Fitness SF

Fitness SF was one of the better fitness centers in the Mission and Castro area. Do get a guest pass and check it out before buying one of the monthly packages — also, if you have a friend who’s already a member, ask them to get you a guest pass which costs about $ 20.
The staff is friendly and usually helpful, there are plenty of members around if you have a question. Before buying a package, please do the math! It’s an initial downpayment plus a monthly subscription. Overall, the discount for putting a larger downpayment only works to your advantage if you’re planning to attend for a while, at least more than a year for some of the larger downpayment setups. So if you’re not sure about your commitment, get the low downpayment with high monthly payment knowing that you’re not losing much.
The location is great, it’s right on Market street walking distance from Castro and the upper part of Mission. There is a Soul Cycle center about a block towards Castro, so you could do cycling on one of your workout days and the rest come here, albeit that would get expensive very quickly!
I wish this place had a pool or a sauna, they do have another location that has these, but it’s not walking distance.
The equipment setup is comprehensive and it’s nice that they have it organized according to muscle group they target.

I’ve been a member for 10 years. The reason I continue to attend this gym is mainly for its convenient location… five blocks from home.
Plusses:
1. The manager was very kind to me when I was living in Bolivia for five months and forgot to suspend my membership; he helped me out from Bolivia.
2. The hours are very convenient.
3. Great restorative yoga classes with amazing yoga teacher, Anita.
Minuses:
1. Front desk staff. Unless one is young and very attractive, 90% of staff will ignore you… not even a hello, let alone a smile. The other 10% are exceptionally warm and kind: especially Mark M. [he treats everyone equally nice], Chris B [worked closing shift until recently] and the young man that is working in Chris’ place now.
2. $ 10 monthly membership increase with no explanation.
3. Managers’ refusing to address a couple of problems:
a) members’ TEXTING rather than exercising, blocking others from using the station. Traveling on the East Coast recently, I noticed signs at a popular gym: «No cellphone conversations in the workout area»…“Please save your texting until you have finished using equipment.” [Don’t get me wrong I love my iPhone but I don’t need to have it on me while exercising, unless for music while doing cardio].
b) members hogging equipment and overall lack of gym etiquette.
That’s me story and Im sticking to it… Thank you for letting me vent… peace out, Moose

As Sidney, George, A.P., and other reviewers have said, some of the staff at this gym are utterly incompetent, and many of the newer members are up-​tight and rude.
There was a time when this gym had a wonderful staff, and a mostly friendly, courteous membership. But gradually, as the tech industry flooded the city with self-​centered, overpaid social-​climbers, the membership of the gym changed, and is now dominated by users who are inconsiderate, self-​absorbed, and have Victorian attitudes.
The staff has changed for the worse, too. While the managers and some of the maintenance crew are friendly and helpful, other staff members are complete jerks. The worst is the desk clerk named Marc, who works there afternoons and evenings. If you happen fit his notion of a hot guy, you’ll have his full attention, mental and physical. Otherwise, you’re likely to be treated like you don’t exist.
I quit this gym in the summer of 2015 because I got fed up with the unfriendliness of some of the staff and by the rudeness and neurotic behavior of many of the members. Some of these morons are so 19^th Century in their attitudes that they wear towels in the shower, or even special shower shorts — and then they sneer or make snide comments at those who carry their towels instead of wearing them. This is a gym, for heaven’s sake; and the word «gym» comes from the Greek word for «naked». I have no use for a gym where you get criticized for being naked in the locker room and shower.

I’ve been a member of my gym for almost two years and I was considering switching to and trying another gym — just to have a new routine, maybe make new friends.
So I tried out this location, for 3 days.
First of all, Id like to thank Jason, who was genuinely nice and welcoming. However, other agents seemed they weren’t engaging or interested in gym patrons’ needs and would rather chat. (But they exactly are like that at my gym too!) reception guys were rather not nice and I think they smiled back only like after 3^rd visit, they seemed too tense.
Also, I wasn’t impressed by amenities and equipment. There’s no AC I believe. It was very warm in SF and they had only fans on. And windows open. It was like a steam room inside… Im sure some gym patrons would like that — many sweaty men working out, lifting haha — but it’s kinda way old school. Locker room seemed renovated but the space between the lockers was small.
The equipment was rather outdated. Also gym is way too crowded and I went during off peak hours.
The price for the gym (twice as much as I pay for my) wasn’t adequate for the quality of services provided.
The only reason I think anyone can be interested in joining Castro gym — is location and the crowd. The guys I met there were nice and respectful. And there seem any hotties there too haha
It’s like the only major gay gym in the Castro. That’s their biggest asset :-) many guys go to that location cause it’s convenient and cause there’s a lot of eye candy.
But I think it’s not fair they exploit that — and don’t strive for more. They need to provide better actual gym service.

I’ve been reluctant to write this review, but I have to agree with Sidney. The reception people at the Castro location are downright surly. The women are always nice, but the two described men should get an attitude adjustment or look for work that is not customer focused. It’s hard enough to get to the gym, but knowing you’ll be greeted (or not) by them makes it that much tougher.

I go to the mid-​market location during my lunch breaks and I’ve used the Fillmore location as well. Love the classes and EO products available. I was surprised that the Fillmore location didn’t have automatic locks, I think this should be consistent throughout all locations, it was inconvenient to not know to bring my own.
Could you please get better hair dryers? The current ones you have are the cheap hotel ones that are low powered and take forever to dry my hair. I only have my lunch hour to work out, shower, and get ready to go back to the office, and drying my hair takes up so much time and I don’t want to lug my personal hair dryer around.

You door people are awful. Specially the blond guy with a pony tail who works in the mornings and the bald one in the afternoon. I’ve been a member of the gym since it was Golds Gym and those guys have been working there forever. Clearly they are unhappy being there. They are either tired of working on front desk and should find something new and more exciting to do in their lives, or they hate their job, their life, the world, the gym patrons, everything. The sense of entitlement since they’ve been there forever is surreal.
The guy in the morning barely looks at people’s eyes when someone arrives. He is always leaning his body against the counter checking his phone. When you say good morning, or asks him to charge you for a some product, he acts like he was doing you a favor for being there.
The amount of attitude of the bald guy who works in the afternoon is beyond real. He acts as if you are coming to workout at his gym and he is doing you a favor letting you in. Zero friendliness, unless you are one of his bar buddies.
No, I don’t expect a hugs and kisses everytime someone arrives at the gym, and I don’t take things personally, but if you are working as the door person /​receptionist, being friendly should be a requirement. I am much more into giving compliments than bad reviews.
We are not asking anybody a favor to let us workout in this gym, we are paying big money and a good customer service, is the minimum Fitness SF can offer.
I really hope the management of Fitness SF reads it and think about it for a bit. Maybe after reading this review, do a customer service survey to see how many people are unhappy with this matter. Also, a response would be appreciated.

I was a long time member with fitness SF and actually enjoyed going because they had a good amount of weight lifting equipment. Unfortunately, I was transferred out of state for my job. I still come back to SF once a month for work and need a place to workout while I’m in town.
A day pass to fitness SF is $ 25 per day. I think this is a pretty ridiculous fee, especially since I have given them 2 years worth of membership fees in the past. Wish they would set up a more reasonable system for out-​of-​towners… They could easily make up the cost to let non-​members in, but they’re losing a ton of business by charging such an exorbitant amount. I might as well become a member and not use it for 25+ days a month (which I would never do).
TLDR; good equipment but day prices for out-​of-​towners cost an arm and a leg. Way overpriced.

I joined the Castro Fitness SF 3 months ago and couldn’t be happier with the gym and my trainer, Mac.
In my book Awesome is now synonymous with Mac Rodriguez!
As a personal trainer he is the best; keeps me motivated, always on time, knowledgeable of the equipment and knows how to get great results.
I’ve been going to gyms for years but never saw much in the way of results. this time is different! In a month I started to see results and was sorry I didn’t sign up for more sessions at the initial price. First of all I saw that my biceps were noticeably larger. As evidenced by the fact that my arm bands stayed put when I went to the Eagle!
Now my clothes fit better and I love the complements I get.
Mac keeps my workout sessions interesting by mixing it up with different exercises.
I never would have used proper form or known how to get the most out of an hour at the gym without his help.
Mac keep me honest too. He pushes me to develop good training habits and is demanding when it comes to form.
I appreciate the way he «encourages» me to do my best… He can be one hard ass trainer! But that is how you get results.
If you are serious about getting in shape see Mac Rodriguez at Fitness SF Castro.

I’ve been going to (Gold’s) Fitness SF at both Castro and SOMA locations for 15 years. I usually go to SOMA more, but out of (walking) convenience, I sometimes go to the Market St. location too.
So I did last Wednesday night, out of laziness, thinking it would be «green» of me to leave my car in the garage. Bad mistake. a (more than) $ 2,200 mistake, precisely (yes, I’m an idiot, thank you, I already told myself several times). I worked out, including, as I usually do, watching a TV show on my iPad on the treadmill. Then, at 8:30pm I went back to the locker room to take a quick shower. I opened my combination padlock and put iphone, ipad, earphones, shorts, tank top in my gym bag, and shoes/​socks on the bottom of the locker, along with my prescription glasses (which I usually also put in the bag, but luckily not this time).
I swear I was in the shower 5 minutes or less, but when I returned to my locker, the padlock was gone (they took that too???) and so was my gym bag. I believe I locked my padlock, but perhaps it did not fully engage? There were other people in the locker room, both before and after my shower, and obviously somebody saw me undressing and putting my iPhone, earphone$, and iPad in the gym bag.
Me being an idiot, without realizing it, I had a small fortune in that bag: wallet with cash, credit cards, atm card, clipper card, drivers license and many more things; iPhone 6, iPad, earphones, jeans/​belt, and a rather expensive new polo shirt. I know it was stupid of me to bring expensive electronics to the gym but again I thought it was locked and I was gone for literally less than five minutes.
What happened afterwards was even more appalling: I asked the gym staff to please lend me a pair of shorts since mine were in the bag, and they did not help at all: the guy at the reception didn’t even unglue his eyes from his phone, limiting his comment to «are you sure you locked it?», and the other two who finally came to the locker room to check, limited themselves to checking the other lockers (as if I wouldn’t remember where my stuff was? or did they think this was an elaborate prank? I was practically shaking), and then (yes, nice) allowing me to log onto icloud from one of their phones (my iPhone and iPad had ALREADY been turned off less than 5 minutes later — go figure).
Then I asked the senior staff member (i don’t know his name) to please let me BORROW a pair of shorts (my jacket, with my keys luckily, was still in the locker, so were the shoes/​socks and my glasses, and curiously my sweaty tank top (it was in the bag too, along with my sweaty shorts — perhaps the effin thief is an ass/​crotch fetishist but not an armpit fetishist?). Since no staff members came back, and I wanted to run home to start making calls to block cards, and then head out to the police station, I put my remaining clothes on and walked back out to the front desk. I asked again for shorts, but the guy was doing I don’t know what with T-​shirts. I had my (their) wet towel around my waist, and I walked out. I had to walk home in a gym towel — which I returned, still wet, to the manager the next day, because *I*, unlike other fine members of that fine establishment, AM NOT A THIEF.
The next day I spoke to the manager but from his silence and vague remarks, as well as other commentary from friends and strangers (I’ve been very chatty this week) I gather it happens quite frequently. I thought they had cameras all around the gym, I know it’s illegal in the locker room, but he did not offer to review any recording.
NOTE: without me explicitly asking for it, he was already doing me the courtesy (!?) of CANCELING my membership. I never asked for it. I simply said I will NEVER set foot in THAT gym again. I am considering my options regarding their SOMA location, where I’ve still been going even this week, without ever setting foot in the locker room (the new showers resemble a gas chamber by the way).
Suffice it to say, I will never ever set foot in that gym again.
Other than this, they still deserve one star for other factors mentioned in other reviews, such as awful over-​crowding (it’s a touch better at SOMA, shhhh), nasty attitudes, poorly maintained equipment (when plates on a machine «stick» it’s a sure-​tell they never clean them), all factors I was putting up with before this incident, anyway. But most of all, their ineptitude and total helplessness. Too bad I live nearby. Sorry mother nature, I’ll be driving to the gym again from now on.
Lessons learned: 1) I will NEVER EVER use locker rooms ANYWHERE. 2) Assume you’re surrounded by thieves (nice) 3) give in to your laziness and DRIVE to another gym.
PS: I immediately filed a police report along with electronics’ serial numbers etc. Not that I’m holding my breath.

Five stars for Sam Zarzar the trainer. I’ve been lifting with Sam for three months now, and I’m making really exciting gains. Sam is a real disciplinarian, and a great partner when you’re looking to get serious about your workout. He’s knowledgable about lifting injuries, and takes researching your injuries as homework. He blends workouts to keep your body healthy and growing, which keeps workouts from ever getting too easy. His nutrition advice is also really helpful, if you’re new to bodybuilding. 100% recommend for guys getting ready for the beach.
Four stars for the gym itself.
Pros:
– location is a block from MUNI subway
– towel service and soaps
– free phone chargers
– cheap ish
Cons:
– Communal showers, which becomes as creepy as it could possibly be. Don’t try it. Really.
– people are always texting on machines
– crowded at rush hour, in a small space
– stretching room is pretty small

Nice gym, but the front desk staff is rude/​cranky at times. I don’t see that at the other fitness locations.

I’ve been coming here for a very long time. This is a pretty good gym and a decent deal. They increased the rates quite a bit lately. I wasn’t happy about it. However, I’d hate to have their water bills or pay rent. With the latest increase, at we got towel service and better soap products, some new equipment. They still need to work on the stretching room. It seems management is always trying to make things a little better. Just this week they offered chargers for the phones.
The down side is that there’s a big group of people who seem to think that’s it’s their own private gym. I wish there were some guidelines printed– no sitting on machines and doing email/​reading. If someone asks to work in, allow them. Use one machine at a time etc. Common decency things that a lot of this gym crowd doesn’t seem to know or care.
I use the Oakland, South of Market and Castro. The staff is always friendly. Not the most helpful, some of it is they may not know? The place is clean and there’s a machine for everything. So I think the management is doing pretty good.

Absolutely awful maintenance of the equipment at this location. They’ve spent a fortune making a posh new gym at mid-​market behind the Twitter building, but ZERO improvements to the Castro location in the five years I’ve had experience with it.
If there were a better option for me, I’d take it. I was so depressed about working out here a few years ago that I just quit working out altogether. Then I switched to Alex Fitness when they were new and not overrun by trainers. Now I’m back because work pays for it, Alex is overrun by prissy trainers and their precious customers — and not open during hours I can regularly get there.
Back to Fitness SF:
There are machines there that have been broken for months on end… one of the hip machines has a fat, mismatched bolt holding a key part in place, for example, and never has worked correctly in maybe a year. Equipment is taped up, wobbly, loose… basically, potentially dangerous and definitely not in great shape.
Considering that they just raised the monthly rate, and that memberships are ridiculously oversold (good luck getting your workout in at ANY peak time), it takes a lot of nerve to leave the equipment in such shoddy condition… i mean, that’s why I go there, to use the equipment.
The guys who keep the place picked up and clean do a fine job. But the people in charge have severely under-​funded (and don’t appear to give a damn about) basic maintenance of the equipment we use every day. That’s the entire reason we’re there. There is NO excuse for so much equipment to be in such shoddy condition day after day, week after week. None.
OMG I just read some of the comments FROM THE OWNER… if you don’t believe what has been said about their crap attitude, read the comments! They did indeed copy the very worst provisions of the old Gold’s contracts into theirs. And they constantly trot out the old «oh golly gosh we’re just a humble family-​run business» trope to answer every valid complaint… every time… go read the comments and their pathetic answers. I’d be embarrassed for them if they weren’t pocketing so much of our money. and go take a look at all the broken and run-​down equipment at the Castro location. Boo hoo, etc.

This is mainly a shout out to Anita, the best trainer in the world — especially if you have «issues» like I do (bad knee, torn rotator cuff, not very bendy, intermittent bad attitude…). She is so knowledgeable and kind (and also hilarious and energetic, which helps make the time fly by); some days I can’t believe I got such a great workout, considering my limitations. She uses all the weird equipment I never knew existed (and now I’m addicted to) and pushes me to my limits while making it fun. I recommend her wholeheartedly — she has helped me lose weight, gain muscle, and love being stronger.
The gym itself is not fancy, but it has everything you need, and is a friendly and convenient place to work out. The only downside (s): it does get crowded sometimes, and sometimes the horrible dance mix makes me feel like I should be doing poppers by the smoke machine.

If you’re thinking about this place because it’s convenient, inconvenience yourself and go somewhere else.
Ignoring how overcrowded the gym is (unless you’re into that sorta thing) the staff here is borderline incompetent. Not only was I told I could cancel my training sessions at any time (which I would later find out was false), my trainer never set up a schedule with me, yet still felt compelled to charge me after I begin the arduous, almost month long process of canceling those sessions. When they finally decided to refund me (their only redeeming quality), the manager wouldn’t give me the full refund because the trainer had already been paid for a service he didn’t render. So apparently I am out the money because they misinformed me, and couldn’t process my cancelation request in a timely manner.

The guys at the front desk at Castro rock. James, too. They’re soo helpful and friendly.
Fitness Sf is the best value in the entire city. All gym access — excellent classes, including body pump with Peggy and Meghan. Try the mid-​Market gym. It’s pure luxury. The membership folks, including Rosie, are really professional and will work with you as much as they are able.

Had a membership there when it was Golds. Went back last fall and they deceived me regarding the cancellation of gym membership. I tried canceling the last week of December, but because of their billing policies, they charged me through the end of March. I would definitely discourage anyone from going there. They are dishonest about there membership requirements.
Oh yeah avoid the lost and found, employees put Polaroids of penises on top of the pile of lost and found items.

My last review was deleted because it wasn’t specific enough (and they pay Unilocal):
I specifically walked in last week, as a paying member, checked in, inquired why for the last 2 years women have had steam rooms and saunas and men’s have all been removed — the manager told me: «it’s your guys’ fault».
I asked why we pay the same rates: — the manager told me: «that’s the way it is».
I canceled my membership (of 5 years) due to the continued discrimination against gay men. And now work out at 24.

I come here to lift weights or run on the treadmill when it’s too cold to run outside on SF’s Unforgiving hills. When I really want to sweat bullets, I take Paul Hoyos’ Cardio Combat on Tuesday at 630 – 7:30! It’s an hour of ass kicking combos that will leave you drenched in sweat. Paul knows exactly what to say to motivate you to complete his strenuous combos. The class starts at 630 but if you come at 6, you can take Paul’s Abs and Core class… This 30 minute class focuses on tightening up that awesome belly of yours. If we do this religiously we will someday have those washboard abs Paul has. That’s one and a half hours of pure exercising party. He makes the exercises look so easy when he performs them. He’s a great teacher. Highly recommended!
Tip1… Arrive early… Parking can be a little hard to find during rush hour.
Tip2 Paul also teaches at other fitness SF sites so look up their website