I get this question all of the time from potential members:
“Can you tell me a little about your gym?”
Well, there is no little bit. I’ll tell you all of it.
I never wanted to own a gym…period…no way. I was already getting ready to ride off in the sunset to a new adventure...
I had built, bought, and sold sports performance centers and healthcare facilities over the years. I coached biomechanics of movement and competed in lifting and coached all over the world. I was fortunate to be very successful in the sports and the business worlds and had no interest in another bricks and mortar responsibility.
I was storing, in a warehouse, equipment that I had won in competitions and accumulated over the years through my healthcare, coaching, and sports ventures. I was working out in the warehouse during the week and letting my friends work out with me.
My attorney called me one day. He told me that I could not continue to let my friends workout with me at the warehouse because of liability issues. He suggested that I open the gym to the public and let members pay for the monthly rent OR just work out at the warehouse by myself with Metallica, Van Halen, Journey, Def Leppard, and good ole Hank. The later sounded better to me!!
With much thought and dissection, I reluctantly opened a gym, better known now, throughout the world, as Poe’s Gym. People have visited from all over the world to set new PRs, to buy merch, to get coaching, to see a real iron gym, or merely to shake my hand. I am always humbled by someone purchasing merch with my name on a shirt, hat, sticker, etc. I am most humbled when they subscribe and inquire to my personal registered trademark of “Create Separation”. At the end of the day, I do not make our gym great. The members are the foundation for our great family and keep on the lights!
Hollywood and sports have also graced their presence at Poe’s Gym. Warner Brothers used our gym as an original location for national and international reality shows. Poe’s Gym “cannot be duplicated”, said Warner Brothers.
After several months of research to kick off a new sports show, ESPN packed up from New York to do a story on my lifting career, injury recovery, and the great members at Poe’s Gym. “We caught lightening in a bottle with Matt Poe and his gym to be our pilot show”, said lead producer, Marc Honan, of the ESPN show, Gymratts.
The documentary, Journeyman, was also shot at Poe’s Gym for an entire year and was a Los Angeles Film Awards Finalist. The film featured the life of professional wrestler, Francisco Ciatso.
I decided that Poe’s Gym would be limited to 100 members. My two main criteria are you have to have a job to be a member and you cannot be on steroids. To each their own and I definitely do not judge people if they are on the juice, but people won’t be gassed up in my gym.
I won a lot by not using drugs. I lost a lot by not using drugs. I have children, athletes, professionals in the community, and military personnel at this gym. The less exposure to the performance enhancement drug side of life, the more valuable Poe’s Gym and our property is for everyone.
Hence, the small percentage of America that can meet these two stipulations has a heck of a chance to be a part of our family. As result, as well, we are the nerdiest gym in America per capita with more PHD’s, Masters, MDs, Engineering Degrees, Professional Carpenters, Esqs, Musicians, Athletes of All Levels, and Special Operations and Special Forces Personnel. They all have one thing in common, passion.
Our logo probably screams powerlifters only and heavy weights, but Poe's Gym is almost the exact opposite. Although, we do have lifting enthusiasts and some of the best lifters in the world stop by Poe's Gym to lift, to hit a max, or merely buy a t-shirt.
Our gym is full of beginners as well as a handful of more advanced lifters. You can do anything you want in our iron throwback gym from Powerlifting, Olympic lifting, circuit training, strength training, muscular endurance, power, repeated power, hypertrophy, stand on your head, jump up and down, to dancing around on the floor, etc...
Most folks in our gym are really beginning to embark on learning all types of movements and are looking for a smaller gym to learn and /or advance their skill level. As said many times, "We are the Cheers of gyms".
The skinnier you are, looking to get bigger, and the bigger you are, looking to get skinnier, come on!
We run on average 75 people through our gym a day. We have 3-5 people on the hour starting at 4:30 am and most folks are gone by 9pm-10pm. Most afternoons from 5:30pm to 7pm we average about 10-12 folks in the gym. We have coaches who work clients every day. Most members stay and average of 3 to 4 years at Poe’s Gym.
Our Commodities are:
1. Matt Poe. I keep the idiots out of the gym for you.
2. We have excellent human beings as members.
3. Privacy.
4. Poe’s Gym is a special and most safe place for highly motivated women who have the ability or want to work out in an empty gym at times by themselves or be around several great people at other times.
5. You will not see people hanging out on the equipment, taking selfies, or shooting videos of their backsides! You will see people at work. You will not wait on machines or other equipment.
6. Our gym is rarely crowded and sometimes the gym has downtime where no one is in the gym.
7. We are not a group training facility. We are a throwback, black iron gym with open gym all day long.
I am a businessman, not a gym owner. I take very seriously protecting the preservation of our great members.
Lastly, you can come visit the gym, love the gym, like the vibe of the gym, hate the gym, but if I don’t think you are a good fit for Poe's Gym, I’ll be honest and tell you to be fair to both of us.
So, if what I have said is appealing to you, contact us to schedule a visit or a call with me.
Sincerely,
Matt Poe