Lincoln Square Athletic Club

Member advisor I worked with was NO GOOD! Did not deliver the items promised during our conversation. Other than this, my experience here was pretty good.

I love that the gym is small. I haven’t checked out the pool, but there is something for everyone. Everything is clean and the staff is great.

I’ll focus on the pool since that’s the only reason I’m a member here. It has gone down hill quickly.
It used to cater to serious swimmers. But lately it has become overrun with birthday parties, lessons, etc. I understand the need to make money — but the club crams as many things into the pool as it can at the expense of lap swim time. 5 lane pool and 2 taken up by lessons. Swim groups reserving 2 lanes and using 3. And when there is lap swim time, instructors frequently will run their classes late (talking to you Brady) for those of us waiting to get our laps in. The pool used to be pristine and now there are frequently toys everywhere. The water was definitely funky this winter during all the construction on Lincoln Ave. Don’t bother emailing the aquatics director because she never returns emails. The masters swim coach Tom is a great guy and has been empathetic to a lot of my concerns.
Not to sound like a swim snob — but its a swimming pool. sometimes you have to share lanes. and if you are sharing a lane, be respectful of the person you’re sharing with.

my favorite place,
i go on a daily basis to the pool and i just love it.
the facilities are always clean, staff is nice.

Love this place! You know the cliché you get what you pay for? Well I would say this is apt for this place. I used to belong to their sister club LVAC when I lived in east lakeview, and loved the gym. I then moved neighborhoods, and was going to a cheaper gym that I wasnt thrilled with. You can read my other review if you want to get a sense of where I am going with this. But I joined this gym in October, and love it! Yes it is more expensive than other basic gyms, but this is a gym you want to work out at… The classes and instructors are top-​notch, the variety of classes is great, and they are nice at the front desk and they greet you with a smile. The locker rooms are really nice, and they have both a menthol steam room and sauna in the ladies locker room. Seriously, I go in the steam room after working out and feel like I am in a spa… They are also right next to the Western Brown line so I can hop on the train before or after work so it is very convenient. They also give discounts for non-​profit people, and educators which is nice. All in all, if you are looking for a gym that you actually will want to work out at, join this club.

I like this place. Plenty of machines, lots of classes, and the locker rooms are clean (and kinda fancy!) Part of me wishes it were a bit cheaper but I supposed if it were, it would quickly turn into a gym that I hate. The price tag keeps the riff raff over at lawrence and ravenswood ;)
The kids club is great and never packed with crazy, gooey kids. My son really enjoys spending time there and always comes home with some glue and pompom creation to tape on our wall.

I’ve belonged to many gyms in many different cities and I love the space at LSAC. I especially love the group fitness classes, from yoga to spinning to HIIT. They are offered at convenient times and I often go about 3 times a week. The instructors are consistently excellent.
The only complaint I have is that, if you have an annual membership, you really can’t get out of the contract even if you move (unless you move like 25 miles away). This is a real down-​side to gym memberships in general and is not unique to LSAC. That said, I was hoping they would have a more flexible (and still affordable) membership option. Instead, I pay $ 10 more per month for a month-​to-​month rate so I don’t get stuck continuing to pay if I do move.
I also want to put in a plug for the personal training at LSAC, or at least one personal trainer in particular. I signed up for 3 months of weekly or bi-​weekly evening and weekend training sessions with Jessica Canlas to get fit before my late August wedding. Jessica has a really friendly, easy-​going personality. She also really challenged me to work hard and get fit. She came to each session organized and prepared to build upon the previous weeks’ session. She made my job easy (though physically challenging) — I just needed to do what she said. She was also responsive to my feedback and modified our workouts to include my request for more leg exercises. By my wedding day, I felt really fit, svelte, and reinvigorated to continue working out. Jessica takes the time to get to know you personally and customizes the training to fit your needs and schedule. She’s a great addition to LSAC.

Pros:
— Very friendly/​helpful staff
— Never had to wait for equipment, free weights, or a pool lane no matter what time of day or weekend
— Nice, large lockers with key code locks
— Excellent steam room– plenty hot
— Soap and shampoo is provided
— Towels provided
— Very quiet and easy-​going atmosphere (no obnoxiousness)
— Clientele of mature/​professional demeanor
— Very nice lap pool (Haven’t yet had to wait for a lane)
— Plenty of classes (zumba, yoga etc)
— Plenty of bike racks to lock my bike to outside
Cons:
— Sauna is not hot enough (a bit warm even if turned up all the way; waste of time)
— Locker rooms are a bit small; however, I’ve never felt crowded in there
— Showers are small (like bathroom stalls) and do not seem to drain fast enough, so I feel like I’m stepping in others’ shower water if there is someone in the stall next to mine
— Membership is pricey, but to me this a pro if it maintains a pleasant atmosphere
Overall:
The pros well outweigh the cons. I’m really happy I chose this place rather than lower end places like LA Fitness, which is definitely circling the drain.

I wanted to see the gym and take a look at their boxing classes, simple request. A gentleman told me I could, so I began filling out a piece of paper and before the ink could dry a young lady told me I had to pay $ 25 or schedule an appointment for next week. I walked out confused and appalled. Nice looking building in a good area ruined by terrible people, bad attitudes and stringent rules.

A small neighborhood needs a small neighborhood gym. That’s exactly what you get at the Lincoln Square Athletic Club (LSAC).
I’ve been a member here for just under two years now and while the idiom «nothing is perfect» fits for LSAC, overall I’m happy with the choice I’ve made in choosing my gym.
First and foremost, LSAC is a smaller gym. It doesn’t have tons of equipment, it doesn’t have a lot of open space, but it does have what you need to live a more active life. LSAC has a spin class, a pool, a yoga room, and a room for body pump style classes. They recently set up a cross fit area… I think. They of course have free weights and machines (but as I said, the selection isn’t the best, and there really aren’t multiples of any weight equipment other then bumbells). Also, and this is key, if you’re a lifter of heavy weights, you won’t find them here. This is a neighborhood gym, not a world fitness.
The amenities come complete with showers, steam room, and sauna, plus lockers and towel service. The pool is in a separate building across the street. They may have a daycare area, I don’t have rugrats, so I don’t know for sure. They showers have soap and shampoo provided, but that’s about it. Bring your own grooming stuff.
Also of great importance is a clean facility with helpful and friendly staff. You find all of that at LSAC. At roughly $ 70 a month per membership, it’s not the most affordable, but the location (right off the brow line at Western) is extremely convenient and it’s in the heart of Lincoln Square which as we all know is amazeballz! LSAC isn’t the biggest or best gym I’ve ever been to, but it ranks very highly in my regards.
If you ever stop in to check it out, let them know Erik sent you, maybe they’ll give me a free workout session with a trainer (which they have). I don’t know if I’ll use it, but maybe I can’t trade it for a sandwich or something.

Nice equipment, clean place, pleasant co-​worker-​outers. Good all around gym.

The membership advisors are the most unhelpful and incompetent people I have ever dealt with in my entire life. This alone would advise you strongly not to join. You WILL have to deal with one of them at some point, and I can guarantee you it will not be a pleasant experience. Dealing with people who take their job as seriously as they do, yet have no idea what they are doing is not a fun experience.
The gyms are all also really crowded. So there’s that too.

Originally, I transferred my membership from WPAC when I moved to the Andersonville area, thinking this gym was a little bit further from my house than I would like and a little expensive compared to my WPAC membership ($ 79/​month instead of $ 59/​month). I thought I was going to finish out my contract and then switch gyms, but I haven’t been able to leave this happy space!
I love the steam rooms and sauna rooms in the women’s locker rooms — they have been a perfect pick-​me-​up after a stressful day at work and a great workout. They are kept clean and are rarely full — in fact, I often find I have the space to myself! The staff is friendly — it is a rare occurrence that I am not greeted both when I come in the door and when I leave. The instructors are great: 5 stars for Kraig F and Lisa S, who also work at WPAC and offer great yoga classes accessible to all levels but also offering good challenges; 5 stars for Lisa H and her cardio sculpt class, which is always packed and kicks my butt! The gym offers a really wide variety of classes, including at the 6:00am, 4:00 and 4:30 pm time slots, which work well with my teacher schedule.
The locker room starts to get crowded around the time I’m leaving (5:30), but I’ve never had an issue not being able to shower, use a certain piece of equipment, etc. My only complaint is that the locker rooms are a bit small and some of the classes do get a bit crowded.
Highly recommend — if you like a strong variety of classes and a nice locker room, the gym is definitely worth the price!

I have belonged to athletic clubs for 30 years and the Chicago Athletic Clubs for the last 6 years (Lincoln Park Athletic Club 3 years and Lincoln Square Athletic Club 3 years).
This review is about LSAC. It is the best alternative in the hood. Lots of aerobic machines — treadmills, ellipticals, stair steppers — and weight machines and free. Clean, well run, good locker and shower facilities, etc.
I should note that the LSAC has become more crowded since I joined. Now it is to the point where if you go during rush hours (say 4 – 7) you may have to wait for a machine. This is new. they have apparently expanded membership beyond capacity. If you can go during other hours, no problem. But I strongly suggest, if you are considering joining, you check it out when you will actually be there and pay attention to what is going on.
Another caveat. You will likely pay two months extra when you quit your membership. They require a 30 day advance notice and the notice does not start when you tell them you are leaving. They have to «review» it, most likely to see if they can get two monthly billings out of you for the review period plus the 30 days as you leave. Very slimy business in my view. If you quit, billing should stop then. You shouldn’t be billed for two more months. So factor this into your thinking about costs as you shop around.
But, even with these problems, there really isn’t another good choice in the area. So go for it. Not exercising is not a choice.

Not my favorite. Small cardio floor and odd layout. Cardio floor gets super hot and smelly.

I’ve been a member here since the pool opened in January 2013. It’s a very nice club with a wide variety of classes and teachers; I like the fact that they switch the schedule and teachers periodically to keep the workout options fresh. As another review pointed out, the pool locker room is underwhelming — it was squeezed into a very tight space. I wish the pool was in the same building so that you didn’t have to switch locker rooms when combining a swim with another workout, but that’s part of the limited space in the city. The pool is 25 yards with 4 lanes; I typically can get my own lane, but depending on the time of my workout, I may have to share a lane with one other person. I’ve found the staff to be very friendly and enjoy participating in the triathlon club.
My complaints with the club: they let the pool get too dirty in the 1^st year and they make it difficult to put your membership on hold. They have annual maintenance where they shut the pool down for deep cleaning, but the pool already had green algae on the sides by the time they got to that; with the amount of use a club pool gets, it should have a deep cleaning more often. Due to an injury I couldn’t use the club for 3 months, so they required a doctor’s note to put the membership on hold and charged me $ 5/​month for the hold; considering that they rarely have a fee to join, it would have been easier to cancel my membership and rejoin.
To respond to some of the negative reviews, this club is more expensive than the typical workout facility; however, if you are someone who was paying for a gym membership and then taking yoga or Pilates somewhere else, this place is a good deal if you utilize the classes at least a couple of times a week. If you’re just using cardio equipment or lifting weights, there are less expensive options out there. I agree that the gym is too busy during peak evening hours and on Saturdays, so I avoid the gym at those times. In regards to not letting non-​members use the bathrooms, the only bathrooms are the locker rooms. As a member, I don’t want random people walking in to use the bathroom while I’m showering or getting dressed.

I joined LSAC during the pre-​sale, so I’ve been there since the beginning.
Honestly, I don’t often use the cardio equipment, and that area is the one place where expansion or more space could be useful. Some of the other CAC clubs have a much larger footprint and bigger cardio areas.
I LOVE the classes and that’s what keeps me going. Spin classes are my absolute favorite.

This is one unique layout for a gym. It’s a small, crowded gym, with limited equipment, and a bizarre circuit training layout. There are three studios for a number of various classes offered to members. The aren’t a great variety of classes offered, nor are there classes spread throughout the day. Most classes are in the early mornings or late evenings, so if this isn’t in your window, and you rely on classes for fitness, look elsewhere. The gym/​equipment is usually very clean, which is it’s biggest perk.
They have steam/​saunas in the mens/​womens locker rooms. Towel service is provided, as are soap/​shampoo/​conditioner.
The members are relatively young locals, which is nice. The staff are also young, but with rather dry personalities. The front desk staff have never been of any assistance, whether it were basic questions to answer or equipment-​related. They are usually staring into the screens in front of them, without acknowledging much else going on within their vicinity.
Membership office were diligent, and I never felt pushed onto anything. For the monthly dues at this gym, you’re better off going to a different facility, where your dollars spent are worthy of spending.

I’ve been a member of LSAC for almost two years now. It’s ok. It’s nice, clean, bright and shiny. But that’s about it.
Don’t get me wrong — the cleanliness factor is huge here. That, and the proximity to my home, is the only reason I pay the ridiculously high price to be a member here.
The gym is frequently PACKED, so crowded it’s difficult to get your workout in.
The staff will try to sell you the place as being a «community.» It’s really not.
I do like the ability to charge items they sell to your account, like water bottles and earbuds. Super convenient, I have a couple LSAC bottles hanging around the apartment.
Bottom line: it’s nothing special. Just a gym. It’s extremely clean and its location is convenient for me. If not for that, I’d find a cheaper place to go.

*UPDATE*
I did get a very professional response in regards to my experience on here in a personal message from a manager.
I feel bad managers have to clean up after staff but it’s a good sign that they may actually respond to requests from clients.
I have found in the past with gyms once you sign up they are done with you or non responsive to member concerns.