Coaching staff
Three coaches run every session on the timetable.
Priya Desai
Strength & platform coach · founder
Opened Ashgrove in 2019 after eight years coaching powerlifting at a Bristol university club. Runs every Platform Room session on the timetable and writes the club's programming.
- British Weight Lifting L2
- USAPL coaching certificate
- First aid at work
7 sessions this week
Owen Vance
Conditioning coach
Former Royal Marines PTI, coaching conditioning at Ashgrove since 2021. Builds every Studio Floor conditioning session around the club's sled and rower fleet.
- CrossFit Level 2
- Military fitness instructor cadre
- First aid at work
4 sessions this week
Mara Lindqvist
Mobility & yoga-hybrid coach
Trained in Gothenburg as a physiotherapist before moving into strength-adjacent mobility coaching. Runs the club's mobility sessions as active recovery for the lifters on the platform.
- Chartered physiotherapist (Sweden)
- Yoga Alliance RYT-200
- First aid at work
3 sessions this week
Priya Desai · Founder, 2019
Why a tram depot
The depot came with a concrete floor rated for dropped plates, ceiling height for a pull-up rig, and a landlord willing to let a barbell club in. Priya took the lease and set the timetable to what the coaches could run themselves, with no cover and no unstaffed hour.
Her sessions this week
- Monday 06:00 · Platform Room5/10
- Monday 18:30 · Platform Room4/10
- Tuesday 06:00 · Platform Room7/10
- Wednesday 06:00 · Platform Room6/10
- Wednesday 18:30 · Platform Room10/10
- Thursday 18:00 · Platform Room5/10
- Friday 06:00 · Platform Room4/10