BodyStrength Fitness

Skip it. They are not forthright when you sign the ‘month-​to-​month’ contract (which sounds like you can cancel at anytime, but trust me — you can’t), the employees are not helpful, and the gym itself is overcrowded and filled with ancient equipment. Also very dirty — I don’t think the yoga mats have ever seen a wipe or rag. Not anywhere near worth the $ 80+ a month!

I like this gym very much. Staff there is very helpful and flexible. They were prompt to accommodate my health/​surgery problems and allow my membership to be placed on hold for the amount of time needed.

This gym swiped our credit card without our permission for $ 216.3. At first, we thought this was just an accidental mistake. However they refused to even give us an explanation after I sent four emails. When we went there and requested to talk with the manager, they just told us he was not available to talk with us. I decide to ask help from police now. Do not use this gym for your financial safety.

I love Zumba classes with Hitomi! She is a tiny powerhouse! Very motivating, friendly, and supportive instructor. Fun routines and great variety of music.

The good: This place has a wide variety of classes, something for everyone. The instructors are good, some are exceptional like Yxia, and the gym members are friendly. The front desk people are nice but not always knowledgeable.
The sometimes good and not so good: If you look at the rest of the not so good reviews, they are generally related to issues with the management. It seems to depend on the time and the day as to whether the manager, Mario, is willing to acknowledge you and work with you.
The not so good: There seem to be issues when transitioning instructors. When it’s clear that an instructor will be leaving on maternity leave, replacements should be planned for in advance. Several times during the transition period, you call the front desk to find out if there is going to be an instructor, you are told yes, you make the effort to get to the gym and there is no instructor. This happened several weeks in a row for the same class.
The sound system is ancient. I’ve seen instructors have to waste 5 minutes of class to figure it out. I don’t know why it can change from week to week.
The yoga blankets probably have never been washed. They do have parties occasionally in the space where the classes are held. i have seen someone get injured in class the next day due to a very sticky floor.
The manager response time to inquiries can take weeks which seems odd for a service business.
The bottom line: The good outweighs the not so good. Just try to avoid having to deal with management.

From the surly front-​desk people to the arrogant manager, Mario, this place is only worth a pass. It’s too crowded, the smells are unbearable, and the one (tiny) bathroom is gross. Forget it.

Fun place to work out and grab a spin class. Convenient schedule with friendly instructors who give great 45 minute workouts. I’ve been going for over 1 year. I love that the prices are much lower then other spin classes but the quality is still high.

Equipment is antiquated, membership prices are unclear at best — they are not written down anywhere, how is that remotely legitimate?

When you really need a pilates class and no other places have times available, this place will do – and I’ve had a couple of great work-​outs there. BUT:
1. Overall, the pilates classes are too easy. Instructors tend to start from ground zero in each class, breaking down the exercises/​positions to excess (spending 10 minutes lying on the mat doing gentle pelvic tilts is not a workout; shouldn’t take 35 min. to get through the series of 5; do we really need a 5-​minute explanation for plank and shoulder bridge, etc.).
2. As others have commented, front desk service is so bad! If you’re an iota later than 10 minutes, they won’t let you in. Doesn’t matter if there’s a storm, you took a cab 20 blocks — 1 minute late, SOL.
3. Cleanliness. The pilates studio is used for zumba etc. so street shoes are worn in there, and the floor is never clean. Bathroom seriously needs a reno.

It is pricey to take their classes, the gym area is small and it can get crowded. I’ve been getting reacquainted with pilates and it feels like someone has ripped out my spine and stomped on it repeatedly — but in a good way, so thanks, Jeanettte, you are the best!

Horrible!!! Rude and do not care about customers. For now two weeks in a row, a weekly Zumba class has had no teacher show up and the management has done nothing. Lazy and stupid people. This place is horrible. Do not go here. They do not adhere to their class schedule, they waste people’s time, and they are rude to teachers. Management is entitled and horrible at what they do. This place is an embarrassment.

I am not sure how BSF does it, but they get the best Zumba teachers. Right now, Yxia is teaching the Tuesday 4pm and 7pm classes and the Friday 6:30 classes. If you haven’t taken her class, you are missing out on an hour of the best movement and music available in NYC! She is an amazing dancer with endless energy and creativity — her classes are never the same. Keeping the class challenging is her way of saying: you can do this… and that feeling stays with you, even after you leave her amazing class.

I think the instructors are really amazing, I loved pilates by Cindy, but I asked for few weeks extension because I got an injury a week ago so I could not use my card. My membership would end soon and I had several classes left. I I think they could have been more understanding in that sense and give me even a short extension. Not sure how other people got an extension :(, seems pretty incosistent. Not getting another class pass.

Their Zumba classes rock! I am so hooked on Michele’s Street Zumba class. Killer!

Gym is cramped with few facilities! And the front staff there’s a lazy with green hair, she’s so not friendly… Me and my friends wanna find a gym considering this one is nearest but the front staff with green hair made me gave up the gym… She was behaving so aloof looked like I did something wrong… Omg! So rude…

I love this place! They have so many options under one roof. I’ve tried Zumba, Pilates and Yoga here, and all the instructors were great. They were high energy classes and what I especially liked is that the classes weren’t too crowded so you could actually get some personal attention from the instructors as a beginner.
I also really appreciate how helpful they’ve been. I bought the class pass but couldn’t finish my sessions within a year (which is already a pretty long time frame compared to most other classes) because I was out of town a lot. I emailed them requesting for a 6 month extension and sure enough I got a call from them and they agreed to do it without any fuss. Would highly recommend this studio to anyone looking for a fun way to get fit!

Most preceding reviews are accurate. A great place for classes like pilates, body sculpting and burnout because of superb, friendly instructors. The gym is a bit cramped with well-​maintained but not cutting-​edge equipment. Both floors have high ceilings, lots of natural light and old brick walls — the opposite of a workout factory.
Mainly, though, I’m writing about pricing because the sales people answering the phone can be a bit dodgy. For starters, there is no $ 60 a month option.
Annual membership for gym plus unlimited classes is $ 800 or $ 700 for just unlimited classes. When they say this can be broken into payments, it soon comes out that they don’t mean monthly installments over the year. They expect full payment over the first four months of membership, i.e., $ 800 = $ 200 due the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th months.
If you’re into just classes, other options are a 10-​class card for $ 150 or 20 for $ 275. But the overall pricing nudges you toward a membership and while that technique is understandable, the pay-​it-​up-​in-​four-​months deal is a turnoff. It smacks of hustle or of fear the place won’t be as appealing later, so they’d better grab your $ now.
I’d really like management to reconsider this policy. Not everyone can handle that cash flow — not even all Columbia students — and it feels at odds with an environment that’s clearly trying to promote good vibes by being the non-​jerk gym.

The gym is close which is convenient but is overpriced. $ 60 per month with a one year commitment and that doesn’t include classes just their work out room which is limited in equipment to say the least.
The monthly rate without commitment is $ 120, absolutely absurd. I live off their free day passes and when i run out I won’t be back. Not worth even $ 40/​month

I’m giving Bodystrength 2 stars instead of 4 because I recently moved out of the area and when I emailed Mario, the owner, to cancel the remaining months of my membership, I got a rude voicemail from another employee saying that they could not refund any of my money.
That said, the classes are overall very good, especially Spinning and Burnout with Dolly, and Pilates with Cindy.

I’m a little ashamed at how long I’ve been away from Pilates. I generally prefer to go to pilates exclusive gyms, but there are not many in the City, and only a handful in the UWS/​Harlem area. I found BodyStrength Fitness on Unilocal and decided to check it out.
Overall, my experience at BodyStrength Fitness was solid. The instructor (forgot her name, but she teaches the Sunday 2pm class) was very energic and in such great shape, it was almost shaming (I personally believe that to be a good thing — I need to believe that fitness is somehow attainable). I had a good workout for a mat class — the instructor essentially touched all the bases. I would categorize it as somewhere between beginner and intermediate, so not a considerable challenge.
The facilities are nice enough in an exposed brick, large windows, in pre-​war NYC building sort of way. I would hate, however, to be in that building in the sweltering heat. It’s clean-​ish, the mats and equipment are definitely not state of the art or brand new, but you worn’t worry about catching anything. I suggest bringing your own mat and/​or towel.
Everyone was exceptionally nice. I almost didn’t believe I was in NYC. The folks at the front desk wer every welcoming and knowledgeable. They definitely give you the hard sell on the class cards, but in a nice, I want to be your friend and help you sort of way. The other patrons were surprisingly really friendly — I thought I had accidentally stumbled upon the Midwest. They made eye contacts and exchanged smiles during the class, then asked how I felt about the class afterward and were just generally chatty. It was awesome and completely unexpected. Nothing like the women at my Core Fusion Barre classes (no offense).
Overall, solid. I’ll definitely check out a few more of their class offerings.
Note: If you got to their website, they have a $ 5 coupon for your first class, compared to $ 10 if you just stop in. They offer a discount of 20% off class packs if you buy them during your first visit. And, if you’re resistent to the hard sell they give you with the classes (the cheapest is $ 120 for 10 classes), they will let you buy a 5 class pack at a 20% discount for $ 64.