Best gym in North Arlington? (Jefferson, Washington: YMCA, price, metro)

[terpfan101]

Hello all,

I just moved to Arlington near the Courthouse metro and am looking for a good gym to join. From my research the three nearby are Golds Gym in Clarendon, Fitness First in Courthouse, and Washington Sports Club in Clarendon. All three seem pretty similar in price since FF has a $125-200 initiation fee whereas the others are much less. It works out to about $40 for FF and $50 a month for the other two. So price isn't much of an issue especially after paying near $70 in Baltimore! So any opinions on these three are greatly appreciated. I've read the Yelp reviews but think the folks on this forum are more credible. Thanks in advance!

terpfan101

[Carlingtonian]

I don't know what your goals are, but if you're mainly interested in a place to work out (rather than a meat market), I can recommend the YMCA on 14th St., near W-L HS. Not the largest gym on earth, but cheap, uncrowded, and good for lifting weights. If you want yoga or a hot singles' scene, I imagine one of the others you mentioned would be better.

[boyd888]

If you want to drive a little, Ballys is in Pentagon City and Thomas Jefferson Community Center is in North Arlington. Gold's is just like any other Gold's and is full of roided out meatheads, but a good selection of equipment. Haven't been to WHS or FF.

TJCC is actually pretty nice and $200 a year if you are an Arlington resident. I used to go there until I moved. Downside is they are closed on Sundays.

I was able to lock in $500 for 36 months at Ballys ($13 /mth) and then it's only $50 a YEAR for year 4 onwards. $50 a month plus an initiation fee is ridiculous. You should be able to get a membership for $30-35 a month with no initiation at Golds, FF, etc. Only suckers pay the initiation fee.