SoCal Powerlifting — Local services in Irvine

I was an open gym member in '19. And then a coached mem Feb '21-July '21. My original reasons for leaving in '19 centered around the rising cost of membership (~100/month open gym, blocked out of the 5pm-9pm training window mon-fri.Set to rise in cost), as well as noticing the gym was developing a clique-like environment.

In '21 I returned and signed up for coaching, excited to train for a powerlifting meet. To summarize: my coaching experience was 10/10, and I highly recommend Juan Sanchez if you can get coaching from him without signing up for a membership at this gym. Cost ~$230/month; 1 in person session per month.

The reason for my 1 star review: Throughout my training other coaches took it upon themselves to voice their opinions of how I trained (As a first time coached member, I definitely went off program for some fun PRs, which is within my right, although not advisable if you’re trying to utilize your coaching at 100%). After months of unsolicited feedback on social media and in person I took to instagram to set a boundary (without mentioning any one’s names, or the gym) that my training is my own, and I don’t want unsolicited comments or criticism from anyone other than the coach I pay. What resulted from that was every coach and dozens of members flocking to my social media to stalk and harass me for the next few weeks.

Within 1 day I was in comm. with the owner Zack B. In the texts exchanged I asked him to hold his coaches accountable, expressed the effect on my mental health, and made it clear this was inappropriate conduct. His response was victim blaming, he provided no solutions or promises to put a stop to the harassment from his employees.

Within 48 hours I received a cease and desist email/letter from his lawyer’s (Melissa G Fulgencio of Uplift Law - who is also a member of the gym) paralegal. In the letter they terminated my membership with no warning on the grounds that because I wanted the coaches at the gym to stop harassment, I was in violation of their contract since it would prevent their coaches from intervening in the event that I was injured at the gym or needed help. But the most infuriating part is that they used the detrimental effect the harassment had on my mental health as being in violation of the contract due to:

“ While SoCal clearly has within its agreement a clause requiring you to seek competent medical advice for the physically and mentally challenging environment, you have also agreed to and acknowledged that training at SoCal has its inherent risks of physical injuries or other damages. You agreed and affirmed that you do not suffer from any disability that would prevent or limit participation in physical activities at SoCal."

At the end of the letter they demanded: “You are hereby notified that SoCal has terminated your membership effective July 9, 2021. In effect, you will not be able to compete at SoCal’s upcoming August 7, 2021, powerlifting meet. Accordingly, SoCal, on behalf of Zack, demands that you: Immediately cease and desist in either initiating or maintaining communications with the employees at SoCal; Refrain from attributing SoCal as a place detrimental to your mental health; and Refrain from attending the SoCal powerlifting meet dated August 7, 2021.”* *UPSA DIDNT uphold this ban upon contact.

final statements:

1. SoCal PL has created an environment without boundaries between staff and members. In current and present cases where members have not been to the liking of staff, this resulted in harassment.
2. if you have any mental health issues, do not sign up here. Depression, anxiety, ptsd, etc. all of it will be a loophole for them to cancel your membership under their logic if you somehow demand accountability or to not be treated in unfair or negative ways.
3. while the equipment is amazing, and select coaches have amazing knowledge, the risk you take in signing up for a membership is not worth it. Expect to step in to a gym fueled by favoritism, bullying, disregard for anyone who doesn’t have a large social media following,...

10/10 recommend SoCal Powerlifting if you want to get WAY stronger. I started my powerlifting journey with SoCal Powerlifting in early July of 2024 as a 60kg lifter working with Coach Mike. I competed in Olympic Weightlifting for 6-years & wanted to switch to powerlifting to just focus on getting stronger. Coach Mike has been amazing at helping me get WAY stronger, I’m honestly surprising myself. He’s also been so patient and helpful in working with me to adjust my technique from Oly lifting to Powerlifting. All my 1:1 sessions with him have been so thorough and helped immensely with technique getting dialed in & things clicking in my brain. Beyond that, Coach Mike really goes above & beyond. If I’m ever there in the gym when he is he always comes by to say hi, is available for a spot, and will provide some extra helpful feedback. He also has gone out of his way to connect with me on a personal level which I appreciate & always feel like that makes for a great coaching / athlete relationship. He reminds me to take care of myself & be kind to myself which I need to hear sometimes. He also hosts office hours (once a month I think) for 2 hours late Saturday mornings. Which is a great opportunity to get more direct support from him & make friend with his other athletes. Lastly, I’m able to submit videos of all my lifts through their training app & he always provides prompt feedback. I’m writing this mid September & am already surpassing some of my 6-month goals after just a couple months with them. One goal I already surpassed is I really wanted to hit a 200lb back squat, last week I hit 92.5kg/203.5lbs for 2 reps! It was easier than I thought it would be too. I’m very excited to see what my one rep max will be. Last week I also hit 110kg/242lbs for 2 reps on deadlift, this was another BIG PR for me & moved much easier than I thought it would. I set a 6-month goal of a 250lb deadlift and I have a feeling I’m going to hit that soon. I haven’t attempted any PR’s in bench yet, but my technique has been getting dialed in & I’ve been feeling much stronger. Overall I’m super proud of myself & impressed with SoCal Powerlifting for helping me get so strong. In weightlifting I was hitting a plateau where I was barely getting stronger, so to get this much stronger so fast is an incredible feeling & a testament to how good their coaching is. Besides the coaching with Mike being amazing, I also really love the gym. They have great equipment & they keep it clean. Additionally it’s a fun environment to be around a bunch of other people lifting heavy, very inspiring! I’ve also had many positive interactions with the rest of the team at SoCal Powerlifting. They had a social hangout just this past weekend where we all got to lift, eat tacos and hang. It was fun getting to meet more people & they definitely have a good community and vibe going on. The owner, Zack, is so friendly & helpful. Coach Tim has also been very kind & helpful. I went to college with Coach Kyle at CSUF & it made me so happy to see a familiar face in the gym. He’s always so nice & a pleasure to talk to. I appreciate Coach John sending check in messages to see how I’m liking everything. You can tell they truly care about you as an athlete. Lastly, unfortunately, I have to end my 6-month contract with them early as I got an exciting new job opportunity & am moving out of the country. Coach Alex has been super helpful during this process. I appreciate that they follow their policies stated in their contract & they’ve made this transition very smooth and easy for me. I will definitely miss lifting here & know if I ever come back I’ll always have a gym home in SoCal. I will definitely make sure to update this review with my final PR’s with them before I leave. So if you’re thinking about joining SoCal Powerlifting whether you want to compete or you just want to get stronger, take this as your sign to go for it! Getting stronger is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself, your confidence, and quality of life. You’ll be in...

So let me preface this by saying I was a monthly member of this gym for about two years in total. I've seen the gym go from having 10 combo racks with only four being "usable" so to speak to having all 10 combo racks being adequate.

This gym suffers from several issues, but I'll discuss some positives first.

The first positive is the location. This is basically the only Powerlifting Gym in Irvine, so if you reside in South OC, this will be your only option in a small radius.

The second positive is the abundance of equipment. Particularly, there is absolutely no issue with plates as there is more than enough for even a full house.

The third is the 24/7 access, though I will later get into why it's not exactly "24/7" for those trying to use it exclusively as a training facility.

Lastly, the parking lot is great. It's quite large, stretches far, and has no restrictions set on it.

However, it'd be remiss of me to not mention the glaring faults I've experienced.

The first is much of the equipment is not in great condition. The platforms the combo racks are on all use mats to support you/the rack/bench. The issue is these mats are all in poor condition. Walking out a heavy squat, you will feel your feet sink into the mat and it will be a terrifying experience.

The second issue is the bars, with perhaps one exception, have very little knurling. Definitely far better than any Commercial gym barbells, but not what you'd expect from a Powerlifting gym.

Third, there isn't really anywhere left to Deadlift that hasn't been worn down (due to the high foot traffic over the years). While there are two dedicated Deadlift platforms, the mats are incredibly bouncy and so it makes any Deadlift past a single rep incredibly awkward. Beyond that, you could Deadlift in front of the Cage racks. Issue there is they've seen so much wear & tear that they're incredibly uneven and Deadlifting there is a challenge.

Fourth is the "24/7" access. For those like me who already have a coach and just need a training facility, good luck training here around your school/work schedule. Hours of 4-8PM on Weekdays are closed off to you, and before 12PM on Weekends is also prohibited.

Possibly most important of all grievances on this list, the gym - and Zack in particular - is not very well receptive to criticism. I've always been quite vocal about my issues with the gym and I've been reprimanded for voicing said grievances time and time again.

To expand on that, just this weekend I was informed by Zack that I was banned for, "making others uncomfortable". Though I was polite and acquiesced to his request of never training at SoCal again (mind you, I have trained at most once a month there in the past six months now), I was inquisitive as to what exactly I did to make others uncomfortable. Unfortunately, Zack did not seem keen on informing me of what it was I did which forced me to assume several options, none of which being positive.

After waiting 24 hours for a response from Zack, I reached out with a quick follow up message in case he'd forgotten. The response I received was that he'd respectfully like to move on. When I told him there was nothing respectful about his handling of the situation and that all I wanted was a simple answer as to how I'd made others uncomfortable (an accusation I take very seriously), he decided to block me. I decided to reach out to the General Manager instead. He was able to inform me of what I did. According to him, verbatim, the issue was as such:

"Unfortunately we had a few members who have overheard some pretty negative comments from you while training here that made them uncomfortable, and one who said they would not be continuing their membership due to this."

Due to the fact that I have no desire to infringe on the privacy of these "members", I cannot say with any certainty exactly if it was me training at the gym, or my criticisms (all of which are factually true) of the gym that caused them to reconsider their membership(s) at the gym. Be advised if considering...