general convenience

Seasoned fitness coaches Mary Pelino and Lizzy Picardi met at their local powerlifting gym, where they instantly became friends in meet-cute fashion. The hours they spent together sparked the beginning of an idea: to open an inclusive, women-owned gym. After finding a space, Pelino and Picardi officially launched the small-but-mighty Rose City Barbell in the summer of 2022.

“Our mission from the beginning,” Pelino told me, “has been to make humans stronger. That includes everyone — women, men, any gender, from beginners to advanced lifters.” This is why Pelino designs the Monday through Friday barbell programming with modifications in mind: so that everyone can perform the same lifts, no matter their skill level.

I am self-conscious about my piddly strength, but when I walked into Rose City’s brick-lined main room, where there were daisies painted on the lilac-colored deadlift platforms, my lizard brain felt at ease. The gym was also stocked with a variety of inclusive, high-quality equipment, such as 15 to 55 pound specialty barbells, belts of all sizes, 10-pound bumper plates and fractional plates as light as a quarter pound.

That morning, I was greeted by my coach, Sionann, as well as my gym-mate, Davida, before preparing to work on our bench presses. We warmed up together, then performed a light set of bench presses, three sets of six. In between sets, I learned that Davida was a gallery owner, a mother of two, and like me, found Rose City through word-of-mouth. Pumping iron, as it turns out, is a social affair — especially when the classes, which are capped at eight, are this intimate.

“The beauty of the gym comes from the people who we spend time with,” said Picardi, which is why Rose City hosts an array of social events for the community, including clothing swaps, lettering classes and Friendsgiving potlucks. The gym also hosts seasonal mock meets where attendees compete in a setting that emulates the experience of a professional powerlifting meet, prizes and all.

After the main lift, we moved onto accessory work. Sionann gently corrected my form as I performed gorilla rows, instructing me to picture my arms as if they were chains. I pulled the dumbbells off the floor toward my hips, mimicking the movements of a majestic ape. By the end of the class, I did indeed feel like a stronger Homo sapien.

Parking: Plenty of street parking

Pricing: $45 per drop-in; $325 for 13 classes per month; $433 for unlimited classes plus gym access