Albany YMCA

Weightlifters, this is your review.
This is a small community Y. Strictly on extent of facilities I’d give it 3 stars, but on its own merits: friendliness of front staff, cleanliness of locker rooms, and general easygoing vibe I’d give it 5 stars. So averaging the two, four stars.
The sort of place where you do your treadmill work or cycle, take a yoga class, and maybe use weight machines. Recently rennovated, the place is clean and the equipment new.
For free weights, fuhgeddaboutit. Dumbbells only (up to 65lbs) and a bench, with room for at most two people to work out. No squat rack, barbells, or any other basic free weight equipment — there just isn’t room.
If you want free weights, get a Bay Area Y membership and save Albany for your cardio days. It’s a pleasant place.

Wow! I just had a terrible experience at the Albany YMCA Saturday 9:45 Yoga class. This was going to be my first yoga class at the Albany YMCA. Unfortunately, I was 10 minutes late due to not knowing the class was in another building. The front desk advised me to check my child into the child care center, and to walk up the street to attend the yoga class.
When I got to the class the door was locked. A student in the class graciously opened the door for me. I quietly signed in and and began to join the class. The teacher stopped the class and publicly humiliated me. She said that I was late and that I should leave because she didn’t even know me. I apologized for being late. She then proceeded to tell me if I really needed yoga today day I could stay.
I did really «need» yoga today. What I didn’t «need» was to waste an hour of my time and be publicly humiliated. I understand being tardy to a class isn’t great. I can understand this might be disruptive.
This was a major turn off for me. In all my years of attending yoga classes I have never come across such a rude militant teacher.

This Y has everything – great classes with top-​notch teachers, wonderful fitness areas with the latest machines, and a real sense of community. Since the renovation last year, which added an airy new workout room upstairs, it’s now even better. I’ve been a member for 15 years and can’t imagine going anywhere else.

The new sunny upstairs work out room is terrific. The classes here are the best. You can’t find a better bargain anywhere. As many classes as you have time to take — for only $ 49 a month. Classes include Step, Zumba, Pilates, Yoga, World Beat, Step and Strength, Total Body Conditioning, and an early morning Boot Camp. The Y runs the Albany head start program, youth in government, after school care, and a huge summer camp program. The Y provides a wonderful place to exercise and supports the local community at the same time.

Since the upgrade, the Albany Y is definitely my favorite. There’s no more 20 minute limit on cardio machines, and the upstairs room is spacious and airy. It’s small, and the classes do get really full, but so do the downtown Berkeley ones. My husband does the heart healthy class in the morning and even when I come at the same time, I always get the machines I want to use. Might have to vary the order on resistance machines, but that’s no biggie. I find the staff friendly and helpful and the small locker-​dressing room clean and totally adequate.

easy review. cheap. cramped. grouchy, rule obsessed, grouchy baby boomers… who are grouchy (staff and clientele).

What’s wrong with the Albany Y? Let me count the ways. l. The noise level can be outrageous, no, apocalyptic –loud music from classes, heavy footed runners on the machines, people talking at the top of their voices– especially at party time, which seems to be a regular gym feature. 2. Exercise machines are crammed into a tiny space. The rowing machine is inches away from the bikes — one must pause mid-​stroke when a large body enters or exits the bike area. And crane one’s neck to prevent one’s face from brushing against the large body’s … I wish there were a more polite phrase. sweaty butt. 3. The stretching room floor has space only for four people, but often, a fifth or sixth person will defy geometry and try to fit in. It’s especially unnerving to be prone on the floor whilst someone doing balance exercises looms above. 4. The free weight area is also tiny — watch out for people obliviously swinging about large pieces of iron. 6. So little space, so many rules! Viz: Turn in membership card. Sign in times of arrival and departure. Sign up for each 20-​minute interval of use for each machine. After use, wipe down equipment with wet paper towels. Uh, when did paper sprayed with water become germ-​fighting equipment?

I love having the YMCA so close to my home. The Zumba classes are awesome. Parking can sometimes be a pain since there isn’t a parking lot. But it’s still worth it!

I’ve been working-​out at the Albany YMCA since I was a pre-​teen. Although it is smaller than most gyms and does not have the latest and greatest equipment available, I prefer going here over 24 Hr. Fitness/​Planet Fitness/​etc. Its charm for me is the friendly staff, the convenience of being close-​by to where I live, and the hours usually work well with my schedule.
Now I’ve had friends look at me sideways when I tell them I still go here to lift weights, but the Albany YMCA just feels more comfortable to me. I know most of the staff here, I recognize some of the regulars that go here and its not full of dudes who try to act like they did time in San Quentin! Its really laid-​back, you can do your own thing without being bothered and the trainers are always there if you need fitness advice.
I don’t do cardio here (I prefer the track) and if that’s the primary reason you go to the gym then I’d advise you go somewhere else. There is a 20 minute limit to the cardio machines and they seem to be the more popular than the anaerobic stuff. They have a variety of dumbbells, upper and lower strengthening machines, a stretching room and a large area used for exercise groups and parties.
Their membership renewal fee per month for adults is $ 49. Its a little steep for what you get and its the only reason I knocked a star off for this review. I have been tempted to switch gyms, but I would miss the people I have befriended here quite a bit!
I recommend the Albany YMCA if you prefer a smaller environment, a more personal and warm interaction with the staff and if you want to get into better shape.

I love this YMCA. It’s small, cozy and the fitness teachers are great. The head of the fitness dept (can i name names? Is a great teacher andi think she hires the other trainers and teachers most of whom I think are really good. They are all super knowledgeable and seem really well trained and into making the classes fun, interesting, and a really good workout.
Kickboxing! Really fun and hard. Great teacher. (Though she did tell me to tuck in my thumbs instead of having em in the thumbs up position) how was she to know that I had texting and trigger thumbs… and they were stuck up! I liove the Tuesday Yoga class. And both Pilates instructors are great.
Only had one bad experience with a dance teacher. I made the mistake of making eye contact with her whereupon she snuck up on me and pulled my head up (hard!) by my ponytail in front of the whole class saying simething about neck alignment…
Do not pull hair. Not nice.
But other then that: «i want to live at the YMCA, YMCA !» you know the rest.

i have been a member for about 4 years and only go because its so close and cheaper than ALL IN ONE FITNESS and there some nice folks that work there, but about half of them are rude, and very entitled people… i had a staff member ask me to make less noise when using the bench press because the plates where making a smacking noise when a released the bars… i was benching 255 lbs 10 times x3… so that’s 3 smacks. sorry lady for a guy my age that’s a lot… my release was about 2 inches… that’s friggin good… i was embarrassed and pissed off… that’s not why i go to work out .
the folks that work out there mostly nice but some are real grumpy, entitled and mean.
and the 20 min rule on cardio machines are silly.

Nice pool. The staff puts alot of effort in making sure the kids are enjoying themselves.

The Albany Y is one of the greatest bargains in the history of humanity. Absolutely! A small, but well equipped gym, friendly staff, and the classes… Pilates, yoga, kick boxing, Zumba, etc. Great instructors, especially Sue in Pilates. All this for $ 47 monthly!!! Where else in the high-​priced world of gyms and exercise venues can you get that kind of deal? Nowhere! Of, and yes, there is child care.
People who give this place less than a 5* review are missing the point: It’s only $ 47. If you take only two classes per week and NEVER use the gym, it is still a super value. Of, and by the way, there is a great bakery/​coffee shop right down the street.

I transferred my membership from the Berkeley Y to the Albany Y, which was like breaking up with George Clooney to date Pauly Shore.
They have this 20 minute rule on all of the equipment and if no one is waiting, you still have to get off your machine, sign in again, and get back on.
Also, there’s no cable machine, which I thought was pretty standard in any gym.
However, monthly dues are cheaper than dirt and the hours are reasonable. Also, the kids area looks really great for being such a small facility, but I’ve never seen more than a couple of kids in there.
If your workout consists mostly of cardio and you don’t mind hopping on and off your machine for a lengthier workout, Albany Y is the place for you!

As a fitness center, I love this Y. It doesn’t have a lot of the amenities of bigger gyms (no pool, no sauna, no spinning classes) but those are not things I need. What I do need is a place that makes me feel welcome every time I walk in the door. No scenesters, no drama, just good-​old-​fashioned community. There are teachers, class members, and staff who have been there for decades (seriously 30 years some of them) and even if you’ve just come in for the first time they are ready to accept you into the fold. And all this within an organization that has a community-​driven mission. It may not be the cheapest gym around, but I know that my membership dollars are supporting child care, teen and senior programs throughout the community. I can’t say enough good things about it.

This is the smallest Y on the planet. It has less equipment than a Mariott hotel. The class schedule is decent, and it seems like a good place for local families, but it is really just for the most basic of basic working out.
The locker room is so tiny that you really can’t have more than 2 people changing their clothes at the same time, and there are so few freeweights and very little space to use them. The stretching room is a tight squeeze for any more than 3 people. The cardio equipment is minimal and often in disrepair.
Yet they are so close to my house that I work out because of the convenience. It is better to over pay for a tiny gym and use it a lot, than pay less for a gym that I never use. So this is ONLY the right gym if you live close by and/​or have a family that will make use of the kids programs.
Oh– and for the first few months the desk staff was so snarky with me, until they got to know me and now they treat me like an old friend. It is very much a «guests not really welcome’ kind of environment, and it is impossible to pay for a day pass. The only way to work out without using a member’s limited number of guest passes, is to pay an initiation fee and join.
If you are the same distance from the Berkeley Y, join that one. It is about 10 times the size, has everything you’d ever want for your workout, and is just slightly more expensive.

I’m basing this review just on the yoga classes, most of which are held a block up Solano at the YMCA daycare facility. The reasons I love the yoga program here:
1. Wonderful yoga teachers, most in the Iyengar style. (I like Iyengar because the teachers go through extensive training.) The classes help me test my limits and develop my yoga poses WITHOUT injuring myself. Scotty’s classes tend to be on the gentle side. I love him, he’s like Santa Claus, but like the other teachers who make me sweat.
2. The atomosphere is laid back; it’s not a fitness fashion contest.
3. Very reasonable pricing. Free to Albany Y members, $ 5 if you belong to another bay area Y, I think $ 12 for others.
The major con is that many of the classes are popular, that is, crowded. Best to be there a few minutes early.

Watching the Olympics especially the gymnastics portion reminds me of my younger days at being at this Y.
I remembered that we got a chance to learn some basic stuff with the uneven bars. Some other stuff that I can recall is tumbling which was a lot of fun and very dizzy but super fun.

Tiny, tiny, tiny gym! Uhm, did I mention it was TINY? It has no pool, or towel service and a very limited selection of equipment and weights. Locker room is cramped and dark, and kind of musty smelling, and you have to walk through the gym to get to it, which can be odd if there’s a class or some other event going on in there, but the equipment is in good shape and if you go at the right time you can get in a decent workout without too much bother. So it’s okay, I guess, if you just need a quick workout (or I suppose if you generally go at off times — Can’t imagine what the place must be like at 5:00!). That said, don’t know what the fee is (My membership is at the SF Y near my office and I use this one on the weekends when I don’t want to cross the bridge), but if it’s more than $ 20 or $ 30 per month, it’s totally not worth it.