Hoxton Barbell Club: £20 Olympic Lifting to Classical Music

An Olympic weightlifting class at Classical Barbell costs £20 pay as you go, and the coached sessions run to classical music rather than a pounding playlist. The barbell club sits in Arch 411 Union Walk, Hoxton, E2 8HP, a one-minute walk from Hoxton Overground station. Every bar on the floor is an Eleiko, you are allowed to drop them, and beginners book a few one-to-one sessions before they join a group class.

Union Walk runs beneath the Overground viaduct, and the club's own directions give the clue that saves you walking up and down: Classical Barbell is the penultimate arch before the car wash, and the car wash has a car parked on its roof. From the Hoxton Overground exit it is about a minute on foot. Old Street station on the Northern line and the Northern City line is a short walk away too.

Cyclists get bike racks outside the arch, and the club notes there is free parking in the road. That matters for evening classes, because the 19:00 sessions finish at 20:30 and some lifters drive in with a bag of shoes, belts and wrist wraps. Trains rumble overhead now and then, which is part of training in a railway arch and something the music quietly covers.

Classical Barbell was founded in 2024 by head coach Daphne Harvey. She is a Level 2 Olympic Weightlifting Coach and a Technical Official licensed with British Weight Lifting, and she coached at Hackney Weight Lifting Club for eight years before opening her own space. James Richens, also a Level 2 Olympic Weightlifting Coach, joined the coaching team in July 2026 and has competed at the British Masters Championships.

The club describes the room plainly: no thumping music, no flashing lights and no screaming instructors in headsets, just a focused and unintimidating atmosphere with classical music. The Sunday Times Magazine visited for a feature published in March 2025. Results have followed, and in December 2025 five of the club's lifters came home from the Southern Masters with gold medals.

Classes are coached, and there is no open gym for non-members. Olympic weightlifting group training runs Monday 19:00 to 20:30, Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 to 12:30 and 19:00 to 20:30, and Saturday 11:30 to 13:00. Wednesday and Friday have no sessions at all. Sunday 10:30 to 12:00 is an uncoached open session for existing members only, so visitors should not plan around it.

Strength classes fill the early evening slots. Strength Circuits runs Monday 18:00 to 18:45, Barbell Basics runs Tuesday 18:00 to 18:55, and Strength and Power runs Thursday 18:00 to 18:55. On Saturday, Intro to Barbells sessions start at 09:30 for a mixed group, 10:30 for women only and 13:30 for another mixed group. The club says the women-only 10:30 class is its most popular, so book it early.

Olympic weightlifting classes cost £20 each on pay as you go, £125 a month for two classes a week or £145 a month for three. Strength classes cost £19 each, £55 a month for one a week, £103 for two, £136 for three, or £160 a month for unlimited classes plus the members' open session. The unlimited plan suits anyone combining both programmes.

One-to-one coaching costs £70 for an hour, two people pay £85 together and three pay £90. Private classes for four to fourteen people start at £20 per person, which works for a team day out. Remote coaching is £90 per session. There is no paid trial class on the price list, although members who bring a friend can get that friend a free class.

Newcomers to Olympic weightlifting cannot just turn up for a group class. The club asks complete beginners to take a small number of one-to-one sessions to learn the snatch and the clean and jerk first, and to get in touch before booking. Experienced lifters are also asked to make contact before their first class so the coaches can place them. The minimum age is 18.

Bookings go through the TeamUp app, and the phone line for questions is 07712 275064. Bring flat-soled shoes or weightlifting shoes and your own belt if you use one. My honest read: if you only want to bench and squat on your own schedule, this is the wrong place, because there is no drop-in open gym. If you want to learn the two Olympic lifts properly, it is one of the calmest rooms in East London.

The membership leans towards adult beginners, Masters lifters in their forties and fifties, and a large group of women, many of whom started in the Saturday intro sessions. Reviews the club reposts describe joining as an absolute beginner and finding a calm, friendly room. Daytime classes on Tuesday and Thursday draw freelancers and shift workers, and the evening sessions fill with people coming straight from offices around Old Street.

If the Hoxton timetable does not fit your week, Hackney Weightlifting Club in Homerton also runs coached Olympic weightlifting classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings plus Saturday mornings, with its own induction requirement. It is a short bus ride east. Its drop-in classes cost £20, the same as here, and it publishes six platforms, so the two clubs make a sensible pair if you train four or five times a week.

The Museum of the Home, which the club uses as a landmark in its own directions, sits beside Hoxton station and is a good place to sit down after a heavy Saturday session. Hoxton Street Market runs a few minutes west. On a Sunday, Columbia Road Flower Market fills the street to the south, and Haggerston Park offers grass and shade for a cool-down walk.

Contact the club before your first class, and budget for one-to-one sessions at £70 an hour if you are new to the lifts. Avoid planning a visit on Wednesday or Friday, when the arch is closed to classes. Book the women-only Saturday intro well ahead. Use the Hoxton Overground exit and look for the car on the roof of the car wash next door.