YMCA

This YMCA is a wonderful facility, very affordable, and has a lot to offer. I wanted to join just because it’s close to where I live, the price can hardly be beat, and it offers unlimited free classes with membership.
When I found out they have a very nice pool AND a steam room, I was totally sold. The pool is very clean, and gets very deep too — 8 feet in the deep end. The steam room is in very good working order too.
The steam room occasionally gets grimy on the floor because some people think it’s appropriate to step in there for a minute or two after a workout FULLY CLOTHED AND WITH THEIR SHOES ON! Who thinks that is ok?
I’ve been here many different times of the day throughout the week, and while you can certainly find times when it’s basically deserted, those times aren’t necessarily predictable.
There’s enough cardio equipment, free weights, and machines that you never really have to wait to use something that you want to use. In the cardio room, there are a fair number of TVs on the wall, as well as personal screens connected to the treadmills.
I am glad that this Y is used by so many people — it serves a diverse community including lots of families. But, the down side to this is that if you need to change in the tiny locker room, you often don’t have much space to do it and it can feel a bit uncomfortable.
I would give it a five star rating if the locker rooms were a bit more clean and spacious. The Y never gets so crowded that you can’t find space to work out, which would be a more significant problem than the small locker rooms.
But, it would be nice if that part of the locker rooms were improved somehow, or at least cleaned a bit more. Especially in the winter when people come in with dirty shoes, the floors in the locker room get kind of gross.

Great facility! The staff and instructors are so encouraging and always supportive. It’s definitely a more relaxed, friendly, and affordable gym. I pay 25 $ a month with full access (classes, pool, etc.). If you’re reading this, make sure to try out the Les Mills classes (bodyattack, bodypump, bodycombat, cycling, etc.) they offer, it’s so much fun! Listening to great music while getting a great workout, makes it that much easier to get motivated. Anyways, the Christian Street YMCA has got to be the best gym in Philly. Definitely check it out sometime.

It’s fun to stay!!!
Am I like the 578 378 475 8439^th person to say that in a YMCA review?
Whatever. It’s fun!
For serious, I sincerely enjoy working out at the Y on Christian. Between Philly and Chicago, this will be the 4^th Y I’ve ever frequented and I’d say it’s up there with my favorite location of all time in Chicago.
The machines are up to date, which is the most I can ask for… actually, there’s always at least one cleaning person in action while I’m there, and I really appreciate knowing that things are sanitized often, so maybe that’s the most important thing. If I have any complaints at all, I wish the treadmills weren’t moved against the cinderblock wall with no windows (it kind of makes me feel claustrophobic… but maybe that’s my problem!).
But, really, I am so thankful to have this location right up the street from me. I’ve been frequenting the gym more and more lately, enough so start seeing some regulars, who seem pretty nice. I don’t know where they live, but they are my neighbors. Love the community vibe!

My local YMCA. Originally, the first African American friendly Y, it has a rich history and an equally diverse present population. indoor pool, gym, classes, and Childrens education among many other offerings. Definitely an asset to the community. Also offering membership on a rolling income based scale, and you get to pay month to month, ie no locked in contracts with enormous fees, Horray for the Y :-)

One of the first things I did when I moved to GHO was to join the Christian St. YMCA. The Y is more than a gym, it’s a community gathering place. The swim lessons are very popular, and the pool is one of the largest in the city. The exercise classes which are free to members are great. Saturday body pump is a fantastic way to start off your weekend. The new cardio room is twice as big as their old one, plenty of machines to accommodate everyone.
The staff pride themselves in being the «Friendliest» Y in the area, Malik who runs the sports classes for kids is one of the friendliest people you’ll meet.
The Y has a sliding scale for memberships, If you make less than a certain amount they will discount your membership fee.
The Christian St YMCA is a historic landmark (Blue signs) It was the first African American Y to have it’s own building. Since 1910 it has been serving the South West Center City admirably. Stop in, get a tour and see for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

I joined this YMCA location because it was very convenient to my house, and how better to motivate yourself to work out than convenience?
The building is of course more than a gym. They have day camps and day care type stuff. It’s very neighbor-​centered, holding community meetings and events and such. With that being said, I only used this place for the gym. They have a cardio room, a weight room, a basketball court, and a pool. The cardio room and weight room are very very small and most of the equipment is pretty old and grungy (they did just replace some of the treadmills). If you go at prime gym time, good luck getting a cardio machine. Also, since this place has a day care/​after school program or something, at some part of the day there are little kids RUNNING around the gym equipment, sitting on bikes/​ellipticals, etc. I don’t hate on little ones, but come on, I’m trying to work out, this is a weight room, not a playground. Not to mention it seemed a little unsafe to me.
I started off with a student rate of something around $ 36/​mo which they gave me without any kind of yearly contract but I did have a one time sign up fee with was around $ 75 or so. After not one month, they started charging me $ 49/​mo without any heads up at all. I inquired and asked that they change this back to what I signed my contract for (one month ago) but they informed me that since I was now over 25 years old (I signed up exactly 1 week before my 26^th birthday) I was no longer eligible for student membership. And I couldn’t cancel my membership until next month for some unknown clerical paperwork reason.
I know that YMCA is a non-​profit community based program, but when you rip me off, you’re not helping me. Plus, i joined the MUCH nicer, cleaner, and bigger City Fitness that opened just down the street for less than the YMCAs student fee.

A pretty basic YMCA with a decent price. Biggest issue I have is the thin selection of weight lifting machines. There’s enough to get a decent workout, and it’s usually a small enough crowd that you won’t be waiting around. The pool is okay, though currently a touch foggy. Oh, and the staff is plenty friendly.

Nerds of the internet, you’re probably familiar with «Delete Facebook, lawyer up, hit the gym.» Now, I banned Facebook from my work, I luckily don’t need a lawyer, but I did need to hit the gym to get out of a funk. I’ve been going to Christian Street for a couple months now, and am a fan.
Sure, I’m not there a lot. But it’s the first gym I’ve ever been to where my initial trainer appointment wasn’t an upsell of personal training. The people here just want you to be happy and healthy and have fun (especially if you’re going to a class).
I haven’t been to many classes, but the few I’ve been to have been great. BodyPump is offered most days of the week for those who sometimes get lazy with their lifting schedule (*cough* me *cough*).
Most of my time there is spent in the weight room, and it’s up to par. There’s usualy the same trainer there in the morning (Kathy) and she’s great about answering questions and generally being awesome. It gets crowded in the afternoon, but nowhere near what I consider «gym crowded» i.e. there’s no required flow of traffic you have to follow, there are still lap lanes available to share, cardio machines available even if it’s not your preferred one …
So generally Christian Street is awesome. Plus, what can I say, I get a kick out of supporting community organizations like the Y. I walked back from the gym one Saturday to see a herd of 20+ members planting trees. Awesome.

The Christian Street Y is just the right size for me — and being one block from my house helps me cut down on excuses not to go. They have a fair number of cardio machines and just about every weight machine you would like PLUS an indoor pool and basketball court. My only beef is what happens between 5:30 and 6:30p and that is the row of double parked, unattended cars that line up to collect their children from daycare. It is a traffic problem that happens at every sizable daycare and school around the city.

The lap pool and steam room are great. There is a new cardio space which I haven’t used yet. Primarily I take yoga classes there, which are mixed level vinyasa. I sometimes get frustrated by feeling held back by beginners in the class, but then I remind myself that I’m paying an amazingly inexpensive price per month and I am getting what I pay for.
The building itself is poor compared to other ymcas I’ve been to, but what can you do?

For $ 47 a month you get access to a full basketball court, a pool, a cardio room, and a weight room. There are also a number of free classes including yoga, body pump, etc.
The weight room and cardio room can get a bit crowded in the evenings, bit it usually isn’t too bad. The equipment in the cardio room is all new, with 3 spinning bikes, 4 ellipticals, 3 regular bikes, and 8 treadmills. The weight room is decent, but lacks a power rack.

I take the kids I babysit here. We go every thursday. Same smiley faces at the desk. Today we forgot our cards to swipe. The guy was like no worries. Gotta love that especially when you are wrangling two kids.
The entire staff is friendly. The lifeguards, the maintenance staff, the supervisors. Everyone is just so sweet and kind.
I used to go to the Y when I was younger and I remember it being friendly then as well. Glad things stay the same!

This a solid gym folks. The pool is a great size and the weight room is decent. For the price you cant beat this gym. See you in the steam room folks

im a member here and absolutely love it. A great place to swim, train, play basketball.
Nico touched on the details. One thing to note is that it is NOT an olympic-​sized pool, it is a 25M, 3 lane pool. During the day the pool is empty and at its busiest you may have to share a lane which is no big deal.
They also have a sauna, which is a great place to start and end your workout.
The staff is what makes this place amazing. They’re super nice and helpful and seem to care about their jobs. Refreshing.
Finally, the vibe is SO different here than at a gym like PSC where everyone is putting on a show. at the Y everyone is, get this, FRIENDLY. not uptight. not self-​absorbed.

i just toured this place today. recently renovated weight room is pretty nice. for swimmers and chlorine lovers, there’s a full-​sized olympic pool.
for people like me (bawlers, that is), there’s a full-​sized basketball court. i talked with one of the staff members, and he said competition varies. we’ll see if the kids run me off the court. damn, i’m getting old.
some cardio equipment on the first floor, and they have regular classes for stuff like martial arts, yoga, aerobics, etc.
a good alternative to the other fitness centers in CC and a much different clientele. i’m signing up…