12 coaches
Coaches
The same people run every class on the timetable. Each of them is better at something different, and each profile says plainly what they are less good at too.
Head Coach · she/her · at Forge since 2017
Divya Nair
Opened Forge in 2017. Coaches most of the morning classes and every first session she can get to.
Good with: People who have never touched a barbell, and people coming back after years away.
- British Weight Lifting Level 2 Coach
- UKSCA accredited strength and conditioning coach
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
6 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Divya
Coach · he/him · at Forge since 2019
Arjun Menon
Ran the conditioning side of a rugby academy for six years. Now runs most of the lunchtime and evening conditioning classes.
Good with: People training around an injury, people over forty-five, and anyone who has been told by a physio to start lifting and does not believe them.
- Level 3 Strength and Conditioning
- Level 4 Lower Back Pain Management
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
4 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Arjun
Coach · he/him · at Forge since 2021
Rohit Bhatia
Competes in powerlifting, coaches the evening strength classes and most of the open gym hours.
Good with: Experienced lifters who have been stuck on the same number for a year and cannot work out why.
- British Powerlifting affiliated coach
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Level 2 Gym Instructor
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
3 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Rohit
Coach · she/her · at Forge since 2022
Ananya Raghunathan
Coaches the Olympic lifting inside the strength classes. Competes at 64 kg and has done since she was nineteen.
Good with: Anyone who wants to learn the snatch and the clean and jerk properly, and lifters who want to move faster rather than only heavier.
- British Weight Lifting Level 2 Coach
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
3 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Ananya
Coach · he/him · at Forge since 2022
Kabir Sethi
Ran a cycling club for eight years before this. Writes most of the interval work and coaches the conditioning classes.
Good with: People training for something with a date on it — a half marathon, a sportive, a first triathlon — who need conditioning that fits around the training they are already doing.
- Level 3 Strength and Conditioning
- British Cycling Level 2 coach
- Concept2 indoor rowing instructor
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
4 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Kabir
Coach · she/her · at Forge since 2023
Meera Krishnan
Coaches the weekday morning classes and handles every pre and postnatal conversation in the building.
Good with: Women training through a pregnancy and coming back afterwards, and anyone who has been told to "just be careful" without being told what that actually means.
- Level 3 Ante and Postnatal Exercise
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Level 2 Gym Instructor
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
3 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Meera
Coach · he/him · at Forge since 2021
Sanjay Iyer
Taught PE for twenty-two years before this. Coaches the 09:30 classes and most of the open gym mornings.
Good with: People over sixty, and anyone who has been handed a bone-density result and does not know what they are supposed to do with it.
- Level 4 Strength and Conditioning for Older Adults
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Otago falls-prevention programme trained
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
3 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Sanjay
Coach · she/her · at Forge since 2023
Fatima Sheikh
Coaches weekday evenings, and is the person to talk to about a teenager who plays a sport and wants to get stronger for it.
Good with: Fourteen to eighteen year olds, and parents who have been told that lifting weights will stunt their child's growth.
- UKSCA accredited strength and conditioning coach
- Level 3 Strength and Conditioning
- Safeguarding and protecting children, renewed annually
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
2 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Fatima
Coach · he/him · at Forge since 2022
Vikram Deshpande
Competes in strongman. Runs the sled, carry and odd-object work, and coaches most of the conditioning classes.
Good with: People who find barbells boring, and anyone who wants to be strong in the awkward, real-world way rather than the tidy platform way.
- Level 3 Strength and Conditioning
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
4 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Vikram
Coach · she/her · at Forge since 2023
Nisha Pillai
Worked nights for six years before this and coaches the early and late slots that suit people who still do.
Good with: People coming back after a year or more away, and anyone whose week does not repeat — nurses, drivers, hospitality, anybody on shifts.
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Level 2 Gym Instructor
- Mental Health First Aid
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
3 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Nisha
Coach · he/him · at Forge since 2020
Aditya Rao
Writes most of the individual programmes and is on the floor for the majority of the open gym hours.
Good with: Members past their first year who want a programme built around what they actually want, rather than following the class block forever.
- UKSCA accredited strength and conditioning coach
- Level 3 Strength and Conditioning
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
4 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Aditya
Coach · she/her · at Forge since 2024
Zoya Qureshi
The newest coach here, and the one most likely to hand you a different bar rather than a different exercise.
Good with: People whose shoulders or hips will not do what a textbook squat or press asks of them, and anyone who has been told at some point that they cannot lift.
- Level 3 Adaptive and Inclusive Exercise
- Level 3 Strength and Conditioning
- Level 3 Personal Trainer
- Emergency first aid at work, renewed annually
2 sessions a week on the timetable
More about Zoya