Not too crowded, tons of machines. Climbing wall, Pool and hot tub. Very nice. Wish they stocked the rags and wipes more frequently. But overall a good investment! read more

Cary Street Gym - Gyms Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

I use a few gyms, and this is a nice one to have in my rotation. It's hard to beat the depth, variety and quality of the equipment here! As a VCU alum, I get a pretty decent deal on gym memberships at VCU fitness facilities, which includes both MCV and CSG. While MCV is more convenient to where I work/live and is much less crowded, the CSG is much better equipped. The cardio machines are mostly the same as MCV, there is just a much larger quantity. There is a much better variety of weight equipment, which is very much appreciated. Perhaps my favorite part of CSG is the pool. While there are only a few swim lanes, there is a big open area with a deep end that allows me to get in some pool running. The only other such pool I am aware of in the area is 20 minutes south of town. My biggest complaint is the crowdedness of the gym when school is in session. Even with the large quantity of equipment, popular machines and racks can still be hard to find, particularly in the evenings after work. Additionally, while I love the self-locking lockers, half of them don't work. read more

This is by far THE best gym that I've been to. Ones I've been to before included: 24hr Fitness, L.A Fitness, Chuze Fitness and some other smaller gyms, but these places don't even compare to Cary St Gym! This gym SHOULD be the gold standard for ALL gyms. Everything is practically brand new, no old equipment here. There's so much stuff here! Most of the free weights and workout machines are on the main level, but there are some off each on the second level. Also on the main level, there's a rock climbing wall and a small bouldering wall where a number of people can be the next cliffhanger. There's also an indoor volleyball room and basketball court. On the second level, there's an indoor running track as well as all the cardio machines and a few workout machines. The basement level consist of the swimming pool, spin room and the main locker rooms. On every level, there are bathrooms and several hand sanitizer & hand wipe stations. To top it off, there are several water filter stations to refill your water bottle and there is no additional charge to access their Wi-Fi! Only thing that I wish they had, which isn't a big deal or anything, is a smoothie & post workout drink bar. L.A fitness has one of these in their gyms and it's good for those people that like to have these after a workout. Overall, I LOVE this place and plan to come to this gym on a daily basis. read more

See all

I had to remove a star because the class schedule for January is totally wrong. I kept showing up for classes to then be told that the instructor is on vacation or some other reason. One time they actually told me the reason I couldn't check into the class is that is was full, only to find out that the class was not happening at all. The worst part is they don't care and have no intention of changing the online schedule. Really? It doesn't bother any of the management that people are scheduling their day around something just to show up and it not be happening? Don't get me wrong, now that I know that the class schedule cannot be trusted I still enjoy working out there just as much as before. It just really grates my cheese that nobody there wants to address this particular issue. read more

Love the Cary Street Gym! I graduated from VCU the year they updated the gym about a decade ago and had a chance to witness the changes over the past 9 years, including 3 years of the old drab Cary Street Gym circa 2010. Early on there were RecSports staff giving out t-shirts throughout the semester, brand new equipment and facility spaces. Things have definitely changed. Equipment: 5/5 A lot of the equipment is the same as a decade ago and maintained very well. They have cardio equipment for every purpose, weights and machines of every type to shred the smallest of muscles, and a variety of cross training equipment for variations of body destruction. The indoor track is a great alternative for walk/run intervals. The areas for stretching are crammed into the hallways between the courts and main gym, which may not always be convenient. When machines aren't working they are quickly repaired. Once when a treadmill wasn't working, the next day they had it fixed. Classes: 4/5 Great class options at every time of day for students and for alum/employees like me that need variety and evening options. I deducted a star because of how the high volume classes should have more daily offerings. For example, the Cycling classes, TRX, Pilates and some of the Yoga classes are almost always full and hard to register to take them. It would be more amazing if they could have more of these classes throughout the day. I also understand that students teach all of these classes, so it's hard to add more classes with student schedules and the interest in student instructors. The other note with some of these classes is that much of the content is the same within the class throughout the semester. My understanding is that the students don't have the time to learn several variations of the class, whereas a full time instructor in an independent gym would spend many hours throughout the week going over variations. Overall, very satisfied with the group classes, though they can be improved. Pool: 4/5 Love the pool here. Hot tub is always running and they have 2 main pools, one for laps and one for leisure or easy laps when not crowded. They even have a wading pool, a circle whirlpool with basketball hoop and a small rock climbing wall. I docked a star because the rock climbing wall is never open and the whirlpool also is run intermittently. Overall good experience and great additional options for a gym. Staff: 5/5 All my interactions with the staff have been great. Front desk staff have been helpful in checking in and helping set up my hand print for entry. Membership services helped navigate my membership status from student to alum to faculty/staff and back to student status when I used employee benefits. They also helped me with locker issues where the locker I rented kept being unlocked overnight. OAP also very helpful and friendly with rock climbing. Group exercise class instructors are personable and very good. Cleanliness: 3/5 Could be a little cleaner. Having experienced when they updated the Cary Street Gym and the old gym, I know what it looked like and how it changed. First off, the new edition of CSG is vastly superior to the drab, low-lit and often musty old gym. Where I dock 2 stars is because they need more cleaning staff, improved signage for equipment wipes to encourage people to wipe down after equipment use and lastly they need to clean off all the dust on the walls. Just look up at the walls when you are on the second floor and you will see mounds of dust embedded in between the bricks. I appreciate the number of equipment cleaning wipes stations all over the gym. The issue is that many people don't use them. It would be nice if they had improved signage encouraging cleaning after use to go with the number of stations. The last part is the cleaning staff. I see the same cleaning staff almost every day and they are great. They need maybe 2-4 more cleaning staff employees for the size of this gym. Overall Rating: 4/5 I love this gym for the equipment, variety of classes, options for various types of workouts and recreation. Staff is helpful and on point in many areas. CSG remains a top tier gym, though with some of the issues associated with a gym experiencing high daily volume. Don't let this deter you though, as you will find everything you will ever need in a gym here. read more

I can't say that I agree with the negative comments about Cary St Gym. I've been a VCU student for 8 years now. These people must not have experienced the old Cary St Gym, or the Siegel Center gym, Franklin St. Gym or the horrendous old Larrick center. Cary St. gym as it stands now is a gift from God to us gym rats. The waits for machines aren't all that bad most of the time. The equipment is new and clean. The staff are helpful. The rock climbing wall is always staffed with someone willing to belay you. The track upstairs is soft to run on and allows you to watch basketball or badminton below. The pool lanes are sometimes crowded, but if you're willing to share a lane with someone else (they are very wide) then you can almost always find a lane. My only complaint about this place is that the group exercise classes, most notably the spin classes, are always full! If you don't show up 45 minutes ahead of time, you won't be getting a bike. Who has that kind of time to kill? read more

The good: They have everything here. Weights, pool, rock wall, basketball courts, volleyball, ping pong I could go on forever. There are always people here to socialize with, I can't come here without running into people I know. Always pickup games going on if you are into basketball. The bad: It's ridiculously crowded anytime you would want to come here. If you like to workout between 3pm and 9pm, don't even bother coming here. It's honestly the most painful experience to have to sit around and stalk your weights or guard a bench. My workouts take twice as long as they should because I'm walking around trying to see what machines and weights are free to use. Then you see the guy in his rolled up jeans and finger shoes doing his new crossfit workout in the squat rack. This workout will consist of 130 pushups, 75 pullups done flopping around like a fish in sets of 5 at a time, 35 clean-jerk-militarypress-mountainclimber-someotherBS-combinations. read more

Enjoyed this place so much! As an alum now you can't deny the price for what you get. Two floors of amazing equipment and the hot tub feels good on the muscles after a workout. read more

As far as gyms go, this place is the cream of the crop. Before this gym was updated, it was one small 20 by 100 room with two rows of machines and then the rest was a baskeyball court. Now, there are four basketball courts, with a track upstairs around it. Several racquetball courts, yoga and instructional space. The place is huge. With two pools on the lower level, a "wet" classroom, and a spin room downstairs with four lockers!!! The main part of the gym is in the original structure and it's beautiful. Two levels on workout equiptment that surround a climbing wall in the middle. The place is really impressive and even at peak hours there is always a machine open for you! I took advantage of hiring a trainer for several months last year and thank god we got to use this gym because with the help of my awesome trainer, Jason, and the incredible facility...i lost 40 friggin' pounds!!! (yeah, i got fat with all the drankin' and eatin' and smokin') read more

What an amazing all around gym. Great place for my family and I. There are many immaculate benefits to this gym but my favorite part is that I can take the kids or go alone to get away. My wife is able to take a multitude of different classes and they are offered at several different times during the day. I signed my son up to take a belaying class and the instructor was extremely helpful and not critical of his abilities. His patience was with him was undeniable and very appreciated. I have been a member of several different gyms including my gym in college, a D1 school the University of Michigan, and this gym offers many more facilities. The 2 heated indoor pools and activity pools are top notch. The weight equipment is all state of the art and I also enjoy the circuits that the gym provides. As a former basketball player I also find the basketball courts exactly what I am looking for. Four different courts provide a wide range of different levels of competition. The courts can be a little busy at times during the night but the wait is never too long. I'd recommend this gym to anyone looking for a wide variety of different fitness abilities. read more

I really don't understand y'all closed every fking court today, and the outside court is literally no one there, so what y'all waste money and closed every fucking court?? Is VCU basketball court is open for the birds? read more

This gym is fantastic and offers a lot of classes and amenities for the students such as rock climbing and a hot tub. However, parking can be very difficult and it can get very crowded here. read more

the employees suck. they're rude and constantly have snarky attitudes, especially the "manager" with black hair and blue/purple highlights (if u see her run). Besides that, it's always super packed and nothings ever open. read more

I been playing basketball and working out at Cary Street Gym since the gym opened a couple years back.I've been to most of the gyms in Richmond and Cary Street Gym is the best in Richmond.Cary Street Gym offer a great selection of sports and workout tools for customer/students.I mainly play basketball at the gym.Cary Street Gym has 4 full basketball courts.The track over looks the basketball courts.Alot of the workout equipment is modern.Cary Street Gym has a really nice pool with a sliding board,rock climbing wall,indoor soccer field,raquetball rooms,private workout rooms, volleyball ,and table tennis.Cary Street Gym has alot of lockers around the facilities to safely store your things while you working out.During the semester Cary Street Gym can become crowded during the evening hours.Early mornings or late nights, its not crowded at all. The summer is usually mellow as well.Occasionally,you will see singer Chris Brown playing basketball in the gym.Great place to stay in shape! read more

I always prefer to go the gym in the morning because that is when the gym is clean and fresh. I don't like going in the afternoon because the sweat of everyone and the employees can't clean and wipe everything out on time. I like when the gym is quiet and not that noisy of people chit chat. I don't like the most is when people bring food to the gym and eat while we were working out. The employees were kind of mean in certain days when we asked them to open our lockers because we forgot our codes. They looked like they were annoyed with our request or so. read more

I really like this location; the staff is always nice and helpful, the public areas and bathrooms are kept clean (although the pool area and especially the hot top could use a little more maintenance). It is very affordable and suitable for students. The crowd is quite young, and it is especially popular on Fridays. read more

There is a reason why this gym was listed in the top 12 best college gyms in USA. It's that amazing! Go in the morning because that's when it's the emptiness. Sometimes late night is good too, but depends. read more

I'm going to miss Cary St. Gym when I graduate, that's for sure. There is just no other comparison to this facility, not even if you paid for membership at other chain gyms. Two floors of free weights and weight machines, treadmills and ellipticals galore, a track, a pool and hot tub, a basketball and volleyball court, and private rooms for exercise classes? Who could want more? Now if only I could motivate myself to get back on that work-out schedule... read more

I love this place. Its hardly every too crowded, the facilities are INCREDIBLE and everyone is really into their own workouts to worry about you. I love all the classes available and the pool. Its a really nice place to get sweaty and feel fat:) In all seriousness, its great. read more

I am a former VCU student and worked in the Cary Street Gym for REC Sports for about a year during that time but have been going to this gym for roughly around 8 years (I started going when it was still the gym at the Siegel Center) and without a doubt this has to be one of the worst run, poorly managed, and all around terrible gyms within the Richmond-metro area. Granted, the employees are just a lot lazy college students who don't really want to work (as you will find most of them doing absolutely nothing or reading a book/magazine)- there is still no such thing as "customer service" or even "customer relations"- so don't expect it. On that note- let's take a deeper look... Management & Staff: The place is run by a bulbous fellow who goes by the name of Tom D. Tom is a blowhard who spends his days (feebly) wandering the upstairs indoor track, snacking, or feeding the reptiles in his office. Tom lives in a world where he thinks his large belly is well suited for tight polos and he is a well-respected sort. The rest of us live in a world where Tom has no management skills but will do anything to save his own neck (complete with multiple chins) including putting the student workers in front of the bus. If you hadn't already guessed it- he is terrible at what he does but has a near-endless amount of state/student money running into the facility that keeps him well-fed and employed. The rest of the management isn't much different but is largely inconsistent amongst themselves. You have people who steal, have been caught stealing and have maintained employment. You have some who do their job but you have many others that skirt by unnoticed and are quite talented at doing nothing. This rubs off on the student-staff who actively do nothing. They will not spot you on that heavy lift, they rarely clean up weights or machines, and most of the time you can find them comfortably positioned behind the fitness desk talking amongst themselves. Additionally, you should be prepared for a sigh and eye roll if you ask them for anything. The only people who do a small bit of their job are the front desk- but I believe it is more of a feeling of being in the "Power Position" than anything. Most of the time you will find them reading, studying, and being largely unhelpful (expect the same eye roll when you ask for their assistance). The Facility: Most of the equipment is decent, but there are certainly some pieces of equipment that are cheaply made. As I worked in maintenance- I can tell you that much of the cardio equipment is a disaster waiting to happen. Additionally, while both machine and the facility maintenance departments are the only ones that actually do a job- they are mostly terrible, lazy, and unqualified at it (at best) as well. Additionally, there is no parking lot- so you will not only have to compete with other gym-goers along the city streets that surround the building but also students who park there. The Price and the practices: If you are a student- it is free...sort of (your Activity Fee that is included with your tuition goes towards the facility). Otherwise, the price is $85.00 (with a plus one membership) and you will pay this with each semester. Additionally, don't ever make the mistake of forgetting your ID or Locker number. With the ID- you will get a threat of having the police called on you if you ask them to look you up (I've seen it happen at least twice) which makes little sense as you have paid for your membership and you are in their system (student or not) and many times they have information on the file they could confirm your identity with if not a PICTURE of you next to your name. If that isn't enough- should you forget which automatic locker you have used- you get three shots to guess which locker your stuff is in before (you guessed it) you have the police called on you. Makes you feel super welcome, huh? I'm no lawyer- but it seems like they have very little case against you when you have PAID and you and your information are actively IN THEIR SYSTEM. But I again, this leads back to Tom D. and his merry band of morons that run the place and an overall laziness that permeates every worker there. Conclusion: If you are not a student of VCU- steer clear of this place unless eye rolls, obnoxious/lazy staff, and threats of having the police called on you without solid reasoning is something you look for in your workout. Plus, Gold's gym is roughly 2 blocks away, has a parking lot, has everything Cary Street gym has (plus a staff that actually gets paid to be friendly to people) and is cheaper. read more

I'm a VCU student, and I gotta say, I think the gym here is fantastic. There's usually a spot open (if you're focusing on cardio, maybe not strength). I mean, come on, there's an indoor pool, indoor track, several indoor basketball courts.. It's pretty awesome.However, I have to say, the worst part about this gym though would have to be the employees. I realize that most of them are student employees (the adult employees that aren't VCU students are very helpful and actually LIKE helping people), but I hope to god they never have to get a real job in customer service or they have another thing coming. I'm not sure they actually do anything. I don't bother to ask for their help anymore, or await the dreaded eye roll. They're the worst. The gym itself though - fantastic! read more

I love this gym, it's got everything I could reasonably ask for. There's an indoor soccer field, the climbing wall and bouldering are great, the pool is fairly nice if you're not there during family weekend time (then it's usually full of kids), a roomy track, and there's a fairly good amount of machines. Just like any urban gym, it does get crowded so if there's something in particular you really want, plan accordingly. I just want to point out the the highly negative review seems a bit exaggerated in all honesty. I will not debate the staff being a bit lazy at times, as they are just a bunch of annoyed college students. Having said that, you'll find a few helpful ones for every rotten one. And the gym has trainers as well now, that will spot you/ assist you in a workout routine. (The reason random employees won't spot you is it's actually a safety protocol, you should know as a former employee, negative reviewer) I've never had issues with the facility other than sometimes you have to wait for something if you go when it's crowded. And the comment about the parking lot is just silly. It's the city of Richmond, parking EVERYWHERE is hard. Get over it. The plus one membership is a steal compared to other gyms where that semester rate would be your monthly rate and it would be higher. And having being an employee of several different VCU facilities, I'd like to clarify that the police are called when someone needs to get into a locker (or any locked area, room, building, etc) they can't get into by themselves because if said person were to take something that belonged to someone else, they'd have bigger issues. They come so they can confirm the stuff the person is getting belongs to said person, or at the very least they can document who took the stuff in case an issue arises. It's a safety issue, not an assault, so don't act like it is. They do have a case because it's their facility and they're PROTECTING their customers and their customer's things. Don't forget you're locker and you won't have to deal with the hassle. Do forget it, and you'll go through the safety procedure. You should be glad they don't just let any punk dig through the lockers and steal our stuff. read more

In terms of group exercise classes, this place is terrible and unprofessional. The instructors are always late. And classes frequently get cancelled last minute, especially around the end of the semester. I assume its because the gym is mostly staffed and run by students, who probably get too busy with final exams towards to the end of the semester to continue teaching classes. I've basically learned to give up on spin classes and such when its nearing the end of the semester because chances are you will show up only to wait 20 minutes before some staff member from the front desk comes down to tell you that the class was cancelled. The frustrating thing is, they do not communicate this at all. Sometimes, especially when there is bad weather, I will call the gym to double check that the class is on, and they will confirm that it is. But then I show up to the gym only to find that it was cancelled. Overall the communication is poor and I feel like the front desk people are never in the loop. Would it kill the gym staff to update their schedule when a class is cancelled or delayed? Or email the people who have signed up for the class? now you have to log into your VCU account and register for the class online so they definitely have everyone's email address. I don't think it's too much to ask to be told ahead of time if there is a change in the class schedule. I have been a member at various gyms and fitness studios and there's never been an issue with classes getting cancelled or instructors not showing up. It's inconsiderate and unprofessional, and I think VCU should hire more reliable people to teach their classes. read more