Body Elite Fitness

So I’ve been a member of Body Elite since the late 90s. They are a staple of the neighborhood when it comes to gyms and have been consistent over all of these years.
What I like about Body Elite, beyond the convenience of being close by my apartment, is that they follow a regular schedule of equipment upgrades. Note that upgrades are mid-​tier equipment and do not have the advanced tracking functionality or «smart-​connectivity» that many higher priced and high end hotel gyms have. Along with these upgrades they often have become bored with the layout and rearrange the areas or sometimes entire floor swaps. A major plus is you almost never have to wait for a machine or free weights — even during peak times. They have a cleaner that i constantly see around wiping equipment and vacuuming. You never get the feeling that the place is grungy — which can easily happen in a place where you are expected to sweat and drip a lot.
They have decent enough wifi and have slowly upgraded their equipment to have screens on them. It’s infrequent for them to run out of towels. The front desk staff is super friendly and accommodating (should you not have your membership key tag). They have flexible personal training and class options (for members and non-​members) that will help push you over that hump or continually motivate you to do your best with custom routines.
For those with kiddos, they have an option of a babysitter at $ 5 an hour that is solid and makes your excuse of finding a sitter less valid. The only recent change is that you need to ask for one ~24 hours in advance.
I do wish they had mobile checkin so you don’t need a key tag. I also feel that their value for monthly or annual memberships could be better considering the super low cost gyms popping up all over ($ 10 a month etc).
This isn’t a fancy, I’m going to primp around and look for better Tinder options gym or a meatheads rule juice fest. It is a great local gym that gives most of the options you want in a friendly accessible environment.

UPDATE 2: This gym just underwent some major renovations. HUGE upgrade. Went from a good gym to a great gym. This has to be one of the best neighborhood gyms in BK; we’re lucky to have it in Carroll Gardens.

Nothing wrong with this gym. It’s your average, neighborhood gym — perhaps a little pricey for what you get, but I suppose that, even though I don’t go to any of them, they do have to pay their training staff for their time spent preparing for and conducting classes.
Workout out solo using freeweights and the heavy bag, these are my only pet peeves. 1. There’s a single squat rack. There really ought to be more than one… 2. The new bar pad they bought to replace the old one that was destroyed is not the same one; it barely fits around the bar and it has a rounded, slick surface with no grip — the possibility of it sliding around on your back is quite real. 3. There are 3 heavy bags on the top floor and all of them are positioned literally a foot away from a glass mirror. I imagine that these were hung this way in order to save space, but the gym would have been much better off going for a pulley system and hoisting them around the centerpiece of the room at the ceiling. Heavy bags really ought to have a 3 — 5 foot radius on all sides in order to be effective training tools — especially when you don’t have a partner to hold the bag for you.
If you guys could somehow fix #3, I’d be your best friend forever. I don’t know who’s bright idea it was to hang heavy bags next to a glass mirror, but, just think about it for a minute. I’ve already seen the glass shattered on one instance and instead of taking that as a hint, you guys just fixed the glass and left the bags where they are. Think about it for a minute. HEAVY BAGS — GLASS MIRROR.

I’ve been a member of the gym for 3 months now and love it. It’s in a convenient location, clean, doesn’t get overcrowded, and the group classes & instructors are awesome!

Local beats corporate any day of the week.

Body Elite is a great gym with an impressive variety of classes. I started off just attending the TRX bootcamp here (which is fantastic) and just joined the gym as a regular member at the end of last year. I do quite a bit here from the cardio machines, classes to the weight room and I’ve never had to wait for a machine or been turned away from a class because of overcrowding. Everyone who I’ve come in contact with has been kind and always helpful, front desk people and teachers as well. I don’t think I’ve been this happy with a gym before and I’ve tried quite a few in Brooklyn.

Been coming here four or five times a week for three years now. Very surprised to see all these poor reviews. The classes I’ve taken (kettlebells, aeroboxing, yoga, spinning) are outstanding and make this terrific value if you decide to take advantage of it. Very good instructors (Chris, Nick, Margo, more) who put a lot of pride into their work. The downstairs cardio is also a good option for those that enjoy that. There’s always a free machine. There’s plenty of space in the weight room as well. The staff is friendly and helpful. There are plenty of free towels to use which isn’t always the case for every gym you go to.
Prices are fair (especially if you pay upfront for a year) and there’s definitely a reason this place has been in business for 25 years in a neighborhood where things go in and out before you can even blink seemingly.

This place is great. It’s never too crowded and the vibe is friendly and welcoming. It’s not the biggest gym, but it’s well organized. More importantly, they seem to have everything I want and I never have to wait for equipment. It’s definitely worth checking out.

More barre blast!!!
Emily is awesome and very motivational. I love her classes, and will even get up for the early morning ones. I wish there was another one in the evening or on the weekend!!! I would definitely go.
I also love Alex for yoga. She is very helpful, and is great at what she does.
Okay, bad thing though, in the upper studio I saw a huge, huge live cockroach that really turned me off from using their mats, so now i just bring my own, and stay towards the front of the room where they can’t hide.

This gym is only in business because for most of Carroll Gardens, it’s the only gym option nearby. The already short classes (most are 45 min) start late most of the time, and the great instructors inevitably leave after a year or so (Juliana, Natalja, David). It’s so frustrating when the instructors come late, because most of us don’t have time to wait around or take another class. I will say the spin classes are good.
I would never otherwise wish this, but I sincerely hope a big corporate gym moves into the area and provides a better option. I would definitely pay more for it.
I’m looking at you, Equinox, Crunch, or NYSC!!!

I feel that after being here a few more weeks, I should give this gym a more fair rating. I would give a 4.5 if I could. I’m obsessed with the spin classes. It’s always spotlessly clean, which is a serious task in most gyms. Love that the website tells you how many times you’ve been in the past month; it’ll keep you motivated if you’re slacking. Everyone here is super friendly, always a greeting at the front door. The best part is, no one here is a fitness snob. Everyone respects each others space and level, and the other people who go here are friendly which makes the overall experience better.
Just wish there were little breaks between some of the classes on the schedule! If you want to do a two classes back to back, you usually have to head out of the first one 5 mins early…

We enjoyed the gym. The people were very and transferred the remainder of our months membership to our daughter. Recommend it highly.

I was interested in a gym membership to accompany my rigorous yoga practice. It’s nice to do a little cardio work in cold weather (I’m NOT running outdoors in the winter).
Unfortunately this is the only convenient gym in the neighborhood. I’s kind of ghetto for the price. I just can’t pay that much for a gym like this. Old equipment, small, etc. For a few extra $ you can go to NYSC in cobble hill, and they have better equipment and classes.
I would consider BE if the monthly rate was below $ 50. Otherwise, I’d rather pay a lot more for a nicer gym. I’m a little spoiled, I admit it.

I love this little gym. The front desk staff is extremely friendly and easy to work with. There’s always a machine available.
2 issues: I hope this doesn’t sound bitchy but there’s this one man with one of those vacuum thingies on his back and he literally stands in the cardio area for HOURS and vacuums the same spots over & over & over, in everyone’s way — this should take him 10 minutes — he doesn’t remove any dirt or detritus — just stands there with his long cord and crazy-​loud machine, all day long. I never see him do anything helpful.
Also, the best pilates teachers I’ve had have been the second string or substitutes. The ones on the regular schedule are just okay — they seem more into into their own image in the mirror than being helpful or supportive or motivating. One in particular — not all of them. Let Cheryl teach more classes!!!
It’s a really good little neighborhood gym, otherwise. No skeezy pick-​up scene. Does the job.

Have been a member of this gym for one year now.
Overall it’s really a B/​B–
Chris is great for cardio classes, very motivating instructor.
And Anna is fantastic as far as flow yoga goes.
Juliana for zumba… great!
However, cycling and other classes are not motivating at all.
Music selection in cycling classes is very mediocre and top40 from years ago.
Got really bored few times, really miss those soul cycle bootcamp cycling classes with fantastic music selection and energetic instructor.
Like the free wifi, so can listen to pandora.
A big bummer: If you are a member and going to a long business trip (for 3 weeks) and try to freeze the membership for 1 month, noppp, not really possible for free. You have gotta pay $ 20 for that freezing process.
Looks like the neighborhood gym could use a little competition…

I joined this gym a few months back and overall have been satisfied. I pay $ 75/​month, with a one year commitment, and had the joining fee waived. I think it’s more like ⁸⁰⁄₈₅ if you do it month to month.
Over the four floors, there are two fitness studios for group classes, along with a spin room, two weights rooms, a room with cardio machines and a stretching area. Since it is housed in an older commercial building that probably had apartments on the top floors at some point, the environment definitely feels more home grown than the bigger fitness chains. The equipment is in reasonably good shape, rarely out of order, and I find its never as crowded as the YMCA up the street (which I used to belong to). I have been to a couple yoga classes, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of teaching.
If I lived a bit further north, I might have joined the YMCA instead of Body Elite ($ 60/​mth for full fitness facilities, tons of classes, pool, steam & sauna — good deal!) but for now, Body Elite is much more convenient and I like supporting a local business instead of one of the big chains.

I was a member here for more than 10 years, and if I’d had another option at the time, I wouldn’t have stuck with it for so long. If a Crunch or Equinox were to move into the new development being built across the street, this gym’s days will be over.
The price (around $ 80 a month) is about what you’d pay for NY Sports Club, but this gym does not deliver on that level.
Pros
Friendly front desk staff
Dedicated and polite cleaning staff
Updated machines
Good cycling room
Very good class instructors
Cons
Price — cost of a luxury manhattan gym but without the luxuries
Owner’s bad attitude and poor customer service (much discussed in other reviews, so I won’t repeat it)
Space constraints — The yoga room is stifling
Temperature control — hot when it’s hot outside; cold when it’s cold outside
Poor equipment maintenance
Overcrowding and poor crowd management

Compared to NYSC and YMCA, this is a mom and pop’s kind of gym. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Though, I still don’t understand why the prices are as competitive as the YMCA. They have the same equipment and machines and i’m sure it will serve your workout purposes.
I go at odd hours of the day/​night so there is always a machine available, however, the classes could be a little later in the day for busy folks like me.

OK
So I am a little biased because I used to work here years ago. However, that says something that a former employee would give it a great review. The house keeping staff was friendly & always kept the equipment & gym clean. If a member would complain the staff would be on top of it. The place used to never get crowded & there was always equipment to jump on (I see that has changed). The owner & his wife were always pleasant to deal with & did their best to take care of customers. The owner’s wife was a personal trainer & she knew her stuff!
This is the best gym in the Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill area.

I give this place 2.5 stars. Equipment is fairly new and in good condition. Space is limited, during rush hour you’ll have to wait for others to finish their workout. Staff is super friendly!
Bathrooms are small and a little shady. It only has a steamroom, no sauna.
Ideal if you are near Caroll Gardens and don’t want to spend too much on gym membership. If you are closer to Atlantic, you may have better options.