One of only a handful of signature clubs built across the nation, LA Fitness Greenway is suppose to be an example of what the company can do when it pulls out all of the stops in an effort to make one of the best TX gyms that anyone can work out at. Are they able to pull it off? Is this better than all the other Houston gyms that LA Fitness has built? Jump to the review section below to find out.
It can be expected that this LA Fitness center is well-appointed, being a signature club and all, but a quick look reveals one think oddly absent. Racquetball courts. Almost all LA Fitness clubs have racquetball courts and the fact that they were not built into the LA Fitness Greenway leaves you wondering how this gym could be considered part of a “Signature” lineup.
Inside the club you find that all of the essential LA Fitness elements are present. You have a strength training zone broken into both selectable machine and free weight areas, a cardiovascular training center, a large group exercise studio, and full-length basketball court.
What really separates this Signature gym from the other LA Fitness Houston locations is the way all of the various features are packaged. More space, better layout, and a premium design to the locker rooms, Kids Klub, sauna, pool, spa, and juice bar bring the LA Fitness Greenway club up to another level.
While there is no racquetball court it’s not likely that anyone who joins this club will feel short-changed where their fitness is concerned. There is a wide array of machines that, when used properly, will enable anyone to build muscle, burn fat, and change their body and increase overall health. The group exercise classes, pool, and basketball court provide enough variety at LA Fitness Greenway that members should avoid the inconsistency that often accompanies fitness routine boredom.
Reviews of LA Fitness Greenway in Houston, TX can be found below. Be sure to write a review of your own if you have been to this gym as a lot of people stop by here wondering if they can get the inside scoop on how the gym is run and if members get the premium experience that many expect by joining a signature club.
THE GOOD: Gym membership is a necesssary evil, so I tend to regard them all with a jaundiced eye. However, LAF has proven the exception. Membership approach was low key; the staff is unobtrusive and businesslike. The men’s lockeroom, bathroom, and wet areas, despite the filthy habits of some members, remain clean. If a machine is out of service, it is repaired within two or three days.
THE BAD: The revolving staff. I’ve been a member for nearly three years; in this time I’ve noted at least four incarnations of the gym staff. Lately, the male staff tends to be the self-styled gym rat type. Thoroughly annoying because they use stationary weight benches and open walk space for purposes other than ostensibly intended. The staff does not seem to enforce its rule against dropping free weights. There’s always one or two skinny 20-somethings who think it’s a demonstration of their “monster” workouts to let 60 or more pounds crash to the floor. This, despite the two tiny signs asking members not to drop weights.
THE QUESTIONABLE. Unfortunately, my work schedule usually has my workouts during the peak of membership activity. I begin to wonder if the gym is not being oversold; gaining too many members. Increased membership may be good for business, but can be detrimental to existing members.
Unlike many gyms, LAF does not appear to be a meat market. Members of all ages from late-teens to 80s seem to be there primarily to work out. There are random postings on some Intenet hook-up sites about gay cruising in LAF’s men’s wet area, but if so it’s done so discretely it is not a detriment to the gym’s atmosphere.
As I write, I’m hypercritical of gyms but, on the whole, LAF Greenway seems to have a formula that works.
The machines are new and cool. The people working there are nice and helpful. I was really torn about leaving Planet Fitness, but having worked out here for a while, I wonder why I didn’t make the change before. The locker rooms are cleaner here. My fiance says the same. I’ve shown up at all different times and been able to workout without issue. Machines have always been available. I’m sure that this might change in the future, but if this is the norm then I don’t think I’ll be complaining. When I went to Planet Fitness it seemed like I was always waiting in line for someone. And before that, when I went to Planet Fitness there was less people but the machines were often broken and you couldn’t use them at all which was worse.
As anyone here and I bet that they’ll agree with me that you get more value for your dollar here than at LA Fitness West Oak and significantly more than at Crossfit. Where can you go, at this low of a price, and find over 20,000 lbs of free weight and a phalanx of cardio machines waiting to go? The personal trainers seem very dedicated to what they do. They’re not farting around playing with their crackberry or iphone all day which seems to be the norm in that line of work.
Signing up for personal training services is a lot like buying a car. So be prepared to dicker on the price and don’t be afraid to say no and just work out on your own. Not all trainers are created equal, so be prepared to ask to work with a different one if you don’t like the person you’ve been dealing with initially. I do like that you get email reminders of your appointment. People here seem to be pretty serious about what they do. I like the fact that people here seem to show up and push through their workouts at an intense pace.
While people here are dedicated to fitness, they are not snobbish nor are they so serious that they come across as harsh and impersonal. People care about their looks and health but they don’t take it too far.
When I see people writing scathing reviews, I have to wonder if there are any Houston gyms that would measure up to what they are hoping to see. It’s a gym- it is what you make of it. I have a private theory that people who complain about well-run places like this are trying to vent about the fact that everything else in their life is a mess but there isn’t any “Boyfriend Review” sites where they can rant on and on about other crap in their lives and so they do it about their gym. I bet movie review sites get more of the same. People say that this place isn’t all that new, but it seems new to me. At least it is when compared to the Planet Fitness gym I used to work out at. I like how close this gym is to where I live.
Early in the morning is when I work out. Always have. That means that my experience here is pretty much limited. Other LA Fitness Greenway members may think differently. I can’t speak about what goes on when things get busy. Now that I tgymhink about it, there are a lot of people that go here, but I wouldn’t say that the place is swelled to bursting. It seems like the gym is big enough to accommodate everyone. I may have said before that people are courteous. I never feel offended. There’s a good bit of diversity here and I don’t see any evidence of ill will between members. I’ve only found that things in the locker room were dirty once and I just talked to the management and they sent out a cleaner to take care of it right away. The cleaning team here is very diligent.
I’m tempted to say that everyone reading this should hurry up and run out to join up here, but I won’t. Frankly, a big part of the reason why I like this place is that the people who go here are motivated to be here. How you approach this whole fitness thing is going to make a major difference in the results you get. If you’re not going to show up and do your part, I’d preferr that you stay home. Remember that nobody at this place is going to make the change happen for you. Even a personal trainer can’t force you to get out of the house and show up for your training session. If you’re not going to actually do anything, then I’d just as soon you not join LA Fitness Greenway because you’ll just make it worse for everyone else.