Cambridge Athletic Club in Cambridge

215 First St, Cambridge, MA 02142, United States

★★★★★
(91 reviews)
Class Types: Gym Aerobics instructor Basketball court Fitness center Nutritionist Physical fitness program Squash court Weightlifting area

About

A Cambridge fitness staple since 1980, CAC offers a full gym experience; with group exercise classes, squash and basketball courts, and ever-upgraded equipment, we strive to create a community in our clubs.

Website
cambridgeathletic.com
Address
215 First St, Cambridge, MA 02142, United States
Plus Code
9W7C+QF Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Time Zone
America/New_York

Business Hours

Monday
5:30 am–9:30 pm
Tuesday
5:30 am–9:30 pm
Wednesday
5:30 am–9:30 pm
Thursday
5:30 am–9:30 pm
Friday
5:30 am–9:30 pm
Saturday
8 am–6 pm
Sunday
8 am–6 pm

Services

Service options
On-site services Online classes
Accessibility
Wheelchair-accessible car park Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Amenities
Basketball court Sauna Wi-Fi Wi-Fi
Atmosphere
Shower
Crowd
LGBTQ+ friendly Transgender safe space

Photo Gallery

Reviews

4.7
★★★★★
91 reviews

Most Mentioned

equipment (9) clean (9) towel (7) sauna (7) squash (6) locker rooms (6) working out (5) weightlifting (4) squat rack (3) basketball court (2)
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0
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★★★★★
June 3, 2024

Very clean and nice gym. Staff is super lovely and everything about this gym is great. I made the right choice to switch my old gym by CAC. One other very good aspect is they are open during holidays, albeit shorter hours. A very big plus for gym addicts like myself.

★★
April 28, 2024

Peace family! This gym has some great amenities but the water has chemicals in it and I don’t recommend anyone who cares about their health to use the showers after workout. My skin turns white every single time. My shoes turn blue every single time. You can see the chemicals on your skin and on your shoes after you shower. I’m going to have the water tested and I will return the results when I get them. I will send the water to 3 different water testing facilities and will report them to both the CAC General Manager (Carla Bettencourt) and I will post here! To be quite honest, they should shut down the whole shower facility for a day, two, or however it long it takes to test and treat the water. I’ve never had such an experience this bad with water being this full of toxic chemicals that penetrate your skin immediately. The skin is the largest organ on the human body and we have to learn to protect ourselves better. Ever Fitness gym on 14 McGrath Highway has water that’s just as bad. Mind you, I am highly melanated and the chemicals pop up on my skin much clearer than others who are pale skinned, so you see the results of the chemicals immediately. I’m hoping that other people will take heed to this message and if you don’t believe me, go test the water yourself. I’m hoping that Carla, the district manager, or regional manager sees this and takes this seriously. They may be violating health codes with this one! Hope everyone has a great day’ I’ll see you soon! (CAC 215 First Street, Cambridge, MA) they also have a minor roach problem lol

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★★★★★
June 12, 2023

My housemates and I loved this gym! It was always well cleaned and machines were up to date. The classes offered are fun as well, shout out to Julie from Body Balance. It is a little cramped, but they do their best to space out machines/classrooms, exercise space. Women’s gym was well maintained and full of machines/equipment. The only reason we cancelled is because we’re all moving out of Cambridge, and the cancellation process was straightforward. Hoping to find a gym as good as CAC next!

★★★★★
June 4, 2023

I love the gym - it's in a cool building and has all sorts of amenities like towel service and wet/dry saunas. The staff maintains the equipment very well - if a machine breaks, it's never down for long.

★★★★★
May 24, 2023

Gym has everything I use: Locker rooms with plenty of space/storage, well kept machines, and plenty of space during the off peak hours I use the facilities. I tried a few classes and thought they were fun, but not for me. I would highly recommend this gym for people who love fitness classes or for people who live in the area and just need a no frills fitness space.

★★★★
April 6, 2023

Been working out here since about 2019. Generally pretty happy with it. Helpful and available staff when you have questions or want your billing receipt. If you do want to cancel, there's a 2 month transition window but that's it: nothing like the big chain gyms. Five power racks are great, but during rush hour expect them all to be taken up. Like all gyms, there's an issue of people just sitting staring at their phone for 10 minutes between sets, doing nothing. Or super-setting half the machines in the gym. They have put up signs asking people to be respectful but I haven't seen any behavior changes in this. Going off hours is much less busy, but then you have to deal with the cleaning staff mopping right around your feet. Trying to squat when you have slippery floors isn't very safe at all, I've had to start getting a towel from the front desk to dry the floor to I don't kill myself. Cleaning staff should stay away from anyone using a squat rack, including the area near the sides where we change weights, otherwise it's just a slippery mess. The main negative and my reason for only four stars is access. Before COVID, we could walk right in the First Street or the Linksey Way entrance. During covid the building locked the Linksey way entrance, which is annoying as you have to walk around the block to the front. However, they eventually locked the front entrance, too. Gym members don't have access badges to the outside door, so we had to ring the visitor doorbell. That was annoying enough, but now they not only make you ring the door bell but have to speak to the security guard. The intercom is completely unintelligible and you have to shout 'I'm going to the gym!' to be let inside. Not a great experience during winter, or in the rain, since you are not covered. They really need to make getting inside easier. The gym is a tenant of the building, we should be granted come/go access through all doors without having to wait for security to buzz us in.

★★★★★
August 5, 2022

I came to this gym from June 2021 - July 2022. Only reason I left was due to moving to a new state. I wish I could still come to this place! It is incredibly well-kept and offers a lot to do. I came for weightlifting and they offered more than enough equipment for my desired goals, though they also offered squash, basketball, crossfit, and fitness classes. During peak hours between 5pm - 6pm the gym was busy, but you could get a squat rack or a deadlift pad within 5 minutes of waiting. I always saw someone pass by cleaning the floors, which was a nice touch, and cleaning wipes were always in a convenient reach. I had a great experience here and will miss it!

★★★★★
September 5, 2018

Well maintained. Upgrades equipments regularly. Now has four power racks and two weightlifting pads.

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