Prisma Health Family YMCA — Local services in Mauldin

I’m really disappointed with the YMCA Childwatch at this location. The whole point of this service is to help busy parents like me get a workout in, but their rigid policies completely undermine that goal. I booked spots for my 6- and 2-year-old daughters on a Saturday morning, knowing they were supposed to be in separate areas due to their ages. However, my kids were very upset about being separated, so I kindly spoke with the manager and asked if they could stay together, especially since the younger kids’ area wasn’t busy at all.

The manager was stuck to a strict rule that felt completely out of touch with early childhood education principles. It’s well known that young children are likely to need support when separated from their parents, and in that case, my daughters were ready to support each other while being away from us.

What bothered me even more was that the only other time I used this service at this location—when my youngest was just 1 year old—I returned to find her buckled into a chair with a screen directly in front of her, as if they were forcing her to watch it. At the time, she hadn’t been exposed to screens yet, given her young age and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) recommendations on avoiding screen entirely for children under 18 months. The Child Watch service is supposed to focus on play and social interaction, not passive screen use.

Overall, this Childwatch felt more like a barrier to my workout than a help, and I would not recommend it to other parents who want a supportive, child-friendly environment. Moreover, I believe the center’s policies, including those related to screen and siblings, should be thoughtfully revisited to better support the needs of children...

Avoid coming to this YMCA location. They are extremely busy the majority of the day, and even more-so after normal working hours. Do not expect to come in and be able to find many cardio machines or weight machines available without waiting in line. Nothing is being done to aid in the busy-ness and in fact, things are going backwards.

The decisions made recently at this location do not benefit the member whatsoever. They removed the cardio theater (about 30~ cardio machines) in favor of more workout class rooms. They remove a large amount of weight machines in favor of an E-Gym system (which consistently has a line waiting to use it and requires an orientation appointment to be allowed access). So all of the displaced members wanting to use cardio machines are left with the walking/running track to use, which becomes so crowded it makes you walk on each others heels.

The membership price to use these facilities is grossly expensive when you cannot even get a full workout in during your visit due to the volume of people and lack of...

I mainly attend the group classes - which for the most part have been great. Only a couple times have I attended a class that I didn't fully enjoy but there seems to be a good community of the group exercise side of things. I have never been to this location when it wasn't crowded. It seems like the bottom floor is just always super busy and crowded , so if you are looking for a more peaceful quiet environment to weightlift/use cardio machines, I would choose somewhere else. For what I want to do at the YMCA, I enjoy this location. The only thing I would be concerned about is the cleanliness of the shared mats/dumbbells/etc. but that can be remedied by bringing your own if that bothers you. I appreciate their financial aid program as well as I am a student unable to afford the full price. I would recommend for someone looking for group exercise like Pilates, Yoga,...