What to Expect

KBYD operates from Kingdom Barbell, which is a local community gym, situated on Harnham Trading Estate.

We run free, coached youth weightlifting classes every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 430-530pm, including in the school holidays!

The gym has a dedicated Olympic weightlifting space with six platforms in the main area. You will be welcomed by one of our British Weightlifting qualified coaches who will take particular care to support you for your first session.

If you are a parent dropping your teenager off, there are a few parking spaces directly outside the unit and some nearby on-street parking.

   

The classes are usually supervised by two coaches, or occasionally one coach and one volunteer. The class capacity is a maximum of 12 young people, aged 13-17. If you would like to start in a quiet class, contact our team and we can advise on when might be the best time to book your first session.

The classes involve a mixture of supervised general strength training (like squats and deadlifts) and coaching in the more technical Olympic weightlifting movements. Click here to learn more about the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk.

You might never have touched a barbell before, or perhaps you are not sure what a barbell is! That's not a problem - most people are starting from scratch and our coaches will start with the very basics and support you at a pace which suits you.

Here are some of our young people completing a tyre flipping challenge as part of their warm up!   Here they are working on technical development in the Olympic weightlifting movements and general strength work.  

Our coaches oversee the programming and will adapt the exercises to suit your ability, confidence and physical development. They encourage everyone attending the classes to support each other to develop and progress in strength and technique over time.

We hope to be able to support young people who wish to attend competitions as well as those who don't! Most importantly, our team want everyone to be able to have fun and enjoy the benefits of sport and exercise!

Some photos from KBYD's first in-house competition, 2025. A fun day of lifting where young people were cheered on by their families and KBYD supporters.

We'd love to hear from you, answer your questions and help support you to access our Olympic weightlifting classes. Please use our contact form or email us direct at admin@kbyd.org.