Gold’s Gym

Here is why everyone hates Golds Gym.
I am leaving the Pentagon, after eight years, and moving to a new job. I need a new gym, in Tysons.
I wrote down five gyms to check out, in and around the Tysons Corner area. Got in my little car, notebook in hand, ready to find the spot that will be my next home for a while.
My needs are simple. I want weights. Rack, barbell, Olympic plates, kettle bells. A shower and a place to hang clean clothes. Thats it.
Golds was on my last. Could not be closer to my new job.
And– the kicker. I have lifted in the original Golds, where Arnold and Franco trained, Venice Beach. Golds. A name to trust.
I go into the Tysons Golds. And sure enough… smarmy guy behind the desk. I tell him, in declarative sentences:
«I am looking for a new gym. I just want to take a quick look around to make sure you have what i am looking for.»
Kid moves to the computer. I know what is coming next. He is going to click on the New Customer icon, take down all my information, I am going to be here for ten minutes answering his questions, and they are going to hard sell me for the next two months.
«No– I am not signing up right now. I just want to see what you have.»
The kid: «Sir, I can’t let you back there without filling out this form.»
Me: «No, I am not going to just wander around. You can go with me. I. Just. Want. To. See. What. You. Have.»
Kid: «I have to fill out this form.»
Me: «Goodbye.»
Joe Gold would be appalled at what his genius idea in 1965 has become.
Here is what you need to do: Leave Golds Gym. Get onto Route 7, turn left and go towards Falls Church. Drive to the intersection with South Washington Street, turn right, go a half-​mile, walk into Five Rings Fitness at 336 South Washington, sign up.
Big dudes, free weights, no hard sell, pay by the month, no bullshit. In fact: what Joe Gold had in mind in the first place.

The gym is OK, but has a lot of negative things.
— The AC has not been working properly for the past month near the weights area
— Towel service is not consistent, and they don’t let you know ahead of time when it’s not going to be available
— They take their time to do repairs. They took over two months to fix one of the 3 toilets in the men’s locker room, and they still have not fixed the steam room (it has been close to two months now)
— It is rather small and gets really, really crowded in the evening

Gold’s shouldn’t have such an underwhelming location, be it in Tyson’s or otherwise. While the staff here are nice and the outlay is decent, this place is kinda embarrassing for the brand, and I would never lift here given the numerous other excellent Gold’s gym locations in the area.
Gold’s in Tyson’s is on the second floor of a random office building next to the mall. In other words, the ceiling is uncomfortably low (I have no clue how one would do presses here), the floor space is limited, and the machines are uncomfortably close. This is also the product of some sort of weird Fitness First merger (kinda like some of the locations in DC), so the place is fairly crowded with a wide crowd. All of this lends one to the impression that this place is ridiculously underwhelming — especially when it’s a stone’s throw away from a really nice boutique gym.
The thing is, there’s some genuinely good stuff going on at this Gold’s location. Lots of 45lb plates, lifting platforms, decent-​ish squat racks, etc. The staff are super nice and attentive. The place is immaculate. Parking is free in the evening. But all of that doesn’t help it from coming off a bit underwhelming and confining.
Honestly, this place needs to be moved ASAP. They need a large, boutique facility in the area to meet the expensive tastes of the Tyson’s crowd. Anything else is just an insult to the brand.

I am a frequent user of several Gold’s locations in VA and MD (Tysons, Germantown, Frederick, and Rockville). This is by far the worst I have been to. As matter of fact, this is the worst gym I have ever been to in general, and I have been to some really bad gyms. I use this gym after work to avoid traffic, that is the only reason I remain in this gym.
To begin with, the men’s locker room is so dirty, the smell is unacceptable. It is small and the staff has not done a good job cleaning it at all.
There is always something out in the gym, soup, cold water from the fountain, paper towel and etc. The previous manager was rude, did not care what the members were suggesting to make the gym better.
The equipment is very old, and often dirty. The dumbbells are falling apart and it is bound to get someone injured sooner or later.
The management received countless complaints regarding one very unintelligent and extremely rude female member, yet nothing happens and she remains there months after months.
I cannot deny I have enjoyed talking to some of the members and staff. The sales team there is friendly and front desk is nice as well. Personal trainer Patrick always says hi and smiles. Sales consultant David and Mike is nice. And front desk Brian is welcoming and friendly as well.
If you are looking for a gym membership for cheap and do not care about the terrible smell, old machines/​equipment, and rude members, by all means you should join Gold’s at Tysons Corner. Otherwise, there are many better options within a 5 mile radius.

I just want to preface this, by saying the staff/​trainers are great. Always professional.
My issue is with the actual facility. It’s small, but they have a bunch of stuff most «globo» gyms don’t have. Olympic lifting platform + bumper plates are nice if you plan on doing power cleans/​clean and jerks/​and so on. Kettle bells, row machines, and a few cool specialty machines. The main issue is when Fitness First, became «Golds Gym». All of the members who went to the Gold’s off 7 and Gosnel (near TJ Maxx, DSW, and Panera Bread), are now at the former Fitness First location (Golds Gym Tyson’s). They turned the old Golds off of 7/​gosnel into a «Crunch Fitness» franchisee.
This is the main issue. You have the population of the old Golds location, and the population of the former Fitness First members crammed into one small gym. Not much of an issue, if you’re there for classes/​cardio equipment. A bit of a pin in the ass, if you’re there to lift. I go in at 530/​6AM on weekdays, and 65% of the time, every squat rack and/​or bench press is taken. I’m not faulting my fellow gym goers, we all paid for the same membership (be it Golds or Fitness first). It just sucks that we now have double the population (Golds + former FF sharing a small gym), sharing an already small lifting space.
Pros
–2 squat racks, Oly plaform rack, and a cage rack. So basically 4 squat racks.
–Special lifting equipment (Trap bar, Safety Bar [yolk bar] barbell with handles, power bands, chains, foam rollers, and bumper plates).
–Friendly staff and patrons.
–Plenty of cardio equipment
Cons
–You now have people form the old Gold’s Tyson’s location + former Fitness First members crammed into one small gym.
–Squat racks, and bench press can sometimes be monopolized, even if you come at 5−6am.
–water fountain used to be ice cold, not it just spits out warm water
–Offers discounts for corporate wellness folks (check w/​your company)
The main reason I took away 2 stars, is because of the gym being small + the virtual doubling up of members from the former Fitness First purchase by Golds Gym, and the shutting down of the Gold’s Gym off 7/​Gosnel (those folks now come to the former Fitness First gym in Tyson’s).

This location is rather small. There are a lot of mirrors everywhere that try to make the place bigger… to no avail. You have to walk back and forth to be able to access all the weights. The WiFi *sometimes* works if you need it to listen to music when you work out.
I have the advantage of going in the late afternoon when it’s not too crowded. However, if you go after the work rush it’s so hard to find a cardio equipment.

I’ve never been to a gym with more self-​obsessed and narcissistic people who love to stare at themselves in the mirror. Totally overcrowded; trainers and staff throughout, adding to the congestion in the gym, and no real room to stretch or do floor work (abs, push-​ups, etc) without feeling like you are laying down in a pathway. I went on a travel pass when I was in the area and won’t be back.

I joined for a month b/​c I was out of town. When I called to cancel before 30 days was up, guess what? They bill you BI-​WEEKLY. Something they NEVER mentioned in the office when I signed up. So you’ll automatically lose half of your monthly fee when you cancel.
Completely deceptive and tactless practices.

I usually go to the location on South Glebe Rd in Arlington, but as I have been spending a lot of time in Tysons Corner for work, I have started using this location on Route 7 in Tysons Corner. It’s a convenient way to wait out the afternoon traffic by working out after work and before traffic dies down — good use of my time.
The location, while slightly smaller than South Arlington and Ballston (but bigger than most other Golds locations), is cleaner and newer than the other Golds locations I’ve been to. I have not seen any machines out of order yet. It also seems to have better parking than virtually every Golds in Northern Virginia inside the beltway.

Extremly small mens locker room and it gets packed quick. No privacy. No real stretching area either. Most machines are there.

If I could rate this location a 0 star, I would. I signed a 2 year contract and decided to cancel ONLY 4 days later since I found a way better deal at XSport fitness.
Golds gym DOESNT EVEN HAVE WHAT I NEED and it isn’t even 24 hours! They don’t follow sanitary procedures, there are no pools, no steam rooms, no saunas, NO EQUIPMENT selections and Nothing that interests me.
The same manager told me I signed up 4 days ago and that it’s too late to cancel! What a excuse! I insisted to speak to HQ. he told me he will fax the cancellation form to HQ and let me know within the next few days what happens. 1 week passes and I hear nothing from the manager.
After calling several times the front desk associate gave me a whole bunch of BS about the contract terms which I was already aware of. They say you must have a permanent disability, move 25 miles away from the gym to cancel, or enroll in army :/​WTF? I left several messages to the manager but never heard back! I called a different location and they give me more BS about how I can cancel online and that didn’t work either. What a horrible experience!
Too bad cause GOLDS GYM rather take your money and be happy then keep CUSTOMERS happy. I will take this issue to HQ now that I don’t work I have free time in my hands and make sure i do what it takes to cancel this stupid contract which is a SCAM. I deserve my money back because since I signed the contract I haven’t stepped a foot into this gym and I never will…
I WARN YOU DONT GO TO THIS GYM THEY ARE SCAMMERS.

Wow, haven’t been here in a month and I was shocked to find at least 15 – 20 locker locks in the men’s tampered, damaged, or completely broken. They showed obvious signs of attempted burglary. Don’t leave any valuables in their locker room. I won’t be back anytime soon.

I was a long time Gold’s Gym member. They bought out Fitness First, and relocated to the Fitness First location. Bad move.
SPACE: We went from a nice open space with high ceilings and lots of equipment to low ceilings and a poorly laid out floor plan. If you like the low ceiling basement feel, have at it. For the free weights section, they don’t even have a military press rack, a staple piece of equipment for any respectable gym. For many pieces of equipment, they only have one of each, so you have to wait your turn. Why can’t you work in, you ask? Because the culture of the staff, trainers, and members don’t allow for it. Which leads me to…
STAFF: Some of the staff is nice, and smile (the ones from the old Gold’s Gym). Other’s not so much. I once asked the Asian woman trainer who worked there if I could work in on a piece of equipment. Her response… «Well, we’re circuit training among 3 pieces of equipment.» I said «that’s fine, it will literally take me 15 seconds each set.» This went back and forth for a couple of iterations in which I reassured her that I would be quick with my sets. Her final response (speaking to the person she’s training)… «Well, uh, do you mind if he works in?» After all that, she finally let’s me work in. GEEZ… we ALL PAY DUES HERE, and it all starts with the staff and trainers, THEY SET THE CULTURE. Her reluctance to allow me to SHARE a piece of equipment that we ALL HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS TO is just ridiculous. Not to mention, I come in pretty much EVERY DAY, and not once has this trainer or any other staff member every smiled or said hi. IT ALL STARTS WITH THE STAFF. There are a couple of exceptions, there’s one blonde (European?) woman trainer that always smiles and is pleasant and friendly, as well as a front desk woman that works the late mornings (a holdover from the old Gold’s).
MEMBER CULTURE: The member culture is reflective of the what the staff sets, and it’s no surprise it’s just as terrible. Today, I asked someone doing dumbbell presses on the only incline barbell bench if I could work in. He hesitated, then said «Well, you can do dumbbells, not the barbell.» Seriously? First of all you’re doing DUMBBELLS on the ONLY BARBELL bench, and on top of that disallowing others to do what it’s meant for. There were plenty of dumbbell incline benches available for use.
CONCLUSION: The staff and members are selfish, and the space is like a basement. I’m so fed up with this place, and even tho I have 3 weeks left on my membership, I cancelled and I got myself a membership at the new 24 Hour Fitness down the street using the Costco deal which comes out to a greater savings over time (you pay for 2 years upfront). I can’t wait to get out of this hellhole and get back to a real gym. Also, I’m posting this review on every site I can find.

I was an original Fitness First member and I enjoyed the gym for the price I paid. I thought it was fair. As soon as Golds Gym came in, it became crowded and less personal. I’m very disappointed that nothing has changed since they’ve taken over. I’ve been a loyal member to Fitness First for two years and will miss them very much. I’m in the process of cancelling my account.

If you want a really good gym experience… this is not it. The equipment is fairly outdated and in some cases can be a bit dangerous. The ceilings are too low for the pull up grips and there are exposed ceiling panels with light fixtures right above your head if you do pull ups on some of the machines. One of the cable cross machines has exposed iron because the tubing has worn off. You can easily cut your arms using it. I imagine if you stayed with Gold’s Gym its because you have disposable income or its for the ability to go to any Gold’s Gym because value wise 24 hour fitness makes this particular Gold’s look really bad. In any case, if they improve it significantly as it is somewhat of a new location that might make it worth it, but I highly doubt it.

I used to love this gym when it was in its old location. The new location is geographically slightly more convienent, but the facilities are a major downgrade. Less space, more congestion, less and lower quality equipment. You now have to park in a garage and access the gym on a different. The nice to have amenities (tanning beds) are gone. I go to the gym 6 days a week and this downgrade is enough to cancel my membership and find a new gym (24 hr fitness??).

UPDATE as of AUG 2013: Now Golds has acquired and consolidated the original Tysons location into what was Fitness First at 8150 Leesburg Pike. The new location really, truly sucks. The old Tysons location is closed.
Crowded, disorganized, no natural sunlight, low ceilings, filthy-​disgusting locker rooms, and no wifi or cell signal top my list of complaints at this consolidated location. The equipment is raggedy and all the weight lifting benches are wobbly and old. Even the water here tastes bad, and the place just feels cheap.
Management here is aloof and the old FF staff is cranky and they play angry loud rap music when management is out. The only saving grace is one friendly Golds employee moved over to the new location, but even so, the facility is just not worth it.
Sorry Golds, I gave you my business and you had your chance to keep me… and you blew it, big time.

This gym is very good for bodybuilders, compared to others around this area.
They have an array of machines essential for a good muscle building experience.
They have 3 squat racks, one of em is a power cage that is safer when you don’t have a spotter. Dumbells up to 150lbs. which is important, and plenty of different leg machines and 5 different types of calf raises, awesome! Lots of different types of bent over lat pull machines, many benches for the classic flat bench presses, this place has it all.
However the downfall is the tiny lockers, and small locker room, I find myself not able to get passed someone ahead in order to get to my locker in the back nor can it accommodate many people in each locker cubicle.
Also they need to update or upgrade their sitting lifting chair used for sitting dumbell shoulder presses, military press, sitting bicep curls, etc. One of the chairs has a missing foot placement which is important when you go real heavy on overhead presses as the chair will slide backwards if you place your foot on the floor. The chair is too low and the back is not right it makes your lower back arch way too much.
And unlike the Gold’s Gym closer to where I live, this gym doesn’t have a lunk alarm walking around harassing bodybuilders. They even have a deadlifting podium, and a heavy punching bag that makes alot of noise when hit hard, but hey who gives a sh#t its a gym not a library. When someones going all out on that bag it adds to the gym atmosphere, I feakin love it. I want to pick this gym up and set it right on top of the Gold’s Gym Randolph Rd. Rockville along with the staff here which are way better.

While the building is somewhat small, this place’s management has done a great job in making the most of it. All aerobic equipment is on the first floor while the great assortment of free weights & strength building machines are on the second.
This club does have a few drawbacks. First, the locker room is very small. While you really don’t need artwork and scented towels (though they are not bad!), having a place to change and a shower head when you’re all sweaty are really desirable. Both of these are somewhat problematic at this place during peak hours. Secondly, parking on weeknights can be challenging. There is much commuter parking in this strip mall. In addition, the Tyson’s construction can make getting into this place somewhat difficult and time consuming.
These drawbacks would normally limit a club to no more than three stars. This club gets four, however, by virtue of two great assets that counter-​balance the limitations. First, the staff is just sensational. They are very knowledgeable about health, fitness, and nutrition. In addition, they are great people. Second, there is the «value» word. This is a real bargain gym in a part of town where bargains are hard to come by.
If you live or work in the McLean or Tyson’s corner area and want a good workout, there are really only two choices. If you can afford a very pricey membership and want lots of classes, a pool, and amenities you might consider Equinox. If you cannot afford or don’t want to afford high-​end prices, go to Gold’s. If you are a serious power lifter and do not care about classes, cycling, swimming, or much of anything other than weights (I was in this camp in my earlier years), then there is really only one choice — Gold’s.
BTW, Gold’s beats Sport & Health hands down, and does so for less than half the latter’s membership dues. The staff is at least two orders of magnitude better, downed equipment is promptly fixed, and you won’t be sharing the locker room with children of the opposite gender.

Don’t let the odd location in the back of a shopping plaza turn you off. This is a very well equipped gym. For those really serious about lifting, it has a great collection of big boy equipment. So clearly is works for those just targeting good fitness as well – plus an amazing amount of cardio equipment.
As with most Gold’s the locker room is small, cramped and so-​so showers. But that’s not a reason to select a gym anyway.