Southwest Recreation Center

I absolutely LOVE this gym! I’ve had a membership at LA Fitness before and have seen the size of YouFit (which is a more affordable option), but I have to say that this gym is state of the art.
There are 4 basketball courts (where you can play on an intramural team), racquetball rooms, a huge weight room (with tons of machines, free weights, squatting racks and benching areas), an Olympic weightlifting section and many of treadmills and other cardio machines. Let’s not forget the running track on the second floor, along with 3 classrooms for various classes like Zumba, interval training, yoga and a ton of other options.
If you’re looking for a personal trainer and assessments, Southwest gives a free assessment test and can provide personal trainers.
This is the second gym on campus (the other being in the middle of campus but very small and not as many machines). Also, this gym closes at 1AM! I’m a night owl, so I love to go to the gym at night and it’s great that this one opens so late. Right now, the gym is being renovated to add more performance type machines and equipment so look out for that!
The reason I’m giving this gym 4 stars is because during the school year (fall and spring), it’s soooo crowded. You have to wait to use a lot of the machines, especially the squatting and benching racks. When I go to the gym, I want to get in and out in about an hour to an hour and a half — while getting in a good workout. Sometimes, that’s not possible at peak time (6−8PM).
Another reason this gym is not perfect to me is the price you pay if not a student! I recently graduated and learned that the fee for a year to use this facility is around $ 400!!! How insane is that!!! I’m not sure if I will get it or not because it’s a little steep.
Overall, I think that this gym truly has it all and is great for a gym junkie! Despite the price, I will say this is the best gym I’ve been to. If you’re a student at UF, make sure to utilize this gem that you are paying for in your tuition!

SW Rec is one of the gems of the University of Florida. When you graduate, you will say to yourself «Man, we were spoiled by SW Rec» because no gym has nearly enough equipment, great service, and amenities.
It is free for UF students, so take advantage of it! The gym is pretty big and has state of the art equipment. The building has two floors full of cardio machines and an indoor track. If you travel further into the gym, there’s a giant weight room with almost every machine possible and a bunch of basketball courts. The bathrooms are very clean and have showers, so you can squeeze a shower after your morning workout and head to class.
SW Rec has a big parking lot and several bus stops. It is also located by the tennis courts, volleyball court, and several sport’s fields. The staff is really nice and I’ve seen some of the staff give advice to new gym goers about what machines to try. The gym also has private classrooms where you can sign up online for cycling, total body, or Zumba classes. Also, they have lockers where you can keep your gym bag and other valuables. Recently, they opened a smoothie place in the gym lobby. They have literally thought of everything!
Unfortunately, there are some cons to this wonderful gym. Even though they have an enormous parking lot, students usually wait until parking is lifted which isn’t until later in the afternoon to bring their cars. In the late afternoon, the gym can get crowded. Sometimes they have a line outside of the weight room because it’s at capacity. If you’re not a student, you can buy a membership to SW. Personally, I think the membership is very expensive especially when you have other gyms in Gainesville that offer cheaper and longer memberships.

Southwest is a great addition to the UF student body (pun intended). I don’t think we would have survived with just Student Rec alone.
Overall, I think the best qualities about Southwest are the facilities and staff. The group fitness classes are my favorite! Most of the instructors are well trained and really work you out well. My personal favorite is Michelle. She is an awesome instructor for Vinyasa Yoga and Intervals & Yoga. The variety of classes is pretty expansive. Intervals & Yoga is my favorite class! You work your butt off for 45 minutes, then are treated with 15 minutes of relaxing Yoga to stretch out. It is the best of both worlds. The classes are scheduled at convenient times and there is also a wide variety to choose from. I would like for there to be less cycling, but it is trending right now so it is understandable.
Southwest is equipped with so many sports courts, cardio machines, and even a running track! It is a beautiful facility and is always really clean. This is something that is really important to me. The only true con to the facility itself, is the weight room. I wish they had more machines. There is always a line for most machines, regardless of the time. They also do not have many different kinds of machines. They really need to update this.
The parking is impossible. UF students were promised the Bledsoe Lot, where we could park for two hours max at anytime, but that only lasted a semester. With the parking restrictions, you only have a tiny window to actually use the gym and when you do, it is extremely packed. The best times to go are right before closing or right when they open. A lot of the personal fitness equipment (like the mats) need to be replaced.
This gym is big and beautiful. It just needs a few updates to compete with the other gyms. It is really the people who work here and the group fitness classes that keep me coming back. (Maybe also because I pay for it with my tuition, so it feels free). Maybe UF should invest in another gym to meet the demands. For now, I guess this will do.

Sadly, as a longtime client of Southwest and a UF alum, I will no longer be going to Southwest.
The equipment is great, but I would not recommend paying for anything extra here. Dealing with the personal training office was disappointing and I ended up losing $ 200 because my sessions had been extended once (because when I had originally signed up they did not have enough trainers hired and so they provided an extension) and I wanted to transfer trainers. Eventually it all ended by me missing an email. This is because they ignored the new email address that I had placed on my training form the third time I had signed up for lessons, they sent an email informing me that my sessions had expired (?) and that I needed to take some kind of action to prevent me from losing my money. Now I’m out $ 200.
I’d recommend staying with privately owned gyms should you want to pay for extra services. It’s sad that they’d interact with a longtime client this way, and that they wanted to make a quick buck off of a student.

For a globo gym, it’s decent.
YES, it’s way too crowded
YES, parking requires a UF decal
YES, the guy: girl ratio is 85% BUT
There is an oly lifting area, they’ve got squat racks, rowing machines, lots of dumbbells, and decent flooring. They keep the facilities clean and for a UF student, it’s free. Not a bad place overall!

Get ready! Everyone is in better shape than you because they are 19!
There are a ton of great classes, so between here and Student Rec it is hard not to find one to like and get a good workout. It can be hard to get in on it if you aren’t by your computer at the 25 hr ahead of time sign up or if you don’t have a decal and the bus isn’t convenient during the day. Parking can kind of be hell around 5 once parking is lifted, so be aware. The gym has it all and it’s in your tuition, so don’t waste the opportunity.

I love being able to go here and work out. The location is very convenient with it’s proximity to campus. There is a large weight room as well as a cardio room. I go and run on the elliptical and never have a problem getting one like at Student Rec. I also lime the indoor track that they have. I wish though that it was just a but bigger. I feel like I am just constantly running in circles when Ido decide to run on the track.
There are a variety of group fitness classes that are available here as well. Some instructors are better than others but that all depends on personal preference.
Overall this place is great to go workout at. There are many options too that I have not yet tried like the sand volleyball, basketball on one of their four courts, or badminton. I have been told that if you just ask at the equipment room it is possible to get them to set up a volleyball or badminton court for you. I haven’t tried this but they will completely set it up and the have all the
equipment available for you to use as well.
Happy working out!

State of the art!

Best gym in town! All the free weights and cardio equipment you could need.
Could benefit from a pool /​sauna /​steam room.

The Powerlifting stations the person above mentioned are cool, theyre nifty, and theyre wastes of space. Really, it is a great idea, but no one is over there and I doubt it will take off. Put it in another room, please.
I am taking down a star because of the new plates the place has added. They now have edged plates. Though this doesnt seem like a big deal, it makes for many, many core lifts dangerous. Round plates roll, sure, but they dont wobble when theyre on the ground, throwing off your center of gravity. I think they splurged on the shiny plates cuz theyre… new. And that shine you see on the plates? Thats grease. What the HELL are the plates greased for?!

Basically all what Chest R said, except now there are 2 powerlifting stations, «but» you have to be evaluated to use the stations (front squat, overhead squat, snatch, I think hang clean is one of them) Powerlifting stations are from 6 – 9 in the evening. So you cant always use them.