Average experience — good sport, mediocre gym

I want to separate the sport from my specific experience. Powerlifting as a discipline is genuinely compelling — the leg drive in bench, the depth of weight classes, how the big three build total-body strength. All of that is real and valuable.

My gym, however, has been mediocre. Coaching quality varies session to session and gear costs adding up has been handled poorly. I've seen people get hurt because progression was rushed. If I were starting over I'd research gym culture more carefully before committing. The sport gets four stars; my current gym gets two. This review averages to three.