Athletes who are members of Austin Barbell are serious about competitive weightlifting. Founder Robert Ronan said athletes at his gym will sometimes train for up to six months to participate in a single weightlifting competition.
“That’s six months of work for six minutes of competition,” he said.
A former Olympic weightlifter, Ronan began his career as a trainer four years ago out of his garage. Adding athletes and other trainers over time, he officially established the Austin Barbell club in early 2018 and last September moved operations to the club’s current Southwest Austin space.
Ronan and his team of coaches—including former Belarusian Olympian Oleg Kechko—train 30 athletes who come to the gym four days a week. Of those, he said about 65% are women, and athletes range from 12-60 years of age. All athletes have a goal to compete, whether at a local, state or national level.
Austin Barbell specializes in Chinese weightlifting techniques. Ronan said he visits China annually to tour gyms, to learn new methods and to bring back specialized equipment to Austin. Because of this, he said his athletes get an attention to detail from trainers that is not usually available at larger gyms.
“We’re looking at fundamentals and individualize the program so its unique for everyone,” he said. “It’s a very difficult sport, and if you’re not doing right you could hurt yourself.”
Ronan said the gym has been slowly growing. He said he would like to see the gym move closer to downtown eventually; however, being away from the city has benefits, other than the Hill Country views from the gym window.
“[Being here] works like a filter,” he said. “We don’t get a lot of people who are just interested in losing weight; they’re really into the sport.”
The gym’s current space also opens opportunities for Austin Barbell to host local competitions. Roman said that in April, Austin Barbell will host its first official event, the Austin Championships.
