Boss Barbell Club

Came as a drop-in (I’m not local) and wish I had a gym just like this where I live: the crowd is the absolute best — super-supportive, friendly, and highly experienced.

(And there’s plenty of parking 😆)

This is the best gym in the bay area.

A family run gym by the multiple world record powerlifter Dan Green and his wife Sparkle, this place is your cure to corporate fitness. Eleiko barbells, Ivanko plates, Rogue bumpers, EliteFTS machines, racks, and monolifts, SBD wraps-- this gym has the highest quality of equipment you can get and all of it is available for everyone.

Close to Stanford and Palo Alto and the general Silicon Valley area this gym is not oversubscribed like way too many businesses in the area. Going in the mornings or early afternoons I have never once waited for any equipment. Evenings are more busy; the Google "how busy is it" estimator has a good representation of daily variation in my experience. This is not only a place for elite powerlifters either; you will find every type of lifter across every skill level and personal background, from olympic lifters, to older people seeking general fitness, to athletes looking for accommodation for their own sport's specialties.

You have access to everything from piles of resistance bands, grip chalk, olympic weightlifting bars, gymnastics rings, scores of weightlifting belts, wrist wraps, lifting straps, chains, climbing ropes, wheels, rollers, knee wrap tighteners, piles of supplements, cardio machines, plate loaded bodybuilding machines, dozens upon dozens of top of the line barbells and barbell variants, squat yoke bars, kabuki bench bars, trap bars, piles of dumbbells going up to weights that are almost puzzlingly high, heaps of bench bar variations, and hundreds upon hundreds of other things I have absolutely no idea how to use but that Dan will happily explain to you with a sly smile on his face if he is around. Oh, and he will be around. Dan who has a lifetime of high performance lifting experience and many other accomplished lifters are regulars and you will see them and you will learn from seeing how they work on themselves. I have learned more about keeping myself fit in my months at Boss Barbell than maybe all of my time before I started.

All of that is to say: Boss Barbell quite literally has everything you need to become the strongest person in the world. That isn't just true for men either. Many of the strongest lifters and current record holders at Boss are women. This is a place that isn't just the best in the area, it's a place I feel lucky exists and that I am fortunate to belong to. Before I signed up to Boss I spent a little more than a month driving around to all sorts of different gyms in the peninsula and I can say there just isn't one that even comes as close to being as good as this. Sparkle keeps the entire facility from the weight room to the kitchen and lounge in excellent running condition and it's simply a quite nice pleasant place to spend your time. My workouts have started taking longer and longer because I just like spending time here.

Dan Green is one of the best lifters in the world. Everyone who follows lifting even a little bit knows that. However, what people might not know is that he and his wife also run an amazing gym, which caters to anyone from novice lifters to the most advanced lifters in the world.

First off, the equipment is amazing. The amount of high quality barbells and specialty bars and machines they have is unlike anything I've ever seen before. So in addition to having lots to choose from, you also never need to wait to use a rack, since there are plenty of those, too.

Second, the people are great. Yes, many of the people at the gym are incredibly strong. But it doesn't mean they aren't nice and willing to spot, etc. They are also all just friendly and nice people to be around.

Finally, the gym is just simply a great place to be. When I first joined, I was admittedly a little self conscious lifting there, given the caliber of the other lifters, not to mention, being around Dan himself. It is not every day you are around someone who is arguably the greatest in the world at what you are trying to get better at. But I quickly felt welcomed, part of the community, and just love going there.

There are guest passes, monthly passes, 24/7 VIP passes...

If you are looking for a place to train in the South Bay, I could not recommend BBBC more highly.

Wow. Seasoned champion lifter Dan Green runs a huge, downright luxurious (with big, single user showers, large kitchen w/fridge and lounge w/TV) iron temple for those who love weight training. I’m a fan of the garage-y vibe. Good for short term visits, 24 hr access available, and you get your money’s worth for sure.

Was a member there for 3 months. Great place for beginners to pros. Probably can find all the equipment used in the gym. Special shout-out to Jake for amazing tour and helping whenever required.
Friendly people. Bathrooms to shower. Living room to rest. Free protein powder (inside the gym, not sure if it's still going on). Dog friendly. What not. Just try it up.