SNS Strength Williamsburg — Local services in New York

For my 35th birthday I decided that I'd give myself the gift of a personal trainer to start paying more active attention to fitness as I drifted towards middle age. I had no idea what I wanted to do, other than not a lot of cardio (too boring). I took a look at the gyms in my neighborhood and found SNS and decided that lifting seemed as good as anything else, so I signed up for a consultation with Joe.

I have to admit that I was pretty intimidated at first as a complete beginner at what (it turns out) is a gym full of absolutely elite lifters and coaches, but that was rapidly put to ease. Joe took me from a total novice whose only goal was "to do something with my body other than sit on the couch" and couldn't even do a body weight squat (horrible range of motion!) to a barbell convert currently outfitting my own home gym!

The gym itself is full of top quality equipment for both power and olympic lifting, as well as all of the typical resources you'd expect for accessories. The community of lifters here are serious, courteous and treat the space and each other with immense respect. I love the 24 hour access option, especially with my strange work schedule. Finally, I have found the management to be extremely responsive to any issues that have come up.

Deciding to work out at SNS ended up being one of those decisions that seemed so tiny at the time but had an incredible impact on my life for the better. If you're a serious lifter you probably already know about it, and if you're interested in getting started from zero you'll be thankful...

This is the best gym in NYC! My husband and I found this gym because we lived nearby and were interested in power lifting. At first I thought the atmosphere would be intimidating for a beginner like me, but nothing could be further from the truth. This gym has a true community. Everyone is welcoming and encouraging, regardless of your level of experience. As a woman, I was particularly encouraged to see how many other women train at SNS since gyms like this are often very male-dominated spaces. The athletes who train here are true inspirations!

The real highlight of this gym is Coach Joe, who also owns and manages the gym as well as providing personal training services. My husband and I both work with him for personal training and customized programming. Joe primarily coaches competitive athletes, but is equally as adept at coaching “gen pop” beginners like us. He has incredibly high level and nuanced understanding of lifting technique, but is able to break it down and explain it in simple and understandable terms, even if you are brand new to the barbell. He is kind, encouraging, approachable, and fun to work with. He meets the lifter where they are and can easily identify what to prioritize so the lifter makes rapid progress but does not become overwhelmed. It is not an exaggeration to say that finding SNS and working with Joe changed my life for the better. I cannot recommend Joe’s coaching and...

I was a member when this place first opened in 2020 and left after a year due to lack of equipment and hygiene. Let alone the people that were in it. Never expected to have the experience of getting nasty looks for playing Hip Hop/Rap in this gym. If it wasn’t for how sensitive the people in this gym are, something would have been said earlier. Nothing but grown men with sensitive egos. I left and came back 4 years later with the expectations of improvements. I found dirtier equipment, Equipment that hasn’t been managed, Water filters that haven’t been changed in about a year (and trust me it wasn’t. I had to constantly bring my own water). Urine all over the seats and floors (most of the members are adults which is strange to say that some need potty training). You can’t even have a proper leg workout. Machines are scattered between the Williamsburg and Bushwick location, kid you not, I had to go from one gym to the next to finish a training session. And the members of the gym… I thought it was a suppose to be a gym, not a high school. After 4 years things remained the same, maybe a tad worse. Glad a majority of my friends left. So did I. Never coming back. There’s better gyms out there for a better price. Also, saying getting reviewed bombed by those who got kicked out? Negative. Not once was a rule broken. I just left because the...