These reviews are funny, so I'm chiming in with my two cents. I was a UM student from 2005-2009; from 2008-2009 I lived about a 5-minute walk from the CCRB, over on Wilmot St., so I mostly went there for exercising. I remember the exercise room (with the treadmills and ellipticals, which is what I mainly used) to be a bit crowded, but I could usually find a machine. The pool was (is?) definitely older too but had at least a few lanes for swimming laps. Locker room was also older. I actually preferred the NCRB's pool, so I'd sometimes shlep down to South Campus for that, but I've heard that in the past few years they closed their pool ... so if you want to swim, I'm guessing the CCRB is your only option nowadays. read more

Oy. When struggling with motivation to go to a gym, this place just gives you the extra dose of de-motivation you really don't need. The building is worse than my inner-city high school: it's even more reminiscent of a prison, and with worse lighting, wall colors, and HVAC systems. It is always disgustingly hot in any room, though some rooms have giant moveable fans that ease the nausea for us heat-intolerant folks. Even when it's slow (normally after 9pm is when the place stops being a mad house), you're always sharing a room with at least two other people, and they're likely to be image-obsessed meatheads and sorority girls. Granted there are others here to join me in the ranks of freaks and geeks but not enough to temper jock-fest '99. I know the point of going to the gym is to physically exert yourself, but the fact that there is no nearby parking is particularly frustrating when either pressed for time or up against inclement weather. Plus the longer the walk, the longer I have to hear passerbys talk about the epic frat party last night, bro. At least there are tons of machines and most of them in decent shape. No state-of-the-art stuff but stuff isn't falling apart either. Plus, they're open quite late which is great for last-minute stress-release. This place is free for me, but I'm about to drop some money for a rec center membership that's external to U of M just so I can be surrounded by people who make me feel more comfortable and so I can be in a building that doesn't depress me. read more

Central Campus Recreation Building - 1/4 of the running/biking/hiking in place room. - Recreation Centers Near Me - Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Super busy and crowded -- good luck getting a cardio machine during peak hours. Equipment is old. All the bar bells are rusted over at the ends, and it's a struggle to get the clips on. Hygiene is questionable at best. Has the basics you need to work out, but it's not pretty. Not at all. I'm very surprised that UM has such awful gyms for how big a school it is. read more

I echo the other reviewers' sadly hilarious reviews. I just moved here from the south. I've had a few of my southerner friends tell me that since I'm going to a university with one of the most prestigious​ football teams, I'll have access to a state-of-the-art gym. LOL. I get that it gets cold in the midwest, but no AC? Take it from the other reviewers that you only go to the CCRB because you have to. The NCRB just reopened and although it has AC, the CCRB has more equipment. read more

Woooowwwww this gym sucks. How much endowment does the U of M get? and THIS is what our central gym looks like??? I've worked out at various college gyms throughout the country and the CCRB is by far the worst. I feel like a damn hamster hopping from room to room in a large building with no A/C, lifting old and outdated weights. Sometimes I think of myself in Africa, with no other options for a gym, and this serves as slight motivation. There are no day use lockers in the locker room. Which is odd, because I have to cram all my stuff into the airport lockers, grab my clothes out of my backpack, and then change in the locker room, where old man dong inevitable awaits me. Also, the machines and weights are so close together, it must be some type of hazard. With bros constantly slamming weights like they work in a coal mine, it is downright dangerous. UPDATE: the only reason for 3 stars is that they just bought brand new equipment for almost every room. Finally I can do overhead lifts in the lifting platforms. read more

To put it simply, the CCRB is a Bro-dungeon. There are no windows or AC so it smells like 100 sweaty dudes. (I'm not sure if this is technically worse than 50 sweaty dudes. Maybe more pungent? Scientifically there must be a threshold where it all starts to smell the same.) If you can get past that, they have a very large selection of weightlifting and cardio options. It's a bit cramped though. Sometimes I find myself heading over to the CCRB instead of the IM building because it has more weights and some leg machines that the IM building lacks. It also has more cardio machines so I usually don't have to wait for one. I've also taken a shining to those stationary bike video game/race thing. It breaks up the monotony to have to steer and it's fun to pass people. It's a free school gym. What do you expect? Are there better, certainly, but it's hard to argue with the price. read more

The CCRB is... alright. It's definitely got all the bare minimum things- the pool is a huge plus. It's just a bit disappointing considering how much I pay to attend UM, but they are (confirmed) tearing it down next fall to completely rebuild it. It's only a 3-minute walk for me, so the convenience is definitely worth it, but if you have a car and plan to drive, I would definitely opt for the NCRB or IMSB because the CCRB has little to no parking and is honestly not worth it. But it gets the job done, and isn't that what matters? read more

CCRB is one of the few places where you can feel like you're in the basement when you're really on the second or third floor. I wish that the cardio and weight rooms had either television sets or windows. CCRB is the only gym I've ever been to that has the wildly popular "rotary torso" nautilus machine, apparently hated by trainers everywhere. Showers in the women's locker room are pretty nightmarish-no privacy, nowhere to put your shampoo, no water pressure. Plus, as with other locker rooms, there seems to be a direct correlation between how out of shape you are and how likely you are to walk (and sit) around buck naked for long periods of time. Also, if you have to pay for it, it's kind of a ripoff. Not bad for an "included in student fees" gym where you never know how much you're really spending, but I'm not happy about paying the $60 staff rate, would have been $90 if I weren't staff, to work out here a month after I graduated. read more

The availability of machines at the CCRB is good as long as you don't go at peak times on weekdays (4:00-8:00 PM) or weekends (11:00-2:00). Football Saturdays are great though because you basically have run of the place if you go during games. The machines are also of pretty good quality and variety. I just hate the smell of the CCRB so much, though! It's like sitting inside of the shoe of a soccer player on its airing out. How could they put so many machines in rooms with no WINDOWS! I've gotten sick to my stomach at random moments just thinking of the odor. The IM Building is much more pleasant because of the windows. Too bad it's completely out of my way. read more

Having used a lot of the gyms in the Ann Arbor area, this one gives you decent bang-for-your-buck. I'm an employee at the hospital and yes, it's a campus gym and therefore filled with a bajillion sweaty college-aged kids. But when considering they tried to utilize an older building, it gets the job done. The entire gym is split into many different areas, as they did little to expand the existing walls but instead filled different rooms with different gym-type objectives. There are cardio rooms/floors, machine-based rooms, open floored rooms where classes are held and also used for stretching/personal use, and free weight rooms. Cardio rooms are filled with older and newer model ellipticals, treadmills, Pre-core motion machines, stair masters, and rowing machines. There's a decent handful or two of most machines so come to think of it, I've never had to wait. Personally, I lift more than I do cardio. The free weights are outdated but a 20 pound dumbbell still weighs 20 pounds. One larger room contains about 6-8 bench presses, 2 cable machines, 3 squat racks, leg extension/curl machines, sitting/standing calf machines, a smith machine, and a few others. An adjacent room contains a lot of free weights about 6 standard and inclined benches. A room across the hall holds about 8 stretching/yoga/sitting mats with some lighter free weights in that room. I almost never have to wait for equipment and despite the free weights are grossly disorganized, it gets the job done. The locker rooms are pretty big and offer a good amount of privacy. There's also a shower area which I've personally never used but seem clean and people do use them. Not to mention there's also a dry sauna and free day-use lockers. Overall, it's convenient, cheap (at least for UM staff; $30/mo), and doesn't leave a lot of options for excuses not to exercise. read more

If I had to describe the CCRB in a sentence it would probably be this. You go to the CCRB not because you want to...it's because you have no other choice. The CCRB basically has all you need when it comes to a gym. 3 basketball courts and a fourth volleyball/badminton court, multiple weight lifting rooms, a mirror room, a pool, racquetball courts, even a few racquetball courts, and assorted cardio equipment the CCRB has a very wide range of offerings when it comes to exercising. However, the pros end there. The CCRB shows that it has been around the block more than a few...thousand times. Perhaps the most noticeable thing is the lack of proper air conditioning/ventilation which is especially unbearable during the summer months. Imagine heat coming from hundreds of sweating undergraduates with little ventilation. The locker rooms are also quite grimy and there is a perpetual layer of dust/dirt on the basketball and racquetball courts which is a bit dangerous too. Finally, the CCRB has very sporadic street parking (free after 6pm!) and day passes for friends/family run at $11 per day. read more

Machines and weights are worn and old. Still usable, but old. The weight rooms are very compact and the ones with the dumbells and benches can be a little hard to work out when people are moving around near you. There are a variety machines for working out any muscle, so that's a bonus. Problem for me is that I'm short and so even with adjusting the machines for the shortest people setting, it still is a tad too long for me. :( During summer the weight rooms are hot, humid, and smelly. Ugh. Basketballs are available for free check out via student ID. There are some balls that are good quality, grip etc. But during busy hours (ie 5pm-9pm) you'd be lucky to get those. Instead, you'd get those rubber balls with no grip at all. 3 full courts are available on the 3rd floor with one slightly obstructed by the volleyball curtain. 4th floor has a track that circles above the basketball courts. Bottom floors have raquetball and ellipticals and other cardio machines. I've never used these. There's also a pool somewhere that I've never used. My overall impression: I'd probably go to IM gym more often if it was closer to where I live and my classes. Coming to Michigan, I thought their gyms would be very nice given it is such a renown university. I thought wrong. read more

Seriously terrible gym. Never enough equipment in weight rooms. At least 15 minute wait for any type of equipment. Super sad considering the insane endowment of UM. GA tech has a water slide in their rec facilities, can we at least get windows and some more racks, please?? read more

Upgrading to two stars after going to NCRB to jog. This is not a particularly good gym, but apparently there is worse. Lack of AC is miserable, but the track is decent for running in the winter at least. Still not great for weights, and I still wish I could just bring in my own lock for the locker room... read more

The weight rooms are outstanding with the latest equipment. The cardio area tho has no AC and is a sauna. Mixed bag.

Worst gym in the Big10 and kinda embarrassed that UofM allowed this gym to be the "main" gym in campus for so long without putting any money into it. I was a student from 2013-2017. My first two years consisted of shitty gym equipment that was rusted and usually broken. My last two years we got new equipment, but the same small and hot gym remained the same. Like I said, I'm pretty embarrassed about this gym still read more