Powerhouse Gym — Local services in Bethlehem

I’ve been a member with Powerhouse Gym for a year now and here’s my experience from almost every category.

1 Star Earned - Gym has good equipment with a wide variety of things to perform/do. Overall very nice and clean.

1 Star Earned - Very nice, approachable environment. People who go there to work out are overall very friendly. They’ve helped me out with form on some exercises and just talked with me for a bit

1/2 Star Earned - Decent parking

1/2 Star Earned - Numerous things such as as a posing room, supplement store, etc etc

1 Star REMOVED - Poor management/employment. I had to pay a good $2000 out my pocket for this gym and I can tell you, %75 has been gone to waste. When signing up, be sure that the employee EXPLAINS THE CONTRACT to you. Unfortunately, the employee that signed me up never did and I thought I was paying month to month but turns out I was in a yearly commitment the whole time. They never explained the stuff to me. Found out the hard way. Now if they won’t explain to you, I will right now. Monthly is your best pick because there’s no commitment, you just pay and you can cancel anytime however it is expensive. I believe around $50. For yearly, there is a commitment and you can’t cancel. It is $44.95 a month plus the beginner fee and annual fee. This gym is an influencer gym so high prices are to be expected.

1 Star Removed - Poor cancellation procedures. This is the one that ticks me off the most. YOU NEED TO GIVE A 30 DAY NOTICE ALONG WITH A CANCELLATION FORM. Now, when giving in your notice, be sure to write down the date and time you came in to prove your notice has been said in the range because the gym gives a shady vibe in my opinion so it’s best to write down your dates/times and take pictures/videos. The cameras go back months (said by one of the managers) so you should be good. Now, this form. Well ladies and gentlemen, this form is online on their website and needs to be printed. THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY COPIES IN THE GYM. I believe they don’t have any copies because they’re neighbors with Staples and Staples allows for printing for cheap like 25 cents but you still have to pay. Or do it yourself so that’s a bummer. Anyway, just write down you were there and yeah you should be good.

1 Star Removed - Poor management in training services. Now training here WAS good. I don’t know about now though. My personal trainer was FIRED for unknown reasons and they were supposed to notify his clients but guess what, they didn’t because apparently it looks bad on the gym to tell people he got fired so the poor guy had to let everyone know himself. Before he got fired, the training manager was really weird with him. Trainer told me the training managers a bit weird. I soon found out why. I had a bit of an anxiety attack because the training manager was monitoring our trainer so he followed us the entirety of our session and was staring at me working out and I felt uncomfortable. Trainer said he can file a complaint and I believe he did until the next day or two, he was fired by that same manager. I found that really weird. I was then switched to another trainer who I didn’t have a personal connection with which caused my progress to be at a halt due to a confusing new program and I ended up becoming prediabetic by following his diet plan. When that happened, they had to go to what I like to call the master trainer because they have a master in nutrition or whatever so he makes diet plans for diabetics but there’s only ONE of those master trainers in the whole bunch of them. And this particular master trainer LOVES to overcomplicate you. Anyway, that sucked. Also, my training plan was for 3 months but then it got tricked into 4 months so I had to pay an extra $280. No one told me my last month (that 3rd month) was almost over by the way so I paid for another useless month. THE 30 DAY NOTICE ALSO GOES FOR TRAINING TOO, NOT JUST REGULAR GYM MEMBERSHIP

Overall, Powerhouse Gym is a good gym just be sure to write stuff down, read the contracts (even though they take 20 minutes), and...

Pretty good gym, full of equipment and weights. The barbells are getting old and many are bending/warped and damaged. 24 access is nice and the members are generally nice as well.

The price point is high and you can find much cheaper deals elsewhere for 1/3 the price

Rating is for the poor management/trainers. Harasses and mistreats members pretty consistently which has led to many people leaving the gym. It seems to be a common theme under the current general manager.

The day pass is 5 dollars which is pretty good if you're here for a short visit but for long-term contracts I would steer clear of this one.

UPDATE: Reply to management:-

I was banned for leaving 1 bumper plate on a deadlift bar after stripping from 455 lbs, and subsequently left after being harassed by a trainer. Any average gymgoer understands the common sense of leaving 1 bumper on a deadlift platform, especially when there are 7 other bars in the same room. I was never asked to leave and I was also never approached any other time despite signing up during presale, which at this point has been several years.

I would have happily voiced my concerns as an active member, if management wasn't cowardly and cancelled without a word.

No warning of cancellation (I would have anyways), and no refund of the 2 weeks of service I am denied that I've paid for. I was told he would "talk to the manager" while the manager is right there, and they just cancel without saying anything despite having ample opportunity. That is good management? If so, I'd say...

BEWARE if you workout here in the morning! For the last month they have a cleaning person here every morning from 6am-2pm spraying mirrors, garbage cans, counters, mopping floors in gym and restrooms, with toxic chemical cleaning products that are being breathed in when working out, leaving pools of cleaner on restroom floors that could cause slipping. While working out on treadmill, or machines they are vacuuming around patrons while they are working out! It is ridiculous! I called Muscle INC, and they said they only mop and clean after hours. Most businesses do not clean with toxic/ hazardous chemical with customers around. Will be going to another gym if this continues! Response from owner:Hello, Pam we appreciate the feedback and apologize that we clean too frequently and at undesirable times and places throughout the gym for you. I also would like to reassure we do not use toxic and or harmful chemicals for cleaning. A perk of membership is we are a 24/7 gym and that doesn’t allow for after hours cleaning as we don’t have any. We set up the cleaning schedule based on check ins and slowest times in the gym 8am-2pm daily this was implemented we opened. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience with the cleaning of our facilities. Thank you. NO -the slowest time is a gym is after 9pm! That's why most businesses have cleaning at night! And I read the Material Data sheets on the cleaning products you use, and they are toxic! Also they have fragrance! Fragrance is the new...