I've been a member for 8 or 9 months now, and I absolutely LOVE Bridges. As a new climber, I felt…read morelike the lower-graded problems were accessible, but still interesting, fun, and just the right level of challenging. Now that I've progressed to around V4 and visited other gyms (Benchmark, a few Touchstone locations), I've been really appreciating just how creative the routesetting is at Bridges. If you like the puzzle aspect of bouldering and lots of interesting and satisfying coordinated movement, you'll definitely love it here. They set a couple new walls every week, so you'll never run out of projects. There's a huge cave that's basically parallel to the mats, a chimney, a dedicated slab corner, a rotating wall of competition-style climbs, and a separate front room for beginner climbing. They also have a well-stocked weight room, cardio equipment, saunas, an upstairs lounge area, free beer and hop water after you're done climbing (!!!), yummy snacks for sale, and great yoga, climbing and fitness classes. There's also a few partner gyms that offer free monthly day passes for Bridges members, though I haven't checked any of them out yet. The biggest highlight is that the community at Bridges is AMAZING and so supportive, no matter what grade of problems you're working on. I was too intimidated to even work out in a regular gym before this, but everyone I interacted with at Bridges was very encouraging and made me feel welcome, and now I see friends and have people to climb with almost every time I go. The front desk staff are super friendly and fun to chat with (S/O especially to Anni and Star), and as a queer person it's great to feel represented there. I do wish the mats were a bit softer, as it's a little too easy to tweak an ankle if you don't fall with ideal form--but that's literally my only complaint. Seriously, if you live near El Cerrito and are interested in bouldering, this is the place!!

The service was helpful and polite. The environment was really nice and beginner friendly. The gym…read morewas scattered with plenty of different options. The only confusing part is understanding the levels, since the colored tags were a range of what level it may have been.

Go here!! The staff are welcoming, friendly and extremely knowledgeable about fitness and…read morepreventative healthcare. The rates are super reasonable and the gym itself is clean, in a central location, and equipped with everything you might need. There's also a nice outdoor space in the back for mat work or to get some fresh air.

I trained at Berkeley Barbell Club for about six months and really loved it. The monthly price is…read moreso good, definitely the lowest in East Bay, especially for 24-hour access. You even get a free guest pass once a week. The space is clean and has an air conditioner for hot days. Plenty of racks, and when it's busy, working in with others is easy. The owners are genuinely nice and welcoming. They host a bunch of optional WhatsApp groups for things like hiking and running. If you're shy, they'll go out of their way to make sure you know about these groups, but not in a pushy way. I would have kept my membership if I hadn't moved!

Touchstone gym located in downtown Oakland…read more This is a more small and intimate gym in comparison to Pacific Pipe. There is a small Boulder section, top roping, work area, weights, and workout area. The staff here is super friendly. My friends took the intro to climbing class here and they really enjoyed it. The staff was really helpful in teaching them the ins and outs

I love the structure. Super fun, climbing competition. Great stuff. Super fun…read more I came for the 2024 climbing competition. I had such a great time so glad I came. This building is gorgeous and so fun so aesthetic. The staff was super friendly. When I made a joke about my chalk, they were receptive and fun. Their store was pretty well stocked. Grab myself an adorable, red crop sweatshirt. They're set up was very organized. Literally zero drama. Highly recommend, and I'll be back.

This review is primarily for my experience with their competition and the atmosphere around when…read morethere were competitors from Cal & Stanford. I highly enjoyed my experience here as well as many of my friends who normally climb at Touchstone gyms. I've had the opportunity to try out their SF location early when they first soft launched during the pandemic and it was great albeit smaller than other gyms I've been to in the Bay. I will note that this isn't quite as corporate as Touchstone or Movement so they may not have the same level of funding which I see as reasons their sets are a bit more adventurous comparatively and membership can seem pricey Overall, the aspect I like the most about the gym was the sets for the comp. It really had a huge variety of non-traditional climbs with toe catch starts, partner climbs, lache, and run up dynos. All in all, I very much enjoyed the variety that is less typical comparative to the sets you'd see at Movement or Touchstone gyms. The fact that they have these unique sets despite the small space is what makes me enjoy it more I would recommend people who want to expand their skills check out this place. I didn't feel like they had any sets that were more inherently dangerous which I sometimes feel with some run up dynos at other gyms. Furthermore, not all the climbs were jugs which really helped to find fun ways to improve. It's also close to Indian Rock if you wanted something more natural and being so close to Berkeley campus it's a quick walk to good eats I find the diversity of climbs here the best of all the climbing gyms seem so far, including gyms in NYC/Texas. The interior space also seems to welcome students or people who treat it as a third space with a large table, small but adequately sized parking lot, and essential gym equipment. The one con I may say is the price may not be as cost-effective as some other corporate gyms in the Bay but having smaller gyms that have an inviting space and good diversity of climbs will be reasons I'd continue to come back

I visited Benchmark twice while in Berkeley for a holiday stay. I was glad to find a decent place…read moreto climb close to the house I was staying at. I was able to take advantage of a special 2-week pass that was the same price as a day pass, which was a great find. The staff is helpful. The toilets and lockers are small, but clean. The climbing space itself is also small, but adequate for two visits. There is a good range of difficulties represented. My two beefs with this gym: 1) the mats are thin and HARD. I felt nervous trying anything slightly outside my comfort zone as I was afraid of falling. That really detracts from the experience. 2) there is no rhyme or reason to the colors of the problems. You have to get close to the all and squint to see what V rating it is. Yellow here might be V2 and the Yellow over there is V0. Why?! I much prefer my regular gym where Yellow is always the same level. That way you can easily scan the whole room to see which routes will suite.

Best climbing gym around! I pretty much only Boulder but the…read morespace is huge and there's a wide variety of problems for all skill levels. Healthy mixture of top outs and holds to finish! Good rotation of problems! The workout area has a lot of space (though it can get crowded 5-7 midweek). Staff is always friendly and helpful.

I've been here a few times and it's always so mesmerizing looking at the sheer size of the gym/rock…read moreclimbing walls as well as it being 2 floors for bouldering! Their traditional part of the gym with weights had a good selection of accessories and equipment. I love how there are big areas for both top rope and bouldering. I can't imagine how it will be during rush hours as I've only tried to go on the off hours. I usually chance it and park on 20th street instead of parking in the lot as it can get pretty tight. Everyone I've interacted with was pretty nice and efficient! Definitely check it out if you're in the area- it's so pretty'. Theres also a coffee shop on 20th street too if you need a pick me up!

Welp, this location is itty bitty. No parking. And limited equipment, but it'll get the job done…read more The staff was super nice. The lady answered all of my questions, and she was willing to show me around but I politely declined. The free weights go up to 60lb dumbbells. There's a dual cable machine near the 3 weight benches. There's a TRX band, sand bags, and twos sets of the small dumbbells. I just needed an hour bench workout, and I got it. The location is just off the main strip. A little walk around the area was nice. I found parking one street over in the residential area. The roads are tight and parking can be hard to find, but this place did good by me.

The Albany branch is very good: friendly and helpful staff, all the cardio and weight equipment you…read morecould want, a great air filtration system, and many classes offered in the gym. The not so good is about poor customer service from the East Bay central office. They're not accessible, transparent, responsive or professional. I submitted an inquiry about certain deliberate, repeated and disruptive member behaviors, including a question about what help other members could expect from desk staff. The central office agreed it was disruptive, said they'd do XYZ, and then....no action, and silence for over half a year, unresponsive to a few follow-up inquiries. Then recently the Y central office emailed me that, in their experience, my experience didn't exist, never mind their earlier acknowledgement, and that it was up to me to suck it up and somehow deal with it. I am so disappointed with the East Bay YMCA member "services" crew, and with the complete lack of effective communication and recourse channels.

I'll miss this place. Honestly, going off quality alone, the RSF is a very high quality gym with…read moremultiple rooms for anything you want to do, including combat sports like boxing or martial arts, basketball, squash, stretching rooms, group fitness rooms, and an Olympic-style pool. To be honest, I don't use all of those very much, but I use the weights a lot, and the weight rooms are also amazing. There are about 3 weight rooms, with most of the machines you'd ever want as well as 10 full power racks, so about 10 people can bench at a time and 20 people can do other barbell movements, not to mention the abundance of additional floor space for deadlifts. Where the RSF shines above commercial gyms is the availability of equipment. There are an insane abundance of plates, including 2.5 and 1.25 lb plates for micro loading and plenty of clips. There are also yoga mats, stretching equipment, barbell pads, and lifting belts that can be borrowed from the staff. The gym is also always very clean. The only negatives about the gym is that the staff are a little stricter than commercial gyms, such as that people always have to use clips, though this is fairly sensible. The bigger downside is that they don't allow any Olympic style movement (snatch, clean and jerk, etc.) so if you're interested in training these at all, this might not be the gym for you. Also, it often gets a little crowded during the school year peaking at around 5-7pm on weekdays (after classes get out), but that's expected, considering that there are like 30,000 people who have a membership to the gym at a given time (students of the university receive free access). Overall, if you are a student or otherwise have free access to the RSF, it really is a 5 star gym for most purposes, but as an outside person purchasing a membership, it'd probably be closer to 3 stars just because the membership is quite expensive and it often gets crowded.

This review is long overdue form my time at Cal, but I went to RSF throughout my time at Berkeley…read moreand loved it. It was fairly good and clean gym, they do get super busy in the evenings and have time limits for machines (during busy times), but oh well. I did take taekwondo there too, though though I wasn't too keen on the teaching style. I did love the equipment, mostly running, used the pool, and it was fairly decent experience overall as a student

Bay Strength is exactly what I was looking for. They provide personal weight-lifting instruction…read moreand programming in a small-group setting. Their fantastic trainers are knowledgeable, excellent communicators, and they will design a weight-lifting program just for you and support you every step of the way. At every other gym that I have experienced, you are forced either into a cardio/strength routine (e.g., boot camps or cross-fit) that is not solely focused on building strength and muscle or a personal training regimen that will soon drain your bank account, or you are otherwise left to your own devices. Not at Bay Strength! They are focused on teaching and using power-lifting to help you build strength and muscle, and their knowledgeable trainers will assist you in gaining confidence with barbell lifts and in making sure you are using the correct form. And because their programs involve small group sessions of 5-6 clients for every one coach, you get personalized attention without breaking the bank to hire a personal trainer multiple times each week. And, on top of all that, Bay Strength is truly welcoming to everyone! Whether you are a novice lifter, have years of experience, or fall somewhere in between -- no matter who you are -- Bay Strength provides a supporting and welcoming atmosphere to learn, lift, and get stronger in body and mind! Special shout out to Eli who did my "Learn to Lift" program, and Kelly who has designed my current plan -- I really look forward to continuing to work with all the great people at Bay Strength!

Bay Strength is not a gym. It is not a bunch of trainers. It is not a set of equipment. Bay…read moreStrength is a source of inspiration and perspiration. It is a reason for people to bond while they bend. It is a place where people come to lift their spirits as much as lifting weights. I highly recommend Bay Strength to anyone looking for a way to get started on strength training without being intimidated by it! The trainers are great at providing the right mix of support, guidance and independence to let each person navigate their own journey. They go above and beyond to provide an open, accepting, and fun environment which makes the whole experience so much better! I've only been training here for a few months and I can already feel myself getting stronger every week. Big shoutout to Kelly and Katherine for being amazing trainers and for helping me get started on my strength training journey!