Best gyms/trainers in Philly?

[Spiegelo]

The trainers at UD Boxing club are great. The guy that runs it is Andy Carr which is one of the coolest dudes youd ever meet. And the main boxing trainer is Chip Hart who is a great trainer as well. Bernard and ****m are there every once in a while but not on a regular basis. And yeah you just take the L westbound to 69th st.

For payment you just pay a registration for say 12 months and all the classes and training is included.

For the other gyms I dont know a whole lot about. I have heard really good things about Front st. and MLK. And I know Fight Factory is a really good gym but it is mainly MMA I dont know how serious they are for boxing.

They have classes? Like group training? You guys do 1on1 time as well? Is that it, the L to 69st? It's right there afterwards? How much are the memberships? Sorry for bombarding you w questions here but I think that might be the one I check out. You still train there?

[Spiegelo]

Also what's the equipment like there? You guys got a Squat rack, Bench Press, dumbbells, kettelbells (reaching here I know), pullup bar, ring, etc?

[jabsRstiff]

I live in Northeast Phila and I boxed out of the Harrowgate Gym in the Kensington section (back in the 80's). I have gone back and forth there over the years. It's a great old gym, it's cheap, and the guy who runs it is an awesome guy- Charlie Sgrillo. It's the gym Danny Garcia came out of, and he may still train there.

There's another gym fairly close to there, Front Street. It's above a beer distributor, and is again another excellent, older, and affordable gym.

Jack Costello Gym (my trainer when I was a kid. He passed away and this was opened to honor him)) is further north, in the Northeast. Excellent gym. I used to go there here and there....Glenwood "The real Beast" Brown used to spar with the youngins there.

I went to Joe Hand for a while in its original Fishtown location. It moved to South Phila, and is now in Northern Liberties, not to far from its original spot.

[jabsRstiff]

If the new Joe hand is like the original one...it's your best bet for getting in more than a boxing workout. The old one was larger than the gyms I discussed, and far more modern.

Some awesome fighters came out of there in the 90's, like Randy Griffin, Anthony "TJ" Washington, and Rashiem Jefferson. Prince Badi Ajamu and Mike "No Joke" Stewart used to come in there a lot to spar. They had a seriously great trainer there named Howard "Moses" Mosley.

[Danny Gunz]

They have classes? Like group training? You guys do 1on1 time as well? Is that it, the L to 69st? It's right there afterwards? How much are the memberships? Sorry for bombarding you w questions here but I think that might be the one I check out. You still train there?

Yeah they have classes and stuff for groups you can also find trainer for 1on1 sessions. I havent been there for about a year and a half so I'm not sure what the prices are exactly but the website is udgrappling.com they should have phone numbers or emails so you can contact the owner or trainers.

Well its close to the 69th st terminal it is a bit of a walk from the station to the gym about a half mile or so. What you would do is after getting to the terminal just walk up w. chester pike and its up there. It might be easier to take a bus from the terminal.

And yeah they have all the weightlifting equipment to. They definetly have benches, squat racks, free weights, kettlebells and such also. When I was there they had a powerlifting program along with the boxing and MMA.

[Spiegelo]

I live in Northeast Phila and I boxed out of the Harrowgate Gym in the Kensington section (back in the 80's). I have gone back and forth there over the years. It's a great old gym, it's cheap, and the guy who runs it is an awesome guy- Charlie Sgrillo. It's the gym Danny Garcia came out of, and he may still train there.

There's another gym fairly close to there, Front Street. It's above a beer distributor, and is again another excellent, older, and affordable gym.

Jack Costello Gym (my trainer when I was a kid. He passed away and this was opened to honor him)) is further north, in the Northeast. Excellent gym. I used to go there here and there....Glenwood "The real Beast" Brown used to spar with the youngins there.

I went to Joe Hand for a while in its original Fishtown location. It moved to South Phila, and is now in Northern Liberties, not to far from its original spot.

I think I went to the Costello gym briefly. Is it off Torresdale? If so, I had a pretty bad experience. I came in and they were super helpful in signing me up (ridiculously cheap), and after I paid dues they completely changed their attitude towards me. I guess they saw me as a fat white boy that wasn't going to be dedicated, and they gave me two diff sized gloves and told me to hit the bags as hard as I could and do 2,000 situps while tending to the other boxers. I nearly broke my wrists and when I asked for help, I was told 'there's no wrong way to hit a bag' which is total bull****! It still gets me worked up thinking about that experience, but I don't remember the name of the gym, or more importantly the ''trainer'' that instructed me to do so. I think he was a puertorican dude with a little bit of a lisp, but this was 10 odd years ago, so hard to remember for sure. In NY there's a lot of crap gyms with great reputations, for instance I know a lot of people that got used up at Gleason's and weren't smart enough to jump ship and look for a new trainer. I'm just trying to avoid the hassle of paying memberships at 30 diff gyms to find my way to the trainer that takes me to the PA Gloves. I'm going to do my research on your boy moses and see if he's still around.

[jabsRstiff]

Spieg....

It is off of Torresdale, upstairs of the red building. I went in '99, and I was there more to train my cousin than for myslef. The guys who actually run it are nice, but I did witness some of what you spoke of. They had some established kids, and that's who they focused on.

I can't speakly highly enough of Harrowgate, however. Even with "stars" like Danny garcia and Joe Dawejko there, the new guys were attended to. Charlie Sgrillo is too arthritic to do the mitts, but he will work with you....and call you a "jitbag" if you don't listen. He'd even call an 8 year old that with mommy sitting a few feet away.

[Spiegelo]

I appreciate the both of you guys helping me out. Maybe I'll see you around the gyms someday.

[Spiegelo]

Spieg....

It is off of Torresdale, upstairs of the red building. I went in '99, and I was there more to train my cousin than for myslef. The guys who actually run it are nice, but I did witness some of what you spoke of. They had some established kids, and that's who they focused on.

I can't speakly highly enough of Harrowgate, however. Even with "stars" like Danny garcia and Joe Dawejko there, the new guys were attended to. Charlie Sgrillo is too arthritic to do the mitts, but he will work with you....and call you a "jitbag" if you don't listen. He'd even call an 8 year old that with mommy sitting a few feet away.

Yeah that's most definitely the one. I'm sure if I went now it'd be a different story, but just based on principle I'm going to avoid that one. Harrowgate may be much closer to me than Joe Hands, I think I'll check that one out. I appreciate all the info, you're like an encyclopedia on philly trainers.

[jabsRstiff]

Yeah that's most definitely the one. I'm sure if I went now it'd be a different story, but just based on principle I'm going to avoid that one. Harrowgate may be much closer to me than Joe Hands, I think I'll check that one out. I appreciate all the info, you're like an encyclopedia on philly trainers.

Harrowgate is on Venango, in between Kensignton and Frankford. If you take public trans, you can take the Market-Frankford El to Tioga station, and walk a few blocks. It can be a little dicey there, if that concerns you.

Harrowgate's drawback is the hours. Usually opens at 4 (sometimes later), and stays open to around 7:30. The last time I was there, which was early '08, they weren't open on weeknds. Perhaps the hours have changed over the years. Definitely worth a look.

Welcome back to Philadelphia, bro!