Having opened in 2010, the Arlington, VA LA Fitness center is one of the many new facilities that the company has established after it’s major push into markets outside of the Golden State was kicked off. This particular gym does not follow to the traditional tried-and-true, stand-alone pattern which most of the new gyms hold to. Instead, the club dominates the first few floors of a new corner high-rise multiplex. Parking, which tends to be a major issue at any gym, is tucked away underground. This is a nice caveat considering how difficult it would be to park in this rather confined location pinched between the Four Mile Run and Potomac rivers.
The fact the gym didn’t get it’s own building doesn’t detract from the benefits that members receive. The full gamut of services that you’d find at most LA Fitness locations are all included here as well. From swimming to weight training, group classes to child care, everything needed to get a serious fitness program going can be found here. Almost everything is included in the comparatively low price too. The Kids Klub service is a bit more, but classes are free.
The core fitness zones of the club fall into six major categories. The first is a free weight strength training area which sports a full compliment of plats, dumbbells, cable machines, kettlebells and other fitness tools. The second is the structured machine area which allows every member, even those who have not invest a lot of time learning the proper form necessary for free weight training, to get into a muscle and strength building mode. The cardiovascular training center comes next. What seems to be a small armada of cardio machines dominates this area of the club and because of how the gym was built, it doesn’t feel cramped. For those who like group training, classes about. Spinning, dance, traditional step classes, and more are scheduled up consistently and made available without any additional fee.
These elements of the gym, of course, are found at just about any competing club but the final two areas of the gym are not average fare. Both a full-length basketball court and multiple racquetball courts are found at this location. Built to regulations size, these courts enable both pickup games and group competition which is tied to the clubs various leagues which have been set up.
Directions to the LA Fitness in Arlington, VA
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From the North – the gym is conveniently located at the corner of the S Glebe Rd. and the Jefferson Davis Highway. To get there from the North take Jefferson Davis South past the junction with Airport Access Rd. and keep going south. You’ll eventually come to Glebe Rd onto which you’ll want to make a right, get in the far left lane, and take the turn-around in order to circle back. You’ll see the gym on the right as soon as you pass through Jefferson Davis a final time.
From the South – As is the case with those headed in to workout at this LA Fitness from the north, those inbound from the south will want to take the Jefferson Davis Highway North. Once you pass over the Four Mile Run stream you’ll take the first right onto Glebe Rd and arrive immediately at the club.
From the West – The best way to get to the gym if you are west of the Jefferson Davis Hwy is to simply get on S Glebe Rd and head east until you pass through the J-D Highway and find the club on the right.
Reviews of the Arlington, VA LA Fitness can be found below. Info on the club can only be shared with others if those of you who have worked out there take a minute or two to share your perspective. For that reason, we ask those of you who signed up as members (or even those of you who took a tour but didn’t sign up for one reason or another) to type out a quick review so others who may be thinking about working out at this gym can go in with open eyes knowing the good, the bad, and the ugly about this particular location.
I’ve belonged to this gym for almost a year now and switched from Gold’s because of the convenient location. However, I’ve been repeatedly disgruntled with the unfriendly staff and overall poor upkeep of this location.
It’s not unusual for several cardio machines to have non-working fans, malfunctioning AV equipment or just be out of service entirely. I understand that equipment does wear out but it seems that the equipment at this gym tends to be out of use quite frequently. The maintenance and general (un)cleanliness seem to get progressively worse the longer the club is open.
Considering it’s only been open a short time, I would not expect torn carpets, stained or missing ceiling tiles, frayed metal cables on gym equipment, etc. Most recently the AV equipment on all of the cardio machines has been out for over a week and when I inquire I’m simply told “they are giving us the run-around but a work order has been placed”. Oh, ok…. well since you have placed a work order I guess your responsibility to provide an appropriate level of service to your patrons is complete. The air conditioning recently went out as well (mind you this is a brand new building). When asked, I was told “well, it just went out the other day and tomorrow is a holiday so it should be fixed next week”. This was while the staff member was sitting in front of the only large fan in the facility, which had been removed from the exercise classroom. Meanwhile, it’s easily 10 degrees hotter than outside (been in the 90′s the last several days), no air movement whatsoever and smells like a dirty, wet sock in the entire gym.
I can say I’m please to be moving next month or I would simply cancel my membership and go back to Gold’s, where they maintained both the gym/equipment as well as the satisfaction of their consumers.
I really wish that I could give this gym a good rating. I really do. I only live about 10 minutes from this location and was so excited when I saw the sign go up. It seemed that we would finally be getting a premiere fitness facility that would be ultra-convenient. Unfortunately, the fancy exterior façade seems to only run skin deep.
The gym does have a good selection of equipment (in fact they probably have more machines than most other gyms) but the place is so busy whenever I go there it doesn’t really matter because you get to wait in line anyway. I guess I could head toward the weight areas, but that’s really not my thing. I’m a cardio/group class girl.
Speaking of group classes….they simply don’t have the schedule on this type of thing locked in. From the way things are penciled in you’d think that all anyone here wanted to do was jump on a bike for spinning classes. Again….that’s not me.
I will say that the place is kept relatively clean. During the bussiest hours during the hottest months a bit of a smell does seem to develop…but I guess you’d probably have to deal with that anywhere. Or would you?
The staff seem friendly enough. Except for some of the personal trainers. Most seem to be kind to everyone but a few of them seem to ignore anyone who is not enrolled in training while popping into “cheery/positive trainer” whenever they see someone who IS taking some training sessions.
Oh well…I’ll probably stay here just for the convenience factor, but I really was hoping for a lot more from my Arlington, Virginia LA Fitness. The advertising and website really hold the place out as a premier fitness facility but, like I said before, sometimes that stuff only goes skin deep.