Cambridge Athletic Club — Local services in Cambridge

Been working out here since about 2019. Generally pretty happy with it. Helpful and available staff when you have questions or want your billing receipt. If you do want to cancel, there's a 2 month transition window but that's it: nothing like the big chain gyms.

Five power racks are great, but during rush hour expect them all to be taken up. Like all gyms, there's an issue of people just sitting staring at their phone for 10 minutes between sets, doing nothing. Or super-setting half the machines in the gym. They have put up signs asking people to be respectful but I haven't seen any behavior changes in this.

Going off hours is much less busy, but then you have to deal with the cleaning staff mopping right around your feet. Trying to squat when you have slippery floors isn't very safe at all, I've had to start getting a towel from the front desk to dry the floor to I don't kill myself. Cleaning staff should stay away from anyone using a squat rack, including the area near the sides where we change weights, otherwise it's just a slippery mess.

The main negative and my reason for only four stars is access. Before COVID, we could walk right in the First Street or the Linksey Way entrance. During covid the building locked the Linksey way entrance, which is annoying as you have to walk around the block to the front.

However, they eventually locked the front entrance, too. Gym members don't have access badges to the outside door, so we had to ring the visitor doorbell. That was annoying enough, but now they not only make you ring the door bell but have to speak to the security guard. The intercom is completely unintelligible and you have to shout 'I'm going to the gym!' to be let inside. Not a great experience during winter, or in the rain, since you are not covered.

They really need to make getting inside easier. The gym is a tenant of the building, we should be granted come/go access through all doors without having to wait for security...

Peace family! This gym has some great amenities but the water has chemicals in it and I don’t recommend anyone who cares about their health to use the showers after workout. My skin turns white every single time. My shoes turn blue every single time. You can see the chemicals on your skin and on your shoes after you shower. I’m going to have the water tested and I will return the results when I get them. I will send the water to 3 different water testing facilities and will report them to both the CAC General Manager (Carla Bettencourt) and I will post here! To be quite honest, they should shut down the whole shower facility for a day, two, or however it long it takes to test and treat the water. I’ve never had such an experience this bad with water being this full of toxic chemicals that penetrate your skin immediately. The skin is the largest organ on the human body and we have to learn to protect ourselves better. Ever Fitness gym on 14 McGrath Highway has water that’s just as bad. Mind you, I am highly melanated and the chemicals pop up on my skin much clearer than others who are pale skinned, so you see the results of the chemicals immediately. I’m hoping that other people will take heed to this message and if you don’t believe me, go test the water yourself. I’m hoping that Carla, the district manager, or regional manager sees this and takes this seriously. They may be violating health codes with this one! Hope everyone has a great day’ I’ll see you soon! (CAC 215 First Street, Cambridge, MA) they also have a minor...

I had such HIGH hopes for this gym since it is right around the corner from where I live and has a great sauna. There are lots of good things about it but the woman's steam room is full of mold and it is right next door to the sauna. I am quite sensitive to mold so I am unable to join after trying out the day pass. I would consider if they truly fixed it by removing the tiles and cleaning the mold that is likely grown behind the tiles. I've never seen such a bad mold problem in a stream room before: it was smelly and visible. I am glad that fixing the steam room is in the fix list but it smelled musty and the black discoloration is often normal in the grout but it was beyond the grout and on the tile and that should wipe off. Mold is nothing to mess around with especially in basements and when there are ducts and vented air. I will certainly consider once the steam room...