About
Coached,
not motivated
We opened Oaken because the gyms we knew sold motivation and forgot the coaching. We wanted a room where people of every age learn to lift well and keep doing it for decades.
Inês and Tomás started in a former print shop with one rack, a borrowed rower and twelve members who trained before work. What has not changed is the size of the class: eight people, and one coach who knows your name and your numbers.
Opened on Rua do Ouro
2019
Square metres on two floors
620
Coaches, all full-time
12
People in a class, never more
8
What we believe
We coach with numbers,
not slogans
Slow progress
We add load in small steps and log every session.
Small groups
Eight people, one coach, every lift watched.
Rest is training
Sleep, breath and recovery are part of the plan.
Open roles
Coach here, and stay
Every coach is full-time and trains in house for six months before taking a class alone.
Full-time, Lisbon
Strength coach
Portuguese and English. You will shadow Inês for six months, then lead your own groups of eight.
Full-time, Lisbon
Mobility coach
You run the quiet room upstairs and write recovery blocks with the strength team.
Part-time, Lisbon
Front of house
You are the first face people see, and you remember their names by the second week.
