Bodymass Gym — Local services in Arlington

I've been attending Bodymass Small Group Build classes for over 5 years. Without a doubt, it's the best fitness and weight training program I've ever tried and the one that I've stuck to the longest.

If you're like me, when I was first starting at Bodymass it had been several years since I had done any serious weight training or conditioning. I wasn't confident in my lifting form and after multiple failed attempts at using fitness apps or programs from the Internet I decided to give the trainer-lead Small Group classes at Bodymass a try. I'm in the best shape I've been in years and very happy with my results.

The trainers at Bodymass are all very friendly, approachable, and provide high-quality instruction. They are knowledgeable, happy to answer any questions, and will meet you where you are in your fitness journey. All experience levels are made to feel welcome.

In my opinion, the programming at Bodymass is very well designed. In Build, the programs and routines are changed up each month so new lifts are rotated in and out. You never get a chance to plateau with certain muscle groups, because you're always challenging different ones each month. You also get to learn and improve a variety of different lifts over time instead of focusing on a small handful. The exercises at the beginning half of each class also help to reinforce good form and warm up for the heavier lifts during the second half.

If you live in or near Arlington or DC and are tired of trying to kickstart your fitness resolutions each year at the inflexible, corporate-run big name gym chains, I encourage you to try out the locally grown Bodymass Gym. They will help keep you on track and achieve your fitness goals. Life in the DC area is often too hectic to devote much time into trying to plan and learn an effective fitness routine. Let the team of trainers and professionals at Bodymass take care of the planning for you without breaking the bank. Show up, put in the effort, be consistent and you will see...

Great gym with a great fitness philosophy/methodology. It is apparent that they put a lot of thought into their programs. They offer three main programs: Build, Blast, and Burn.

Build: Strength training focused on "the big lifts". The class begins with a warm-up and accessory exercises to compliment the big lift of the day (bench, squat, deadlift, shoulder-press). It's all very well put together and really helps develop the lift. There is no HIIT in these classes, but the pace does elevate the heart rate and provide some cardio benefit. They work on 4-week cycles and each cycle uses some variation of the big lifts to keep it fresh.

Blast: This is Bodymass's HIIT workout. It's not the most challenging HIIT class out there but it allows room for variation if you want more or less of a challenge. I was always able get a quality workout. Like "build" it's well thought out and serves to compliment other lifts and produces a result greater than the sum of it's parts.

Burn: A 30-minute cardio session. Can be a very challenging explosion of cardio output. Because of the fast pace of the class the quality of the session is more dependent on the trainer running it than their other offerings. Sign up for Virginia's classes for some of the best-run cardio workouts in the area.

Bodymass incorporates a great deal of evidence-based methodology in their programs. They also offer DEXA scans, RMR tesing, body composition challenges, and individual training. It was really cool to get DEXA scans before and after 6 intensive months of lifting. I subjectively felt I made progress, and also saw my results quantitatively. Would definitely...

*2021 Update - still a member and still immensely grateful for this incredible gym and trainers. Bodymass has done a phenomenal job pivoting in the face of the pandemic, and is poised to rise like a phoenix from the ashes!

If you just want to move your body and sweat, you can go to any flavor of the week "gym" to splat and WOD it up with your bros -- or be gawked at by the bros. You could also just light a bag of money on fire and achieve essentially the same outcome.

Or, you could invest in yourself and change your life at Bodymass.

Two years in to partaking in their "small group classes", I can, with a clear conscious, say this place is the best (the quotes around small group classes is because it's more like personal training that doesn't feel like personal training when you pay your credit card bill). The work put in at Bodymass pays dividends outside of the gym - more focus to make each day more productive and physically stronger in all of my other sports and just in life.

Primarily strength training, every four weeks a new program begins that builds on the previous. Crafted to be useful for all abilities from the person who has never picked up a dumbbell to the pro power lifter, no one should ever say, "ooooo weight lifting isn't for me". The HIIT classes are 30 minutes of heavenly hell that really kick things up a notch. Nutritional coaching, body composition monitoring, and in-house physical therapists that ACTUALLY get your problems fixed rounds out their offerings and majorly sets them apart.

Check out Bodymass, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain - speaking...