7 on the floor · all of them lift

The corner
crew

Nobody here coaches from a clipboard. Every programme on the whiteboard was trained by the person who wrote it, usually that morning.

Strength

Danny Okafor

Head coach, founder

England U23 shot put, 250kg deadlift

Opened North Forge in 2014 with two racks and a van of second-hand plates. Writes the strength programming and still coaches the 6:15.

Strength

Strength coach

MSc Strength & Conditioning

Runs Masters Strength and the lunchtime lifts. Believes a first pull-up changes a life and has coached hundreds of them.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting lead

British Weightlifting L2, national masters medallist

Snatch and clean and jerk, taught from the floor up. Barbell Club is his room: expect positions before plates.

Powerlifting

Powerlifting lead

IPF referee, 700kg masters total

Runs the squad that took eight lifters to English championships last year. Meet-day calm, spreadsheet obsessive.

Conditioning

Conditioning coach

Hyrox pro division, sub-60 finisher

Engine Room and Hyrox Prep. Her sessions are simple to read and hard to finish, exactly in that order.

Boxing

Boxing coach

18 amateur bouts, ABA coach

Fundamentals first: stance, breath, then hands. Friday Fight Night is the loudest hour in the building.

Mobility

Mobility coach

FRC mobility specialist

The reason half the squad can still squat on Mondays. Unwind is 45 minutes of slow, honest work.