Maximum Fitness

I don’t know what your average person expects from a gym, but I expect a place close to home where I can put in my headphones and do my thing without having to sign up to use equipment, wait to use said equipment, or be inundated with fake promises of quick fixes and BS products that I don’t need.
Maximum Fitness satisfies this requirement. The equipment is in fine condition, the staff are knowledgeable and pleasant while not at all pushy, and the clientele is probably 80% male but mostly respectful. You will get the occasional «I’m a personal trainer» spiel from some random person but I imagine that is a plague that falls upon every gym. There is one squat rack, four or five benches set up for bench press, some jumpropes and step-​up boxes, a good assortment of dumbbells, kettlebells at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 35 pounds, and one-​of-​each for weights machines (leg press, lat pulldown, seated cable row etc). Cardio-​wise there are two ellipticals and an arc trainer, 3 bikes, 1 rowing machine, 5 – 6 treadmills, and a stair stepper. Music is permanently set to 100.9 FM (radio rock) and there are TVs viewable from the cardio section. You can buy water or a protein shake at the main desk.
Membership is $ 15 per month, no contract, and there are sometimes specials that make it even cheaper. Boxing and MMA trainings happen a couple times per week, as well as a kickboxing class (targeting middle-​aged women) and some self-​defense/​martial arts classes for kids and adults. Personal training is available for $ 15/​half hour. You are allowed to make noise — I can’t imagine belonging to a gym that actively discourages people from maxing out lifts?
I’m sure I could have gotten myself into shape at any gym, but I’m VERY glad I chose Maximum Fitness — especially after checking out Gold’s Gym with a Groupon I had and getting weekly sales-​type phone calls from them for a month.

I went to Maximum Fitness for about 6 months when I lived in Troy and was completely satisfied with my experience. It is reasonable for the price ($ 15/​mo) and is a good place to work out if you are not expecting a spa-​type treatment.
They have pretty much all the normal free weight equipment, including plate-​loaded and selectorized machines, and much of the space is dedicated to those things. The cardio area is small: 4 treadmills, a couple of ellipticals, stair stepper, an upright bike and a recumbent bike (which sometimes worked and sometimes did not).
Most of the equipment, and the building in general, is worn, but everything seems to work properly, and the place was usually not busy.
There are a variety of classes in the evenings: kickboxing, bootcamp, MMA, etc. The staff is helpful and not pushy; they tend to work out while they are there and the owner is frequently around giving personal training sessions. They have a basic website:
Price: $ 15.00/month. They seem to offer deals for multiple month memberships on a regular basis too (I saw both 3 and 6 month deals).