MontpelierLIFTS HERE.

A 24/7 community gym downtown. Brand new equipment, two saunas, real coaching, and a dog who thinks he runs the place.

24/7 ACCESS • INFRARED SAUNAS • ALL CLASSES INCLUDED • NO CONTRACTS • FREE TRAINING SESSION • MONTH TO MONTH • VULCAN APPROVED • 24/7 ACCESS • INFRARED SAUNAS • ALL CLASSES INCLUDED • NO CONTRACTS • FREE TRAINING SESSION • MONTH TO MONTH • VULCAN APPROVED •

The Story

VCF is a small, independent business built on family ties and community values, run by a neighbor who wants a healthier, happier Montpelier. When you join, you support that mission, not shareholders.

Kyle Smith is from Wisconsin. After eight years running his first gym in Waterbury, VT, he bet on a flood-damaged Montpelier building, and with friends and family working late into the evening, turned it into the Vulcan Community Fitness center.

Take the Tour

Take the Tour with Us
The Front Door
Around the Corner
State Street
The Classroom
Where the Workout Is Written
The Dumbbell Wall
The Racks
Cardio by the Window
The Heart of the Floor
Treadmill Row
Benches and Plates
Meet the Greeter
Infrared Sauna
Drop Your Bag
Private Showers and Bath
The Shower
The Hallway
Claim your free training session

What's Included

24/7, Every Day of the Year

Train at 5am, at midnight, on holidays. App or key fob access means the floor is yours whenever you show up.

Every Class Included

Functional Fitness, Beginner Strength, Women's Strength, HIIT, yoga, and core, all on one membership. No class packs, no upcharges. Sign up online, every class has limited spots.

Sauna, Showers, Cubbies

Heat up after a lift, shower before work, stash your gear. All of it is part of the building, not part of the bill.

Month to Month

No contracts, no initiation fees, no cancellation gauntlet. You stay because it works, not because paperwork says so.

A Free Private Session

Every signup starts one-on-one with Kyle or Kelsey. Safety, injuries, and goals, built around you before you touch a barbell.

Community Rates

10% off for active military, first responders, full-time students, and seniors. Snuggles and snoots included with a friendly greeting, a howl at every passing fire truck, and a series of tricks for treats.

Our Classes

  • Women's Strength
    Safe, effective lifting taught from the ground up in a supportive, women-focused room. Real strength, zero intimidation.
  • Beginner Strength
    New to lifting? This is the starting point. Every major movement broken down so you feel safe, prepared, and confident.
  • HIIT
    Coach-led intervals alternating all-out effort with strategic recovery. Every class is different, and you'll leave knowing you gave everything.
  • Yoga
    Mindful movement, breathwork, and deep stretching to recover from training, reduce stress, and improve flexibility.
  • Core
    More than crunches. Planks, rotational work, and midsection training that powers everything else you lift.
  • Functional Fitness
    Full-body training built around strength, conditioning, balance, and real-world movement. Expect a mix of dumbbells, kettlebells, bodyweight work, and cardio that can be scaled to any fitness level.

October 2026 Class Schedule

All group classes are included with membership.

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
2
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
3
9:00 AMWomen's Strength
10:00 AMHIIT
11:00 AMBeginner Strength
4
10:00 AMYoga
5
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:30 PMHIIT
6
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
7
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:00 PMHIIT
6:00 PMYoga
8
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
9
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
10
9:00 AMFunctional Fitness
10:00 AMHIIT
11:00 AMBeginner Strength
11
10:00 AMYoga
12
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:30 PMHIIT
13
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
14
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:00 PMHIIT
6:00 PMYoga
15
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
16
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
17
9:00 AMWomen's Strength
10:00 AMHIIT
11:00 AMBeginner Strength
18
10:00 AMYoga
19
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:30 PMHIIT
20
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
21
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:00 PMHIIT
6:00 PMYoga
22
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
23
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
24
9:00 AMFunctional Fitness
10:00 AMHIIT
11:00 AMBeginner Strength
25
10:00 AMYoga
26
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:30 PMHIIT
27
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
28
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
8:30 AMWomen's Strength
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
5:00 PMHIIT
6:00 PMYoga
29
12:30 PMCore
5:30 PMWomen's Strength
30
5:30 AMFunctional Fitness
12:30 PMBeginner Strength
31
9:00 AMWomen's Strength
10:00 AMHIIT
11:00 AMBeginner Strength

Live Booking Schedule

Use the live GymMaster calendar below to reserve your spot and see current availability.

Coaching

Your sign up includes one free private training session with Kyle or Kelsey. Gym safety, injuries, goals, nutrition. However you want to use it, it's yours.

Joining VCF also means backing an independent, family-run gym on East State with deeded parking out front, a dog on the floor, and an owner who buys equipment because members ask for it.

Kyle Smith

Powerlifting
World record holder
Wrestling
16 years, national champion
Also
Bodybuilder, longtime coach
Training since
Age four
Specialty
Strength for aging, injury rehab
Status
On the floor, daily
Kyle Smith competing
★★★★★

This place is great! Clean, comfy, all new everything. I am loving the true machines!

More than that, I have known Kyle for almost 7 years. I met him when I joined his previous gym to help work on some serious physical issues. I was told to get surgery; Kyle helped me find a better choice that kept me more mobile, and for a fraction of the cost.

After 6 years of training with Kyle, I am not in pain anymore. I have never been this strong or felt this good. It was a lot of work, but it was always fun. I actually look forward to aging now, as apparently it means feeling the best I ever have while making some amazing friends that are more like family.

Travis · Google Review

Kelsey Jacobs

Certified
Personal trainer, nutritionist
Also
Corrective exercise, group exercise, strength and conditioning, tactical conditioning, online coaching
Collegiate
College athlete
Competition
National powerlifting records, CrossFit, Hyrox
Past life
Police officer, South Carolina and Maine, incl. SWAT
From
Randolph, Vermont
Specialty
Strength, confidence, community
Status
On the floor, daily
Kelsey Jacobs
★★★★★

Kyle and Kelsey are professional, knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Both are excellent fitness instructors in both classes and one on one instruction. All their equipment is top notch and easy to adjust even for those of us that are vertically challenged! The location is perfect right in the center of town. And Vulcan is the best door greeter in town!

Terri S. · Google Review
The Morale Department

Vulcan

Title
Chief Morale Officer
Breed
Great Pyrenees, Lab, Husky
Greeting
Every member, every time, tail at full RPM
Specialty
Supervising deadlifts from the softest spot on the floor
Programming
Naps. Elite-level naps
Verbal
"I love you," one take, no retakes
Rolls over
Both directions, on request
Fire trucks
Howls. Always has. Always will
Payment
Cheeseburgers only, no exceptions
Status
On the floor, daily
Vulcan at the lake
★★★★★

So glad I decided to give this new gym a try! The owners are very enthusiastic and eager to build a community where everyone is welcome and supported (or left alone if you prefer!). They offer 24/7 access and group classes, perfect for those seeking company on their fitness journey or night owls who seek solitude. Plus if you are lucky, Vulcan himself will be there to greet you at the door.

HikeVT · Google Review

Equipment

Hover over any equipment name, or tap it on your phone, to see a picture of the actual equipment on the floor as it sits.

Strength

  • Assisted pull-ups and dips
  • Bench press
  • Deadlift platform
  • Dumbbell rack 5 to 100 lbs
  • Glute hamstring developer
  • Monster rack with landmine
  • Smith machine

Machines

  • Cable crossover seated cable row, lat pull-down
  • Chest supported row
  • Inner / outer thigh
  • Leg extensions
  • Leg press
  • Lying hamstring curl
  • Pec flies
  • Rear delt
  • Seated calf raise

Cardio

  • Concept 2 rowers (2)
  • Elliptical (2)
  • Spin bikes (2)
  • Treadmills (4)

Ready to Join?

Want to see the gym before you sign up? We're in and out all day and the doors are unlocked. Come right in and we'll show you around.

★★★★★

Really nice, big gym space with plenty of machines and free weights right in the center of town. Unintimidating and unpretentious, clean and professional. The saunas are a game changer.

Eli R. · Google Review
★★★★★

Was literally just thinking about the fact that there's not a classic gym in Montpelier anymore. Great location and equipment. Love that there are solo saunas! Will definitely be using those a ton this winter.

Melissa S. · Google Review

Same Corner Since 1940

Super A&P Market, about 1940
1940 Harry Sheriden builds the brick corner store to the A&P chain’s specs. Eight decades later, it is Vulcan’s new home. Meanwhile upstream, the new Wrightsville dam is constructed as a response to the Great Flood of 1927. Montpelier is growing again!
11 East State Street today
1950s The moderne curves, corner lamps, and clock come off the parapet, leaving the flat line the building wears today.
Gas lines, 1975
1975 A&P and other businesses leave town. The country was in the worst recession since the actual Depression. OPEC oil embargo had quadrupled gas prices, unemployment hit 9%, and a 156-year-old grocery empire was shedding stores. 11 East State Street went dark for five years.
Downtown Montpelier under floodwater
Montpelier Vs the Winooski
1927: Downtown under 8 to 10 feet of water.
1936: Ice jam floods basements; dams hold back 2-foot surge.
1992: Ice jam puts 2 - 3 feet of water on State Street.
2023: River crests at 21 feet; downtown, windows are underwater.
Coin and currency shop, 1980
1980 the International Coins & Currency company puts its shop in the old A&P storefront. Started in a barn in 1975, the mail-order giant hit $30 million and 200 employees across Montpelier before half the workforce was laid off on New Year’s Eve, 1980. The building is vacant again.
Accessible entrance, 1994
1994 The Vermont Center for Independent Living buys the building and calls it home for nearly thirty years, running one of the oldest independent living centers in the country out of Montpelier.
State Street under floodwater, July 2023
July 2023 Two months of rain in just two days. The Winooski River crests over 21 feet, the highest it’s been since 1927. Sadly, the VCIL is forced to move out and abandon the building once more.
Sandbags downtown, December 2023
Dec 2023 Just five months later, the river comes back. This time cresting at 16 feet. Downtown stays dry. Montpelier comes together loading the entire town with sandbags, they save the town.
Winter 2025
Winter 2025 Vulcan, maybe from some unforeseen force or his amazing snoot, sniffs out a risk worth taking and a building worth saving. Kyle, friends and family take on the weight of repairing 11 East State Street, returning a pillar of the community.
Vulcan Community Fitness family collageTwo members flexing at Vulcan
We’re a community who works together to build back stronger and better, with resilience.
1 / 11

Building history: The Montpelier Bridge, “Then and Now,” May 8, 2024. Historic photograph courtesy of George Edson. Flood photographs: downtown Montpelier, July 2023. Slides for 1975 and 1980 are illustrations standing in for period photographs.

Questions
Do I need experience?

No. Most of our members started as beginners. Your free session covers everything you need to walk on the floor with confidence.

What's included with membership?

24/7 access, all classes, sauna use, showers, cubbies, and a free private training session. Drinks and snacks are sold separately at the desk.

How does 24/7 access work?

Sign up online, get access by app or key fob on request, and train whenever you want, every day of the year.

Is there parking?

Yes, deeded off-street parking right at the building, plus street parking on East State.

Tell me about the dog.

Vulcan greets everyone and roams the floor. He's gentle, trained, and has been around gyms his whole life. If you're not sure if you are okay around dogs, come in and meet him. It's a no pressure situation.

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