LA Fitness

The membership here is around $ 35 bucks plus initiation fee.
In an emergency, they do offer the choice to freeze membership temporarily without charges adding on.
Recently, they hired a new «fitness manager». A young lady who energetically bobs around stopping people to introduce herself, that’s cool. Usually gym code is, if someone is in the middle of a workout with headphones on– leave them be. She made me stop my workout and when I politely told her I would talk to her after, she didn’t leave me alone and persisted asking me why I was working with so much weight and if I thought it would get me to my goals faster. Nice questions but wrong timing. Her sarcastic and annoying facial expressions also bothered me. Would I sign up to whatever she’s selling– not even close. New and annoyinggggg!
Another reason for 2 stars. The pool wall is always slimy so I don’t swim at this location anymore. Usually slime means it is not clean. Aside from that the jacuzzi has stuff floating in it and the jets are always broken. Once every month either the pool or jacuzzi are closed for some random problem, so if you swim– stinks for you.
With SO many options for gym, I’m beginning to question whether I should have picked LA. I’m thinking of switching over to Lifetime.

I’ve been a member of this gym a couple of years and the gym itself isn’t bad as what previous reviews says. If you want a gym that has weights, machines, ropes, cardio machines, classes, pool, spa, and sauna, then LA fitness is a gym to check out. Now, if you’re worried about the gym being packed during prime time, it’s going to be packed at LA. Prime time usually starts from 4 – 8 Monday –Friday’s. On the weekends, most people come in the morning till noonish to get their workouts done.
Now giving my perspective of the gym working behind the front desk is different. I know a few members that’s been with LAFitness since day one and they still love LAFitness. The «newer» members wouldn’t say they enjoy the gym much cause it’s dirty, or classes aren’t good, or that the staff is terrible. I want to defend that we’re terrible, at all. Dealing with the complaints at the gym is nonstop and repetitive! I would inform members about certain areas would be closed, yet people disregard what was said and continue on what they want to do. It’s like they don’t have respect for us nor the gym.
— I remember a time when the jacuzzi was closed, signs were up, then a member still went in the jacuzzi. So as I go and try to kick out the member, they argued back saying that there weren’t any closed signs for the jacuzzi… MIND YOU THE ENTRANCE TO THE POOL ROOM WAS BLOCKED OFF AND THERE SIGNS EVERYWHERE! So I pointed out the signs and the blocked entrance and they respond …
«OH. I didn’t see any of that» and rolled his eyes at me. The way he said it was so rude!
Like do these people not have any common sense to reading any of «out of order» signs…
But really, LA is a nice gym. It gets pretty pack, that just shows a lot of people like the gym!

When I recently move around this area, I was looking for a new gym. A friend recommended la fitness. The place was horrible, the do not have many free weights, the ones that they do have are chained and locked. I didn’t have anyone show me around the gym. The do have a sauna, a pool, a basketball court and tennis room. I cancelled my membership and that’s when the phone calls started rolling in. They would call daily to give me a free personal training session. The staff was not friendly or welcoming. Trying to get in contact with the manager, you have better chances at winning the lottery. I will say this, the gym is fairly clean, but that not enough to pay 30 $ a month.

Been a member since they opened in NJ north brunswick… but PISCATAWAY LOCATION is always disgusting. Walked into locker room. Dirty paper towels all over the floor and bench seats where you change. Wasn’t able to change. Addressed front desk.. They brushed me off. So @LA FITNESS… do you not have to comply with health regulations? Let’s ask the health department. Maybe a spot check by the health dept can help me since your team just sit there and texts ALL day. Sry leadership. .but it true.

I am a returning member after moving out of the area for quite a few years. I don’t know what happened here. I specifically joined for the 5:45am spin classes as that works for my hectic schedule, but the instructors are HORRIBLE! I mean H O R R I B L E! So bad that it’s not worth getting up so early to make them. Jackie plays freaking CHRISTIAN music in her classes! Be clear, I am a Christian woman, but I don’t want to spin to that, and I don’t think it’s appropriate since you don’t know what religion members practice. The amazing instructors: Anthony, Shonda and Christine are only there once a week, but the horrible ones are available most (surprise surprise). To add insult to injury, the management won’t allow instructors to use iPods for their classes, only CDs… uhhh, it is the 21^st century! Are they freaking kidding me? So, now even the good instructors have to be concerned with skipping tracks and scratched CDs
Lastly, the gym is a mess! Dumbells all over the place, and you can’t find anything. No one puts anything back and there is clearly no one assigned the task to do so.
I am so glad that I have not cancelled my Retro Fitness membership yet. I even had a gym buddy ready to join LA with me, and I’ve told her not to. I won’t be here long, which sucks because it’s literally around the corner from my house! I’m going to try the new one in Clark before I cancel my membership to see if it’s better there. Thank God it’s a month to month membership and not an annual contract!

I visited this gym while traveling to NJ. I travel a lot for work and have used LA Fitness gyms in 7 or 8 cities.
The gym is a very good gym. First, it’s large and has lots of equipment. Many, many cardio machines and good weight equipment. Second, I had no problems with cleanliness. I didn’t give it a thorough inspection, but I went through the men’s room and used the sauna for a few minutes. The equipment was also in pretty good shape.
I ding the gym on its audio/​visual system that goes along with the cardio area. There are TVs but no sound. That’s pretty poor these days. Also, the TVs were tuned to silly channels.
Overall, the gym was good, but short of great.

05÷12÷15 Gym Review: South Plainfield Location
I just recently re-​joined this gym (after having my son). The gym is useful if you want to workout and leave. I sometimes have to wait for weightlifting machines (like if I really want to use a certain machine before leaving). However, there are a lot of machines. The only downside is that if your in love with a certain machine you might have to wait because there are rarely any duplicate weight lifting machines (at least the machines I like). They have plenty of treadmills and elliptical machines but I wish they had different types of elliptical machines. If they had more variety in their elliptical machines I might stay a member after I lose my weight. Since they don’t I might just leave once I achieve my goal (like I did last time).
05÷12÷15 Class Review:
Tuesday Zumba Class (8:30 AM) with Maurinda — Sucks tremendously. It’s supposed to be a Zumba class but all I heard was a terrible techno /​hip hop mix which I had to workout to. The moves were 50% arm movements while shuffling side to side. I’ve had MUCH better Zumba classes than this. Needless to say, I will not be returning to that class, ever again.
Wednesday Boot Camp Conditioning with Mary (5:30) — I like this class. The instructor pushes you to keep going and corrects your format when you’re doing things wrong. She doesn’t over kill the class and lets you go at your own pace when you are feeling exhausted. She also keeps pushing so that once I’ve recovered I want to push myself again. I will definitely be attending this class again.

My GF goes to another LA Fitness, but this one is closest to me so I decided to check it out because I was thinking of switching from Retro to LAF. Have to say, this place is big and offers a lot. BUT, the place is disgusting, locker rooms stink and are filthy, I could barely breathe. The roof was partially collapsed and leaking all over the floor, bunch of equipment was broken and unable to be used. Weights were all over the place and not on the rack. There is almost no parking, I spoke to the sales guy about joining and what they could offer to bring me over from Retro and it wasn’t even close to a deal. Basically paying $ 15 more a month and $ 100 signup fee. For what a smelly, dirty, and unorganized gym? Oh we also took a yoga class that day since I’m trying to get into it and my gf is a certified instructor. The teacher was awful and like a drill sergeant. She also spent half the class speaking to her GFs in the front of class laughing and joking when she wasn’t telling people how not to do things. Rest of the class might as well not been there. Zero Zen and zero on the rating scale for a class. The LA Fitness in Secaucus I have to say was stellar. This place sucked and smelled like ass. Not going to get my membership.

One star for hollow gym floor, trainers that (with me) were more interested in not paying attention to me than paying attention to me, horrendous location (citing rush hour traffic), terrible salesmanship and customer service (LA FITNESS as a whole). Racquetball is nice, but an extra fee. Pool is nice, tub was often out of order. Group classes are a plus. Ultimately, not a terrible gym, but I absolutely hated their business ethics. They are looking to rob you, and nothing short of that.

Let’s get into it.
The place is pretty big, basketball court, racquetball courts, free weights, machines, cardio deck, stretch room, sauna, pool, jacuzzi, and studio.
The basketball court has like 1 functioning basketball at any given time. But it doesn’t matter because the same group of people show up and hog the court for hours at a time. There is a wait, and 45 mins later, you probably still won’t get on the court. Well, actually you can, you just have to be «boys» with some of the guys that apparently own the court.
The racquetball ball courts are functional, but be careful, you might find the occasional dumbbell laying there.
Ah the free weights. So about half of the free weights are NEVER ON THE RACK. They are literally everywhere else. I’ve seen dumbbells in the sauna, on the second floor cardio deck, in the studio, and of course, in the racquetball courts. There are missing weights, that’s not unusual, but what is unusual is that the 70lb easy bar has been missing for like a year. I couldn’t make this up. The staff/​management never bothered to replace it!!!
Now, onto the cardio deck. The one part of this gym that isn’t a complete, disgusting, disorderly mess. They’ve managed to maintain their treadmills and elliptical machines… kind of. Some work, some don’t… Whatever.
Now, onto the locker rooms. There is literally fecal matter on the shower walls and curtains. There are paper towels everywhere, urine on the floors, powder, chalk, and dirty underwear in the most random places. The Sauna is broken every other week. The men’s locker room smells like ebola. No, it smells like third-​world brothel ebola, mixed with axe body spray. There really is no other way to describe it. It is simply putrid. OH AND ONE LAST THING, THE HOT WATER BREAKS AND DOESN’T WORK IN THE WINTER.
There are weights in the studio, weights on the cardio deck, weights in the sauna. when it works. There is literally filth everywhere. Everything is disgusting. Stay away from this place. I’ve even see the trainers work out, leave the weights on the floor, and proceed to further add to the train wreck of a place.
Oh, one last thing. Don’t bother reaching out to LA fitness corporate. They don’t care. I know. I emailed and called them. Their response: «your membership grants you access to other LA Fitness locations». Thanks LA Fitness, made my decision to leave and never come back all the easier.
One final thought. I now go to a different gym in a different town. LA Fitness Piscataway’s issues are mostly on the members. The members of this gym are borderline vile. I’ve seen dirty underwear left on towel hooks outside of the non-​functioning sauna. I’ve seen members use dumbbells as stands to do pull ups, with no intention of putting the weights back. There are members that try to squat 8 plates, quickly figure out that they can’t, and decide to leave the rack the way it is. They literally trash this place, never clean up after themselves in every which way, shape, and form. I think somewhere along the line the staff simply gave up, and it shows. It’s a shame, because this gym, at one point had some potential.
LA fitness won’t kick these members out. They won’t penalize members for trashing the place. They actually won’t do anything. For around 30 bucks a month, you can spend half of your time here looking for weights, complaining to the staff, getting kicked off of a machine by a trainer, taking ice cold showers in February, and not being able to use half of what you’re paying for.
If you, for some sick reason, still decide that this is the place you want to join, then god help you. Please don’t mind the empty, stolen wallets and used condoms in the parking lot, be sure to avoid the puddles of urine in the locker room, and random dumbbells in the most unexpected places. If for some likely reason, you contract ebola while working out, please do not panic, this is the norm for this location. And as your membership allows, you can always travel 20 miles away to work out at another disgusting LA Fitness location.

I have been a member of LA Fitness since August, 2006. One of the main reasons I joined was for the basketball court. There are very few if any good places to get a good pick-​up game of basketball. The games are good. Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning from 6:30−9am are amazing! Monday, Thursday and Friday nights are great too! Saturday and Sunday generally between 10−4pm the games are good. They even have a basketball league every Friday night. The next season begins on February 13^th. We will win it for sure!
In 2009 after I got injured I found myself using everything. From the pool (which was very useful and needed for my recovery) to the sauna and weight floor. LA Fitness had everything I needed. The best part was I never had to wait for anything because there was so much space and so much equipment. It was a perfect balance.
After recovering from my injuries I continued working out and found myself lacking motivation because everything seemed repetitive. So I began taking classes. Now I took a spin class and it was awesome. But then a instructor told me to take Zumba. Now I refused because it was mostly women and I am a terrible dancer or whatever. After a few more invites and funny threats. I gave in and took my first Zumba class on Wednesday January 15^th, 2014. Now I remember the day because she kept reminding me every week how long I had been coming back. I continued coming and getting better every week until after 8 fun months I got bored and stopped going. Not because classes were boring, but I generally lose interest in things after a while.
The reason for these stories is to explain that LA Fitness is not a one dimensional gym. That’s why I love LA Fitness. If offers more than the small «gyms» if you can call them that, that just offer a small weight floor, treadmills, and tight space.
If you are looking for a place where you can get a little of everything, you found your gym! LA Fitness has:
–Basketball
–Volleyball
–Racquetball
–Pool
–Jacuzzi
–Sauna
–Group Fitness Classes
–A ton of Machines
–Good sized Weight Floor
–Punching Bags, yoga mats, and accessories
–Most importantly free space
LA Fitness has it all and has a lot of locations. Hope this helped. Enjoy!

I just completed a 90 minute workout and did 30 minutes in the sauna, yep I’m very skanky. I get to drive home smelling like a gym bag because the showers have less pressure than a drinking fountain and after turning every one on, nothing but ice cold water. Oh and less I forget, there is more paper on the locker room floor than a backed up toilet at a truckstop.
Do you think it may be worth putting a note on the door?
Nice getho gym Anthony!

This LA Fitness probably has the worst customer service I’ve seen so far. I’ve been to LA Fitness’ in Chicago, Phoenix and Dallas and all three of them treat their customers well. But the people working at this LA Fitness are complacent, and feel they are doing you a privilege by answering your questions.
Case in point: I pay for personal training ($$$) at this LA Fitness location and LA Fitness has a 24hr cancellation policy if you want to cancel a future training session. I call up one evening just 2 minutes after the 24hr window to cancel the next day’s appointment, and the person at this location refuses to cancel my appointment because I’m 2 minutes late. I tell her that I’m only 2 minutes late and I would lose like $ 50 for nothing, and she still refuses to can cancel my appointment. I finally get the manager on the phone, who instead of getting the problem taken care of decides to educate me on corporate policy, and after much pursuasion reschedules my appointment.
I agree that I was late (by 2 minutes), but most LA Fitness’ have no problem moving my appointment to another date or cancelling it. LA Fitness doesn’t stand to lose anything if a customer cancels an appointment because the customer pays a monthly flat fee anyway — he doesn’t pay for individual sessions. So the question of harassing a customer because he didn’t cancel on time is simply a bad policy and in all probability a shakedown.
Please look out for other fitness facilities in the area before you decide on joining this LA Fitness.

This gym is nothing but bad news. As stated in some other reviews, every individual who works at this gym seems to be a hardcore sales person. We originally signed up for a 3-​year membership and within a week asked to switch to a 1-​year, as we were pressured into the 3-​year option and ended up having car issues (therefore unable to pay the amount in full). After almost a month of calling, leaving voicemails and trying to get in touch with the GM, we received no response. Only after contacting L.A. Fitness Corporate did we hear back from him. The GM contacted my girlfriend and said he could do her the favor of refunding the money and putting us on a month-​to-​month payment plan. That was great, worked for us, and she agreed. She went into the location in order to cancel the old plan and sign up for the new contract (1-​year, month-​to-​month payment) The GM appeared helpful, however a few weeks later the refund was still not appearing on our account. My girlfriend called twice, being told the second time that the GM would give her a call back. The day passes by and no return call. I had to go into the gym and flag down the GM directly (who was doing nothing at the time) in order to figure out what was going on. Turns out, the original membership was not cancelled and he still had us pay for the additional 1-​year membership. BEWARE OF THIS GYM. You will not receive a call-​back, it is nearly impossible to get in contact with the GM and when you do he will ignore you at all costs. I should have read reviews before signing up for a membership with this gym, as all of the problems I have had a run-​in with are clearly a major issue for this location and have been experienced by many others.

I have been a member of this gym for almost three years and overall it provides what I need. They have an array of classes and a very nice pool and sauna.
However for the cost of this gym I feel it should be in much better condition. Many of the pieces of equipment are usually broken or «out of service» and the overall appearance isn’t that appealing either.
It would be nice if they keep up with the competition and offered massages or some other type of perks.

I’ve been a member of this gym for three years. My reason for choosing the gym was primarily for the pool (not many in my area) and ample classes and equipment. Cost was also a factor, but not a huge issue for me.
I’ll start off with the positives. For the classes, they have good instructors, although some need to learn to start classes on time. There is also a pretty decent variety of classes, although they are mostly focused on high-​impact exercise (if you cannot do high-​impact, your choices are limited). Also, there is a good amount of equipment, so rarely do you have to wait.
Now, the not so good. The pool is severely neglected. About every 6 – 8 weeks the heater breaks and it usually takes at least 3 weeks for it to be repaired. The staff always blame the pool company (they even have signs making sure folks know that they are not in charge of the pool, but the vendor is). It’s irresponsible. The water is often murky and the pool area smells like mold. The locker rooms are very clean early in the day, but if you go later — especially after work — forget it. It’s filthy. You can always count on at least one shower, one sink, and one toilet being broken. These will stay like this for months.
You can complain to the manager or staff, but it falls on deaf ears. I’ve spoken to some instructors and they too are frustrated with the neglect. The managers can’t care less. I would take my business elsewhere, but give my sever arthritis and joint replacements, I need a pool and options are limited in my area. So I swim in a 70 degree pool and a «hot» tub of 96 degrees.
My advice? Shop around.

If your looking for quality pick up basketball runs, this is your place. Sunday mornings or Monday nights are usually when the best basketball players show up. Former college standouts, semi-​pro and guys that play overseas come through the gym with regularity.
However, if you are looking for just a workout, I think you can find better, cleaner gyms. Almost all the time, the dumbbells are misplaced or out of order, so it becomes a scavenger hunt to try and find the ones you’re looking for. There have been countless times where people have broken into the lockers in the locker rooms, had things stolen from the gym, or worst. The gym is a nice size, and they have plenty of equipment and a nice size studio for dance classes, yoga classes, etc. not to mention they also have 4 raquetball courts!
Overall, not a bad situation, especially if you enjoy playing basketball. But, if you’re looking for a gym just to workout, you can probably find a better one.

Not a bad location but missing some key pieces of equipment available at other locations.

Gym was nice when it opened but its gone down the tubes. Most of the cardio equipment upstairs is broken in some type of fashioned. Not sure why they don’t replace any of it, gyms been open for quite a while with the same old equipment.
Also the gym is beyond dirty but members are partly to blame. Paper towels all over the place. And 25% of the time the paper towel dispenser is empty so you can’t even wipe down a machine before jumping on.
Also a suggestion, get rid of two parking spots in front of the door so people have a larger aisle to get through. People have bags and don’t need to bang up cars.

I’d consider LA Fitness to be a quality gym that has all the amenities you’d ever need. While it is more expensive (about $ 25/​month) than the very basic gyms (about $ 10/​month), you do get more amenities.
The $ 10 gyms do provide a full spectrum of treadmills, weight machines, elliptical, and stationary bikes. And that’s great for someone who just wants to workout and go home. But that extra $ 15 for LA Fitness does provide you with several extra perks:
1. Lots of classes (spinning, yoga, hip-​hop, kickboxing, etc)
2. Swimming pool and hot tub
3. Racquetball courts
4. Basketball court
5. Free child care
Even if you’re just doing some basic cardio (like me), running the treadmill at LA Fitness can still be more enjoyable than doing it at a $ 10 «budget gym.»