University of Toronto Athletic Centre

The AC is the better gym to work out in for UofT students. Hart House is smaller, but more in the centre of UofT, while AC is at the borders of it. It has a ton of great facilities for students, and the membership is already paid for in your tuition so you might as well enjoy it. I would recommend to students to take full advantage of all the facilities that AC provides.

Not sure what could be wrong with a gym. This one pretty much has everything. A cool field house area with high traction floors, two sports gyms, a huge pool, water fountains and refillable stations everywhere, and a lot more. The facility is also clean and well lit.
The gym I always went to at u of t.

I spent a bit over a year as a member of the University of Toronto Athletic Centre. It’s a perfectly adequate facility if it’s free with your tuition; however, paying it for it was quite a waste of money for me. Unfortunately, I left more disappointed than satisfied.
The GOOD: If you like to swim, they do have a nice Olympic size pool. I think this is by far the best aspect of this facility with good dedicated lap swim time. Also, if you like running indoors in winter, they have a 200 meter track. Hours are also quite generous.
The BAD: They only have something like 12 elliptical machines… this is for a campus of 80,000 staff and students. Prepare for the hassle of signing up and waiting. The locker rooms are dirty, crowded, and dingy. The weight room is a mixed bag: they have a lot of equipment, but it’s undersized for the usage and filled with more meathead types. Not an environment I like. The facility is also very awkwardly spread out without much natural light… kind of depressing.
The UGLY: No treadmills, no stairmasters… how can these staples of cardiovascular torture (I mean fitness) be completely absent? Classes like spinning or yoga cost extra and are not cheap.
OVERALL, I went here because it was close to my office. The waits and lack of cardio equipment resulted in under-​utilization. I also just never enjoyed working out here. I’ve switched to GoodLife and haven’t looked back.

Wow, this gym is fully stacked. I’ll keep my review to the Strength and Conditioning Centre since that’s where I spent the majority of my time over the past year.
First off, there are 4 squat racks in the front/​large area with an ample number of barbells and plates from 45 lb down to 2.5 lb. I’ve never run into a situation where I couldn’t find the plates I needed, though sometimes I’ll have to walk around a bit more to find my favorite ones (don’t ask).
Four spots for flat bench press, two for incline, one or two for decline (don’t remember since I don’t do those). There are about 10 decent spots to do pull-​ups, at varied heights. There are some plyo boxes as well if doing that jumping stuff is your thing, and plenty of mats (around 7 large ones) for you to do stretches and whatnot.
Dumbbells go up to around 120 lb — there are about 2 or 3 sets for the weights up to 70 lb, any higher than that and there’s only one pair to go around. About 12 adjustable benches and 3 flat benches. Kettlebell selection isn’t amazing but I don’t really use those so it’s OK.
There are four weightlifting platforms, each with their set of Pendlay barbells/​plates. These are pretty new, they came in during the fall of 2013. The old plates went to the back area where you can find four additional squat racks, each with their own York barbell. There’s also 1 mobile squat rack that people use around/​on the platforms.
If you want to use a foam roller, resistance bands, or dip belt, ask the red shirts (staff) — they have a stash of them at the front that you’re allowed to use (but last time I asked for a dip belt they said it was broken).
And best of all, they provide chalk.
Summary:
— 9 squat racks
— You probably won’t have trouble finding barbells, plates, or dumbbells.
— 4 weightlifting platforms, fully stacked with Pendlay equipment
— Miscellaneous equipment (foam rollers, resistance bands, etc.) is provided
— Chalk
This place has everything you need.
Guys, watch out for women-​only hours — there’s nothing worse than going to the gym all pumped for a workout just to find out that you can’t go in for another hour. Weightlifters, watch out for quiet hours.

Im usually here couple times a week working out with friends after class. The AC has great facilities for running, swimming and just playing sports in general. I normally play ball and hit the weights and then go for a hour swim in the olympic size pool. The AC has specific gym/​swim hours for everyones specific needs. After a couple hours of a serious work out, I head over to a big changeroom with spacious showers. To finish off my day by grabbing Starbucks and hit up the Annex area for food :)

I really really dislike the AC, so the only reason it gets 2 stars is because of the pool and areas besides the track.
The good:
–nice pools
–lots of space for things like basketball, tennis, squash, etc
–good weight room
–generally pretty clean
The bad:
–shitty hours. Open from 7 – 11 on weekdays, 9 – 5 on weekends. I like early morning workouts, and I workout for about 2.5 hours, so getting there at 9 and not leaving until after noon on weekends is a major pain. My gym back at home is open 5 – 11 M-​F, 6 – 10 Sa, 7 – 10 Su. It was so much better. I just hate the hours so much.
–not enough and not good enough cardio machines. They have rowers (generally unused), bikes (probably 15 or so of them, and 3 are ALWAYS broken. Depending on the time of day, these will either be completely full or completely empty), ellipticals (12 of them I believe, which again are either all being used or no one is there), two ‘wave’ machines which is the closest thing to a treadmill there. Seriously. They have no treadmills. HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE TREADMILLS AT A GYM?
–I find the schedule to be weird. For example, a swim schedule may be lap swimming 9:10−10, lap swimming 10:10−12. There is a weird 10 minutes break where nothing happens are you can’t swim. Annoying.
–track can only be used by UofT track team between 6 – 9 on Tues and Thurs
There are many more negative things to say. I hate it so much that I’ve bought a gym membership elsewhere even though my UofT fees pay for this place. If you aren’t serious about working out (maybe 30 minutes 5 times a week or less), you’ll be fine. But if you want a good, long, hard workout that is consistent and won’t be interrupted, good luck.

One of the Highlights of the UofT campus is the access to world class facilities. This is one of the times where the advertising truly matches up with the product. The aquatics and land facilities are top notch especially when the age of the building is taken into account it is amazing that the facilities are still in good shape with high volume of student usage.
Great area to do strength training compared to Hart House and being able to quickly switch between pylo and pure weights is a great aspect of the large strength conditioning centre.
The AC has two pools that can be used though I prefer the olympic sized pool.
The hours are fantastic as they range from 07:00 — 23:00 weekdays and 09:00 — 17:00 Weekends. Only drawback is that they do not run holiday hours for Stat holidays…

The AC has got it all when it comes to sports. Unlike Hart House which is a more popular option for working out, the AC is home to the Varsity athletes and gives off a more proffessional feel to the organized sports going on here. It is also the venue of choice for UofT intramural sports from waterpolo to dodgeball.
I’ve experienced the AC both as a student working out/​participating in intramurals as well as working behind the scenes as part of the intramural sports council, and if one is to navigate the inner offices here you are bound to get lost, UofT for some reason has a whole bunch of buildings which offer little help to the new students/​staff that are confusing to map out in your head and the AC should be among the top of that list. (We had a scavenger hunt just to get accustomed to it). But one thing is for certain and that’s the utilization of every possible space to ensure a well run establishment of offices and playing fields and gyms.
The front guest services staff members are helpful. No doubt they get the same problems brought to their attention frequently so they are proficient in providing assistance to the needy. The pool observation area is one of my favourite spots to do some reading or kill time at since I do enjoy the sounds of water splashing around when people are swimming, if you’re lucky you could catch some synchronised swimming or some fancy dive work as well.
There is a Starbucks and it’s one of the better ones you would find on campus along with a sports store which has quite a comprehensive selection despite it’s size.
The changing room system is also a little bonus as you get a free towel as you walk in.
It’s got everything the athlete needs and while I prefer the classes at Hart House to those here, it should be noted that the AC does throw a few fitness related events as well.

The Athletics Centre (or AC, as the UofT student knows), is the biggest athletics facility on the University of Toronto campus — including a massive Olympic sized pool, large indoor track, squash and tennis courts, many rooms for classes and a large change room.
If you’re a UofT student, or considering buying a membership as staff or alumni, personally I prefer Hart House — in my opinion, it’s a little less… intimidating.
The AC was built in a time when concrete everything seemed like a good idea — and thus the building is a labyrinth of concrete stairs, and generally uninspiring feelings. While they do have a great variety of classes, equipment, and other amenities, I am also often discouraged by the super fit phys-​ed students running around the track like it’s no big deal.
There are also many perks to the AC, which means that a lot of people (students and non-​students alike), prefer it to the other campus facilities. There is a lot of new equipment, and it is constantly updated — as well since it is technically a «newer» building, many people prefer the showers and change facilities to other options.
Now, if I weren’t paying only $ 50 a month for both this facility and Hart House, I might look for another gym — but if you’re a student, alumni, or staff with a discount, it might be worth checking the AC out!

The Athletic Centre (AC) is a confusing building but a very decent place to work out. As a UofT student, the cost of membership is included in tuition. If you are not a student, you can pay to become a member.
The AC is a building that holds a 200m track in the field house, a weight room (Strength and Conditioning Centre) loaded with weights and various (new) machines, large change rooms, several gyms, squash courts, pools of various sizes, gymnastic gym, fencing room, dance studio, and even a Starbucks.
You can come in and use the facilities are your leisure, go to drop-​in programs that range from yoga to zumba to cardio boxing. You can also register for courses (however this is an additional fee).
Change rooms are located in the basement. You can buy lockers which automatically gives you towel service too or you can just buy the towel service. There are also many «day lockers» you can use.
Now for some random tips
— if you are a female that doesn’t feel comfortable working out in the weight room in front of guys, check out the weight room’s women-​only hours, they vary depending on the day of the week
— when swiping to get past the turnstiles, swipe your care with the stripe facing the left side
— there are ellipticals in the field house, make sure you sign-​up for them on the sign-​up page directly behind the machines
— some stall showers in the women’s change room do not have hot water, only semi-​warm water
— last but not least, have fun!

Tired of slipping on black ice on your daily 5K; or maybe you’re bored of the treadmill (even with the TV). If so, give this place a try when your current membership expires. Unlike some gyms, the won’t close their doors — ever, leaving you with 4 months of paid dues which you’ll never get back. The facility is HUGE… Olympic size pool, an indoor track that makes you feel like it’s spring, weights galore, all types of sports, and lessons. The price? Only around $ 60 a month… not bad versus the other options. +ives: variety, huge facility –ives: bring your own shampoo and soap