Blast Fitness North Providence

Has great potential but a staff that could care less. Benches torn, old out of date machines.

Basically a sweaty strip mall running mill, which is funny, because the entire parking lot is filled with cars being driven by lonely single runners.

So the staff or management have really stepped up their game lately. They’re engaging more and are diligent about cleaning the floors and equipment every 5−10minutes. Which is fabulous and really shows! There isn’t much they can do about the bathrooms, but the simple fact that they have been making some real effort matters in my book.

DO NOT JOIN THIS GYM. It is dirty and loud and it will take months of runaround to cancel your membership. I called repeatedly, but the mailbox is always full. When I stop in, nobody can help me. Last time I was in the teen behind the counter assured me he would leave a message with my phone number with his boss, but I never received a call back. The person who helped me joked that new management has taken over and his boss is giving people who want to cancel their memberships challenges.
Calling/​emailing corporate headquarters left me frustrated – days for the request to go through, no confirmation, etc. I have been trying to opt out since September. The cancellation won’t take effect until January, which means I will have paid for at least four months I didn’t even use.

2 stars only because there location is great. Heard terrible things about this place but I figured I’d give it a shot for myself. I went in interested in a membership and left disgusted with the lack of customer service. I didn’t feel welcome at all. It took several minutes for someone to come greet me at the front desk and they didn’t even smile and barely wanted to make eye contact. I was given a free day pass to try out the place. Not even the word «free» could change my mind about this place. What a great piece of commercial real estate just going to waste. The owners seem to use it as a cash cow… Location, location, location is the only reason why this place is still running.

…its a gym, that has lots of gym equipment. What it doesn’t have is employees who are visible. Went in the other night to talk to a representative and there were tumbleweeds blowing past the front desk. I searched the whole place and to no avail did I find an employee. Super silly.
I have watched people wait 45 minutes at the desk for help…
So, don’t go here if you frequently have questions or need help.

UPDATE: blast fitness since closed the pool, which left me with a serious bacterial infection that kept me out of the gym for almost 6 months. RI department of health made them shut it down. I k ow way too much about that issue. With that being said I changed my $ 20 a month membership down to a standard $ 10 a month membership. I’ve been told by management that the TVs have not and will not be working in the future due to some sort of cable issue, my guess is this particular franchise owner is too cheap to follow up with any gym amenities. I have also noticed that a good ¹⁄₃ of the equipment is either «out of order» or «this machine is being serviced» also the weights down in the weight room are in need of serious repair Grease and replacement of ball bearings, are needed. The management of this gym and the franchise owner are the equivalent of a deadbeat dad and a slumlord combined. U HAVE BEEN WARNED

This place is a complete scam. I have been trying to cancel my membership with this place for months! Every time I call I get the run around for at least 45 minuets. I was told I needed to send a letter so I sent a letter then was told they never got the letter… This place is a complete waste of your money from broken machines to personal trainers that don’t know what they are doing and will con you into a month to month membership that again you cannot cancel. Save yourself the time and effort and sign up for a YMCA membership… Well worth your money!

I must make one thing clear from the start. I am providing an unbiased review as an employee here. I am not employed by Blast, but rather by Thryve Fitness Solutions, as a personal trainer. I will be reviewing the gym as a FACILITY, not the company nor its employees (I’ll leave that to the members).
I have experienced a variety of gyms between Rhode Island and New York. I am not a fan of commercial gyms, ESPECIALLY Planet Fitness. These are not gyms, these are ‘fitness centers’ where cardiovascular training is over emphasized with complete lack of expertise (over-​doing cardio results in metabolic damage and hormonal imbalance… cardio should be used as a tool with a specific goal in mind, not as a workout routine). These gyms offer membership at a low price because they have successfully manipulated the population psychologically, and have created permanent memberships with emphasis on the quantity of memberships. I myself am interested in actually getting results when I go to the gym. So I don’t usually touch cardio equipment unless it is to warmup.
This gym is actually a decent facility. It is a REAL gym downstairs, where you are able to do REAL work without being told you can’t grunt or drop weights (aka work hard). Planet Fitness and the newly popular YouFit do not provide a real gym atmosphere. They do not like people like me who come to the gym to bust their ass.
Blast has many, many things they need to improve and for that I give them three stars. However, in terms of the facility and its equipment, its decent enough for me to appreciate. It has an old school gym vibe. I have worked out at all of the WoW’s throughout RI and this was the best facility hands down.
If you want to go to a real gym and see real results, I would personally recommend this over the others everyday. If you’re preference is to do cardio for the rest of your life just to maintain your current state, then you can go anywhere you’d like. But I’d strongly suggest you look into the REAL benefits of exercise, with that of resistance training.
If I could be of any help to you just ask the staff to speak to Brandon, or grab my business card. My job is to help people achieve their dreams, and I have the knowledge to do so.
Again, this is my attempt at giving an unbiased biased review of the facility in comparison to others.

Horrible, machines were broke often times. Planet fitness is cheaper and way better. This place is small so it gets crowded easily. I dont like the atmosphere either. Aesthetics is an important thing, and the aesthetics of this place make me believe that the people that work there dont care. Theres most likely a lack of leadership at some point in the corporate structure, and that is very reflective of this facility.

In spite of bad reviews, I was willing to take a chance on Blast because of the price and convenient location. Before I pulled the trigger, I wanted to do my homework because I had heard horror stories about Blast not honoring their cancellation policy and because I had recently been swindled after paying up front for a yearly membership at Gold’s before they closed without warning.
I called three times to get information and every time I spoke to a different employee who gave me a different story about the plans and fees. After finding out on the second call that the promo would be ending on that day (which was bad timing because I was also leaving on business the same day) I was reassured that I could sign up easily online and not to bother rushing in. When I attempted to do so, the $ 12 required at sign-​up promised on the phone jumped to $ 70. I called to find out why and was told in spite of my previous two conversations, in fact that was a deal only given in person and it would not be honored online or over the phone. Great– promo ends today and I am 4 states away.
I will be joining a different gym as soon as I’m back in town. Based on other nightmare stories, I might have dodged a bullet. Thanks, Blast.

Has great potential but they’re not pursuing it. equipment particularly cardio… is non functional… while they have multiple locations I go to NP… And if this is a representation of the gyms as a whole… it’s not a good look

I believe this has now changed to blast fitness and I had a very positive experience with the employees and gym facilities.
The reason I am giving 1 star is because they have no options for anyone who wants a gym membership for a short period of time. I am moving soon and wanted something for about a month and was willing to pay more than their usual monthly fee to just do a month but they can’t do that.
Seems silly to turn away customers who want to pay! In their defense, they have me a free three day pass which was nice.

I joined this gym a month ago. It’s not bad for the price. It’s a little run down but it seems like the new company that owns it are making some improvements. Last night they were putting in all hardwood floors. I think they could have saved the money on that and possibly fixed the broken machines or possibly get some new ones. I was on a bike last night that wouldn’t turn on so I moved to another one. That too was malfunctioning so I just decided to use it anyway because I was wearing a heart rate monitor and didn’t need to see what my heart rate was on the machine. Nonetheless this is a decent gym for the price. They used to have a pool but have closed it down. They offer tanning and free baby sitting so these are some of the perks!

It’s acceptable for the price.
There was a pool, which has been closed, and probably for the best. The business name has been officially changed over to «Blast Fitness,» so hopefully there will be a few upgrades under new management. Numerous machines are usually down, which happens at most gyms, but it’s a bit more common here. The women’s section is super small, but functional. I would like to see availability of some jump ropes, kettle bells, or ab mats. It would also be nice to have a stretching cage. The one vending machine available with drinks is tiny with very little variety. It would be nice to be able to pay for these items with your membership card, as many people don’t bring their wallets to the gym. I’ve used the tanning once, which was decent. It’s a standing booth, so you don’t feel unsanitary.
I will say that the folks working here have all been pretty friendly and willing to help with any questions. That’s a super plus!

This place is straight up scuzzy. All equipment is pretty well used and some broken machines sit for long time collecting dust. The workers are completely clueless regarding trying to sign up clients and are not even aware of the promotions they themselves were running. ABC financial will cancel your membership though you do have to plan the cancelation out as it requires the equivelant of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. They will almost always get you for 1 extra month due to their policies. Unfortunately this place exists as there is nothing else in North Prov, not exactly sure why? May think about a return to the North Providence town owned facility.

They closed the pool (which is probably for the best) but I’m sure the people who came here to swim on a regular basis are not pleased. I went in one morning and got on every single treadmill and none of the TVs on any of them worked. Oh wait, one of them did work but the volume button didn’t so you couldn’t hear it anyway. I hate hate hate machines with TVs that don’t work.

******MAJOR WARNING*****DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THE PAID IN FULL OPTION***** YOU WILL NOT GET A REFUND IF YOU FIND THAT THIS PLACE SUCKS**** THE EMPLOYEES WILL LIE TO YOU AND TELL YOU THAT YOU CANCEL AT ANY TIME*** I CONTACTED ABC FINANCIAL AND THE REFUSE TO REFUND YOU FOR THE TIME YOU DON’T USE***** SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM*****
After multiple complaints from friends developing skin rashes from the pool I was told by the staff that the pool is now closed indefinitely. So without the pool area it’s not worth it for me to travel when I can just go to one of the closer $ 20/​month gyms. Also the treadmills turned out to be mostly for walking. If you run too fast the belt sticks and you can potentially go flying. If they updated their equipment or were open ²⁴⁄₇ like some of their competition near by it might be worth it for me but I can be at another gym in half the time with cleaner and new equipment. if you live close to it I wouldn’t count them out.

This is a perfect example of ownership out thinking itself. I was enjoying my first 4 months at this gym. Its not fancy like the fitness clubs but its also not loaded with oversized substance users either. I was annoyed that some machines are out of order for several weeks at a time and sometimes you have to search for a pin to hold your weights in place for machines, but I was willing to put up with those minor inconveniences.
Unfortunately, this gym has falling into the trap of «not knowing itself.» They have removed all free weights over 75 pounds because it was worried about its «image» when compared to Plant Fitness or Cardio Express. I don’t know what idiot decided that 75 pounds was the magic weight that would scare away casual gym members and bring in the oversized «lunks» but they are sorely mistaken. I’m a committed gym goer but no lunk and I purposely chose this gym because despite the fact it wasn’t as clean as Planet Fitness, it offered something different. Now, there is nothing that sets it apart. I hope the correct this error in judgment soon or they’ll lose this member.

You get when you pay for. I signed up for this gym so I could take the group exercise classes. The class instructors are great– especially Kyle who teaches kickboxing on Mondays and Fridays.
Other than that, its awful. There is no ventilation in the group exercise room, and I am surprised no one has passed out due to the heat. The AC does not work.
Although all of the cardio equipment has TV’s hooked up to them, only about 25% of them don’t work. I would NEVER shower in the women’s room in fear of catching a flesh eating disease or fungal infection. The hinge to the women’s room door has been broken for about 3 months. The worst part is that in order to get to the women’s locker room you have to walk through the men’s weight area and get stared down like a piece of meat.
The «trainers» and kids who work the front desk are uses less. There are usually no paper towels to clean the equipment, and the soap dispenser in the locker room has had no soap in it for 2 days. Also, there are often no paper towels to wipe down the epuiptment, so they replace it with TOILET PAPER instead.
I would never go here after dark as the clientele who frequent the gym seem like less than stand up citizens… and again… a murder could take place in the filthy locker room and no one would find you for days.
I keep the membership here because the group exercise classes are awesome, but that’s about it. If the instructors they have now leave I will be the first one at the front desk screaming for my money back and also calling the department of health.
UPDATE 8÷21÷12: Although they no longer have toilet paper as paper towels, the speakers in the group exercise room had been on the fritz for months. They completely broke last night, and we had to do a kickboxing class with no music. REALLY?