2011 - Requirements for membership at TBB

I was just going over a few emails inquiring about membership and they mentioned the blog.   I guess that is an indication I need to keep up with it.

The emails I get basically all ask the same sort of ?s so I figured I'd just post the answers here and then refer people to the blog.

Tampa Barbell is NOT a commercial gym.   The way it works is I tell you about the gym and the training requirements.  If this sounds like something you are interested in,  I extend you a guest invite for a few weeks, and we all evaluate the situation.  At the end of a few weeks, it is pretty obvious to both sides if there is a fit.

Here are the requirements:   The gym is open 4 days per week and the team trains together.  There are sub-groups which have different goals depending on what phase of their training they are in, etc,  but everyone participates as a team.   The minimum required is attendance 3 of the 4 days.  Of course things crop up but that should be the exception, not the rule.   If you can't commit to this,  TBB is not the place for you.    Also,  we all compete,  even those of us with artificial parts.   Not interested in competing?  Just want to get stronger?  TBB is not the place for you.   We believe that the only way to truly know if you are stronger is to perform the lifts in competition in front of judges.

The team atmosphere has led to a lot of success. We currently have just over 20 lifters.   I will post up a picture of the record board,  but the top 5 squatters are all 900 or above,  the top 5 benchers are all 600 or above, and the top 5 deadlifters are all 700 or above.   In short,  there will be plenty of people stronger than you to push you to become better.

We compete in multiply meets.  We do a lot of raw training,  but meet preparation is always for geared meets.  There will be no exceptions to this rule anymore.   The training styles conflict too much.

Anyway, that is it in a nutshell.   Hope to see you in 2011.

-TF