Gold’s Gym

Overweight staff, abundant equipment, clean facility, roid heads, occasional grunting, pumped muscles, pretty women, tuff muffs.

The crappy business practice (if you don’t sign up on your first visit, you have to pay an extra 100 bucks, so you can’t even try out the gym) and how overcrowded the weight area is has led me to rethink joining a Gold’s again.

This gym was really just made to make money… it skimps on everything that you need: including weights, which are sparse throughout the weight room. Finding four tens is usually a chore. Also, you can’t cancel your gym membership. you must wait out the year, which is ridiculous

I like this Gold’s Gym location, it just depends on what you are looking for. I registered with the Bowie location. A membership at Bowie allows you access here, Crofton, Dundalk, and Marley Station. Bowie has a good selection of classes, a good ventilated cinema with carido equipment, and a good weight room, Crofton has a lot of cardio machines and large studios with a lot of equipment I use to build my own circuit (I’m sure they use it for fitness class, I just have never been to one.) So about this location:
Parking– fine, it’s a big parking lot. You may not get a space right by the door, but… you’re here to workout, move those legs :)
Fitness Classes– you will get a work out. Channing, Jenn, and Katie are the best instructors to get you a great workout. You will have to pre-​register and arrive 10 minutes early, as a lot of the classes fill up.
Equipment– They have all the machines that I prefer here. Treadmill (about 3 different variations and plenty around the gym), Stairmasters (4), Ellipticals, and a 3 part weight area.
So the first weight section has the machines where you adjust the weight by levers and knobs.
The second weight section is too advanced for me, where you add the free weights to machines that function similar to the 1^st section.
The third weight section has your bench press, squat press, the regular you would expect.
The third weight section is always crowded so I don’t use this area often, and if I do it’s only for 2 or 3 machines, but that’s okay.
Anywho, there will always be some type of equipment to use.
Workout Cinema– It’s small and does not contain the equipment I prefer really. It’s also hot, and if you get close to where the fan is, there is a bright light in your way.
Locker room– spacious, showers, lockers, the norm. It is well kept.
Kid Center– They have a kid center, idk the hours .
People– I dont need too much attention, I can’t speak on if the staff is friendly, helpful, etc. They swipe my card and I go on about my business. The instructors are helpful and friendly, and the ladies that I’ve encountered throughout the gym are nice as well.

Had an awful, awful, experience trying to 3 day cancel with one of the guys who (from what I understand) no longer works there.
Thankfully, I finally got to speak to a manager (Mark) and thank god I didn’t trust Matt and made him give me copies of all the paperwork and everything he said– because Mark saw that I was being honest about trying to cancel within the three days (instead of Matt trying to trick me into waiting past the three days so I’d get stuck undercontract) and canceled it for me.
I got to say I was totally shocked because my first impression of this place was that of crooked used cars salesmen, but Mark has changed my mind.
Good on them

What a horrible staff. The trainers walk around in their own little worlds and are not even friendly! The desk personnel are great though. I sent in a cancellation letter and how ironic they «didn’t receive it» around the time for Yearly fees. I told the membership lady that I truly did send one and she basically called me a liar and hung up on me!!! Well, she did call me days after I called about being charged again, it would have been sooner but she «doesn’t work weekends «(SHOULDNT someone?) It takes a lot for me to post negative reviews but, they DO NOT CARE ABOUT MEMBERS as soon as you try and leave due to moving. Used this chain for most of my life. So so so sad. I am breaking up with you forever GOLDS GYM. Goodbye and please treat your next life long members better than you did me at the end…

OK OK I think I’ve been coming here long enough to write a review. Honest no longer comparing to me beloved previous gym. I moved and changed jobs so it was no longer convenient.
First and foremost I am a class junkie. I do best in a class environment. surrounded by people being tortured and dying the same slow death that I am. So I will start with the classes. The Friday ZUMBA is awesome, great music and great instructors (2 sisters). Gets super crowded, get there early stake out your spot. I also believe they have another class during the week. I have also taken the Les Mills Body Combat & Body Attack. All of those instructors are great as well. They do an awesome job at keeping you pumped up and motivated. I dont think they get as packed. I can’t speak on the instructors for yoga, pilates or body pump I haven’t taken them.
OK moving on to the cardio area. I have never found myself at a time where I couldn’t find a piece of cardio equipment to use. There is plenty upstairs and down. When something needs repair its usually fixed in 3 – 4 days period, I think that’s reasonable. Also there are plenty of weight machines.
Upstairs there is a great An corner which can get kinda packed.
The weight room. I Dont know I haven’t been in there. I do all of my weight in the woman’s workout room. The women’s workout room has its good and bad. Good because your aren’t fighting the whole gym for a bench. just a few women. There are a few benches, 2 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, 2 bikes. About 10 weight machines for different muscle groups. And lots of hand weights to choose from. A few bars and plates to use. Sounds great right. yes but the problem is, its small. If there a 6 women in there it feel tight. But like I said I’d rather fend for myself against a few chicks then muscle head mania downstairs.
The locker room/​bathroom .truly and honestly. no complaints. Always clean always space to change. Always free lockers. Just always use a locker
Its well worth 29.99 and to be able to have access to the other golds gym. The front desk folks are cool. They always speak when coming.
4 stars because I wish there wash more than 1 group exercise room and parking sucks.

This gym is so overcrowded that you might as well not bother showing up… unless you want to work out at some ridiculous hour of the day.

I’m knocking off one star from this Gold’s Gym location due to the increasing volumes of people that come now.
I think more and more people have discovered the good membership deals here and have signed up. However, I don’t think the current space can handle this high capacity. The cardio machines on the first floor is still manageable, but not on the second floor. The weights section is completely packed and overcrowded. It’ll take forever for you to finish your workout. Just FYI, I go between 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM, and parking is absolutely ridiculous now. Both its parking lots are completely full at this time. I can only imagine if you go during the day, you won’t experience the overcrowding.
On the bright side, Gold’s Gym recently got rid of all their remaining CTVs and replaced them with new flat screen HDTVs.

I’ve been going to this gym for about 4 years now and I’m finally doing a review on it.
Golds is a pretty big gym, they have pretty much everything you need and for the most part the employees are friendly. Many of the members are very nice, will chat for a few minutes in between sets and will spot you if you need it.
As another Unilocaler pointed out they added vintage artwork which is very nice but they also added things that don’t need to be there. In the middle of the gym they have a shed, yes a shed that serves no purpose but to take up room. They also added a trapeze, why I do not know. I’ve seen no one use it and I’m not sure anyone will use it. I wish they put more money into getting some of the equipment fixed and added more useful things like new weights, and new benches.
It’s a gym I don’t need it to be fancy, just be useful and a somewhat enjoyable place to do my workout. I probably would have signed up at another gym but Gold’s is on my way home from work and they have plenty of equipment so I don’t have to really wait for much.
I really don’t think this is a negative review of Golds and I don’t want it to sound that way but I was just used to a Gold’s gym that had free weights, some machine weights and cardio equipment. Now it seems like they are adding stuff and turning the gym into something it’s not.
Another positive is when the WWE wrestlers are in DC or Baltimore they will use this Gold’s gym. I’ve talked to Sheamus, The Miz, Randy Orton and a few others. Great people and got some great pointers for workouts.
Jason

I had to update because of the new renovations in the gym. They added some cool vintage artwork which makes the dreary place a bit happier. And they moved some stuff around. It really makes a difference! Something about a nicer environment that makes me want to come back.
And as always, the front desk and childcare staff are great!
Parking is still a drag but I guess you can’t have everything.