Best Fitness Centers In Metro Detroit

[313WX]

Well basically, as of late I've grown fairly out of shape and I'm in the market to find a reasonably priced, well equipped and friendly gym. I would hate to spend money in something I may end up hating.

I've pretty much heard mixed reviews about the downtown YMCA. Their atmopshere may seem friendlier, no contract is necessary and the price may not be bad, but parking would be an issue and I hear it's not as well equipped as a 24-hour gym. I've also heard mixed reviews about the 24-hour fitness centers. While most of them are reasonably priced and well equipped, the atmosphere isn't quite as friendly as you would find at the YMCA, they may force you into a contract and they tend to be much busier during peak times.

So I guess my question is where would DYES members recommend the best place to complete your daily or weekly exercises? For me, locaiton isn't that big of an issue [[southern half or Oakland/Macomb County and northern half of Wayne County), but exburban fitness centers [[I.E. Canton, Shelby Township, Rochester Hills, Wixom, etc.) are out of the question

[bartock]

Pointe Fitness is terrific if you are looking for a "gym gym" as opposed to a lifestyle center or whatever they call them. It is right off of Harper between Moross and Allard, just north of what used to be Bishop Gallagher. $39 a month. If you are west, I've heard that the City of Dearborn's fitness/life center is outstanding. That one has all the bells and whistles [[pool, etc.).

Edit: given the area you described, check out Pointe Fitness for sure.

[Roq]

I love Planet Fitness. They are all over the metro area and you can get good deals. I pay $10 a month and they have every machine you could want plus a free weight area.

The facilities are also very clean - totally love it!

[kklemmer]

I use a fitness center that has been around forever, has great locations, and is free! It's called "O U T S I D E". Get a bike, go for a walk or run, ski or snowshoe, or work out at the fitness stations in the Metroparks.
Much better than watching some fat guy sweat on a machine in front of you.

[Designerguy24]

I love Planet Fitness. The one at 11 and Schoenherr is very clean with friendly staff.

[Patrick]

I used LA Fitness and they had amazing machines and equipment BUT they had a sly selling staff trying to con you into some sort of personal training program for a large sum.

[Focus313]

Been a member of the Downtown Y since they opened. I've been to a few other places in the metro area. Powerhouse, Lifetime, The players club [[old & new) and a handful of others to try them out. I LOVE the YMCA. I was actually thinking today while I was shooting hoops and playing racquetball how much I enjoy my time there. My father also joined after I bought him a few free months. He's never been much of a fan of Detroit and had a lot of apprehension coming from Sterling Heights all the way down to the scary city, but after the few months he joined and comes down almost every other day.

I'm not sure about Planet fitness, $10 sounds awfully good so I assume there is some big catch we're not hearing about. I can assure you that the parking situation at the Y downtown is never that bad. Even on game days I can still find parking at a meter. Maybe 2 or 3 blocks away but that's just a nice walk to get warmed up for the real workout...I mean, unless you're THAT out of shape you can't make it a few blocks.

My only complaints of the Y are;
-wish they were open til midnight
-they need better times for the climbing wall to be open, like ALWAYS!!!
-and if you get there right after the kids camps, its pretty messy in the gym, but they do get to it eventually.

All in all I say try it out. There isn't a contract and if you ask nice they'll wave the joining fee, trust me. I've gotten my father, 3 friends and possibly my GF to sign up there.

good luck

[Patrick]

I was a member of the now closed Warren YMCA for almost 10 years. It became a huge rip at the end at near $60 a month for old machines and just a run down environment. Ys are hurting all over the nation now.

[fryar]

I was a member of the now closed Warren YMCA for almost 10 years. It became a huge rip at the end at near $60 a month for old machines and just a run down environment. Ys are hurting all over the nation now.

Yep. The Y out here is $90 a month! That's a lot just to not go.

313WX, I think the $10/month that Planet Fitness used to advertise sounded like a good deal. If you want it to be a Y because, well, it's a Y, I for one liked the downtown one, but I also lived 3 blocks or so away. Unless you work downtown, just make it a place that's on your commute so that it's easy to work into your routine, and live with the drawbacks.

[iddude313]

I'm so-so on the Boll Y downtown.
It is nice, close to me and very cool but the customer service is lax.

When I inquired about membership I was told that I would not be billed monthly so that I could pay it with a check or credit card, but rather my credit card would be auto-billed monthly.
And that if I decided to cancel my membership, that my card would be billed a $200 cancellation fee.
But that if I paid in cash in full, I would not be bound by this condition.
I had reservations about this but my girlfriend really wanted to join.
So I went to the atm and paid in cash some $700 odd bucks up front.
The membership lady welcomed us, gave me a copy of our one year Y membership and told us that we had 6 guest passes each.
So when my good friend was in town, I brought him in as a guest to show him how awesome the Y was.

As I checked in I said that I had a visiting guest.
I was asked to present a guest pass.
I explained that I never was given any physical guest passes.
So I sweet talked the girl at the counter and she let my friend enter after photocopying his Florida drivers license.

Then I was told that my friend had 30 days to use up two remaining visits.
I explained that I was told I had 6 guest passes to use within the year.
She said "No". That me and my girlfriend had 2 passes between us with 3 visits each.
And that once a guest pass was "activated", they had 30 days to use the other two remaining visits.
And that if my guest did not use those visits, that they would expire.
And that I could not transfer the remaining visits to another guest.
I also explained that this was fresh news to me and that nowhere in my signed contract was this noted.
The girl said I had to speak with the person in charge of membership about that.
I let it go and I worked out with my friend.

So I called the next day to explain/clarify the details with the lady who was in charge of memberships and who had signed me up.
She said that she had in fact explained everything to me and that I had in fact received these guest passes.
She also said that I was not understanding the agreement I signed.
I explained that this condition was nowhere noted in my signed contract [[which I had a copy and had looked over before calling).
I explained to her that I was not given any guest passes and that what she was telling me now, was not what she had previously told me.
So she then said that I was twisting her words and that in fact she was kind enough to give me a discount on my membership [[which was news to me).
She then yelled at me that I was "being petty" and that I needed to "stop bothering" her because she did me a huge favor by signing me up and that she was busy and had more important things to do.
And she hung up the phone!!
And when I called her back she hung up again!!!

I let it go but I fumed for a several weeks.
When my membership was going to expire in a few weeks, I asked at the counter about renewing was told to speak with the membership lady or come in during the day when she was there.
I work during the day every day so I could only get down there in the evenings.

So I called several times over the next few days to speak with the membership lady.
I called several times and spoke with the staff and left my number and info.
I said that I wanted to renew my membership and that if someone, anyone could call me back that would be great.
Whenever I asked to speak with the membership girl, I was told she was off that day, or was in a meeting or was at lunch.
Nobody ever called me back.
So I let my membership expire based on principle.

But that's just my singular experience.
I really loved using the gym and I was even involved with the construction/design of the place!
So it perplexes me that I would be treated in such a way.
Maybe I should complain to the higher ups there.
But I'm just so dang pissed.

I hope everyone else had/has a much better experience.

[fryar]

^ Whoa. That does sound very annoying, I don't blame you. I did not have any of those experiences on my end, FWIW, and was pleased with the place.

[Focus313]

As I checked in I said that I had a visiting guest.
I was asked to present a guest pass.
I explained that I never was given any physical guest passes.
So I sweet talked the girl at the counter and she let my friend enter after photocopying his Florida drivers license.

Then I was told that my friend had 30 days to use up two remaining visits.
I explained that I was told I had 6 guest passes to use within the year.
She said "No". That me and my girlfriend had 2 passes between us with 3 visits each.
And that once a guest pass was "activated", they had 30 days to use the other two remaining visits.

Dude, your pissed because you didn't understand the forms and papers you signed? How is that their fault? Its well stated that all guest passes must be approved one day in advance.

Both times I renewed my member ship I was told explicitly about guest passes. I routinely bring guest down and have used up all of my passes before and was still able to get my friend[[s) a one time entry because I wasn't being a prick about it. Honestly, sounds like you just did not understand the contract and just wanted to be a jerk about it for the sake of being futile & petty. I've only had one issue with the staff and it was promptly handled. I think your "bad" experience had way more to do with your entitlement attitude than poor customer service. The staff there is awesome and very receptive to complaints. Hell, the one time I did have an issue the operations manager called me personally to offer an apology.

seriously, listen to them when they explain the membership. It's not that complicated, sheesh.

[Hermod]

With the economy right now, most gyms are hurting bad and if you are willing to pay by the month, they will waive the contract just to have some money coming in the door.

A lot of gyms are sticky now about guest passes. Best way when you have a guest coming is to see one of the salesmen and say you have a friend who wants to join. He will give you a two week pass. The kicker is that your friend has to sit through the sales pitch. The way around it is to for you and him to use the gym early in the day at 6am during the two weeks before the salesmen have woken up and gone to work.

[Zacha341]

Hmm, I will have to see if they have any west side locations...... Thanks.

I love Planet Fitness. They are all over the metro area and you can get good deals. I pay $10 a month and they have every machine you could want plus a free weight area.

The facilities are also very clean - totally love it!

[Zacha341]

Do complain... the higher up the better, with times, dates and staff details. Sounds like a nice scene. Sounds like the need a customer service disinfecting..... who needs ALL THAT NOISE...? When paying for a service. What is parking like for that place? Parking is a big turn off for me to want to do ANYTHING downtown...

I'm so-so on the Boll Y downtown.
It is nice, close to me and very cool but the customer service is lax.

When I inquired about membership I was told that I would not be billed monthly so that I could pay it with a check or credit card, but rather my credit card would be auto-billed monthly.
And that if I decided to cancel my membership, that my card would be billed a $200 cancellation fee.
But that if I paid in cash in full, I would not be bound by this condition.
I had reservations about this but my girlfriend really wanted to join.
So I went to the atm and paid in cash some $700 odd bucks up front.
The membership lady welcomed us, gave me a copy of our one year Y membership and told us that we had 6 guest passes each.
So when my good friend was in town, I brought him in as a guest to show him how awesome the Y was.

As I checked in I said that I had a visiting guest.
I was asked to present a guest pass.
I explained that I never was given any physical guest passes.
So I sweet talked the girl at the counter and she let my friend enter after photocopying his Florida drivers license.

Then I was told that my friend had 30 days to use up two remaining visits.
I explained that I was told I had 6 guest passes to use within the year.
She said "No". That me and my girlfriend had 2 passes between us with 3 visits each.
And that once a guest pass was "activated", they had 30 days to use the other two remaining visits.
And that if my guest did not use those visits, that they would expire.
And that I could not transfer the remaining visits to another guest.
I also explained that this was fresh news to me and that nowhere in my signed contract was this noted.
The girl said I had to speak with the person in charge of membership about that.
I let it go and I worked out with my friend.

So I called the next day to explain/clarify the details with the lady who was in charge of memberships and who had signed me up.
She said that she had in fact explained everything to me and that I had in fact received these guest passes.
She also said that I was not understanding the agreement I signed.
I explained that this condition was nowhere noted in my signed contract [[which I had a copy and had looked over before calling).
I explained to her that I was not given any guest passes and that what she was telling me now, was not what she had previously told me.
So she then said that I was twisting her words and that in fact she was kind enough to give me a discount on my membership [[which was news to me).
She then yelled at me that I was "being petty" and that I needed to "stop bothering" her because she did me a huge favor by signing me up and that she was busy and had more important things to do.
And she hung up the phone!!
And when I called her back she hung up again!!!

I let it go but I fumed for a several weeks.
When my membership was going to expire in a few weeks, I asked at the counter about renewing was told to speak with the membership lady or come in during the day when she was there.
I work during the day every day so I could only get down there in the evenings.

So I called several times over the next few days to speak with the membership lady.
I called several times and spoke with the staff and left my number and info.
I said that I wanted to renew my membership and that if someone, anyone could call me back that would be great.
Whenever I asked to speak with the membership girl, I was told she was off that day, or was in a meeting or was at lunch.
Nobody ever called me back.
So I let my membership expire based on principle.

But that's just my singular experience.
I really loved using the gym and I was even involved with the construction/design of the place!
So it perplexes me that I would be treated in such a way.
Maybe I should complain to the higher ups there.
But I'm just so dang pissed.

I hope everyone else had/has a much better experience.

[Lowell]

My path is similar to Patrick's. I belong to LA Fitness now, formerly belonged to the YMCA's forever. They successively shut mine down, old downtown, then Highland Park, then Royal Oak until they converted the handball / racquetball courts to fitness rooms [which was the same as shutting down to me]. They are over-priced and have outdated equipment and upper management seems to be in a world of their own. Staff were always nice however.

LA fitness is big on cleanliness, at least visibly, as you will always see at least one staff member cleaning workout equipment and they have self-cleaning fluids and towels everywhere. They don't provide / rent towels like the YMCA did, but otherwise they are spacious, full of new equipment, have pools, handball courts, 'spinning' cycling rooms, mirrored dance / karate room, basketball gym, big carpeted locker rooms, sauna, jacuzzi... This is at the Tel 12 facility. Some vary. Membership is around $35 a month and is good for any LA Fitness in the metro or country wide

So far, so good. Let's see how they last in the long run.

[Pam]

I use a fitness center that has been around forever, has great locations, and is free! It's called "O U T S I D E". Get a bike, go for a walk or run, ski or snowshoe, or work out at the fitness stations in the Metroparks.
Much better than watching some fat guy sweat on a machine in front of you.

I agree. Outside is ususally less smelly too.

[Zacha341]

LOL! I am sorta germaphobic so I hear you. Henry Ford Hospitals Sport Medicine Fitness Works in New Center has been the cleanest to me, but costs a fortune! Yes, the great outdoors is best, but during the long winter.... then I need indoor motivation...

I agree. Outside is ususally less smelly too.

[Zacha341]

I know this is a bit off topic, but how is Wayne State University fitness center? I figure maybe a 'couple' of DYes peeps may be current or alumni WSU folks... Is it any good? I know there used to be locker theft issue... I am currently a part-time student but have never gone... any thoughts?

[Roq]

Hmm, I will have to see if they have any west side locations...... Thanks.

Cool! If anyone wants, I can try and see if they are offering any of the deals right now. I know in the past they have sent me offers that I can pass on to others for a good deal.

Seriously, I highly recommend them. I go to the one at 14 / Gratiot and there are about 40 ellipticals, 10 stair steppers, 6 incline bikes, 4 upright bikes, 20 treadmills, and weight area - I have never had to wait for a machine there.

[bartock]

I know this is a bit off topic, but how is Wayne State University fitness center? I figure maybe a 'couple' of DYes peeps may be current or alumni WSU folks... Is it any good? I know there used to be locker theft issue... I am currently a part-time student but have never gone... any thoughts?

I was a student when it opened and it was great. They have since removed the lazy river, even better. Was there last year once and it still looks great. It was free for students, assume it still is.

[Joseph C. Krause]

I would strongly recommend a place that is conveniently located above all. Motivation can wax and wane, and it's much easier to get into the gym if it's nearby than if it's 20 minutes in the car.

The Y is not without its flaws, but I'm happy with it. The Boll is pretty good and nearby [[for me), but if I'm out in the suburbs I can use any other location [[I found myself in the exurbs and the Auburn Hills location edges out the Boll slightly in quality AND it looks like an angry space insect that wants to eat you.)

I have also traveled to LA and Denver and been able to use my membership there without an issue. This is *not* something that is supposed to be officially part of the deal, but other regional Y's have been kind so far.

I once belonged to FitnessUSA, but they were weirdly sex-segregated which meant that you could only work out on certain days. That business model seems bizarre to me and I'm not really sure how they stay in business at all. They also have high-pressure sales.

Metro Health and Fitness at 15 and Groesbeck in Clinton Township is where I went when living in the suburbs. It's showing its age, but it's affordable, large, and they're currently going through multi-stage renovations and replacing their equipment. Beginning in a few months, they will be 24 hours. They also have a branch in Royal Oak.

[Zacha341]

What was the "lazy rivers"...

I was a student when it opened and it was great. They have since removed the lazy river, even better. Was there last year once and it still looks great. It was free for students, assume it still is.

[CLAUDE G]

LOL! I am sorta germaphobic so I hear you. Henry Ford Hospitals Sport Medicine Fitness Works in New Center has been the cleanest to me, but costs a fortune! Yes, the great outdoors is best, but during the long winter.... then I need indoor motivation...

Yea, Henry Ford Fitness works is great facility.

My company did a job there a few years ago and put all the televisions on the treadmills. They wouldn't let us work during the day, I remember the only time they would let us in there was between midnight and 4AM.

[tahleel]

I know this is a bit off topic, but how is Wayne State University fitness center? I figure maybe a 'couple' of DYes peeps may be current or alumni WSU folks... Is it any good? I know there used to be locker theft issue... I am currently a part-time student but have never gone... any thoughts?

The RFC is great! Its a pretty non judgmental facility. They have all the machines you would need. The free weights are downstairs. There is a separate women only work out area. The showers are enclosed so it provides privacy. Also, you can sign up to take some of the classes for free. [[Ask at the front desk). As far as the lockers, use common sense and bring your own lock; no-one is walking around with bolt cutters.There are small lockers upstairs in-view if you feel like it would be safer. Whenever I go, I pack lightly [[keys, phone, driver's license and OneCard). I graduated, but still pay to use their facilities because its a pretty good bang for the buck.

-Tahleel