Reviews of FITNESS SF - Oakland (Gym)

Stephen Albin

Good for the price, better than the 24 hour fitness in downtown

Nicolas Jimenez

Fitness SF Oakland is where fitness goals go to die. The gym is chronically crowded, poorly ventilated, and equipment is often broken and old, and there are no perks like towel service. I also get a weird vibe from going there, not sure why. I initially signed up because it's close to my apartment and I figured that I would go to the gym more often since it was close. However I actually had trouble getting myself to go there since it was always no fun, and I started getting seriously out of shape. I then got a membership at the Oakland YMCA, where they have a pool, a basketball gym, a paddleball court, and much nicer weight room / equipment (if you like doing squats and cardio machines especially), and the vibe overall is much better. Even though it's slightly farther from my apartment I started going there more often and would get much better workouts in. It's made a real difference in my fitness and I've lost a lot of weight there by a combination of basketball, swimming, and lifting. My girlfriend also stopped going to SF fitness a while ago, and is now going to Core Power Yoga classes in Rockridge, which she enjoys a lot more, and is able to actually stick to a workout routine. We stopped going to SF fitness entirely and recently cancelled our membership. If you have a ton of discipline to go to an unpleasant environment to work out, then this gym might be for you. If this isn't the case, I'd look elsewhere, at the Oakland YMCA gym, or take workout classes.

Eli Eisen

It's a gym. If you come off peak it's wonderful if not then you can still find a spare chest press around.

Domingo Gomes

Is a good gym, but with stuff that can improve. For example, the ventilation could be a lot better. But taking that, is small, but have everything you need. One floor for cardio and classes, and the other one for machines and weights. Since is small, if u don't want to wait that other person finish their exercise, try to avoid the rush hour.

Jeff Chu

Solid gym, ample variety of machines never overly crowded even at peak times. It's a modest step up from 24 hr fitness and priced accordingly.

Paz Salazar

Clean great ma machines... Better that 24 hour fitness

Raven Hannibal

The best gym in Oakland. Clean and plenty of equipment to get a great workout but the fat manager dumber than a box of rocks

Randell Walters

This gym is great! Clean, relatively affordable (especially if you join during one of their promotions) and really big! I

Emily Hundley

This is my list favorite of the fitness sf locations I have been to. I primarily go to soma or fillmore and expected the facilities in Oakland to be up to that level. It's still nice than 24 fitness, but nowhere near as nice or clean as the other two I go to. They don't have towel service like there other locations so that is somthing to be aware of is you first time trying out Oakland.

Miyishia Slay

It's smaller than the other locations in SF and they don't offer free hand towels. That being said I love the instructors at this location better than SOMA. Parking can also be difficult so park in I recommend the parking lot under the overpass and walking over.

Adam Wicks

Clean facilities, variety of equipment, no line for cardio and smells fresh. As a former 24 hour fitness member, I can say I'm glad I made the switch to Fitness SF.

Rychard Whyte

Great Gym Friendly staff

Hamida Rawls

The staff is very professional and helpful. The equipment is clean and the classes are great. You can't beat the location, but parking can be a bit difficult if you don't live in the area.

Mary Lucus Flannery

Standard gym. Lots of equipment. Crowded group classes. Weird pricing structure that always changes depending on when you join. Locker rooms are okay but not fancy at all. If you are looking for individualized care you can get it here but it will cost you and you'll still be at a an overcrowded gym. If you like to do your own thing, this gym is fine.

Adrl Mrtz

Great gym, good staff and excellent machines!

asante solomon

They give more promo upon my membership and the place was so accessible...

Vanessa Scaduto

Olympic weights, row machine, group classes, and plenty of cardio machines. I live within walking distance of this gym, so I don’t have to deal with parking by the gym; which is sparse. I suggest under the overpass by MacArthur and Grand. The gym on weekdays around 4pm starts to get super busy and you may be waiting around to use a treadmill or a weight machine. The group classes vary from spin, to sunrise hatha yoga by the lake. Every instructor I’ve met has been awesome. Facility is clean, staff is accommodating, and the music is a hit or miss. It seems like they let the staff choose the music. So you never know what may be playing over the speakers. I suggest bringing your own headset to listen to music. The locker room (womens’) is clean and includes a sauna. No towel service at this gym. Personally, I don’t think it’s necessary. For a smaller gym, there’s a lot they offer in the space provided. I suggest trying it out to see if it’s a good fit for your fitness goals.

Miz Lola

Great staff, well kept facility

Tom G.

Note: I do not take fitness classes or use the stationary bike things Just use the weight and locker rooms. Good stuff: low cost (if you get the year or more contract). Location very handy. Wide equipment selection. Staff friendly. Locally owned. Bad stuff: cramped feeling -not enough floor space for stretching. Gets very crowded around 5pm. No jacuzzi tub, just a sauna. Horrid "music" blaring from speakers (even though half the members have headsets.) Mystery: Towel service would be a nice add-on service. Not sure why they don't do this since it could be done for just the members who want to pay for it.

Adam K

Great facility but terrible parking. Romero is an awesome personal trainer. I don't expect the gym to build a parking garage but they could provide towels to its members...

Jana Maiuri

Meh. The price is good and it's not as gross as 24 hour fitness. No towels, machines are sticky, and the WiFi is pretty bad. It's just not an inspiring place.

Stanley Shavers III

I want this gym to work for me but it’s too crowded all the time. I’m not paying my money to wait to workout and a 10:00PM workout (which is what was suggested to me because that’s when y’all aren’t busy) isn’t really feasible.

Blake Spears

Great gym!

Kimi Zuluaga

Love this gym! Clean, nice equipment, busy but never overcrowded. Great staff and always tidy. The bathroom/locker room is well kept and never stinks like 24 Hour fitness. Fitness SF is AMAZING!

Sherrey Bina

Here's why I like this gym- sauna, Sophie's yoga class, not too many testosterone lifters, and they just added towel service! It is small, hours on weekends aren't the best, and it is so busy in the evenings I try to avoid going at that time. People are friendly though.

Hollis Tom-Williams

Great place to workout. The facility is clean, equipment is well kept and the staff is super friendly.

Maria FrancoIKKJj*a

(Translated by Google) It's very clean (Original) Esta muy limpio

Sara Langer Rowley

Such a great gym. I like seeing all body types here. Even though I'm not super in shape, I feel comfortable here. Nice big locker room and a sauna!

Veronica McDaniels

The Oakland facility is friendly and helpful

Tamera Shakir

I like facility (always clean), equipment, and staff. Parking is always horrible. I usually circle the block repeatably. Half the time I just give up and go elsewhere.

Alexander Wesolowski

Great gym! Good selection of machines and free weights, including barbell racks. Not too busy!

Amy Dang

Overcrowded, not just the gym people, but even the equipments themselves. They have too many equipments that are placed right next to each other, making workouts uncomfortable, no personal space. The gym is reek of the typical gym smell especially on the hot days. The reason I joined was their convenient location, but I'm going to cancel soon.

Daniel Keller

Cheap gym, with great selection of Olympic lifting stations. Very pleasant staff.

John Roman

I was worried it was gunna cost a lot but I was surprised I'm only paying $39.95! The staff is really nice. Parking sucks. The one thing I hate is they don't have towels! You can buy a small one for like $2.

XxRazerxX

Great place to work out friendly staff looking a gym to work out come here.

Daniel M

Fantastic well-epuipped gym.

Austin Cogswell

Nice gym. They only have 1 squat rack though.

Michelle Millers

Joined Fitness SF Oakland in January. My goal specifically was to work with a trainer to help me build muscle mass and learn the appropriate form for the various exercises needed,I signed up for a membership under a special promotion and have absolutely no complaints!

Azul Galvez

Staff is friendly and great. The group x classes have great instructors and they are almost always full! The gym can get a little packed from 5-7pm but even then, I don't ever see myself waiting for a machine or having nothing to do. Other members are courteous and kind. I signed up for a membership under a special promotion and have absolutely no complaints! It's located a little less than a mile from home so I just run there and count that as a warm up.

Brian Newton

Clean gym but kind of expensive and often very busy.

Greg Tsutaoka

Solid place to get fit

Andre Amaya

Good place to weigh train

Nick WLS Farmer

It's a good bodybuilding gym, the only problem is that the weights are upstairs when they should be on the ground floor.

Hollis Williams

One of my favorite places to workout. This gym has updated equipment, knowledgeable trainers and super personable front door staff.

Jack Russell

Dance classes are off the hook. So far Yismari, Momo, and Eric teachers are the bomb

Brandon Barnette

Emily and the staff are great! She made me feel confortable made sure my needs and wants as a member were met. Gym is gorgeous, clean and a lot of toys to play with.

Charlie Giesige

Good gym, but barely any parking, limited free weights, and no towel service

Daniel Medynski

Well equipped and friendly atmosphere

Chris Saavedra

It's okay. Music selection is by far the worst I've listened to at a gym....

John Crossley

I have been working out here for more than a year and have always been comfortable and have never seen any bullying or shaming behavior by other patrons. Nor have I seen any behavior that I think would make women uncomfortable to work out here (though I am not a woman so take my view with a grain of salt). The price is pretty reasonable for what you get. My only complaints are the lack of towel service and a few months ago the hot water in the men's showers went out and it took several days to fix. It isn't a regular occurrence so it isn't that big a deal but I was disappointed they couldn't find a way to fix it faster. [EDIT] They now have towels

Alex Spaete

A no fuss fitness facility with friendly staff that offers every machine etc. you could want. If you're into something special like cross fit then this isn't the place for you. Be sure to come early as it gets warm inside and bring your own towel for the locker room. Parking is often available in the library parking lot across the street or paid meter parking.

mario pj mario

Good and Good gym

Iona Brabender

Friendly staff, a wide variety of fitness machines and equipment to use, many different types of classes and good opening hours. The changing rooms, showers and sauna are well maintained and always clean.

Jimmy Xu

The gym is nice. Would walk in to sign up and try to get a deal. The online deals are a rip off. Location is clearly amazing. Gets really busy on weekday evenings but there is almost always equipment that's free.

Jorge Gómez

It is a decent gym, but beware: there is no air conditioning at all. And they like to creep up the membership rates very suddenly with little or no prior courtesy notice. The current manager is one of the coolest guys around. Pick this place over the decrepit 24 Hour Fitness on Webster any day—at least this place doesn’t smell like B.O. I received a reply for whom I assume is the owner (which is a very nice gesture) touching on the subject of membership price increases. I completely understand raising the rates for everyone across the board for upgrades (and new gym openings in the city). However, I respectfully disagree with this argument: I have not seen any upgrades to the Oakland gym in it of itself—this is my home gym and has been so on and off since it was a Gold’s Gym in 2009. So my main gripe is to penalize an Oakland-only member with membership rate hikes when there are minute (if any) upgrades to the Oakland gym in it of itself. The other argument that management has thrown at me is the “comparison argument”: “well, all the other gyms are charging so much more!” To which I normally say, “how does that actually affect your profit at the end of the day?” This gym is not going anywhere and the business appears to be booming. But simply because everyone else is charging their new members more does not justify a price increase for existing members at this gym. At the end of the day, I think the gym is decent, and I am overall satisfied with it. Just a note to prospective new & to existing members: pay close attention to the justifications for the price increases.

Alexander Krumland

Fun classes but otherwise pretty cramped

David Millbank

Worst gym ever. I just canceled my membership. The staff is rude, ignorant and obviously in some rehab back to work program. They have no connection that customers pay are tied into they're getting paid. I hope more people dump this place and they are out of business soon. Worst most ignorant customer service ever. Customers are treated like garbage. Had a $3K bike stolen from in front of their front window - they couldn't be bothered and allowed some customers to bike inside, not me, couldn't be bothered. But we are not talking about the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Melissa Morley

This is my Favorite gym! Why? Because it's no-nonsense, convenient and affordable! I feel fortunate to live close by. There’s even made an app if you want more training and it's included with my membership-I couldn't be happier. The staff is friendly, not pushy. The trainers are legit depending on the level you want and need. I learned some great strengthening exercises from personal trainer, Sam Berenson, that have really helped improve my posture (*combined with Physical Therapy at home exercises for my old Left Shoulder Injury). Sam is really professional & down to earth. My coordination with exercise classes may be a bit lacking (I'll start getting my Rights & Lefts confused), but I did attend a super Group X Core Strengthening class with Liam and it was fun & tough. Liam also has good taste in tunes (if you're old like me you might like it). I don't have all gyms access, but if you want it they can make it happen for you an with some killer locations in SF - Embarcadero or behind Twitter (both looked Awesome to me) + Many Others! Checked it out, as there are many fitness options to choose from!

Sean Eyler

The best gym I've ever been a member at... and I've been a member at 12 other gyms over the past 18 years. It's the best gym not because of the facility or equipment (which is good), but because of the people that go here. This is the only gym that I can say is a true 'community' of people and where jut about everyone is putting in work. Before you roll your eyes at that statement, let me explain: Everyone is considerate and even supportive of eachother. Whether you're a 60 year old woman bench pressing or a muscled mutant on the elliptical, everyone is supportive of eachother. I have never seen such a variety of people interact, coexist, and even socialize in the same weight room. The women are not afraid to get on the free weights, and the the biggest guys don't look down on the first-timers. I can tell people are here to actually train and improve themselves. That's motivating. Best of all - no crossfit. The staff I've interacted with is great, and they have sports drinks / protein shakes at the front if you need one. Price is fair. Cons: Some of the leg equiment needs updating, and they need a few more safety clips for the barbells. I am fortunate to live only a block away, but if you're looking for parking, just go up the hill on MacArthur.

Even Cheng

Thought it is the only one location in east bay so I’d check this place out. I was pretty shocked that there is no towel service at this location with the amount of $$$ I paid to Fitness SF. The second floor of the weight lifting area is burning hot at 7pm as if I was doing hot yoga. The men’s locker room is even worse like a inferno. Chill people around and polite but the owner needs to fix the A/C to get this working

Madiyar Damen

No free parking

Douglas Taylor

Pleasant environment. Friendly staff. Great location.

Taki Vlasakakis

Cheap. But very minimal service from employees. Good quality equipment.

AJ Long

Pretty nice people. Nothing incredible, but a good gym. Also they cancelled their contract with Gold's for their contribution to the "Yes on Prop 8" campaign, so good for them. I'll take this place over 24 hr fitness any day.

Zach Levaton

It's a smaller commercial gym that isn't the cleanest, gets crowded, and has parts that looks kind of beat up. But honestly, most gyms at this price point are going to be like this. I avoid rush hour times and I haven't had a problem with getting my lifts/cardio in. Definitely recommend against driving to the gym when there is sunlight, though, as the lake will be crowded and parking will be scarce.

Jose Alcala

One of the best gyms I've been to. Great people, good machines, never really have to wait for stuff.

Antonio Wick

I am a new Bay Area resident, and I still don't have a California driver's license nor a job that shows I work in the Bay Area, and because of that I cannot be "allowed" a 1 day free pass to actually try the gym out, and some sales rep named Julia basically told me that they don't trust people to just use their gym for free without being able to show that they are locals and they can commit to sign up for it, which sounds absurd to me. I called another gym right after and they have no problem having me use their gym for a 3 day trial for free, and if i do like it (which I already know I will) then I can join them. So 1 star for extremely poor customer service, it really needs to change that ridiculous policy and get some sales reps who actually care to get new customers.

Joel Ramos

Just came from the Gym I have been working out in this Gym since it was Gold Gym. Clean and very up to date. They have classes that you can attend with out signing in.

Michael McIntyre

The gym is OK, not too guerrilla, but watch out for their intro specials that turn into leeching your pocket.

William Vigna, Jr

Very clean.

Shanon Corbin

Update: As of July 8, 2019 Towel Service has started!! Remember: Only 2 allowed per visit! (if like the other Fitness SF locations) Fitness SF as a brand in the Bay Area is great: Staff, new equipment and engagement in many aspects to the various health conscious/aware clients visiting. Fitness SF - Oakland is accommodating to the commuters and people just a few steps away from downtown Oakland and the nearby neighborhoods. Thinking of making this your spot to start your health journey, keep in mind: Plan ahead - use Google search in knowing which hours are busiest Bring a lock - the locker room does not use digital locks Use the Fitness SF app - Forgot your keycard to scan in -- use the app on your phone and they can scan you in to work out. I like this place!

Alexis Jackson

Great place to workout...

Ryan OReilly

Lots of space

Chris Gerlach

Rudy is the best trainer I could ask for and one of the first people who inspired me to get fit in the first place. Amazing dude!

Eric Kim

Good gym. Spots to do Deadlift and Squats!

Jasmine France

Gets the job done for cheap. Women's locker room is sweltering.

Aaron Sander

Eh, it's a gym. You get a decent bit of amenities for how much you pay but I hate dealing with most of the people who go there. I haven't been in a few weeks just because of that.

Jeffrey Leppink

This location chose to buy new TVs to show ads for their classes instead of using that money to repair damaged equipment. I have made management aware of safety issues with their machines and I have been ignored. After noticing the damaged cables on nearly every machine I use, I have chosen to search for a new gym.

Courtney Condon

I've been going to this gym for years now and its seriously going downhill. The gym is not cleaned well and often has noticeable sweat stains and dust throughout. The cardio machines are older and not well maintained; its pretty common for machines to be offline for more than a week. Additionally, they've cut a majority of my favorite high impact classes like spin. Some classes did not get replaced at all and others were replaced with a low impact offering. Warm up mats are literally falling apart. Locker rooms are really outdated as well. Only plus is that they have been replacing their weightlifting equipment. I voiced my concerns to the manager and fitness director but ultimately I decided to move to the Embarcadero location because I am having a better experience there. If you're serious about having a multitude of options at the gym, I suggest you go elsewhere. Its like corporate has completely forgot about the Oakland location.