About The Guild
The Lifters Guild is a locally owned, Woodbridge-grown small business — built by Vinny, Erika, and the members who trained alongside them. From a single-car garage to an 8,000 sq ft strength facility, one step at a time.
Where it started: Vinny, Erika, and a one-car garage.
Vinny and Erika started training clients out of the single-car garage at their first house. They worked there for four years while saving money and building the business piece by piece. No marketing, no fancy equipment — just early mornings, late nights, and a small handful of people who trusted them with their training.
They outgrew the first space, so they built a bigger one.
Eventually, Vinny and Erika moved into a house with a two-car garage and built that space out into a better version of the gym. More room, more equipment, more clients. They trained there for a while and kept growing, putting every dollar back into the operation.
Two weeks to move. The Guild came together and rebuilt.
Then COVID hit. Their HOA forced them out and gave them two weeks to move. They had to scramble. One of their client's fathers owned a marina down the street, and behind it sat a small junk shed. It was smaller than the first garage, filled with junk, and honestly, it was a dump. But the Guild and its members came together. They cleaned out the shed, moved the equipment, and rebuilt again. That place became known as "The Swamp." Vinny, Erika, and the members trained there through heat, cold, rain, and rough conditions. It was not perfect — but it became part of who they were. They grew there, they thrived there, and it became a major part of the Guild's story.
The first true commercial home: 1,600 sq ft in Woodbridge.
When the time was right, Vinny and Erika moved into their first true commercial space — a 1,600 sq ft personal training studio. That became the first true Guild and the perfect little studio for that chapter. Over the next three and a half years, they grew the client base, saved money, collected equipment, improved their systems, and kept building toward the next step.
8,000 sq ft. Built to learn, practice, and perfect.
Now Vinny and Erika are preparing to move into their own full gym: 8,000 sq ft of what they believe will become one of the best places to learn how to use the gym and your body, practice how to move and build the physique you want, and perfect your craft and training around like-minded people.
Knowledge becomes strength.
Most gyms sell access. The Guild gives a system. Whether a member walks in with no idea what to do or has been training for ten years, they should leave knowing more than they came in with. That's the bar — and every chapter of this gym was built around it.
Serious, welcoming, homegrown, structured.
- Membership is limited on purpose, to protect the quality of the training environment
- Not a corporate fitness chain
- Not an influencer brand
- Not a hardcore powerlifting warehouse
- A coaching-first strength facility, built locally, run by people who actually train here
Where Vinny coaches today.
Before the new 8,000 sq ft facility, there's The Studio — the current training space Vinny has been coaching out of for years. Real racks, real members, real reps. This is the operation the Guild is built on. The new gym carries it forward — bigger room, same standards.
The Studio · current facility · Woodbridge, VA
Coming Summer 2026.
The next chapter of The Lifters Guild opens Summer 2026. Join the waitlist for updates, opening announcements, and first access to our new 8,000 sq. ft. strength and fitness facility.