John Wooden Center

This place has continuously gone downhill over the last few years. I get the impression that some undergrads who worked there and took over management without any background in how to run a gym, or any business for that matter. This place completely disregards any concerns of their members. I’ll just list a few of my grievances.
1) Disabling towel service. First they start off by limiting the hours that we can check out towels. Then what’s the point of having them at all? If I show up 5 minutes too late then I don’t get a towel. This is the first step in phasing out towel service altogether. They claim it’s to «go green» and save water, but now they’re just forcing everyone to bring their own towels and wash them at home with less efficient washers. It also means that wet towels will be sitting in the lockers creating a greater health hazard as well as more sweat all over the equipment. I know many people who have voiced concerns and the gym just dismisses them.
2) They close the patio whenever it might rain, which is understandable, but they don’t bring in any of the weights. If you can’t find a rare dumbbell or barbell then you’re out of luck. It’s probably locked outside.
3) The stacks of weights on the cable machines are not labeled correctly. Some may say 120 while others say 240, so you have to compare them to make sure you know whether or not it’s pounds or kilograms. Also, the conversion factor is 2.2, which is a significant difference at higher weights. When I tied pointing this out to the staff they could not understand what I was talking about an dismissed it. I spent 15 minutes with one of the supervisors and she had no idea what I was talking about. 2 years later and nothing changed.
4) The staff gets hung up on rules that aren’t a very big deal, but ignore the rules that affect everyone. They will seek out people who are drinking something other then water or those who have a bag in the weight room, but they will casually walk by those who leaves piles of weights on the ground unracked. I’d expect them to care more about this since it’s actually a safety concern as it’s a small gym and it gets very crowded. I’ve seen plenty of people trip and fall over unracked weight.
These are just a few things I could think of off the top of my head. This is what happens when a business doesn’t have to worry about losing customers. Those of us on campus will all continue to go to this gym because we have no other options unless we want to sign up for a second overpriced gym somewhere else.

Old, dirty, decrepit, gym. Unless you go before 10am the gym is far too packed and your workout will be constantly interrupted waiting for equipment. To add insult to injury Wooden has recently stopped offering towel service due to «sustainability»! Now Wooden is old, dirty, decrepit, disgusting, and unhygienic.

The John Wooden Center located in the center of the UCLA campus, they have an entire room dedicated to cardio, two rooms dedicated to weight and strength training as well as a room for circuit training. There are also basketball courts and classes. The JWC is a great gym and every affordable compared or other gyms and very convenient if you live close to campus.

Great facility. Nice exercise classes and rock climbing wall. Love the large dance studios upstairs!

Don’t get me wrong — this gym is good for it’s price and for what it offers students who are usually beginners in sports. More advanced and/​or professional athletes I would discourage from considering, here’s the breakdown:
Pros:
— Great value for the money (cheaper than even most corporate gyms but probably YMCA)
— 2 platforms for olympic lifts and powerlifts
— 8 squat racks
— Few chest and back Hammer machines
— Several zones including outdoor ones
— Few people from the crowd that one can actually learn from, usually post grads or pros
— Water fountains on site available for gym attendees
Cons:
— It’s always packed no matter what time except probably weekends. Forget about supersetting or leaving your bench/​rack/​machine for more than 15 secs, it will be swamped with students without even asking. Even if you are currently using the machine and in the middle of a set, you’ll be asked how much is left at least 5 times in one hour.
— You can’t bring bags into the exercise area. While it’s a reasonable security measure, I personally find it difficult to hold belt, wrist wraps and/​or knee wraps, wallet and a pouch with chalk in my hands so I don’t forget any of that when I am leaving. There are locker storages available which require a quarter coin to operate (coins in 2015 anyone?)
— As it was mentioned before, majority of occupants have no idea what they are doing. It would not bother me unless such people could put dumbbells and barbell weights back where they belong. It’s quite challenging (sometimes impossible) to find a matching dumbbell and quite often one has to unrack a bunch of 5, 25, 35 and 45lbs weights randomly stacked up to reach that 10lbs one which is so necessary to do a PR.
— The outdoor area for olympic lifting suddenly doesn’t allow any weight dropping any more. It turns out that there’s an underground parking right under this area and gym management is concerned that a dropped barbell might go through the floor and end up inside someone’s car.

The wooden center is all right when it is not crowded. It has everything you could need in a gym. However, it is the ridiculous crowding that occurs pretty much all the time until about an hour or two before closing or after opening that really makes it a sour deal for students. There are also way too many people that have absolutely no idea what they’re doing taking up space in the weight room. Watch a few videos on gym etiquette, exercising technique, and form before coming into a gym — seriously.

I like Wooden, but this is most definitely not the popular opinion. I would give it 3.5 stars. However, since Unilocal doesn’t do ½ stars, I’ll give it a 4 instead of a 3, because for some odd reason, I’ve grown attached to this otherwise sub-​par gym.
Pros:
— Mecca for attractive and fit UCLA students. Strangely motivating.
— TVs in front of the treadmills
— Cool classes: belly dancing, ballroom dancing, etc. for around $ 30 – 35 a quarter.
— Fitness pass: $ 25 a quarter and you get access to all the classes on that calendar
— Clean bathrooms, free towels
Cons:
— Usually crowded, typically 10 – 15 min for treadmill during peak times
— Small. Not sure why UCLA has such a tiny gym compared to other schools.
— The much better Acosta facility (only for athletes) mocks you as you pass it
Pro-​tips:
— You can ask the employees to change the TV channels
— You can try the fitness/​other dance classes for free for the first 2 weeks of each quarter
— If you suck at basketball, you might want to try the Hitch basketball courts

I have only been using this gym for a few weeks and I’ve yet to have a negative experience. I am a staff member so I come in before work to avoid the rush of students. I am out by 745am. I am very pleased with the showers. I like the setup and the water is always hot. I do notice that when I am done around 730 that there is a line. Again, a reason to get here early.
The only issue I have is the lack of machines. For abs and legs. The rooms are dedicated to weights and they just have a leg and ab machine thrown in here and there. I’ve yet to be able to get on one of them. That has been disappointing, therefore no five stars.

Pros:
— Good variety of equipment and kept clean.
— Wide selection of classes.
— Several gyms available for different activities
— Locker room is clean
— Good temperature and air flow inside
— Free towel service
Cons:
— This place gets PACKED at almost all times of the day. I honestly hate this gym, but because I’m a student at UCLA, they automatically charge me to use this place through my tuition. It’s difficult to get a good workout in.
— Student workers don’t really know what they are doing and are not kept well-​informed. I talked to 3 different students about whether Yoga classes are free for trial the first 2 weeks of the quarter and they all gave me different answers. Turns out, they aren’t.

So this gym is great. It really has everything you’d ever need and then some, it just may or may not be hard to use stuff based on the large volume of students that work out here at any given time — it’s usually pretty crowded, though weekends and Mondays are especially bad, and Thursdays are typically pretty empty, for obvious reasons ;).
That said, the mon-​thurs hours are awesome — they’re open til 12:45! The friday and weekend hours are less than ideal, however, so check up on those before you try going. They also close much earlier during the summer.
Also make sure to take advantage of the many things you can check out by the entrance to the cardio area!

Yes, this gym is big. It has a lot of different things (classes, cardio area, workout area, raquetball courts), etc. Most people are really young (undergrad students) and other than that its just a regular gym like 24 Hour Fitness. It is smelly, a little run down/​older, crowded, kind of dirty, and not that pleasant of a space. Bathrooms are gross; couldn’t imagine showering there. No study area. Cramped in general.
UC Davis, on the other hand, has an amazing gym/​rec center: the ARC. It is a huge (much larger), SUPER clean, modern rec center that is infinitely nicer than the Wooden Center. The ARC has clean bathrooms, an indoor track, dedicated study spaces and rooms, an extensive group exercise schedule, and more.
This place is PACKED during peak hours. I had to wait for machines each time I went in the evening and you will get kicked off if you exceed the «30 minute time limit»
The only positive things are available underground parking next to the gym (with a permit), ability to check out small weights to use (they don’t readily provide dumbbells so that people don’t steal them; you have to check them out but it means they are usually available). I like that the treadmills face small tv’s, unlike the KREC grad gym, where they face a wall.
I think this place gets good reviews because the undergrads are younger and more naïve; they clearly appreciate this gym more than I do. This may be the first «real» gym they have ever been too. And so they are probably wowed by simple amenities, average classes, equipment that they haven’t seen before, and the fun college vibe. I would personally prefer 24 Hr Fitness (Super Sport) where you don’t have to check out towels with your student ID, can work out on machines for as long as you want, and aren’t surrounded by undergrads that look at you like you are a senior citizen (and I’m in my late 20’s…although maybe to them I really am «super old».sigh).
Anyway…I only really come here when I want to people watch because it can be fun in that case, and makes for an entertaining workout experience and makes my time on the treadmill go by faster :)

I can’t really say anything bad about this place (maybe except that it isn’t open 24 hours 7 days a week because it’s so great!). It really has everything a college student could want: lots of weights, cardio equipment, matted rooms for martial arts, raquetball courts, and a variety of different classes.
But what impressed me most was that they even provided olympic lifting platforms and equipment. That’s very rare to find and I’m very glad the Wooden has it.

4 squat racks, 4 power racks, 5 spots for Olympic lifting, 3 benches, and hella treadmills. All you need!

This gym really has a great selection of workout equipment but the only downside is that it’s ALWAYS packed with people and you can only get equipment if you just happen to be lucky.
They have extensive cardio machines such as treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, and etc. However I’m also impressed by how many other strength training equipment this place has. My personal favorite are the squat racks, but do be wary that they’re usually occupied. I try to come in the late evening or early morning and it’s not too bad, but avoid peak hours such as right before dinner time (6pm ish) cause that’s when all the dorm people come before they go get dorm dinner for the gains. (so jealous).
They also have a huge open basketball court and dance rooms upstairs! I also appreciate that they have foam rollers and fitness balls, bands, and etc. I’m sad that I’ve graduated and won’t have access to this gym anymore, but I might opt to pay alumni membership which I believe is $ 30 a month.

Don’t take this gym for granted college students! I graduated like half a year ago and most gyms I’ve tried do not even compare. It’s cheap and clean. There is free towel service too which I took for granted. Other gyms require you to bring your own towel or pay for them (unless you are going to Gold’s but that’s expensive).
Wooden Center is huge since it has to provide services for the majority of the campus. While most other gyms have one or two squat racks at most, Wooden has three. And there are extra barbells and room for other Olympic lifts. Tons of cardio equipment and machines if free weights aren’t your thing. There are different rooms too. For example, upstairs have rooms for dance, martial arts, and etc. Upstairs also have this nice patio with tables overlooking Bruin Plaza.
I know it’s crowded but during the four years as a student, you’ll learn when it’s least crowded for your needs. In my case, it was generally 10am-​12pm for free weights.
There are a lot of things to try out at the Wooden Center so take advantage of them since you are paying for them anyway!

The only gym on campus so I would have to give a good rating.
However, this does not mean my experiences at the gym are always good. The worst part about Wooden is that it’s always crowded when there aren’t events or finals going on. The benches and elliptical machines are almost always full.
I do like the fact that there are a various number of machines and weights to use. Get huge!

I work out here because I work at UCLA and it’s convenient.
Pros: The staff is courteous, professional and helpful. Cleaning stations around the gym that are convenient. Hours are good.
Cons: There is not enough cardio equipment for the amount of people that use this gym. Unless I’m missing some other big room of cardio equipment, what they have is less than accommodating. I’ve been at various times (none would I consider «peak») and there is usually a line to use the treadmills and then the ellipticals would be the second busiest. I started using gymtracker to try and get there during a low use time, but even when it says its slow on gym tracker, within the 8 minutes it takes me to walk there the cardio equipment is full. Yes, I’ve seen this at other gyms, but the 30 minute time limit is almost too strictly enforced. If they have to constantly kick people off of cardio equipment, get more cardio equipment. Isn’t a gym supposed to want people to work out more.
Another con is even though there are plenty of cleaning stations, they regularly run out of cleaners and wipes. I’ve informed the staff more than once that the cleaning stations are out of cleaner.
The TV set ups are completely outdated. Most gyms (even the smaller CSUN) have tv’s on each piece of equipment with multiple tv, movie and music stations. UCLA should be outdoing CSUN. All they ever have on the little TV’s is food network and CNN. Who the hell is watching food network when they work out?!
To sum it up, the staff is great but the gym is somewhat under-​equipped and outdated for the amount of people that use it. The cons have me considering just using a 24hr fitness.

This gym has convenient lockers throughout in addition to sufficient machines that you’d see at a gym like Equinox.
The only is the parking, but with 3 full basketball courts, an open and modern facility with quality machines, 5 stars is merited.

Avoid peak hours because you will wait a long time for cardio machines or all the weights will be taken.
Non peak hours are great and this gym is very well stocked.
They also have a rock climbing wall.

Went here for my undergrad and never utilized the free gym membership… sigh
Now as an employee i have to pay. boo
Anyways the good thing about JWC is that it’s always clean. Hygiene is a big thing here and there is common knowledge, and respect, to clean off machines after a long sweaty session.
During non peak hours you can usually find a cardio machine free to use, lots of strength straining equipment, and clean mats to do all your stretching…
During peak hours it’s a whole other story.
–all machines are taken and usually the wait for a treadmill is 15min+
–all the guys huddle in the weight room and take an obnoxious amount of time doing one set while admiring themselves in the mirror
–no space to do anything whatsoever.
so avoid 12pm, 4:30 — 8:00pm