Powerlifting has been growing over the years from the west side to the east, slowly expanding across the country.

Omega Strong Gym, one of the few powerlifting gyms in Arizona, opened in 2017 by founders Maria Gonzales and David Torres.

While in college in 2014, Torres had the idea of opening up a powerlifting gym since there were little to no gyms with this type of environment in his area.

In 2017, both Torres and Gonzalez took a leap and finalized paperwork for the current location.

“We really wanted to open a powerlifting gym,” Torres said. “Before that, we trained at LA Fitness for, how many, seven years since they opened and we just kind of got tired of it. We, it wasn’t like our environment. So, our goal was also to provide that corporate-free environment and just provide the different, provide the top-notch equipment, powerlifting equipment, for the athletes and the people that were serious about powerlifting and just strength overall.”

Since then, with the power of social media including Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, more and more locals are learning about the gym.

Current powerlifters, Pierima Ortiz along with Efrain Leyva and many other athletes heard about the gym through friends and social media.

“Oh no yeah, of course, I mean I’m always posting it and like people are always hitting me up and I mean, Ima try to help them as much as they helped me,” said Leyva

Although the gym, opened specifically for powerlifting, it is open to anyone who is interested in having a good workout session such as strength and conditioning, bodybuilding or to improve their overall wellbeing.

“Yeah, I think I should get a family discount. Two brother-in-law and my husband have joined since then,” said Ortiz.

Competing within different organizations, one being, USA Powerlifting, Omega Strong Gym is spreading their name around.

Being one of the very few gyms with powerlifting equipment allows them to stand out from commercial gyms.

“My roommate was the first one to actually discover omega. I think it was by social media, and he was like, you need to check this gym out cause this is what you’ve been looking for, and I came and it was everything I was looking for. So it was awesome” said Karina Cota, a current powerlifter.

Omega Strong Gym strives to work with students, low-income families and are willing to take motivated upcoming powerlifters under their wings.

“We have a lot more things planned in the future,” Gonzalez said. “We also want to be more involved with the community around here, South Phoenix, and hopefully expand to the greater parts of Phoenix, so definitely watch out for that.”

No matter who walks in or their fitness level, Omega Strong Gym is open to all.