The Iron Asylum Gym - Kempsville

Great modern warehouse vibe. Loud music. Awesome staff. STRONG STAFF. Easy to connect with owners on social media. Very very clean atmosphere. Awesome location for post workout munchies. Great price. And they offer military discount👌👌👌. No shame/judgement environment. And thankfully NO PUNK ALARM🤙. Will remain a member for life. …

Instead of 1star I gave 2 because the owner is a really great guy and cares about his facilities, their conditions and members. Aside from that I did not have a great experience in the 6 months I was there.TL; DR: Why operate a 24 hour gym and have members sign a waiver if they cannot be treated like adults? Seemingly lack of experience in conflict management led management to get offended when I sought clarification on their verbal polices after 5 months of working out! Good owner/facility, poor managementPros: well equipped facility, 24 hr accessCons: facility cleanliness, staff turnover(with policy changes each new manager). I never went in the evenings so I could imagine it may get crowded in the peak hours- Worked out in the AM and while they had a janitor/cleaning lady there at 5am (she may be staff but their emails and website say staffed from 8am on so I assume she is just there to clean?) it was always very dusty and dirty. Now the benches dumbells, cardio...things the members clean after they use were typically clean but bathrooms, shower areas (not vented) and floors were usually very dirty. There would be water/sweat marks on the floor for days and the walls had scuff marks and racks holding med and wall balls were falling apart- *Relating to the staff comment* I joined August 2019 with about 6 others when our gym closed down. The manager was great about welcoming us and understanding that we typically work out as a group but respect the atmosphere and try to stay out of others ways. In early 2020 the prior manager Laura left for bigger and better things and Trey Swindler took over (I'm not making fun/jokes that is his name) and Kacey Livingston was promoted to asst manager and the environment started to change. The group I work out with was told not to put our bags against the wall where we were trying to stay out of the way. Since the waiver IA makes you sign specifically waives any liability to lost, stolen or damaged items I questioned what prompted this policy change directed at us. We finally settled on two options suitable for us, put our groups bag by the trashcans in the corner out of the way or we were welcome to do what ALOT of other members were doing and keep bags on the workout floor near our working area. (this is their verbal unofficial policy and it really seemed counter intuitive to me to have 6-8 bags from our workout crew scattered on the floor so I wanted to follow their policy and chose that option).- Next instance comes when I was asked to use clips on barbells. I understand clips when working out but warming up squats, bench etc or various programs I follow where the sub maximal weight is changed different % each rep minute by minute seemed like a tedious step to just throw a clip on for 3 squats at 64% of a max! When asked to clip my bar I put clips on the ends, very childish and a nice way to thumb-my-nose at authority by doing what they request but in the most literal sense of the instruction (foreshadowing they did not like that). The following day I was contacted by the Asst manager calling my cell at work reminding me to clips the bar and complain again about the gym bags, I just took from that conversation that I would follow their permission given to everyone else and keep my bag by my person and place of workout on the floor! The following day I made sure to use 2 clips on each end of my bar for extra safety, if one is safe 2 is safer! Instead of being adults or coming to talk to me they sighted this reason (clips) to cancel my membership. Very odd and kind of immature instead of dealing with someone they just nix their contract. I have provided the email exchanges below as they also sighted this as sarcastic email responses that are unnecessary for them to deal with? Seems like ego or lack of experience combined with a sudden position of authority may play a part in this decision but I think eventually the staff will turnover or learn how to deal with people and resolve an issue instead of just flexing (pun intended) and cancelling a membership.

The workout environment is great here. Not to mention and amazing owner and staff that really values its members. Like really. Not even sugar coating it. Anyone in the Hampton Roads area looking for a great 24 hour gym, especially if youre in the military like me, that can accomdate any work schedule; this is the place to go. Not to mention the selection of workout equipment. Epic. Dont pass up an opportunity to get a membership.

Love this gym. It’s currently closed due to the current virus which is not their fault but..... my only wishes are that y’all should expand into those empty retail fronts! Need more cable machines, larger dumbbell bench area and my lofty dream is a sauna. But as it is now it’s amazing. Thanks for being such a great facility!

The Iron Asylum is by far the best gym I have ever been apart of! After awhile of getting used to all of the amazing equipment (All Rogue lifting racks, weights, bands, etc) and layout of the gym, IA feels like home. The staff is encouraging and friendly and the management really puts in all of their efforts into making this the best gym in Hampton Roads. During this pandemic the management team of IA put the member’s first and offered to freeze the accounts to anyone that needed to. I kept my account open like many other members to ensure this place stands tall after this pandemic has past. I love and support this gym and I am proud to tell people that I am a member of IA and I encourage more people to join and really watch IA grow! You will not regret joining the IA family!

I discovered this gym because my usual one is still closed due to covid. I’m very glad I did because it’s so much better than my usual one, and I can finally lift weights again. I loved to deadlift with the rubber weights in the past, and now I can finally do that again. There are lots of options, and it’s very organized (by what area you are trying to target, upper, lower, etc). Gyms usually intimidate me when I go for the first time after awhile, but I didn’t feel that at all with this gym. The staff and community are very kind, and they will help you if you need it. This gym offers a lot of opportunity for growth compared to a lot of other ones I’ve been to in the past. They have personal trainers, massage and physical therapists, nutritionalists, essentially everything you need in one place for a well rounded lifestyle. I was overall very impressed and glad to find this gym!

My main gym. It's got proper squat racks, platforms for deadlifting, and so much quality equipment so that you can diversify your workouts. The staff is super friendly. It's also 24/7 which is great for us folks who have odd job schedules.

This gym is AMAZING!You can use chalk, they are 24-7 for members!They enforce gym etiquette!You cannot get this at a commercial gym!Not only is this a gym for people who are more serious about meeting their fitness goals, they also welcome people who are new to the fitness world as well and the staff is really supportive and the trainers are extremely educated and helpful!I have been a member since they opened the Kempsville location, I absolutely love this gym!Do yourself a favor and join this gym today!

This has been the best gym I've ever seen. A staff that always keeps the equipment clean and maintained. An owner who never fails to share exactly what is going on with the facilities, events, and equipment. Always willing to give back to the members. Truly an amazing community of people.

Love this gym. I miss this gym this gym is the gold standard gym which I measure others. Those that want your Golds, Equinox, LA and 24 hour can keep it. This place is for lifting heavy, getting strong and working towards a goal. Loved lifting there. Great friendly staff, awesome hype atmosphere and always very very clean. The owner Alvin does a great job of being a down to earth guy and real and he likes to lift heavy too. Again now that I have moved away I still look at this place as my gold standard.