New management is working hard to make it a go. I love this gym. The people are friendly with a mix of VU students and retirees. Women can feel safe here. The men's lockerroom could use work and air freshener. I would give it a Covid defense rating of 5/10. Need more treadmills and less elipticals. Good weight machines. I do hear some grunting but it's harmless. read more

Was a member here for around 4 years and during that time not a single new piece of equipment came into the facility. From the day I signed up until the day I left the place looked the same (minus the broken equipment that got pulled out but never replaced). But I guess that's what you should expect for a low cost gym. I know this is something minor but you could nearly set your watch to the same loop of music that was being played. Wasn't uncommon to hear the same song twice during a workout. Some of the staff was nice but one manager in particular was kinda rude when I was looking to check my body fat percentage. 1. Sorry I want to know where I'm at. 2. No I don't need your condescending explanation of the readout. read more

Gym is a dump but it's cheap. Most of the equipment is really old and some doesn't work, worse men's locker room I've ever seen/smelled, and the guy in charge isn't great about returning calls when it comes to them over-charging members. I was over-charged and it took 3 weeks and several attempts to get a refund. Only good thing I can say is that it's cheap and in Valpo. read more

For the price, you can't beat it in the area. This gym is clean and the dumbbells go up too 100lbs. The free personal training session that comes with my membership was really helpful in getting going. read more

Charter Fitness - Gyms Near Me - Valparaiso, Indiana

I have been a member since January and I have always used the training room when no one else is in it. I was told I could, but tonight apparently I am not allowed to be in it. It is only for the trainers. Not happy!! And the gym is always hot and stale. When I ask a question no one seems to have an answer... Sure it's only 10 bucks, but what's the point if you can't use the equipment you want/need??? read more

This facility is completely dirty and unprofessional. After attempting to cancel my membership after moving out of state for 3 months, I finally left my number for a manager. I had to call back cause the manager was never given my information. When I spoke with the manager, Jim, he proceeded to question whether I had ever called to cancel my membership because I couldn't recall names of who I spoke to. Then he said that if I would have called, he is confident in his "training" of his people to inform people a handwritten notice is needed- which I was never told. So after 3 months of useless conversations and an unprofessional general manager, I am left with a ton of money in charges. Been in the retail and customer service business- and this was one of the worst experiences. Do not join! read more

Ive been a member there for 12 years but would leave in a heartbeat if another gym opened in Valpo. Yesterday the Friday morning manager changed 2 of the tv's above the treadmill to Fox News w/o asking any of us using the treadmills. We were watching CNN. The locker rooms stink cause they have no ventilation. I have caught 3 colds in the last year there because people do not wipe down the machines. When VU is in session it is too crowded w students. read more

Started working out here as part of the NY resolutions. It's functional. Good for folks like me getting back into it. Lots of cardio machines. Music is terrible pop geared towards teens/young adults. TVs in the front where the cardio is and in back by the free weights. 2 brands of exercise specific resistance machines. I've occasionally seen the staff fairly active with cleaning. The members do a good job with wiping down the machines after use. It's $10/mo. Hard to be too critical for the price. read more

The quality of the entire experience is frustrating and disappointing. The equipment at Charter Fitness is not well maintained. Most of the machines are broken in one way or another and HAVE BEEN for over a MONTH! There is no effort going into the facility. I joined Charter for the low monthly fee. However, Planet Fitness is the same low monthly fee and their equipment and staff are a 100 times better. I have since cancelled my membership with Charter to join Planet Fitness. I don't recommend giving your money to a business like this that doesn't care about the customers and their facilities. read more

This place has shady business ways, they will not allow you to cancel your membership unless you show up in person, their website is impossible to reach and they don't even manage it so you will never get a password back if you lose it. Even after your membership is up, they will autorenew it without even asking and require a 30 day notice to cancel even after it is ALREADY UP. Stay away! read more

Not enough space or equipment. Most of the time, more than 3 machines are broken. The day I first signed up, the manager Jim did his routine lines when he signs up everyone, not friendly or personal. You are nothing but money to him. Worked out there for about a year. Went to cancel my membership in October. And they have a 30 day cancellation "notice", so I had to keep paying them for another month. I called Jim yesterday, cause my card was charged, that since I cancelled on the 23rd and not before the 18th. I have to pay for another month!! Money grubbing bastards. And for as much money they scam out of you, the place is too small so not enough room, and you get dirty showers. The thing that almost kept me there are the trainers Kevin and Alex. They are all about helping you get healthier and personalize everything for you. read more

Not enough equipment. Their not particularly quick about having equipment repaired when something breaks either. Weekend hours should be extended. But for $10/ month, it's hard to expect much more. read more

The treadmill situation is getting bad. I joined in December 2014 specifically for running on the treadmills during the winter. At any given time, at LEAST 1/4 of the treadmills are out of order. Of the "working" ones, you can guarantee that something is still wrong with it, like missing buttons, broken shelf to rest your phone on, displays not lit or stuck at a certain number. And what's the point of having treadmills with built-in TV's when hardly any of the TV's work? It's a crap shoot when you get on that anything will work properly. I asked the female manager when the treadmills would be fixed and she said, "Oh! The parts are coming this week!" Yeah... that was 2 weeks ago. I'm thinking about going over to Planet Fitness in Michigan City. SAME PRICE and much cleaner. read more

I came to Charter Fitness while using my MGIB at Valparaiso University, I started in 2014. I came here specifically because they had a fairly good area to Dead lift. I talked to the staff member about dead lifts and explained that I really like to go heavy and asked if that would be a problem as heavy weight tends to be louder when setting it to the floor. She assured me that it would be fine to dead lift at the facility. 8 months later I went into summer session at school so started working out early. I saved my dead lifts for Saturday because I like to take my time and really get a good pull with real weight. During the week I introduced myself to the manager James Smith. I normally only high five on my way out the door because I thrive on comradery, however I introduced myself because we have seemed to run into a problem. Earlier in the week I was working on my chest, just a little pause rep day with 365, nothing special. I was watching the form of a beast in the corner deading 595, wondering if he was going to break form or make it without losing arch stability. It was 3 perfect lifts wow, I jealously laid down for another set. When I sat up I noticed Charter Fitness Club Manager James Smith talking to the big dude, I thought nothing of it. I did notice later that the lifter left the weights out and moved to a machine. I was annoyed at his display of bad etiquette but payed it no further attention. The next day I was running sprints with a friend, we are both getting better, it is a joint effort (the best kind!). I asked her if she wanted to go and do some light dead lifts to stretch out the lower back and hams/quads. She agreed. There was a 120 lb female strength lifter in the corner doing dead lifts and she had an impressive 205lbs on the bar. I told my friend to watch the young woman because her form was nothing but perfect. She lifted with ease and glided the weight back to the rest position with a clunk at the end (the clunk of satisfaction). Almost at a dead sprint comes running Charter Fitness Club Manager John Smith extraordinaire. Apparently John Smith has a problem with the noise a proper dead lift makes. He asked this 120 lb woman to not "slam the weights" because it "hurts the equipment." I seen the look of mortification on the young woman's face, she knew she did nothing wrong but did not speak up and just replied, "I am sorry." I thought to myself, this woman just apologized for doing nothing wrong. She did not drop the equipment, she did not aggressively slam the equipment, what she did do was a controlled release where the weight would probably scrape her shins because of the sheer mass difference of the steel compared to her meager frame. She did what every dead lifter that didn't not want to un-properly engage the lower back does, popped the weight out a little and guided it to the floor. I had to talk to John Smith about this. I went to John Smith and asked him if he could step to the side with me because I did not want to talk in front of customers or staff. I asked him if he truly believed that the female dead lifter was aggressively abusing the gym equipment in a way that he predicted would damage the equipment. He stated that that was part of the reason he asked her to silence her lifts and another reason would be that it is not fair to other customers trying to lift there. The conversation just went down hill from there, John Smith truly believes that Dead lifts will break bars and that patrons hate the clunking sound more than the belligerent music they play over the intercom. The truth is that they lied to me, that facility does not want strong people in it as I have been corrected on staff numerous times over clips on the bench when im heavier than 315. Not having clips would allow me to slide the weights off one side if I had a muscle failure, freeing me, if there is not a competent spotter near by. You can call them "safety clips" but they are not safe to an experienced lifter that can handle heavy weight. I truly believe that John Smith is a bad manager for a gym, he clearly does not know about free weights and any gym he represents should not have a free weight in it. He is training his employees to be agressive to patrons and to encourage the stronger lifters to just stay in the corner and not lift hard. I do not say this about many places as I am ex-military, an avid supporter of the police force, and have been lifting weights for more than 20 years, but John Smith is not a good person to run a gym. And if he ever reads this, in the rules it states "do not drop weights" not "do not dead lift" or "do not make noise." I quit the Gym and advise others to look around because this gym bullies members that make progress. read more

This place is a dump. The locker room is filthy. I feel like they never clean the restrooms. I never see anyone wiping down the machines. There was a cobweb in the corner of the shower for 3 months!! I intentionally left it there so that I could see how well they wash the shower. I am only 5'4" and it was right at eye level, so they should've been able to reach it. Also, every time I'd ask the kid up front a question, he'd say "ugh, I don't know, I really don't deal with that..." Also the treadmills are bad. It's like the thing you run on isn't tight anymore and you even trip sometimes. After only 3 months, I realized this dump wasn't for me, so I decided to quit the place. They charge $60 to cancel your membership early. So, I decided to wait it out and continue to pay. So, I joined in February of 2014, so I called in January of 2015 to cancel and they said I had to wait until February or I'd get charged the full $60 for cancelling early. So, I called on February 5th and I was told I now have to pay an extra month (13 months) because I didn't cancel in time. read more

I had a membership with this facility about 5 years ago. I wasn't happy with the service then, but my understanding was that they had new ownership, so I was willing to give it a try. I called to see if my wife could get a free day pass to try the equipment because she had never been there. The lady on the phone was rude with not even the smallest concept of how to deal with a potential new customer. I explained my situation thoroughly to her, but she stated that there was nothing she could do and that I should "just tell my wife how the facility is." Not only am I not signing up for a year membership, but my wife will not be signing up. The reality of the place is that its a meat pen were the staff laughs at each other instead of taking care of the clients. Unless, of course, they are going to pay more for a "personal" training session. My suggestion is to go to another fitness center! read more