WOW! Work Out World of West Newton in Newton

The only reason this place is getting more than one star is because the close proximity to my apartment and that’s about it…. Besides the convenience, this place got nothing really going for it. From the cleanliness or lack there of, to the inconvenient temperatures ( seemingly 100 degrees up stairs no matter the temperature outside ), the majority of clientele being 15 year olds, the broken mirror that seemingly has went unnoticed for months, the broken lockers and clogged toilets in the changing room… however, as bad as all that is it doesn’t compare to the horrible hours ( closes at 4 and 5pm on weekends ) or the even worse parking situation . On top of your membership fees they fail to tell you when you sign up that you have to pay for parking ( $2.00 ). Not the type to usually write reviews but after seeing countless 5 star reviews I had to speak up. Do better WOW, your old Waltham location was the best

DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF JOINING THE REDWOOD PERSONAL TRAINING, AVAILABLE AT WOW. THEY ARE UNPROFESSIONAL, AND SCAM PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO STOP BEFORE THE YEAR CONTRACT. HORRIBLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH, AND AVOID THE INITIAL CONTACT WITH DERRICK.

would be a great gym but they won’t fix the a/c in the third floor. This is the hottest floor and the most used floor. People have complained and it’s being ignored. At the minimum they should purchase more fans. This is dangerous for peoples health especially this summer with the current heat waves. Fix the a/c

save your money and go to the Y or planet fitness bc the wow corporation is raising prices with no explanation and breached contract of the agreed upon price i signed up for that was supposed to be good for a whole year (which you are required to stay in and if you cancel within that time frame they’ll charge you a fee). generally this location has outdated equipment, minimal space and stuff is always broken. if they are raising prices they better update some of that stuff or im gone. 1 good thing about this place though is they have a comprehensive women’s only section

0-stars if I could, Any of the recent 5-star reviews are either bots or people giving props to one of the personal trainers (who I’ve met and he’s legit) so their review is unrelated to the facility itself. As of today (June 18th, 2024) they repackaged their membership tiers, essentially increasing the prices for people on the 10$/month membership to around 26.99$/month according to their latest email. They increased their price without actually improving the product in any way. So for around 26.99$/month (plus a $60 annual fee, averaging to 31.99$/month over a year) this is what you’re getting: Weight Room (2nd Floor): -Only 2 cable machines which are almost always occupied -3 flat barbell bench press setups (non adjustable angle + wobbly seats) -2 incline barbell bench setups (non adjustable angle + wobbly seats) -2 squat racks -at most 6 safety clamps but I always have a hard time finding any -1 deadlift platform -2 smith machines -1 traditional leg press machine -1 traditional hack squat machine -1 fixed seated shoulder press seat -3 adjustable dumbbell benches (all have wobbly seats, one is practically falling apart) -2 lat pulldown machines -plenty of dumbbells going up to around 150lbs -a curl barbell (dangerous without clamps which you’ll have a hard time finding) -curl ez-bars ranging from 10 pounds up to 120 or so -a decent selection of muscle iso machines, somewhere between 20-30 of them, but at least 3 of them will be broken at any given time -generally very cramped space -zero ventilation -always humid (you’re breathing in people’s sweat vapor) -poor lighting if you ever wanna check your pump, a number of the lights don’t work -music speaker chops up a lot and has static sound (distracting even when you bring headphones) First Floor (Front Desk / Cardio / Dance studio): -1 stair master -couple of ellipticals -around 10 treadmills, at least 2 are unstable / not safe, roughly half of them have screens that don’t work -staff isn’t rude, usually scrolling on their phones but can’t blame them -dance studio not too bad, but usually occupied for classes Bottom Floor: -exclusive women’s only area (if you are a man, you are not allowed to use an entire floor of an already small gym despite paying the same price as women) -Stinky, humid, poorly ventilated men’s locker room, large number of broken lockers, had my stuff stolen -locker room has shower area, sauna and steam room but they smell like urine -creepy naked old men Parking Lot: -usually hard to find parking at standard hours on weekdays (as in after work between 6 and 9 PM) -Saturdays they close at 5PM so you’re gonna have to pay for parking if you manage to find any Misc: Fridays they close at 9PM instead of 10PM like they do Mon-Thurs for whatever reason -1 hour before closing, front desk staff announces on loud speaker they’re closing in an hour, will usually throw off your set -then every 15 minutes they make the same closing announcement until they actually close Closing Remarks: I’ve been going to WoW for 8 years now, they used to be located in Waltham where the gym was better in practically every way than the new one they moved to (bigger space, more equipment, everything in good condition or at least maintained), despite now charging a higher price for an outright downgraded facility. Pre-Covid this gym was easily a 5-star, their base membership was only 10$/month (plus a 50$ annual so around 14$/month), finding parking was never an issue and you wouldn’t have to pay for parking like you do now, and they closed at Midnight Mon-Sat and 10PM Sunday which was awesome. Then Covid hit, they closed for a while and eventually when they re-opened it got slightly worse and more expensive for no reason (unfortunately this has been the case for everything post-covid). They reduced the open hours to what they have now, and for some reason the tier that used to cost 10$/month was now 20$, they still had a 10$ tier but you were even more limited with the hours you could use the gym. Today’s price increase is a dealbreak.

I joined this gym about a year and a half ago and I had the pleasure of working with David Salter as my personal trainer for the past year. He has helped me to develop a routine to achieve my set fitness and weight goals. He understands each one of his client needs and clearly has the experience to tailor work out plans to achieve set goals. I highly recommend David as a personal trainer.

I’ve had one of the best trainers. David was awesome and intentional about how he helped me follow my workout goals. He pushed me at the right times and made himself available for questions whenever I wanted to continue our workout routines outside of our time together. With his help, I feel encouraged to continue my health journey at WOW.

Pros: The front desk is very nice. If all you want are no frills machines, this is the place for you. Cons: The place is filthy. No one cleans the women's only area. They run out of paper towels. Toilet paper is being used right now instead. The water filter has been on red for a while. The gym is just unhygienic and it's sad. It was nice this summer.