I have been a member for World Gym, going mainly to World Gym Brossard for over a year now and…read morewanted to share my thoughts on the experience.
Facilities and Equipment:
The gym holds a 9 squat racks, 6 of them being CrossFit style stacked racks, 2 power racks and 1 open rack. It holds 2 bench press, 1 incline, 1 decline bench press and one seated barbell shoulder press rack for any of the main compound lifts. It also has over 10 benches for its dumbbell section which starts at 5 lbs all the way to 120 lbs. The gym has a variety of machines from hammer strength, cables, cardio machines and 6 boxing bags.
They also include a 20m swimming pool, a jacuzzi and sauna if you are a VIP member, but its only available at certain times (peak hours) which you should avoid at all cost.
The issue with the equipment is that sometimes the equipment is either broken or on the verge of breaking and the gym will not change it. Recently one of the J hooks of the squat rack were broken and we waited 3 months to get a new one. The staff claimed it was always shipping and it was taking time, but the j hook was ordered on amazon (and was available for 1 day delivery). Similarly, there are many cable attachments, but they are hanging on by a thread with most of the rope being used and broken. Outside of the actual equipment, the members are unable to rerack the weight and are unable to read the numbers on the dumbbell racks, resulting in heavy dumbbells placed over the 5 lbs dumbbell area and missing dumbbells that members brought 100m away that you have to go on a treasure hunt to find.
Similarly, there is a lack of weight plates at the gym resulting in members taking your weights off your weight rack and even sometimes right off your bar while resting, which results in awkward situations.
Staff and Services:
The manager treatment of their clients varies from people to people, and they can come at you depending on how they feel that day.
I was told by the staff a while back that I was not allowed to train in crocs/sandals as they break the rules, however today the head manager and the manager witnessed a girl training in yeezy slides and never mentioned anything, even when she came over to ask them for weights.
The staff will often police what you do in order to make people respect the rules, however they only do so for certain people. I have heard a story at this gym of a guy creeping and staring and a girl's body while she was squatting, and she was told to deal with it.
The overall front staff are nice in interactions, however they will keep harassing you to enforce the rules but they themselves don't know what the rules are as they aren't clear.
Cleanliness:
This gym is the cleanest gym I have been in, comparable to a YMCA. The cleaning staff goes around the gym hourly and cleans the locker room, the gyms and cleans any mess members make (members sometimes come out of the pool and bring out a puddle of water everywhere)
The inside of lockers are cleaned once a day and honestly, cleanliness is the biggest perk of the gym.
Location:
The gym is located right off the highway and next to the Panama terminal, making it very accessible
However, due to the large number of clients, the parking lot of the gym is permanently chaotic. Members cannot stay within the lines whether its summer or winter and they will park anywhere. They will park in areas where its written that its not allowed or you will be towed, they will park sideways in the parking and will scratch your car.
You will probably NEVER witness as horrible parking as at this gym.
Atmosphere:
The crowd at this gym is very intense and serious lifters. It is very intimidating, and many newcomers may feel uncomfortable as my girlfriend did. There is a very little sense of community aside and I would describe the gym as a free for all to get machines rather than a place that makes people feel welcomed to train in.
The gym is seriously overcrowded as seen in the pictures and you will be standing waiting for a machine for a longer time than you will be training most of times.
Value:
Getting the VIP membership gets you access to all facilities of the gym and allows you access to all different World Gyms. If you move around a lot and you can take advantage of that perk it is very worth the price. You can also invite people to workout with you if you have guests often that would want to workout with you. Overall, the price, the location and the facilities are worth if you can deal with the horrible staff and members experience.
Overall impression:
I would not recommend this gym to anyone who is not a serious lifter and don't mind people being rude and having your car scratched.