Shawnessy YMCA

Very nice facility, quite impressive. Large open workout area surrounded by running track. State of the art equipment. Much larger than the one at home in California. It needs disinfecting cloths to wipe down the equipment, which the Y has that I belong to. The pools were closed for cleaning, but they looked impressive too. The library was adjacent, so that was convenient. The area was fairly adequate too. No real complaints.

I have been to this YMCA a couple of times and really love it.
My favourite thing about it: the running track! I am so glad some gyms in this city offer people the opportunity to run during the 10 months of the year when the outdoors are covered in unwanted frigid white stuff. «All gyms have treadmills», you say? What about them? Treadmills arent for running. They are HUMAN HAMSTER WHEELS!
Now that you all know my opinion about treadmills, on to my review about the Shawnessy YMCA. Other than the running track, I also love the basketball courts, the swimming pools, etc.
I especially like the layout of the gym area. The running track surrounds the weights area, which I find amazing because it allows me to do a quick yet very effective workout, combining high intensity cardio with weights consecutively without long periods of rest, which I LOVE. I wish more gyms in this city had this exact layout!
The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars? The fact that the classes included with memberships dont sound very interesting. I wish they offered more classes included with membership, because around $ 70 for basic isnt exactly peanuts, and I’d rather not pay extra for classes. There are other gyms in the city which offers loads of classes free with membership, and they are priced the same, or more competitively than YMCA.
Maybe I’m paying for the running track, hmmm…
Review #7 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012

Been a member for over 2 years now. Used the facility on and off — between injuries!
Essentially, as a plus member — I love the benefits of every part of this Y. From towel service in the mens’ PLUS locker room; to the fantastic steam room; the pool is fantastic for athletes, casual swimmers or even family members. Nothing beats a nice hot tub soak after a hard work out.
The gym facilities are never swamped where you can’t get on the machine you desire. Plenty of treadmills; ellipticals and of course every weight management systems for amateurs or athletes.
The staff are awesome! Personal trainers available for personal motivation and upliftment. AND nothing beats their private studio for spin classes, yoga and so much more!
It’s nice to have the benefit of using your membership in other Y’s across Canada — PLUS member or not — I highly recommend this facility to anyone wanting to join a gym!
Sometimes there are times where the facility gets busy with high school kids, students, families and work-​out-​holics, but if you have the patience, you’re fine.
Great work guys!

I used to work here so I would always use the plus membership when I went to the gym or went swimming.
The pool is very family friendly and has bubbles and sprays that you can request the lifeguard to turn on.
My only tip would be not to use the pool on Teen Nights (when I worked this it was Friday night) because it’s hard to do lanes or sit in the hot tub with screaming teenagers everywhere.

Woke up and felt the need to open my lungs and pump my heart after a weekend of eating! =O hahah. So, I pulled out my complementary day pass for YMCA and headed out to step class. The step class was great! It wasn’t too crowded so I had tons of space and they also provided towels. Being a beginner, I totally thought I would miss many steps but the instructor gave great instructions which were easy to follow. Overall, the staff here are friendly and helpful — especially the girl at the front desk who, when I was asking about membership, asked how old I was!!! I’m well past the age of 18 which is an adult memebership! lol. I guess I coulda gotten a teen membership!!!
The building is connected right beside the Calgary Public Library.
It’s clean and nice & separated into two floors. They have all the usuals here. A pool, a fitness area, a weight circuit, stretch area, & gym.
The locker room is fairly long with ample lockers for usage. They provide locks too! If you need a lock, make sure you get one at the entrance gate (they’ll ask for a card with your name on it to hold it).
There are a LOT of machines upstairs in the fitness/​weight area. The machines are newer and fancy with lots of variety. I even saw one that simulated moving uphill on cross country ski’s — it was cool.
I was there at 10am and it was BUSY! For the busier weight machines, I had to wait my turn… which was kinda awkward since the machines are kinda close together with only room between them for traffic flow, so I felt like I was in the way of traffic while waiting.
One last thing… they provide ‘wet wipes’ for you to clean the equipment after your usage which makes me happy cuz I know that they care about not spreading germs. =)

Well I have covered two YMCAs and now I will cover a third one.
Hopefully I will make a choice soon. This location is near my mother’s independent living facility but it really is too far for me to get to if I want to go to the gym 2 times a week. This is at the very southeast area of Calgary just further than the last metro terminal on this line.
The thing is with the membership of $ 59.11 offered at all YMCAs except at the South one, you are eligible of entering any YMCA in the city and the perk to visit this one is not its two swimming pools, indoor running track or whirlpool, it is not even for its free onsite parking. It is for its indoor climbing wall!
You get the same perks stated in my Eau Claire review as a general member but you also have the same perks by upgrading to members plus here as well.
This is a very large, new and clean facility with state of the art Fitlinxx cardio and weight equipment. But it simply is too far for me to drive two times a week. But I must admit I do love this climbing wall option.