61 of 100 founding spots claimed. $45 for life.

The training floor at Blue Water Iron Works: lifting platforms receding toward an open loading door, chalk dust in the morning light.

Port Huron, Michigan

Blue Water Iron Works A powerlifting and strongman gym where heavy is normal.

18,000 lbs of iron on the floor. 8 platforms. Doors open at 4:30 AM.

Clock in Day pass $15

First 100 members lock the $45 crew rate for life. 61 of 100 claimed.

Claim a spot

The iron

Everything powerlifting and strongman need, nothing a treadmill aisle sells. Numbered like a dock, because that is what it is.

18,000 lbs of iron on the floor
8 platforms
4 squat racks
BayFreightCount
BAY 01–08 Lifting platforms, rubber over plywood8
BAY 09–12 Squat racks, 3x3 steel, pin safeties4
BAY 13 Deadlift bars, Texas pattern2
BAY 14 Squat and bench bars, calibrated6
BAY 15 Competition plates, kilo and poundfull sets
BAY 16 Yoke, log, farmers, stones to 3001 bay
BAY 17 Chalk bowls. Yes, chalk.everywhere

18,000 pounds, counted once and never padded since.

The room

Chalked hands gripping a knurled barbell on a lifting platform. Cast-iron plates on a storage tree beside a safety-orange rack upright.

The Works sits in a former machine shop two blocks off the river. We kept the crane rail and the floor drains. Freighters going under the bridge move more steel before breakfast than most gyms own, and that is the point. Around here, heavy is normal.

Read the whole story

The manifest

ClassFreightRate
Day Pass Full floor, one shift$15
Crew Open floor, all hours$45/mo
Stevedore Platform priority, programming, 24-hour key$75/mo

Founding members lock Crew at $45 for life. First 100 only. 61 claimed.

See the full manifest

A shift at the Works

  1. 4:30 AM First shift. The regulars. Coffee in one hand, belt in the other.
  2. NOON Lunch crew. In, lift, out in 40.
  3. 5 PM The rush. Every platform full. Wait your turn, spot your turn.
  4. 10 PM Last call. Quiet iron. Best hour of the day.

Open every day4:30 AM – 11 PM8 platforms18,000 lbs of iron1620 Military St, Port Huron

Come lift

1620 Military St, Port Huron. Open every day 4:30 AM to 11 PM. Bring flat shoes and a water bottle. We have the rest.

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