In-Shape: Bakersfield Seven Oaks

This is definitely not a «diamond» level gym. I really don’t even consider it platinum. There are barely any classes. It’s always packed because it’s so small and the prices are ridiculous. The hours are also terrible on the weekends which are most working people’s free time to work out. There are no mats for ab exercises. And Adam is really rude. I have heard from others multiple instances of him being rude to customers.

Wanted to do a quick walk-​through of the facilities to gauge my interest, and I got spammed with an large irrelevant questionnaire and had my time wasted with their pomp and circumstance of a walk-​through I was told could be 5 minutes and the rep said would take 20. I know you have a job to do, but little piece of advice, THE CUSTOMERS IS ALWAYS RIGHT! Lost my business!

I love this gym… BUT daycare hours are horrible… I have many friends that haven’t signed up this reason… The people that work in the daycare are great though!

My wife and I got a 14 day free pass to try this place out. We both have gym memberships elsewhere but were interested in seeing what this place has to offer. When we went in there, we told them our situation and that besides trying all the gym equipment, we were specifically wanting to try their things that our gym doesn’t offer (pool, dry sauna, steam room, towel service, tanning, and massage machines). We were assured that we would be able to try everything we wanted to. This later changed and we were told that we would have to pay for any tanning sessions or massages. That was annoying.
The good:
–new building
–new equipment
–pool
–steam room
The bad:
–employees at the front desk were extremely rude and snobby
–you have to be a «In Shape Diamond Member» to go here which basically means you have to pay more and regular In Shape members cannot go here unless they upgrade their membership
–they have tanning beds and hydro massage machines but your Diamond Membership doesn’t pay for those, you have to pay extra for those too
–they have free towel service but several times when I went to get a towel, there were none there
–they charge you an occasional fee that they call an «upkeep fee» that isn’t included in your membership — ridiculous!
–I never paid to try the hydro massage beds or the massage chairs, there is only a couple of them and they were always being used
–the gym seems very open, almost too open, IMO there is a lot of wasted space, especially to the left of the main stairs
–I did try the tanning beds and it was a very annoying process. First, I was annoyed that I had to pay for them in the first place when I was told I’d be able to try them out for free during my 14 day pass. But I accepted that I would have to pay because I really wanted to try them. They made me sign all the waivers saying the tanning beds can kill you and everything (all tanning places have them, its probably the law, that’s fine). Then they start a log of when you tan and they make you start with very short sessions. I was told for my first few sessions, I would only be able to tan for two minutes. TWO MINUTES, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! AND I HAVE TO PAY FOR THESE SESSIONS!!! Like I said, I really wanted to try the tanning beds so I just decided to do it. When they tell you your tanning bed is ready and which room to go to, the tanning bed will automatically start in three minutes. THATS RIGHT, I SAID THREE MINUTES. In these three minutes, you have to walk to the tanning bed room, clean the tanning bed with spray and paper towels, get undressed, completely lather yourself with tanning lotion, and get your self positioned in the bed with the top closed. Are you kidding me In Shape??? How can you think three minutes is enough time for that? So my first tanning session ended up being only like one minute because I couldn’t get in there in time before the damn thing started. For my next session, I asked the front desk chick if she could give me more than three minutes before starting the bed. She told me that there is no way to override the setting for three minutes but that she could wait a few minutes before pressing the button. «Okay, lets do that», I said. So I went in there cleaned the bed, got undressed, lathered the lotion, then stood there staring at the bed waiting for the little 3 to appear on the timer. It never appeared. Damn it! After about 10 minutes I decided to get dressed and walk back out to the front desk and see what happened. «OH», she says, «I forgot about you». She apologized but I was pretty annoyed. I know it was just a forgetful mistake so whatever. I decided not to try that on any of my next sessions, I would just have to deal with the three minute timer. So I used the tanning about 7 sessions and had worked my way up to about 5 minutes. Meaning that they now allowed me to tan for 5 minute sessions. When I went in for my 8^th session, they told me that I didn’t have a tanning waiver/​log on file. They said I would have to sign a new waiver and start a new log. They also told me that I would have to start my sessions at two minute sessions again. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I gave up on the tanning at this point.
–although the weight equipment is new, there isn’t very much of it, the free weight section is very small, there is one squat rack, one smith machine, one lat pull down machine, etc. I couldn’t find a weight machine designed for dips at all. I decided in the end that although my gym has older equipment, they have much more of it. I respect my gym more now.

I went back and forth between 3 & 4 stars. Let me start with the negatives: The announcements make me crazy! Every 5 minutes they are calling team clean to the floor or an employee to the front counter. Get walkie talkies people! There are not very many weight machines, mirror space for free weights is limited, and there are not very many cardio machines. It feels like there is so much unused space more could be done.
The positives: The ladies in the kids care are great and my kids enjoy going there. The whole gym is clean. The equipment they do have is really nice. The pool is beautiful and my kids can swim with me. I love the steam room and sauna. Towel service and the toiletries available are a nice touch.
Months later, the announcements still make me crazy!!! Stf up! Your voice is annoying!!!
Get a towel drop by the showers, not all the way out of the locker room door. This is for real, get a clue!
The pool is freaking cold and almost never 84 degrees. There are always bugs and hair interrupting my swim! YUCK!!!

I came in Monday, 9÷21÷15, already convinced to buy a membership, so it didn’t take much to sign-​me up! I do get a discount on the monthly membership because of the company I work for, however, I think it’s worth it for me. The location is convenient, the gym is brand new, clean and well kept. As I walked around on Monday, I noticed there were a good amount of people in (5:00 on a Monday afternoon!), but machines still seemed available, the staff was all over the place and available, the locker rooms were clean, towels (both cold and regular) were stocked and available, the outdoor pool area was very nice as well. One thing I did notice was that the personal trainers were involved 1 – 1 with their clients, at other gyms I have not seen that level of interaction.
I came back on Wednesday, 9÷23÷15, for my free training session with Matt T. We spent 45 minutes discussing my health and fitness goals, what I currently do, and how we can achieve my goals. It was a very in depth discussion about nutrition and exercise. Very informative and I appreciated that it seemed to be tailored to me specifically, and not some generic advice that’s given to everyone. We talked about my past experience with personal trainers, and how it was pretty much «here’s a machine, do this for 10 minutes and I’ll be back.» He assured me that the sessions there were different and that the trainers are more involved. So, we did a quick 15 minute workout (My fault that I had to leave early. but I wish I hadn’t!). While doing the workout I noticed other trainers with their clients, and they were all very involved and attentive. So, with this information I signed up for personal training sessions… Matt listened to me when I mentioned that I had done kickboxing before and took that into account when he assigned me to a trainer that had experience in this.
Overall, I feel like this gym provides a high-​end personalized service. I understand that they are fairly new, and perhaps they don’t have as many classes, or a juice bar, or the kids club isn’t open at all hours. however I’m confident that as they continue to grow all of those amenities will be improved.
I look forward to working out here and seeing my results!
I will update my review once I get a few sessions in with the trainer!

I love this gym out of all the ones in Bakersfield. It’s clean, very roomy and spread out. The staff is very helpful.
Truth to be told I gave a 6yr old and I am very conscious of who I leave her with. The kid care there is very accommodating and mindful of my daughter and will let me know if there were any incidents that happened during her visit.
My daughter loves Aimee and yessenia at the kid care.
Thank you for opening this awesome location.

I love this In Shape location! It is spacious, has no carpet (therefore doesn’t smell bad), has a room for yoga/​pilates and a separate room for other group exercises –which is nice because you don’t want a dirty floor when you’re doing yoga.
The instructors are great, especially Jennifer and Condy. Jennifer, the Body Pump instructor, is super positive and encouraging. She makes you feel powerful! I hope she could teach more classes. She only teaches Thursdays at 8:30 am.
Condy teaches Zumba and has the greatest vibe, moves, and music. She is very funny as well. You’ll definitely have fun in her class.
On top of all that, the staff in the daycare is awesome! Aimee, Yessenia, and Jennifer are super sweet with the babies and do everything they can to soothe them when they are not feeling too happy. My baby really enjoys playing with other children and with the staff.
Me and my family love going to this location!

I started coming here as a part of a 45-​day trial, and ended up getting a membership! It was the variety classes & schedule, the circuit training, the saunas, and the fact that my friends are members here that officially pulled me in. I still wish that they had some classes on Sunday AM, that they had more body pump classes in the evening, and that their instructors would choose better music. I’m so sick of hearing that damn song that’s just the xylophone going up and down the whole time.
For those of you who are looking into a gym, here’s some info on costs/​fees: you can get them diamond level (which means access to all diamond guns & below), or just this gym. They can give you discounts depending on where you work. I ended up getting just the Seven Oaks membership for about $ 45/​month, but I have a discount because of my employer. This is honestly more than I would like to pay, but it’s worth it. I was mistaken in my previous review because it does cost $ 20/​month for child care. One thing I found really strange is that they charge you about $ 30 once every three months for «upkeep». Shouldn’t they just include that in your regular membership fee? You sign a 12 month contract, and after that you can go month to month but you need to give them 30 days notice. When you sign up you also have to pay an enrollment fee of $ 30, and pay a prorate of your membership fee for that month. TIP: if it’s the last 5 days of the month, they waive the proration of the membership fee so you don’t have to pay it!
You also get a free personal training session when you get started. They assess where you are and develop some goals for you, and they try to get you to sign up for a trainer. It was an educational session and as much as I would love to have a personal trainer, I’m not going to pay the equivalent of my car payment each month for 12 months to get my body from average to «OMG Becky, look at her butt», especially since there are so many other resources at this gym.

New, modern, spacious and a well maintained outdoor pool. Feels like there’s more breathing room here when compared to the Coffee Road location. However, this facility does not have an indoor pool.
The locker rooms are well lit and very spacious as well. :)

Great location. Nice new building. Empty, like a haunted house on some days. Staff is pretty clueless and you don’t really see them around. I see a trainer once in a while. Most gyms half this size has 3 – 4 constantly around. I was told I have to pay more than other InShape to be here. Because it’s premium so I should pay more. The equipments are nice and new. The cold towel fridge is nice and empty. So most days when I go in the early morning is just the front desk girl and a cleaning lady. What a sorry excuse for a «premium» club. Oh BTW if you pay another $ 20 a month you can use their electric massage chair, unlimited. The only reason I go there is because it’s across the street from my house. I wish LA Fitness would have taken that spot.
Well the GM called me. At least it’s a sign the club has a pulse. Decided to add a star for the effort. Remain to be seen…

I’ve been a Diamond member for awhile and I keep forgetting that this location is even open, but I am happy that I remember now!
This is a two floor gym, much like their others. On the first floor are weights, a few cardio machines, the group exercise room, kids care, VIP, the pool, functional training, and the locker rooms. On the second floor are the 29-​minute circuit, more cardio, a cycling room, and the yoga studio. It looks like their is room to add a juice bar, and I hope they take the opportunity to make one!
I recently started using the 29-​minute circuit and it was a great decision! As much as I enjoyed doing cardio, I got a much better workout from the circuit since it is a full body workout. There are multiple machines spaced out in a circle beneath a timer and you just go through each machine for the duration of the time (45secs) after warming up for a minute and a half. This is done twice and then it tells you to stretch for a minute and a half.
I enjoy that they use the disinfectant wipes instead of those disgusting clothes but I wish they made them more visible. I had a hard time finding them on second floor until I saw someone lift the lid on the aluminum trashcan and grab them out. Overall this is a great location. Very spacious and there hasn’t been very many people whenever I’ve came.

We like this gym location for being close to home. We usually have no issues with parking although the lot is new with new businesses popping up and will no doubt get busier.
The gym is large, spacious and the work out/​locker rooms are fairly clean most days. The towels are a plus and I think that the cool facecloths inside the mini fridges (when stocked) are a fantastic idea.
We always get a friendly greeting as we come and go. There are many equipment/​cardio machines, personal training area, classrooms for Spin etc and a circuit training area.
We were interested in personal training so are now involved in that. I always feel so pressured to buy into it after the free session included with membership. It was on the ‘to do list’ for 2015 however, so we each bought a package (wish we had known we could have shared a package). Cheap, not at all. Worth it in the end — sure hope so. We are committed for 12 mos and doubt we will renew due to all the trouble we have endured from it.
I am not a contract type person, especially for gyms but there is just no way around this one. I come in sometimes twice a day to ensure I feel I am getting my money’s worth.
The one thing — I wish the pool was monitored better by staff. I realize that it is summer, it is hot but the pool is often overrun by unruly teens/​unsupervised kids a lot of the time. It is hard to focus on an aqua class for an hour when one cannot hear the music or instructor. I am a swimmer and given these factors I cannot imagine coming to swim laps in the lanes as I had planned to. Maybe this «open swim feel» will die down by Sept. People are here to work out. And please, In Shape work as hard as you can to keep the pool clean re. floating hair.
The pool deck, loungers and cabana areas are top notch. Brianne running the zumba — you are great!
Love the hydro massage bed but these should be included with the higher cost of membership (they were free for only 2 mos to get you hooked!). Massage chairs are so-​so (on the weak side) and not worth the time or extra money.
Looking forward to a juice/​protein shake bar if they ever put one in — they do have the space for it. It was promised when I signed up many months ago?
Now that this club (Jan 2016l) has been downgraded to Platinum what does this mean for Diamond members paying Diamond prices that signed up long before the gym even opened? So lock us into a false contract? No notification either. I found this out through another reviewer and the new Platinum sticker on the gym’s window. Months pass, it is back up to Diamond. Wth?
Lastly, management… do not ask for anything out of them and you will never be disappointed!
3 stars up from 2 as our year of personal training is over and I have never felt so free from hassles…

Beautiful new gym, great location, state of the art equipment and everything at your disposal, but not very big. The huge let down for me was because of the «Seven oaks» location of course they make it into a diamond members only gym. I tried about 5 times to get a quote and everytime the person handling new membership was busy. I even emailed in-​shape and gave them my key number and no response. I finally found out the price through a friend and it’s pretty much double of what I’m already paying. I’m not going to be paying for two gym memberships for one gym.

First of all, this gym is great. The location is awesome and the equipment is well kept (due to it being new lol) overall I had no issues at all in the gym, only like 5 mins away from my house. So convenient to go to this gym and the vibe is awesome.

One word (shady) a couple months back Moses R /​/​«seven oaks” — more like 7-​jokes» offered a «outside the club discount» If I gave him a 100 bucks cash he would give me 15 bucks a month. But it had to be «cash”-hmmmm…
Management is a joke at this place.
Don’t waste your time.

This new location is nice but I was a little disappointed based primarily on the hype of having a new «diamond level» gym. It was nice, clean and new but overall nothing special about it. I have been going to In-​shape for over five years and have used every facility in Bakersfield although Coffee and California are my main two depending on the time of day. It is on par with these two locations and all three of them are better than the other Bako locations. It is large and spacious but feels sterile. It is so open that if there were any people there it could get pretty loud.
My biggest disappointment are the amenities in light of the higher price. I increased my gym membership level to have access to this location and am paying a small fortune for my family of four to go there. I am looking for good value for my money and it failed to deliver. a few specifics:
The people all the staff are always very nice and responsive. A selling point for this location and the higher fee was there would be fewer people/​crowds. There weren’t many people there today but its only been open four day.
The equipment is all brand new which is nice. They have a smaller selection of free weights so if t does get busy you could be waiting for what you want.
The classes — I haven’t attended any, I assume they will be like any other location as the instructors are the same. I am hoping for more Saturday options in the future, the schedule was light.
The pool — outdoor and heated. They have 5 lanes which is great. Tri training gets difficult when you can’t get an open swim lane so this is a plus.
In summary, I will give it a while longer but will likely go back to my normal membership and use the other location, time will tell.