Forge & Forty

Men 40+ · kettlebell studio

Fit for the mountain,
not the mirror.

Hiking Mount Hood with your kid, hauling the canoe, opening the pickle jar nobody else can. Our one-to-one coaching builds the kind of fitness that shows up on weekends, not on stage: kettlebells, sleds, ropes, and a coach who programs for your hiking season and your bad left knee.

  • ◆Kettlebell-first: joints prefer it after forty
  • ◆Programs built around your hiking and ski seasons
  • ◆Grip, heart, and hips — the weekend triad
  • ◆Two coaches, NSCA-certified, zero drill sergeants
Claim a free first session View plans
Man in his forties training with a kettlebell outdoors

Conditioning for real life

The gym is the tool. The mountain is the point.

Most fitness after forty fails because it trains for the gym: reps for the logbook, mirrors for the ego. Our clients want to summit Hood before the knees retire, to ski the whole season, to carry both coolers. That is a different program, and we have been writing it for a decade.

The kettlebell is our centerpiece because it is honest: it trains grip, heart, and hips together — exactly the three things that quit first at altitude. Add a sled, some ropes, and a program synced to the Oregon calendar, and you have fitness that shows up on Saturday, not just in the studio.

From the field

Out here, working

The sandbag carry, quarter three

Humiliation device, beloved institution.

Real work, real weather, real mornings.

The coaching

Two coaches who climb what they train for

01

Elena Vasquez-Grant

Owner, NSCA-CPT

Fifteen years coaching, FMS Level 2, and a 42-year-old who summited Hood in June. Writes every program around the client's outdoor calendar; her testing day includes a sandbag carry that clients describe with colorful honesty.

Daniel Killpack Coach, NSCA-CPT

Former collegiate rower, kettlebell specialist (SFG II). The grip-and-engine builder. Programs the ski-season prep blocks and the annual September "Couve to Coast" bike block.

Plans

Four ways into the forge

Most chosen

Everyone starts

Free First Session

Movement chat, a taste of the kettlebell, and a written weekend-fitness snapshot. No card required.

  • Every plan synced to your outdoor calendar
  • Quarterly testing: grip, heart, hike-time
  • Homework that fits in 20 minutes

Free 60 minutes

Single Sessions

$89per session

As-needed

One private hour. Most clients start here; the kettlebell habit does the converting.

The 10-Session Forge

$80010 sessions

Most chosen

Ten private sessions plus the between-session homework (20 minutes, three days a week, written). Typical result: resting heart rate down six beats, grip test up 30%.

The Forge Year

$4,68012 months

The full calendar

Forty-eight programmed weeks synced to your seasons: ski prep in fall, hiking peak in summer, strength base in winter. Testing quarterly, nutrition targets seasonal, the works.

All prices USD. HSA/FSA receipts on request. We train outdoors year-round in Oregon — yes, in the rain; you have the gear already. Ski-season blocks include leg-burn programming calibrated to your pass days.

How it works

From assessment to testing day

01

Free session

Chat, move, swing a bell. You leave with the snapshot and zero obligation.

02

The calendar sync

We map your year: hikes, trips, ski weeks. The program builds toward them, not around some generic peak.

03

Studio blocks

One or two private sessions a week. Kettlebells, sleds, ropes — joints first, engine second, ego never.

04

Testing quarters

Grip, resting heart rate, and a timed hike with elevation. The numbers go on one page; the page goes on the fridge.

Client stories

What our clients say

"45, software guy, bad knee from Ultimate Frisbee glory days. Elena built around the knee and toward Hood. Summited in September with my 16-year-old. The program literally had a week labeled 'taper for the mountain.'"

Priya-no wait, Dave K.
45, engineer (Portland)

"I came for the kettlebell, stayed for the calendar. They knew my ski pass dates better than I did — leg-burn blocks before every big week. Season ended and my legs did not."

Steve M.
52, sales director (Hood River)

"The sandbag carry test is a humiliation device and I have grown to love it. Down 22 pounds, up 40% grip, and the canoe goes on the roof without commentary now."

Gary T.
58, small-business owner (Vancouver, WA)

// Before you book //

Frequently asked questions

Both work; we choose the bell first because it trains grip, heart, and hips in one honest package, and loading is gentler on forty-plus joints. We do use barbells for strength blocks — the tool follows the goal, not the brand.
That is literally the method. Tell us your calendar; we build peaks around your actual adventures. Most "generic" plans peak you for nothing in particular. Ours peaks you for Mount Hood, or Opening Day, or the Deschutes in July.
FMS screening first, programming second. We work around most issues and with your PT when needed. Daniel rebuilt his own shoulder with the exact progressions he now uses.
Our median client. The free session tells us where to start, and "start" is usually lighter than you fear and more precise than you expect. The bell does not know your age; the program does.
Keep it if you love it. Homework is 20 minutes, three days a week, minimal equipment — a bell and a pair of shoes covers 90% of it.
Targets, not religion: protein and hydration numbers that match the training calendar, and a seasonal reset twice a year. Full nutrition coaching we refer out — to a dietitian we trust and actually use.

Claim your free session

One hour, no card, one snapshot

Tell us what your weekends ask of you. The program is built backward from there.

Phone (503) 555-0129
Hours Mon-Fri 6am-7pm, Sat 8am-1pm PT

Email [email protected]