john saleh
October 18, 2017 10:59
Summary: If you want to lift weights, there are better options for your money.
This place is absolutely the cleanest gym I have ever been too. Bathroom, locker room, showers, sauna, and steam room are always clean. Not just for a gym, the bathrooms at Outback Steakhouse are less clean than at Fitness Factory.
The staff is super friendly, they hire great people here, and you always feel welcome. The staff will talk to you as they make your shakes and make you feel like part of a community.
Equipment: There are two flat barbell benches, one incline bench, one decline bench, only one squat rack, one smith machine, and five benches in the free weight area. Multiple machines, but you will only use some of them because some of the machines just feel unnatural. At like 6 pm when everyone starts coming to the gym, don't expect to get anything done. Doubly frustrating because people just sit on their phones and talk instead of lifting.
Cardio Equipment: The treadmills here are absolute garbage. They lag when changing speed which means that if you want to do HIIT or just alternate between speeds you have to think 30 seconds in advance to compensate. Not joking, it literally takes 25 seconds to go from 7 mph to 2 mph. There are more than enough treadmills and ellipticals, three stair masters and a good amount of bikes.
The absolute worst thing about this place is the members. I can't blame the gym for the kinds of people who sign up but the members just turn me off from this gym. This is the kind of gym people who think they're "fit" come too, but if they went to a place like World Gym in Fairview they would probably be too embarrassed to work out.
Most of the people who "work out" at Fitness Factory are middle aged, or just starting out on their "fitness journey". Anyone who wants to lift weights beyond an amateur level will grow out of this place. As an intermediate lifter myself, it's really annoying that the people here stare at you or complain if you grunt. Sorry that I'm pushing myself. God forbid you drop a weight, it's like a sin or something. Meanwhile these special snowflakes don't understand that sometimes you have to drop the weight in order to avoid injury, such as the case when doing dumbbell bench press. I'm not saying that it's okay to be obnoxious, there's a few new members who drop weights and scream for the attention, and it's really annoying. If you're just getting a good workout out in and you happen to drop the weight or grunt a little, it should be accepted, as in any other gym that's not Planet Fitness.
This is a similar story when dead lifting anything above 315lbs. Since the gym is on the second floor, and a jewelry store is beneath the gym, the jewelers will call and complain about the noise. Then the staff will come and stop you from dead lifting. This is absolutely unheard of in any serious gym.
Which brings me to the biggest criticism that I have for Fitness Factory Edgewater, it's not a serious gym. It's a "health club", just a place you go to move around for an hour. If you're the kinda person who wants to meet people who have a passion for lifting, who wants to grow, and feel like part of a fitness community, this place is not for you. This place is for the Planet Fitness types, who want to pay extra for a view of the city while they do their cardio.