LINK nky 2025 readers’ choice for best gym is a specialized private facility designed for those serious about staying or getting strong and fit. Started by two power lifters looking for a space to workout, RiverCity Barbell offers 24-7 access to members and features two fully equipped rooms – one devoted to power lifters, the other to strongmen.
The gym is housed in an unassuming warehouse building on 2nd Avenue close to Dayton’s riverfront. Once inside the facility, however, it is clear why it attracts competitive athletes from around the region and beyond.
Although the membership includes elite athletes, competitive power lifters and strongmen, co-owner Zac Whalen said there are members on all levels. What all the members have in common, he said, is a serious commitment to working hard and making progress in their training and fitness goals.
Filling a need
Whalen and his friend Jim Phillips were competitive power lifters and training partners. When they could not find a facility with the equipment and atmosphere they needed, they created their own workout space. Word spread, and other lifters and athletes asked if they could join them.
“We competed in power lifting at the time, and there weren’t a lot of gyms around that really specialized in that. Commercial gyms didn’t really want us. So we started out of a two-car garage and never really had any aspirations of building a gym business. We just wanted a training space,” Whalen said.
“But, over time, we were building in more people and more equipment, and we shuffled around to bigger and bigger spaces. Then finally we ended up in the Dayton location where we are now…It was just kind of a happy accident. We’ve had some really good support from people over the years and continued interest. We fill a niche that a lot of the commercial gyms don’t cater to.”
Finding community
Power lifting is a competitive sport involving three main lifts: the squat, the bench press and the dead lift, Whalen explained. A competitor’s score is the sum of the highest weights lifted in each of the three lifts. Competition is divided into weight classes, sex and age to create an even competition among peers.
The facility started in 2012 primarily as a place for competitive power lifters but has evolved quite a bit over the years, Whalen said.
“We still have some power lifters and still have some really super high-level athletes that come in, but we’re now more of a community-based strength training facility where most everybody is serious in their pursuits…We get a lot of track athletes or body builders or CrossFit athletes or strong men and women who just want a really nice facility to train,” he said.
When Jim Phillips died in 2022, his wife Nicole took over as co-owner to continue her husband’s legacy. She said the place can seem daunting at first, but it really is a friendly, supportive environment.
“It can be a very intimidating place, seeing people lift heavy weights if you are not a extremely strong person or a power lifter, such as myself. I am neither of those. People need to come in and just see that there are people of every caliber in that building, and they are actually some of the nicest people that you’ll meet…They’re helpful, so don’t be intimidated,” she said.
Private club vs commercial gym
One big difference between RiverCity Barbell and commercial gyms is access. Members pay a flat monthly fee that includes access to coaching. Members get a pass code they can use to enter the building, open 24-7. One of the best things, said Whalen, is there are no long lines for equipment.
“We’ve got maybe two or three times the amount of free weights that a lot of the commercial gyms have. About a third of the people in there at any given time are waiting in line for the equipment, fighting the big rush-hour crowds… Here, you get right in and get on the equipment, get your workout in.”
The 24-hour access is also a big draw, especially for those now working from home or those on different work shifts.
“We’re fortunate to be able to provide that. We’ve got Dayton police officers who will come in at 3 a.m. They’ll get a workout in when they’re on lunch break during their shift. Or, people who are 5 a.m. diehards that can only do that time because they have a full-time job they have get to, and everything in between,” said Whalen.
The gym typically has between 75 and 100 members. The day-to-day business is handled online, and the facility is not staffed with a front desk like a commercial gym. Whalen said he meets with members personally, and there are three coaches listed on the website available to help members.
The strongman building
RiverCity Barbell added a second space devoted to those training for strongmen and strongwomen competitions.
The space is home to the Iron Asylum Strongman team founded in 2015. The website lists Lee Woody, as head coach. A seasoned competitor who earned pro status in 2016, he is known as one of the top strongman coaches in the area.
A strongman competition is a strength-testing event where athletes compete in a variety of challenging tasks to be named “strongest man” or “strongest woman.” Competitors participate in events including pulling heavy vehicles, lifting and loading Atlas stones, pressing logs overhead, and performing farmer’s walks (walking while carrying heavy weights). Athletes are awarded points for their performance in each event, and the highest total score wins.
Community strength at RiverCity Barbell
When asked about the readers choice win, Whalen said he thinks it is because the community aspect is so strong at RiverCity Barbell.
“Unlike the commercial gyms, we try to cater to folks that you’d like to know and make friends with…We run power lifting meets, so three times a year we put together a big competition. We draw people from all over the country. We’ve got our little core of members who help us out at the meets. It’s kind of like a big bake sale — we use a lot of the revenue to buy equipment or upgrade; we put it back into the gym,” he said.
He said the friendships formed at the gym and around hosting the competitions helps members see the gym as their own. RiverCity Barbell has built a community of support among members, competitors and others in the community, he said.
“I’d say the big thing that we always get asked is do you have to be a certain level to come in and start to train with us? And the answer is no. A lot of our members, even the super strong, super advanced lifters came in at a lower point…then they built their skill set over the years…You don’t have to have any prior experience. You don’t have to be a super high caliber lifter,” Whalen said.
He invited people looking for a place to work out in a friendly community atmosphere and no long lines to use the equipment, to check out RiverCity Barbell.
For more information see the RiverCity Barbell website or email RiverCityBarbell@gmail.com to make an appointment.