We have coached hundreds of people of all ages, levels of experience and health limitations to lift with barbells.
Intros cost $150 and we will walk you through everything you need to know to get strong. Learn how to squat, deadlift, press and bench press in a personalized 60 minute class. Intros are taught in our Costa Mesa gym.
Why Get Strong?
Our 60 minute class is limited to a few lifters that work with an experienced strength coach.
At our Intro, our coaches will explain the basics of resistance training, and then begin to teach you all the steps of a bodyweight squat, making sure you understand the mechanics before adding a barbell. We will then repeat this learning process by showing you how to perform a press, bench press and deadlift.
Afterwards, we will also answer questions about how to get stronger, how to gain or lose weight, and how to practically incorporate lifting weights into your life.
Of course, most importantly, we will coach you throughout each exercise, providing feedback and explaining exactly what you need to do to perform the exercises safely with the correct form.
We believe everyone should know how to squat, press and deadlift. These exercises are basic human movements that improve your strength, your health and will make you feel better in day to day life.
Training with barbells can be intimidating – we know – we’ve trained many, many people how to do it. But we will make sure you do it correctly in an environment you are comfortable in. These lifts will work out your entire body. Your legs, glutes, back, trunk, shoulders, and arms.
Our clients have wanted to get stronger for all sorts of reasons – maybe they’re starting to feel back pain sitting in an office chair. Some want to improve their athletic performance. Some just want to be able to hold their grandchildren without feeling tired.
Specifically, we will teach you:
How to squat
The squat is an important exercise in the program and is performed three times per week. Squatting will help you strengthen your lower body – the back, posterior chain and legs. It helps build muscle mass, improves bone density and improves tendon strength. It is challenging to perform but we can help just about everyone learn to squat properly.
How to press & bench press
A press is performed while standing, where a bar is held at the shoulders and lifted overhead. A bench press is performed while lying flat on a bench, where a bar is lowered to the chest and then pressed upward. These exercises help build strength in the chest, shoulders and arms.
How to deadlift
The deadlift is a full body exercise that dramatically improves back, leg, posterior, and grip strength. A strong back is a healthy back and one that’s less prone to injury from the variables of day-to-day life. Pick the bar up, set the bar down while our coaches ensure the safe and effective execution of this critically important exercise.
How to achieve your strength goals
Our coaches will work with you to understand your individual goals and help you understand where to start, how to progress and what to expect as your training continues.
We take the guesswork out of how to get strong, and you’ll be able to see measurable progress as you get stronger from workout to workout.
Common Questions
Your Intros are scheduled for 60 minutes. Am I really going to be lifting weights for an hour without a break?
Many of our students worry that we will have them doing weight circuit training for an hour straight. This is not the case and our coaches will provide a comprehensive class which involves some lecture, demonstration, performance of all the lifts and some rest in-between sets of exercises.
All of our students are capable of finishing the exercises safely.
I have lifted before, do I need to take this Intro before Group Classes?
You can email us or chat with us for more details, but generally we recommend that almost all new lifters in our gym take an Intro with us before training in a group. The 1 on 1 time helps us assess how we will plan out your coaching.
I am nervous about strength training in a group setting. What should I expect?
We chose to teach in a class setting because we think that new lifters can learn a lot from watching others improve while being coached. A lot of class time is spent resting for the next set, and watching other people’s lifts is a good use of your down time! Our gym has people of all ages and abilities and we believe that we attract clients that are friendly and encouraging to each other. Our coaches are also always there for you to make sure you are comfortable and safe.
(Women) Will lifting weights make me big and muscular?
This is a common misconception but becoming big and muscular is very, very difficult to do for women because of the hormonal differences between men and women. Lifting barbells will not turn a lady into muscled figure, but is great for weight loss and getting stronger.
How is Strength Co different from Crossfit, Orangetheory, fitness bootcamps, etc?
Most exercise classes typically consist of random activities that are designed to make you sweaty and feel good about being tired afterward. That is better than no exercise at all but we think that barbell training reliably and specifically makes every lifter stronger. Being stronger helps prevent injury, is good for your mental and physical health and improves general quality of life.
What if I’m overweight? Untrained? An elite athlete? Male? Female? Young? Old?
We have trained hundreds of young, old, sedentary, overweight, underweight, untrained, and elite athletes to become stronger.
I’m injured, can’t squat, or have some other limitation. Can you help?
Usually! Preventing re-injury or rehabbing an injury is a common reason to start strength training. Send us a message and explain your situation. We can usually get you lifting right away with only minor changes to the exercises.
Do you have any member testimonials?
Sure, below we have some videos of our members discuss how training with us has helped them.
Meet our coaches
Brayden Wilson
General Manager, The Strength Co. Costa Mesa
Brayden found The Strength Co. after wasting lots of time in the gym without a plan. After trying countless workout routines, he realized he was not achieving his primary goal: strength.
He joined The Strength Co. in 2019 and began a structured strength training program called Starting Strength. In a very short amount of time Brayden not only achieved his goal of gaining strength, but he also fell in love with the process of getting stronger.
Soon after beginning his lifting career, Brayden found that he enjoyed coaching others to get strong just as much as he enjoyed doing it himself.
As his parents entered their 60s, he knew that resistance training would be crucial for their health and longevity as they age. They became his first clients and Brayden’s coaching career took off from there.
Brayden joined The Strength Co. as an apprentice in 2020 and immediately began improving his coaching craft under the tutelage of Starting Strength Coaches.
In the fall of 2021, Brayden obtained his Starting Strength Coach certification and began coaching at The Strength Co. full time.
In January of 2023 Brayden became the General Manager of the Costa Mesa location. He coaches group classes as well as 1:1s and both barbell clinics and camps.
He has never stopped lifting, and is now a competitive powerlifter in the USAPL, achieving a 480 squat, 275 pound bench press, and 600 pound deadlift.
Jeff Hairston
Coach Jeff is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and instructor at the renown Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy in Costa Mesa, CA. While looking for a way to become bigger and stronger to improve his jiu jitsu game, he found the book Starting Strength.
He loved barbell training from day one, and has never looked back. He has gained 40 lbs of body weight, vastly improved his strength, and has seen a significant carryover to his jiu jitsu game. Because of his background in coaching Brazilian jiu jitsu, Jeff picked up on the details of barbell training quickly and immediately started developing his coaching eye. He received his Starting Strength Coach Certification in the fall of 2019.
