Alpha Fitness — Local services in Newton

What was once a great place to workout has turned into a filthy run-down dump with old, damaged equipment and a sensitive owner that doesn’t like to face reality. Since Anthony opened his Ledgewood location the Newton location has suffered, and his arrogance has clearly grown. If you go during unstaffed hours there’s a very good possibility that the music is off, and the place is in dead silence. To the right side are some outdated treadmills, ellipticals and exercise bikes. To the left side is the 1st workout room. Pay no mind to the hole in the ceiling as you walk in or the leaky roof from above the yellow janitorial mop bucket. You’ll run into the big red cable crossover machine that’s falling apart with missing panels and usually missing clips for the attachments or the pulley is off the tracks. Above you you’ll see a light that has been burned out for over a year now but it’s all good, you'll look better in the mirror if it's not cracked. The rest of the light’s covers are barely hanging on and will probably come crashing down at some point. A few holes punched in the walls both upstairs and downstairs, one you'll find behind the leg extension machine and the other by the seated pullover in the basement. Those have been there for over a year just pay no mind to them. Now we will head downstairs to the “Iron Basement” where the floors are filthy, and it’s been a long time since they’ve been cleaned. Don't mind the weightlifting chalk all over the floor and the bars this is a “hardcore gym.” You can tell if you look under the machines and racks as you're bound to find dust and other junk under them. If you’re brave enough to look up at the ducts, rafters, or pipes you’ll find a good assortment of dust and cobwebs. If there is a class in the studio above you get to watch it fall and make its way onto you, the machine, or the floor. Walk down that row of machines and take notice of the 2nd to last white Smith Machine and you’ll notice that the right hook that has been bent for years will add a little extra to your lift. Clearly you can see it’s been digging into the metal so that’s not something that just started but poor maintenance and lack of care. You're sure to find machines loaded with weights that you'll have to unload yourself. Hopefully if you’re female you won't get stuck with a machine that has the 100 lb plates or multiple 45 lb plates on the machine you choose to use. If you drop the 100lb plates on your foot, it will probably be your own fault based off management passing the blame. Make sure your tetanus shot is up to date, because if you touch anything that's metal to load a plate on your hands will be covered in rust. Don't worry though they'll have spray bottles of Simple Green that will leak all over your hands if you'd like to wipe a machine down, that is if the paper towel machines are even loaded. Hopefully you don't trip over the random weights, dumbbells, gallon water jugs, and water bottles that are carelessly thrown upon the floor. Check out the loose belt on the ab machine that says “check daily” that is so loose you can stick your fingers between the belt and guide. The dumbbells no longer have coatings on them so you can’t tell what weight you’re using BUT according to the January 18th post on Instagram new dumbbell’s we’re coming in February. April Fool’s because they still haven’t shown up yet and it’s May 2024. Where is your maintenance fee going because clearly it’s not into this facility???? After posting a few pics on my personal FB page, with no tags or identifying content whatsoever, the owner (Anthony) decided to publicly comment on my post in an argumentative manner attempting to defend and disregard the condition of the facility, and then publicly announced my membership is now cancelled. Which is fine he will never get another dime from me. Anthony as you read this, I’d like to remind you that the address to this building is 2 E Clinton St, Newton, NJ 07860 because clearly you went Ray Charles on this place. You can use this as a guide to help...

• Read the whole review ** I don't have a membership, but here is my membership review. The staff initially was friendly and offered me a tour. The facility is 2 floors with an optional out door CrossFit area. Could not get a view of the locker rooms, but the entry was not to appealing. They have a second class room and appear to have tons of classes. They do not have refrigerated items to buy (Protein drinks, water, etc) or a smoothy/specialty drink making bar. The biggest issue I saw was the membership is all or nothing. 35.00/month with a 49.99 sign up fee. They do not offer a Year long membership (Monthly rate only). No family discounts, no drop in one day only memberships, and no way to do a free trial.

• Here is my member review *. The staff is very friendly. When I expressed my concerns about joining they said they would try to accommodate me if they could, but ultimately it is a business (Understandable) The gym floor and locker rooms are clean. Since my previous review they stocked the refrigerator. The locker rooms are small and the men's locker room is only 6 lockers (Staff said that they were looking into expanding the lockers in the future). Even though I nitpick, I would say it's the best gym in Newton.

• 6 month membership review **

The owner Anthony remains attentive to the members. He always seems to be doing things around the gym. Rarely is there ever a broken piece of equipment as even during peak times you can still get in to use a piece...

So I am a 60-year old very fit man who's been going to alpha fitness for approximately 2 years. Maybe a little bit more by now, since the end of covid anyway. So the hours that work for me to go to the gym are from 2 AM to 4 AM gotta be out of there to get to work by 5am. Showed up this morning 9/22/24, to find the app on my phone would not allow me to enter with a notice on the door saying that the hours have changed! No more 24/7. Without any kind of a heads up. Went in to cancel my membership later that afternoon. And the girl behind the counter told me they were hoping that less equipment would get broken from the overnight members. ( F.Y.I. most of the equipment is from the 80's and 90's I used to use the same style equipment in my 30s and 40s.) I find that funny since 3 to 4 out of 5 nights between those hours. I was always there alone and always had a clean the gym. I.e. Water bottles all over the place. Paper towels on the floor, bathrooms were a mess a lot of the time, dust bunnies as large as my fist. ( and no I didn't vacuum!) Most of the weights are busted up and haven't been replaced, nuts and bolts rolling around on the floor from equipment and most of the machines with crazy amounts of weights left on them ect. So I guess I'm a little peeved. Not sure who voted them number one gym in Sussex County? Maybe they should rethink that a bit. So I guess that's my rant. Guess it's back to Planet Fitness, at least...