Madlab School of Fitness

Madlab School of Fitness Playing the long game since 2004.

09/27/2026

Sometimes the rest is part of the rep.

You’ll see a forced reset between deadlifts in this cycle. Put the weight down, stand up, breathe, then set yourself up again.

That pause isn’t there to make the set easier.

It gives you another chance to practise your setup before every rep, rather than hanging onto the weight and rushing into the next one.

More resets. More practice. More opportunities to develop.

So when you see the dots, take the rest.

09/25/2026

Simple movement. Lots going on.

With the seesaw floor press, one dumbbell is coming down as the other is going up; and the goal is to control both sides of that exchange.

That means the arm on the way down is working just as deliberately as the arm doing the pressing.

You don’t get extra credit for moving faster.

Find a load you can control, keep the dumbbells moving together, and make every part of the rep intentional.

If the coordination disappears, slow it down.

09/21/2026

Harder doesn’t always mean better.

With the Copenhagen plank, getting your hips higher or your bottom leg off the floor might make the exercise look more advanced, but that’s not really the point.

We want you creating as much useful tension as you can through the position while staying stacked, breathing and keeping it comfortable at the knee.

Sometimes that means both legs stay down.
Other times the bottom knee stays down.
And maybe, just maybe, you’re ready to lift the whole thing.

Pick the position where you can actually do the work.

09/18/2026

Not every set needs to be a max effort.

For our pulling work this cycle, the earlier sets give you a chance to warm up, build through your progressions and figure out what you’ve got that day.

Then we want your best effort on the last one.

That might mean sticking with the same variation or adjusting it so you can keep pulling.

Either way, the goal is the same: finish with a set where you genuinely don’t have another good rep left.

Build to it. Then find out what you’ve got.

09/17/2026

Same training goal. Different ways to get there.

In the upcoming cycle, we’re using step count for our walking lunges rather than prescribing a set distance. Different bodies cover ground differently, so the number of steps gives us a more useful target.

How you take those steps can change too.

Move continuously with a weight you can carry smoothly, or slow things down as the load gets heavier.

Keep moving forward and find a load that actually makes those steps valuable, rather trying to finish first.

09/08/2026

The ambassador of fun has arrived!

The Madlab Member Appreciation BBQ is this Saturday from 11:30'ish to 3:00 pm at Madlab.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

09/07/2026

A good training program shouldn’t feel like a new collection of random exercises every week.

Our six-week cycles are built to work as a whole; different movement patterns, different demands, and enough balance across the body to give people useful things to improve.

And the cycle doesn’t end in isolation.

What we work on now helps set up what comes next.

08/29/2026

Scaling asks: How do we make this easier?

Progression asks: What’s the right next step for you?

That distinction matters.

At Madlab, the goal isn’t to force everyone toward the same squat, the same box height, or the same end point. It’s to choose the variation that gives you the most useful training effect now, then progress it when you’ve actually earned the next step.

We prefer helping you move forward from where you are, rather than work backwards from some arbitrary standard.

Shoot us a DM to connect with a coach that will help you do just that.

08/28/2026

Morning maniacs. 💪

Some hard work, a little heavy breathing, and just enough energy left over to remind Tom his programming “wasn’t that hard.”

If you’re looking for a place to train for the long haul, with a coach who actually knows you and good people to do it alongside, send us a DM.

We’ll start with a conversation.

08/14/2026

What you need from a gym at 25 might look very different from what you need at 45, 55, or 70.

Your goals change. Your priorities change. Your life changes.

Your training should be able to change with you.

At Madlab, our movement principles remain consistent, but how we apply them doesn't have to. The exercises, intensity, and approach can all be adjusted based on where you are and what you're trying to accomplish right now.

Maybe that's performance. Maybe it's getting stronger, recovering from an injury, improving your fitness, or simply staying capable as you get older.

Our goal has never been to have members eventually "age out" of what we do.

It's to help as many people as we can, for as long as we can.

Address

1980 Clark Drive
Vancouver, BC
V5N0A9

Opening Hours

Monday 5:45am - 8:30pm
Tuesday 5:45am - 8:30pm
Wednesday 5:45am - 8:30pm
Thursday 5:45am - 8:30pm
Friday 5:45am - 6:15pm
Saturday 8am - 2:30pm
Sunday 9:30am - 1pm

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