About Anchor Strength

Anchor Strength is a small boutique fitness studio located in Alameda, CA. We offer personalized, safe, and effective one-on-one strength training. Using medical grade MedX weight machines and a slow motion, high intensity approach, training at Anchor Strength can help you achieve incredible fitness results in less than 30 minutes per week. MedX machines are the only FDA registered medical strengthening devices in the US and are often used in medical rehabilitation centers.

Jeff Bott, founder of Anchor Strength, has over 20 years of personal training experience with people of all ages and ability levels, from professional athletes to people becoming physically active for the first time. Jeff will customize a strength training program to fit your body’s unique needs and abilities, challenging you appropriately so you can build strength quickly and safely. Working with a trainer ensures that you maximize the benefits of each workout by providing accountability, ensuring that you are using proper form and pushing your muscles to fatigue.

The research is clear: building and maintaining our lean muscle mass is key to supporting health, longevity, and optimizing performance. Our belief is that building physical strength can help you live life with more resilience and vitality. We aim to make strength training accessible to everyone.

About Jeff

Jeff Bott, founder of Anchor Strength, is a proud Alameda resident and Bay Area native with over twenty years of personal training experience. He has extensive experience working with people of all ages, backgrounds, and ability levels, from competitive athletes to people who are becoming physically active for the first time.  He’s worked in many fitness settings including physical therapy clinics, boutique gyms, and outdoor training programs. He also previously co-owned a strength and conditioning and marital arts facility in Oakland. His true passion is helping people get strong so they can become the best version of themselves.


Jeff currently lives with his wife, son, and dog. Though he has over twenty five years of martial arts experience, he doesn’t practice as much as he once did, due to the high impact of combat sports. Instead, he spends much of his extra time and energy trying to keep up with his son, which provides him with plenty of challenges and excitement. He also enjoys cooking and spending time outdoors with his family and friends.

Jeff Bott

FOUNDER

About Our Method

Our proven method is made up of 5 key ingredients to give you the results that you are looking for:

1) Slow & Controlled Repetitions

Slower movements keep muscles under load for longer, which will stimulate muscle growth more effectively than faster reps. The slow pace forces your muscles to work harder through the entire range of motion, activating more muscle fibers. 

2) Maximum Intensity

Moving at a slow and controlled pace allows the targeted muscles to safely and efficiently reach deep fatigue, which ensures they have received the necessary stimulation for growth.

3) Gold Standard Equipment

We use MedX weight machines, which are the only FDA registered medical strengthening devices in the US and are often used in medical rehabilitation centers. They are specifically designed to isolate and target the deep muscles supporting the spine, allowing for precise, controlled movements with adjustable resistance throughout the range of motion, minimizing joint stress while effectively strengthening the targeted muscle groups.

4) Personalized Programming

A customized workout will be tailored to your unique needs, taking into account any injures or physical limitations you may have.  Your program will progress as you build strength to ensure that your muscles are pushed to their max exertion in order to continue to build strength over time.

5) Expert Supervision

Your trainer will ensure that movements are done with perfect form and that you are giving your maximum effort, ensuring safe and effective results.

FAQs

  • The research is clear: maintaining our muscle mass is key to supporting health and longevity. As we age, we naturally begin to loose lean muscle mass if we don't do anything to develop and maintain it. Strength training can help you preserve and build muscle mass at any age, supporting you in:

    • Maintaining a higher metabolic rate, helping with weight management and preventing weight gain

    • Maintaining bone health, reducing risk for osteoporosis and bone fractures

    • Supporting joint health by fortifying critical connective tissue, like tendons and ligaments

    • Having better mobility and function in daily life

    • Preventing and/or better managing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis

    • Reducing risk of falls

  • Slow-motion strength training is an effective, efficient and safe way to build muscle and strength while reducing risk of injury. It does this in a variety of different ways:

    • Increased time under tension

      Slower movements keep muscles under load for longer, which can stimulate muscle growth more effectively than faster reps. 

    • Enhanced muscle fiber activation

      Slow movements force muscles to work harder through the entire range of motion, activating more muscle fibers. 

    • Improved form

      Slow and controlled movements help maintain proper form, reducing the risk of injury. 

    • Fewer reps at a slower speed

      The amount of load placed on the muscle can be equal to or greater than more reps at a moderate pace. 

    • Safety increases

      The slow pace limits the amount of resistance used, which decreases the risk of injury. 

  • No prior weightlifting experience is needed. This style of training is effective for people at any point in their fitness journey, from professional athletes to people becoming physically active for the first time. Jeff has extensive experience working with people at all different levels of fitness and is adept at tailoring a program that will best fit your individual needs. The specialized and medical grade weight machines, combined with the slow and facilitated method of training help ensure that each client works their muscles properly in order to get strong and avoid injury.

  • While this certainly is an option, the research clearly shows that lifting weights with supervision leads to more strength gains in a shorter amount of time. Being supervised by an experienced trainer will help you to achieve the right level of effort while at the same time ensuring proper form to help you prevent injury. Working with a trainer can also support you with consistency by providing additional accountability so you can stay on track with your fitness goals, even if you lead a busy life with competing priorities.

  • A common misconception about heavy weight training, especially among women, is that lifting heavy weight will lead to a bulky looking physique. While lifting heavy can promote hypertrophy in muscles leading to a size increase, the biggest determining factor is your genetics in determining muscle size. A lot of the initial muscle gains happen during the first year of strength training. In general, lean muscle mass is quite hard to develop and maintain—especially if you are over the age of 40.

  • Absolutely! The research suggests that strength training is one of the most important things you can do to rehab current injuries and prevent future ones. At Anchor Strength, we use state of the art medical grade equipment and careful supervision to ensure safe results.

  • Yes! The slow motion, high intensity type of strength training that you will do at Anchor Strength will ensure that you get the absolute most out of every minute of your workout.