Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center — Local services in Manassas

First of all, they fixed the pool hrs for the most part. It is now only closed 1-3 during the weekdays.

Gym hrs: 3x different closing times which is rather annoying. Closes at 6pm on Sundays lol. Doesn't open till 8am on weekends.

Now the worst part of this gym... I have been attending various gyms for almost 2 decades. This is the first time I have seen fights start to breakout. Within my first year, I have seen 3x shouting matches, and one turn into shoving.

Next, maybe it is just Virginians, but these ppl are annoying and impatient. I have got asked more times in one year , "how many sets you got left?," then my previous 2 decades of lifting.

You also have old ppl doing machine circuits, and they are hell bent on doing it in a specific order, and they are like a pouty 3yr old that doesn't get their way when u finish ur first or second set, you take a breather, and they ask, "you done yet?," you answer no and they huff and puff bc "you're just standing there hogging the machine." Like do you ppl not understand how weightlifting works? Answer: No they don't.

The free weights. Absolutely disgusting and grimey. Wipe down a weight or bar, and your towel is caked in brown grime.

The pool: Often closed on the weekends for swim meets and or lessons, so check the schedule before coming or go to a different pool. Life guards are hit or miss. One day a guard got onto us for using our own pool noodles. I still don't know wtf he was talking about. People have noodles and squirtguns in the pool all the time.

Quite a few misbehaving & rude kids with 1st gen parents that don't understand that having your 7yr old jumping on me or my 4-5yr old in the pool is not acceptable. Especially, when I don't know you. Seriously, this type of occasion has occurred 4 or 5 times now.

ID reader: move the dang scanner. It is a 50/50 gamble that when. I show up, some patron or customer is standing in front of it. I was skipping it every time this occurred but someone finally tracked me down and ask me to come back and scan, so idk stop using that PC for everything but id related stuff, or just place the scanner away from the PCs. Like move it to the front of the counter nearest the entrance???

The staff. For the most part, very friendly...

I’ve been coming here for 8 years, and while the facilities are nice, they do not appreciate their members... during swim meets. This morning I spent 10 minutes trying to park (during a swim meet), until I finally followed the signs to the satellite lot for “swim team parking,” which turned out to be mostly empty (and a 3-5 min walk to the entrance - see picture). This is not the first time this has happened. They do not bother to staff the lots with attendants pointing swim team families to the correct parking locations, nor even post signs saying not to park in the main lot. After missing the class I was going to attend, I decided to go talk to a manager and ask why they couldn’t save parking for members. Craig, the manager on duty, told me that they only put staff out in the lots before the facility opens to direct traffic, but not after that when classes are running and members would arrive. That seems lazy and stupid - clearly the parking lot is not filled with all members’ vehicles. Furthermore, he told me it was not his problem - it was a facilities problem, and he would (ho hum) mention it to the facilities manager. I have never encountered a manager so disenchanted with his job, basically passing the buck and not even trying to be apologetic (much less helpful). Furthermore, if you ever do park and get in during a meet, don’t bother with the locker rooms. They will be jammed full of kids, even in the “adults only section.” They cancel classes and there’s even no use of much of the facility (the multi purpose room is also overrun). I understand they need to support swim meets, but I’m frankly tired of this place selling out their regular paying customers for them. We basically get an email notification warning us that it will be a problem to come there. (Thanks for taking my money anyway.) They need to staff and manage these meets better, including hiring a manager that actually cares about customer service...

Not the best but not the worst. I think for the price it is fine… you have options, but if you are someone who won’t use the pool or other amenities, you would be best going somewhere cheaper for the quality of the weight room.

My biggest issue: The ceiling leaks almost every time it rains. Trash cans catching water are everywhere with towels and wet floor signs too. This sometimes blocks machines. Then, it makes me really hope there isn’t a mold problem.

If you’re going to go to a gym like this, you will have to deal with swim meets and basketball tournaments. That is no problem for me, as long as the staff are on top of it. There have been times in the past where unsupervised children were up on the top floor (children under a certain age aren’t allowed up there and they often don’t belong to the gym, just there for a sport) and my husband hurt his ankle because they were running around him. Recently though, they have seemed to crack down on that and monitor the upstairs area more when they have events, which we really appreciate.

Their most recent gym refresh really helped for sure, but doesn’t fix a lot of issues. Machines are broken often, but hopefully some of these new machines replaced the old ones that often broke.

The staff are SO friendly, but I haven’t seen them really make comments on peoples gym etiquette, and I think they should. Endless circuits, slamming weights and loud grunting really ruin the vibe for everyone else (and I’m pretty sure there are signs saying not to do this stuff, but sometimes people need to be told).

I have been to much worse gyms, which were much cheaper to be fair, but I think you’re getting a decent deal for the price and options if you will...