilo plates. A wide variety of dumbbells and kettlebells. Tons of machines. Most importantly, lots of awesome strongman stuff: Logs, circus dumbbells, yokes, frames, farmers handles, wagon wheel plates, silver dollar deadlift apparatus, kegs, sleds, metal Husafell replica, Conan's circle, sandbags, and a huge variety of atlas stones (all the way up to 500lbs plus four different loading platform heights available).

Beyond training at Grinder, I have also done two competitions so far (a powerlifting competition last July and Static Monsters last October) along with a strongman competition coming up in April. Both competitions have been a lot of fun for me and very well run, and I am quite excited to continue doing them in future. There is a good sense of camaraderie with everyone cheering each other on, and even giving advice to one another. At Static Monsters, I actually got technique advice from one of the spotters after failing my second log attempt that enabled me to get it on my third attempt.

Lastly, I have done a couple of one-on-one training sessions at Grinder for specific lifts:

Dave (owner of the gym) provided a coaching session on atlas stone lifting, including the use of tacky. This is one of those strongman lifts that is difficult to figure out completely on your own, and our training session was invaluable for getting me up to speed on stone lifting and also a lot of fun. We managed to get in a few reps of a 330lbs stone by the end of the session, which is honestly more than I was expecting and really exciting for me personally after having watched pro strongmen lift atlas stones so many times. Shane, a strongman coach and active member of the strongman community at Grinder, provided a coaching session on circus dumbbell clean and press. While I had a handful of training sessions with the circus DB already, I was really struggling to figure out a good technique, especially with this being on of the most technique-dependent events in strongman. During my session with Shane, I quickly set a 15lbs personal best, and equally importantly feel a lot more confident in my training going forward. I think I've been given the foundation to continue pushing past the personal best set during...

If you want results, this is the place. I've trained at a lot of gyms during my powerlifting career and I'll say this -- you may find bigger, shinier, fancier places out there, but you will not find the knowledge, expertise and experience elsewhere, period. You won't find that clubhouse feel elsewhere in San Diego, period. Dave DePew is one of the most respected trainers in southern California for a reason. When I walked into this gym on day one, it was Dave who greeted me, Dave who signed me up, and it's Dave who chats with me each and every time I go in about what I'm doing, where I'm headed with my goals, and how to achieve them faster. I've been coaching athletes for a long time and ran a competitive powerlifting team. I am a Level 2 CrossFit trainer, certified in powerlifting, strongman and olympic weightlifting by various organizations including USA Weightlifting and USPA. Dave takes me to school on my knowledge regularly. If you enter this gym with a goal and an open mind, you'll get all the help you need and most likely walk away with your goals and others checked off your list, and more goals to keep working on.

Grinder's staff is great as well -- these guys are handpicked by the man himself, so they meet and exceed Dave's high standards. The energy in the group classes is through the roof. As I said, I've been in a lot of gyms -- CF gyms especially, and have not seen camaraderie like Grinder has anywhere else.

Whether you're into group fitness, weight loss, arm wrestling, bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman, or just a good place to go put some work in, you won't find better...

I had the pleasure of joining Grinder Gym in San Diego, and it has been AWESOME. This gym stands out not just for its comprehensive strength-focused facilities but also for its warm, inclusive, motivating community. It's a rare find—a safe, non-judgmental space where everyone, beginners and elite athletes alike, feels welcome.

The heart and soul of Grinder Gym, owner Dave DePew, is a testament to the gym's ethos. Dave is one of the most kind-hearted, knowledgeable, and helpful individuals I've ever encountered. His passion for fitness, strength sports and dedication to his members' well-being is evident in every interaction. Moreover, all the trainers here are experts in their fields, always ready to guide, motivate, and inspire.

Being around super strong athletes and individuals at Grinder Gym is incredibly motivating; their strength and dedication push me to strive for my best. It’s also hard to slack off when everyone else is working so hard.

The gym boasts an extensive array of equipment, ensuring that you never have to wait your turn or compromise on your workout routine. Everyone puts their equipment away. People are very respectful of the space, which for me has always been a pet peeve at other gyms.

I wholeheartedly recommend Grinder Gym to anyone looking to improve their strength and or fitness, find a genuinely welcoming community, gain education and insights from a seasoned expert like Dave DePew, and enjoy a spacious gym environment without the typical crowds. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced athlete, Grinder Gym has something...