Ben Deibert
October 19, 2017 08:51
I always tend to approach things with what I consider to be a healthy dose of skepticism, and such was the case when deciding to give War Horse a shot. My wife and I had recently moved to Philly, and I was in a rut of limited to no physical activity. I did some investigating of places in my neighborhood of Northern Liberties to try to change that, and I kept coming back to War Horse because of how positive the reviews were. I am happy to say that eight months later, with both my wife and I being active members, I can attest that it has lived up to the hype.
My experience at this gym began with an initial assessment with owner/trainer Chris of some very basic physical abilities. This lead to a two week trial of semi-private sessions with Chris in order to make sure this was a fit for me. The two week trial lead to two months of semi-private training sessions, after which I felt prepared to join the IGNITE group classes. I've always enjoyed team sports, but even when I was an athlete never enjoyed going to the gym. I now attend IGNITE classes five days a week whenever possible. Each day has a different focus, and exercises are always being varied so that the workouts don't become boring or routine. The support of the staff and your fellow gym members is one aspect of the community that is obvious from the beginning. Classes are relatively small (cap at 15 people), and you never feel lacking for individual attention. The trainers are incredibly focused on making sure everyone is training correctly, so as to not injure themselves, but also so that they can get the most out of every exercise. I joined the gym with a pre-existing lower back issue that bothers me occasionally, and I have always been offered alternative exercises if my back is bothering me. I'm happy to report, though, that I have seen a noticeable reduction in back pain since joining, which I attribute to being stronger than I have been in years, and in the best shape that I have been in since high school. Squats, deadlifts, and chin-ups were never part of any workout routine I felt comfortable with, but through deliberate practice focusing on technique, I can now accomplish all three.
War Horse has several fringe benefits as well. They have a partnership with Primal Supply Meat, a butcher specializing in locally sourced meats, and members can join the Butcher's Club to have meat delivered on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. They arrange occasional beer clubs at local breweries, because after all the time spent at the gym it's fun to just hang out and see people in "normal" clothes. They also have two of the sweetest pit bulls, Cameron and Emmitt, that happily greet everyone when they arrive. I've literally never belonged to a gym in my life, and I can't really picture my life in Philadelphia without this one. If you want to get strong, work hard, and make friends, this is the place to do it.