Macleod Trail World Health

Since my last review I had a quick reply from the manager Caterina at world health. She cleared up everything and I can honestly say I am very satisfied with her customer service.

I’ve been going for over a year now to this location. I’ve been to some really great gyms around Canada and this is by far my favourite. It’s always clean, and the staff is very friendly.
I usually go between 630−8am and its not busy at all. Trainers are always offering help and are super friendly. I’ve even made a friend there. Yes, there are a lot of crossfit workouts going on and a lot of people training for fitness competitions but who cares? Nice to look at and they are friendly people.
The prices aren’t that much higher from other gyms. Considering their equipment is always working, it’s clean and the showers are clean as well. They provide blow dryers, straightening irons in the women’s locker room — which is always clean. Antibacterial wipes always available, as well as child-​care, plenty of room for stretching, walking lunges etc. They leave the aerobics room open if you need a more private workout. I workout 5−6x a week and can tell you it’s a great investment.
And for people who are complaining about the membership — just read the contract before you sign, like anything you sign in life. There is a reason that exists.

I want to start out with saying that one star is generous for this gym. I’ve been a world health member for a few years now and have visited and trained at a number of their gyms.
First of all, Macleod definitely holds up the overall snotty and stuck up attitude that World Health has come to acquire as well as the astronomical monthly rates that they charge for a membership — which is double what most gyms charge.
Working out here is a challenge due to the layout of the equipment, and the split levels. It just doesn’t make any sense. That is if your lucky to get the equipment you want due to it always being ridiculously busy, mostly with people flailing around attempting to do crossfit. The last thing I need while trying to squat is dodging someone’s foot while doing «kipping pull-​ups»
If one thing is certain after a few workouts here, it’s that I would never invest in a trainer here. It’s obvious that they are under trained and only there as a money grab. Upon further investigation the majority of the trainers working here are «interns» meaning they have not completed a program. And even after completion most are only certified through generic Canfit or ace programs that essentially anyone can pass. As a certified nutritionist who’s partner is a personal trainer and someone who works out regularly I can say confidently that I have a fairly good grasp on proper form and exercise in general. But I cannot count the number of times I have had to shake my head at the «trainers» here as they failed to correct bad form or delivered pointless plans.
I suggest not bothering to give this rude, money grabbing establishment your money or time and look elsewhere for your workout needs. It’s just not worth it.

I really wanted to love this club, I’ve been a member for about five years and the location and hours are super convenient, but alas no.
Since I started they’ve continued to sell membership after membership, to the point where you can’t find parking between 5 and 7, and good luck finding a spot to actually do a workout.
I also find there is one specific trainer who spends a lot of time gossiping and looking down on patrons who are not necessarily super fit. He also picked up one of the other trainers and carried her giggling through the club one day — so unprofessional.
The last straw was today, when I called to cancel my membership because the boot camp that I had prepaid for was cancelled with one week’s notice. I however still have to pay them for another 30 days. When I pointed out that I was intending to maintain my membership until boot camp was done I was told the two were not related, and that I should have been told three weeks ago about the boot camp cancellation. She didn’t seem to believe me that I had just be informed yesterday.
I would be wary of this location. I should have been more careful to begin with. When I first signed up I was told I had to make an appointment with a specific person to go through the club and membership options with me, which I did. Except when I got there for my appointment, the person I was supposed to meet with wasn’t there (as in not even working that day). I should have taken that as my first sign and stayed away.
***Update — two weeks later and I’ve still not received my refund for the boot camp, the manager Caterina didn’t return my message and is now on vacation, and their payments group has no record of the refund I’m supposed to be receiving

I’ll start out by saying I think I’m being generous with 2 stars. (I changed this later)
I went to this gym for 2 months because my fiancé at the time got 2 free months for a guest. It feels like walking into a time share meeting when you get there for the first time. I had a guy take me off to an office and go through what goals I wanted to achieve. The whole time it felt like I was being treated like I could be so much more if I just worked out there which really pissed me off, but whatever, I was there for free.
Anyway, they always advertise no contract which is good (if it’s true), but when I asked about it, it seems like it’s only for a couple months or something. Then you have to put a bunch of cash down for the privilege of walking through their doors, and then they will let you pay the monthly fee which is also too high.
When my wife cancelled her membership because we moved, they treated her like she was going to become a fat lazy slob. It was really infuriating.
I have nothing bad to say about the trainers (the ones that run the classes). They are contractors and from what I understood, they’re getting a bit of a crap deal too. All of them were great and really nice.
After thinking about this more, I’m dropping them to 1 star. I was giving them 2 because I really liked the trainers, but they’re contractors anyway, and it seems like World Health is giving them a crap deal when I spoke with a couple of them.
Pros:
Decent equipment
Great trainers
Good classes
Towels
Cons:
Surrounded by d-​bags (Its like walking into Melrose bar sometimes.)
Not a good environment to get back into shape if you’re self conscious
RIP OFF. The contracts (even if that’s the way most gyms work) are a total rip off.
Arrogant staff
Feels like you’re being herded through like cattle
Have fun quitting

The WORST gym ever!!! I will NEVER, EVER, EVER go back again!!! The only reason I gave it even 1-​star is b/​c you can’t choose zero stars.
Firstly, the (weight) equipment is made for men! I could barely reach when I sat in most of them (I’m only 5’2″), which doesn’t make for a very effective workout. When I was on the pec machine my arms were hyper-​extended too far especially for the weight that was on it. I’m ok with using free weights as well but if I’m going to pay for a gym membership it would be nice to fully utilize it.
Secondly, the group classes (at least the ones I thought I might want to try) were all at inconvenient times. Needless to say, I didn’t attend any of them.
The worst part for me was booking two personal training sessions. My «trainer» Rhys, first asked me what my goals were and what I most wanted to work on. I was expecting to get some different ideas for workouts. First session he just tested my ability and fitness level and he decided I was «athletic». When he was checking my form at one point he kept trying to correct me and said I was holding the bar uneven. Well no kidding… duh…I had already told him earlier I had a bad shoulder. It just so happened another trainer was watching and he asked if I had an injury on that shoulder. Funny how he knew that without even speaking with me before and my so-​called trainer who I had told before, «forgot».
Anyway, the next day he was still ‘testing’ me. Near the end of the 2^nd session he had me doing this exercise jumping sideways up and over this bench-​type thing which I told him was too high for me but he said no it’s fine so I tried doing it. Not until I fell is when he says, «ok, maybe you need the shorter one.» Umm… ya think?
One exercise in particular during the 2^nd session is why I will NEVER go back to World Health and advise everyone I know not to either… Rhys had me bench pressing weights that he knew were too heavy for me. (He told me this before I did it.) He said the purpose was to prove to myself that I could finish a set, not to give up even though it was difficult. He said if I couldn’t get the weight up he would help me lift it, but I was to get to 10 no matter what. I did it but I really don’t think he helped me at all. I kept pushing through it because I didn’t want the weights to fall on me. Of course I was pushing harder (unevenly) with what used to be my better and stronger arm/​shoulder. Well, a year later I’m still paying for it. When I first hurt my «good» shoulder (rotator cuff) I just thought it would get better on it’s own. I didn’t want to completely baby it so I still went to the gym (on my own) after that, but at the same time still going easier on it. Eight months later and it still wasn’t better and started to hurt more. Needless to say, I am now going to physio for a tear in my rotator cuff. Did I mention how much the mofo hurts!!! I’m sure the hyper-​extension on the too-​big pec machine earlier didn’t help either.
I’m all for lifting heavy weights but not to the point where it affects your form thereby injuring yourself. If I did it working out by myself, then that’s one thing but this was with a trainer who you trust that they know what they’re doing and are supposed to help you, making sure you DON’T get injured.
I honestly don’t know how qualified some of the trainers are there. I guess it is partly my fault for not doing more research and asking what his qualifications were. They should have a degree in kinesiology at the very least, not a two-​weekend ‘trainer’ course.
I’ve been to the Bay club location before and that was better than this one but still only a mediocre experience.
This place is just a money grab! Oh, did I mention I won’t be going back to any World Health locations… EVER!
Btw, I rarely write reviews but this was such a bad experience that I wanted to warn other people about this place and to be cautious about it. Reading reviews before proceeding with other things has helped me make decisions about whether or not to use a service or not. Hope this helps prevent someone else from getting hurt. Buyer beware and good luck!

I went here after a successful shopping trip at Chinook.
I have to say that compared to a lot of other World Health locations, this one was modern, clean and a pleasure to work out at.
A lot of meatheads with skinny legs (do they not know that they look like human popsicles???) and I saw some people being trained on the Kettlebell incorrectly which was worrisome, but my workout was fine.
Not too crowded around 1pm on a Monday/​Tuesday.

Oh my gulay. A place where everyone knows my name, where they don’t slide a hi-​ball down the table?
Seriously, I feel so welcome here. They call me to remind me that I said I was coming in again the day before. I’m greeted with genuine smiles from buff guys and ladies when I walk in. They warmly tell me goodbye when I leave.
Getting a membership was a long time coming. Long term commitments make me anxious. All those horror stories you hear about people signing up for the gym, never using their memberships and then selling their kidneys to get out of their contract. That episode of Friends where Chandler tried to quit the gym, and wound up not only ~*not*~ quitting the gym, but getting a joint bank account with Ross.
But, during December, they had a promotion where you could sign up without a contract and pay monthly. Sup, gym. You are now speaking in my vernacular.
The gym itself is spacious, clean, with tons of equipment available for everyone from the sissy-​lala, the flexy man with 3% body fat, to the row of people phoning it in on the ellipticals. As someone who has watched way too many ²⁰⁄₂₀ specials about the horrors of community towels; the towel service situation doesn’t bother me, because I’d much rather bring my own. I liked that I saw for the most part, people wiping down the machines with anti-​bacterial wipes provided by WH after using them, without being asked. Yay, honor system!
Looking forward to trying out the Zumba class here. Every PT I came across here asked me if I had been yet, and followed it up with, «because Franco’s hips DON’T LIE.»

Okay, I should preface this by saying I think I was spoiled by my old gym and came in to World Health with nearly impossible expectations, so this should probably be taken with a grain of salt (seriously, if you could ask my friend I went to how many times I said «Well, at my old gym…») but I’ll do my best to remain objective.
Facilities: Okay, bad news first — it may just be me and the quieter, more private, spacious nature of what I’m used to, but this place felt unnaturally close, packed, and claustrophobic. It seemed like some machines were spaced so close ONE person would have a hard time getting through, and everywhere I turned there seems to be 2 – 3 people trying to occupy these thin walkways. I also found the locker room to be suprisingly small for such a busy place, and felt that (had I come in during peak hours) I probably would have been tripping over half naked (or worse) strangers. This made things a tad uncomfortable. I also found the second level of this place to be something of a mystery as I couldn’t really see what was up there from the main floor, which probably would have been nice to save someone the trip if they didn’t need any of these machines. On the bright side, the décor was rather nice, everything appeared very clean and well maintained, the equipment is very nice (I was especially pleased to see most of the cardio machines have private TV screens with headphone jacks, rather than limiting you to tuning into one of a few common use ones). They even had a few machines I’ve never seen before (an example being stair machines with actual little stairs in them… or, as I remarked to my friend, like a personal sized escalator that you won’t get yelled at for walking up in reverse!) I’m always pleased when a gym has a steam room and, probably the biggest thing for a shy, modest guy like myself… PRIVATE SHOWER STALLS! I think this was the moment where World Health made up my mind to give them a (mostly) positive review.
Clientelle: Okay, here’s where the negativity comes out. I’m used to being in a gym a little bigger than this place with about 10 – 12 other people at it’s busiest. Here, people were EVERYWHERE — I could rarely get on a machine without having to wait for someone else to be done, I had several near collisions with strangers… it was just far too busy for my liking. Granted, we came during what I assume was the after-​work rush, but still it sort of felt like a sardine can with treadmills. What’s worse, ¾ of the people I saw had physiques you’d expect to see in cheesy black and white ads for cologne or blue jeans, which is a shot to the pride of somebody like me who’s actually there because they need it. To put it in the words of one of my favorite comics «What do you need the gym for? You’re done!» I really could have done with a few less people and A LOT less underwear models, but such is life in a big chain gym I guess.
The Staff: Alright, again I will start with the negative: I ended up signing up for a month-​by-​month package that was offered on a special with the first 3 months free and no start up fee… or at least that’s what it was SUPPOSED to be. The «reception» worker who was asked to process the paperwork completely missed when the client service guy told him this (and where it was marked on the paper) and processed the payment ahead of time, which lead to a rather confusing scenario of trying to refund a credit card (which none of the four people behind the desk seemed to know how to do) and this was VERY frustrating. However, I have to give props to one guy, and make a recommendation. If you’re thinking about joining up here, I can’t suggest ENOUGH that you ask for Tom. He’s one of the client service personell that handle new and perspective members, and he couldn’t have been more of a delight. Even though I was very apprehensive about signing up for anything (and almost insulting with my reasoning for it) he had a big smile on his face and was incredibly friendly the whole time. Unlike many sales people at the big chains he didn’t try to push anything on me — he even went as far as to agree that most of the time personal training is unneccessary and supplements are over-​rated. Furthermore, following the credit card debacle and, upon hearing my friends place was a fair distance from the gym, he not only offered us a ride back — but initially offered to stop by the bank and pull cash out of his own personal account to refund the credit card charges until the situation could be resolved. Tom was absolutely awesome, and made «above and beyond» look like nothing. I can’t recommend enough that you talk to him, where at the very least you’ll get some great service and straight-​forward, honest explination.
All things considered, I’d call this a MOSTLY positive experience, but I think I’ll be aiming to come back at a less busy time next time around.

Review #1 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012
Let’s start with the good:
— the parking space is a good size — there’s always an available slot or two even during peak hours
— they have a good variety of cardio machines which I love cos I easily get bored during a cardio workout and I like mixing up. There’s also a lot of machines and even during peak hours I’ve never had to wait for a cardio machine.
— this place has a lot of trainers. I’ve never trained with anyone so I can’t really recommend anyone. I just look at them and see them as inspirations :)
— Joey — when he’s at the reception area, he always greets me with a smile, always so cheerful, always offers towels and never fails to say «see ya!» on my way out
— good hours (24 hours on weekdays and up til 8pm on weekends)
For the not so good:
— towel service — I don’t get how they can run out of towels when there’s not a lot of people in the gym anyway. Oh and they have the smallest and thinnest towels! Please get bath towels for adults
— I hope they clean the change rooms more often. The smell late in the day in the shower rooms and steam room is not very inviting.
— more drinking stations. They have several refilling stations but only one drinking station for those without water bottles
I’ve been going to this club for about six months now and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. For the most part, it provides what it’s supposed to provide as a fitness club but there’s really nothing extraordinary about it for me to recommend.

A good location and great hours (open 24 hours during the week and till 8pm on weekends). A good alternative to the downtown location if you’re living inner city. The change rooms just got renovated so everything nice and new. The workout area is big and open with lots of space to do your own thing. Lots of cardio equipment as well so you don’t have to wait. Just remember to bring your own towels since this isn’t a premium club and therefore they don’t provide those extra amenities.