First off, I don't have complaints about the equipment or anything like that. My review is focused more on the front office than the gym, so take this review for what you will. It's long, but worth it if you're on the fence about joining. My experience when I first started was great--back when it was located in some small, cramped, 700-sq. ft. garage on County Line Road. Chris, the owner, was the main trainer and came off like an overall great guy who just wanted to help people get in shape and reach their peak physical potential. I sat down with him in early 2016 for nearly an hour one day deciding on whether or not I wanted to join. Ultimately I decided to give it a shot. The membership wasn't cheap at $149/mo. (with a 12-month commitment) but the overall experience was honestly worth it. I enjoyed it so much I convinced my girlfriend to give it a try--she felt the same. The classes were strength based, with the occasional conditioning thrown in, but they were engaging and relatively fun. As I liked to joke at the time, it was what I pictured CrossFit to be without the douchebaggery. In August 2016, a few months after joining, the gym grew out of the space and relocated to a 3,000-sq. ft. facility on Bismark Road (off of Diamond Road). The space is awesome, admittedly. It's spacious, on hot says it doesn't get too hot (but there are massive fans blowing too), it's got heat for cold days, the turf half is great for sled work, the weight side has a 4 power racks, there's plenty of space on the surrounding lot to do sprints, etc. Overall, the new facility is quite good. Over time something got lost: heart. As Chris pulled away from training in order to manage the day-to-day of the business, Zac was brought in to train the bulk of the (at least evening) sessions. While Zac is a great guy, Chris was the reason myself (and my girlfriend) were there. We never really complained though because we liked Zac, and we knew Chris had to handle other things to focus on how to grow the business. The ultimate reason for this review centers around changes coming to the memberships in October 2018--or, more specifically, how poorly he handled the concern both my girlfriend and I had about them. On Thursday, September 13th, shortly after the announcement came out about the changes, my girlfriend called the owner to talk about the changes but was instead handled by his assistant (and Pit Nutritionist) Megan--as it turns out, he was sitting by Megan during their entire conversation. My girlfriend called me after, upset about the tone and callousness of the conversation and informed me that the changes were sticking (fair enough, things change and that just meant it might be time to find another gym). She figured talking to Chris himself might at least give her better understanding of the situation, so she reached out to him on the 14th and he called her back. (Now this is where I went from, "oh well, maybe it's time to find another gym" to "I have lost all respect for you and your gym"...to put it nicely.) After they spoke, she called me crying because of the way he spoke to her--a faithful member of the gym for over 2 years. He proceeded to show his hand to her by yelling at her, "What is it worth to you?! What is the right price!?" while repeatedly saying, "You don't need to come here." Utterly reprehensible. In my opinion, he took out his frustration on her for whatever problems The Pit may (or may not) be having. Instead of treating her like a person who's been loyal to his brand since 2016, he treated her like a dollar sign. You might expect that from a RetroFitness but definitely not a local gym. I proceeded to go back and forth with him over email to initially air out my grievances about the changes, then about how he handled the situation with my girlfriend and how poorly his mismanagement of client relations reflects upon the status of the business. Long story short, he doubled down on the tone his assistant took with my girlfriend ("she was not treated with disrespect at all by Megan or myself"), he refused to meet with me one-on-one to see if cooler heads could prevail ("That said, there is no reason to meet."), he abruptly terminated our memberships, and he politely refunded her the 7-months remaining on her contract as well as the half-month remaining on my membership. And, of course, he thanked me for my loyalty (money, presumably). To close this out, The Pit was once a great place to be a part of. For some time, however, it's felt more transactional than inspirational. To be fair, if you have never worked out here before (especially at the old location), you may actually come to love it for how it is currently, but I caution you to try it out for yourself with whatever short-term intro options there are before committing to anything long term. (NOTE: I can provide *a lot* more context to back this up but I'm limited by Yelp's 5,000 character review limit. Message me for my full, in-depth review.) read more

I was really intimidated to join the Pit in 2016, but after having a meeting with the owner, Chris, my mind was changed. Chris was positive and encouraging and I believed that he was invested in my health and fitness, and most importantly in me. So I spent about 2 and a half years training at the Pit, half the time with Chris and the other half with his wonderful trainer Zac. In my time there I was able to cut weight, get super strong, and even compete in and set records at power lifting meets. Unfortunately, that encouragement and investment in me as a person Chris showed me more than 2 years ago is gone. The heart and soul of the gym is gone. The warm and upbeat owner that built me up completely knocked me down, no longer treating me like a valued member, but treating me like a number, like a dollar sign. My initial hesitation to join this gym was the expense - $150/month for 3 workout sessions a week. Initially, the structure of the workouts were completely strength based, with conditioning worked in on every few days. The nice thing was that Chris posted the workouts in advance, so since I didn't like the conditioning, I could just come in on strength days. Then Chris moved from a 700 sq ft garage to a much larger space. In this space, he decided to split classes up, so there were strength classes and conditioning classes at different times. I continued going to strength only classes 3x a week for more than a year and a half, still paying my initial $150/month. Then, Chris blind-sided us all by cutting class options based on the price you pay. I went from 12 strength training sessions and unlimited conditioning classes per month to only 5 strength training classes and 17 strength training classes per month. Not only do I dislike the conditioning classes, whatever name he's calling them this week (circuit, tabata, fat blast, conditioning, and now strength circuit), but my strength classes have be cut by more than half. And if I wanted to resume my 12 strength training classes each month? I'd have to increase my $150/month charge to $300/month - double the money for the same workout schedule I've maintained for at least 2 years. I reached out to Chris, as a long-time member, and had to deal with the gym's nutritionist on the phone. Not only did I not want to deal with her, but when I expressed my displeasure with the changes and asked about the rules of cancelling membership, she responded defensively, telling me I wasn't special and that I should stop judging the conditioning classes because I don't even take them. I then followed up with an email to get the details in writing and again, I got a response from the nutritionist. Frustrated, I reached out to Chris via Facebook and he called me to discuss. I expressed my disappointment with the changes and told him I didn't feel my class allotment was in line with my pricing. He was already defensive as soon as he called, so after some discussion I could hear him losing his patience and began yelling at me, "What is it worth to you?! What is the right price!?" He then told me repeatedly, "You don't need to come here." Finally, he told me I was paying 700sq ft prices, not the prices worth his new space. I was so shocked by how much he dehumanized me that I got off the phone sobbing. I didn't want to deal with him again after that. My boyfriend also attends this gym and reached out to Chris via email, venting his frustrations about the changes and how I was spoken to by the staff. He was also honest with Chris about how his greed and dehumanization of members is ruining the gym experience for members. After some back and forth, Chris abruptly terminated our memberships, issued refunds, and told us we were not welcome there. This review is long and detailed, but I wanted to make sure that when a new member thinks about joining this gym, they know that it was once a great place that still yields great results, but the owner is on a downward spiral, trading his encouraging coach-like nature for a cold, hard attitude, no longer treating members like family, but like $$. read more

Chris and his staff are very knowledgeable on fitness and will help you reach your goals. This isn't just a gym it's a family everyone is friendly and knows each other the small groups make for excellent workouts without distractions and are fun to attend. read more

Chris is great with kids! My son loves going and working out! He has improves his endurance and speed....would highly recommend..

This is the BEST training facility for youth athletes....Chris and Jon do an amazing job not only properly training them, but mentoring them as well...our son has been training at Jersey Strength Pit for almost a year now...it was the BEST decision we have made...our son is stronger, faster, his confidence is at an all time high...he has learned so much in the past year both physically and mentally....if your child is a competitive athlete and needs that extra push...this is the place for them ...if I could give them 10 stars I would... read more