NOT for guests or visitors. I have gone to this gym several times while visiting family for holidays. They are doing a 7 day pass, but it's not 7 entrances, it's seven days from the time you purchase one. It's extremely limiting and a they're clearly just hoping to charge the amount for 7 days in hopes you don't use it for more than a couple. The gym is clean, but it pretty much ends there for it being a good gym. The equipment is old, cracked and missing pieces so things like the 45lbs plates are rarely 45lbs. You could also pay $10/day, which is then 130% more than a week pass. With other gym options available, like Planet Fitness who actually give you one free day there are other more gyms friendly to out of town guests. read more

I've been a member of Core Fitness for 14 years. I enjoy the kindness and positive attitude of the members, staff, and fitness instructors. Clean gym and open space in the North Liberty location. I attend the classes most of the time and I appreciate how well the instructors know their routines and keep up the energy. read more

This gym would be great if it wasn't so dirty. The steam room is filthy and the drinking fountain has been covered in dirt for several weeks. There needs to be daily basic cleaning at this gym. It's definitely lacking. Sitting in the sauna and hearing members complain about the lack of cleaning tells me management has to know and just not care. read more

The gym itself is fine. My only frustration is that I paid for the extra fee for the kids club and I just drove all the way out here with my 2 year old daughter and they told me that the person who watches kids just left. Its so hard to get out of the house with a toddler and motivate yourself to workout and to have this happen is a total bummer.. The hrs of operation are supposed to be 4:30 - 6:30 and I came it at 5:30, I'm so disappointed. They told me that I have to call ahead of time. I Which is fine, but if this is a service that I pay for you would think they would have staffing for the advertised hours of operation? Basically they don't tell you that kids club only operates when the staff feel like working, not when they are supposed to. This was a terrible first impression to kids club! read more

Very poor free weights!! If you like powerlifting, definitely don't go there. ! Is not admit it. They don't let you make noise at all!! read more

I originally joined at the Iowa City location but I go to North Liberty about half the time. Good things about Core: * Multiple locations - east Iowa City, North Liberty and now west Iowa City (Mormon Trek.) * Wide selection of cardio machines. * Relatively extensive class offerings (not that I go to any of them on a regular basis, but hey, they're there.) * Friendly staff. They must have had a meeting directing all employees to not only greet members as we come in but also to say goodbye as we leave. It's not something that would make or break my experience at the gym, but it shows Core's attention to customer service. * Steam room/sauna facilities. * Mormon Trek has a pool. A couple of drawbacks: * Monthly dues are a little steep, in my opinion: $49 a month (I think) and a few dollars less if you have a student ID. When I lived in bigger cities I was able to join gyms for less, but maybe that's because there was more competition among gyms in those cities. * The Mormon Trek location is... lackluster? I've been once, and probably won't go back. There are only a handful of lockers in the women's locker room that members can use freely; the rest are coin-operated, which is annoying if you would rather just use your own lock. I also wasn't impressed with the cardio machines. Selection was limited to a couple of treadmills, stationary bikes and ellipticals. * The original (east side) location is really starting to show its age. Might be time for some equipment upgrades. Overall I'm happy with Core. Search online for coupons (especially if you're a student) to find discounts for the initiation fee that all gyms charge. Also ask if they have any promotions before you join... no point in paying $100-$200 in arbitrary fees if you don't have to. read more

Everytime I'm in Iowa i come back to this gym to workout. They have everything i need to stay in shape, bags, extra rooms to workout in, free weights and racks. The only thing missing from this place is an olympic lifting platform but overall I've never had an issue here. Its always been clean, people leave you alone and let you workout. Especially for me, that means a lot. I like this gym a lot. read more

This fitness facility has the worst of all worlds. It feels more like a kindergarten where the kids' safety is sometimes in question (I have seen them by the free weights). Nobody says anything if you drop your weights or if you're on your cell phone while you work out. If a machine is out of order, expect to wait 3-4 months before it gets fixed. And they are expensive. read more

I was trying to get a membership at this gym, and met with Matt who was very rude and not professional.

Great gym! Never seems extremely busy because of the size and layout. All the equipment is always clean and they do a very good job managing the gym. Very modern gym with all new equipment. Never have an issue getting a great workout in. They offer a lot of different classes for a wide variety of people. I love Core Fitness!!! read more

I had a membership at this gym for almost a year, and liked the people and the gym. My only complaint is that I moved out of state for work, and forgot to cancel membership when I left, and they would not let me cancel over the phone, so I had to come back into town to cancel. Also they made me pay for 2 months of membership when i couldn't get into town right away. They should've waived that for good business. read more

We've been members here for about 6 months. No problems this far. Typical after work rush, and mondays are usually the worst.. But its a great place. Parking is always open, machines are always open, super friendly staff. Best Gym in the area for sure. read more

My major hiccup with them came when I decided it was time to start working with a personal trainer. I have rather specific goals, and a complicated medical history. After researching the various personal trainers available at Core, I didn't feel like they had the experience I was looking for, and so turned my eyes to other options. I found someone I wanted to work with. After looking over my membership agreement and and all the information I had been provided with, my plan was to pay for a guest pass for this trainer to come into Core and work with me. Still, trying to touch all bases, I tried for a week to contact their offices about my plans, with no success in reaching anyone. I discussed what I wanted to do with three separate staff members when I went in, and they didn't have any issues. So I began working with the personal trainer I had selected/as planned. This continued for about two and a half months, when I received an e-mail from an Adrienne Staton, who identified herself as "the new personal training manager at Core Fitness". Copied directly from her e-mail message: "this is not something that we allow at Core whether you pay for him to come into the gym or not. We would like for you to utilize our staff of highly qualified personal trainers or use the facility that your trainer works for. If you are interested I have a trainer in mind that I believe would be very well suited to assist you with your fitness goals." To be plain, my issue is how this was handled, not necessarily the restriction. - if this were a long standing "rule", the rest of their staff would have known about it and taken action to stop it before more than two months had passed. I was not keeping it a secret that I was bringing in a personal trainer as my "guest" to work with. - Adrienne at no point asked me what qualifications I was looking for, what my goals were, or anything about my concerns prior to determining who would be "well suited to assist" with my "fitness goals". In fact, we never spoke face to face or had even laid eyes on each other until I went in to cancel my membership. - there is nothing put out in literature/signs or the membership agreement that states you have to use Core trainers. Terms of Service and Codes of Conduct are usually not difficult to obtain. This is the point of membership agreements and written policies, so everyone involved knows what's expected. Still, since this is not addressed one way or another in the membership agreement, I decided it was best to part ways with Core since they were making themselves an impediment to my health/fitness goals. When I went in to cancel, there was a dark haired young woman behind the desk, and another who turned out to be Adrienne. Upon identifying me she attempted to engage me on the subject, despite me stating I wanted to cancel my membership. The dark haired young woman was obviously hesitant to step in and assist me while Adrienne was involved. Adrienne continued to press me to use Core trainers, despite my concerns that they didn't have the qualifications I was looking for, and only stopped talking when I told her "I was never going to work with you" because again, I was being very specific in where I put my money. At this point, the other woman started to help me, and Adrienne began arguing with me again. I had to ask her three times to stop talking to me so I could cancel before she finally walked away. Through all of this she never attempted to inquire about/address my concerns/goals. Upon canceling, I was told I would be paying fees for the month of September since I had not terminated membership 20 days before billing. I expected this, as it's in the membership agreement. What I WASN'T expecting was additional "annual maintenance fees", as my membership agreement clearly states those are assessed in March. I was told I would have to speak to their bookkeeping people to resolve any questions. The next day, I get a phone call from the owner, stating that Adrienne told him I wanted to speak to him. I had not. I even told him I wasn't looking to talk further because this subject wasn't covered in the membership agreement and thus Core probably had broad discretion in how to handle it. Eventually we got to a point in "discussion" where I told him I had canceled already, and was glad I had because at this point I was starting to feel harassed since I had not told Adrienne I wanted any contact and that "she wasn't helping him" by how she had handled the situation.I informed him my only remaining concern was the annual maintenance fees since my agreement states those are billed in March. I was told those fees, and the September membership fees would be waived, which I do appreciate - if they are actually waived. We will see what my bank statement says in a few days. read more

Fantastic Facility! It is always spotless with plenty of machines and weights available. They also have a smoothie bar to enjoy after a hard workout! How Cool is that? read more

There are three locations of this gym, and only one of them seems decent. The location on 1st Avenue in Iowa City and the supposedly "new" one on Mormon Trek in Iowa City are filthy. They claim that the locker rooms are cleaned daily but in fact there are things growing on the walls of shower stalls that have present for months. They also seldom replace broken equipment. When a machine breaks down, instead of repairing it they tend to just remove it from the floor. It just vanishes. Whole Stairmasters: gone. In addition, their cadio theater equipment never ever works. Try to change a television channel while on a treadmill and you'll spend half your time at this gym moving from one machine to the next looking for a television that actually works. This is an overpriced, dirty, and out of date gym that cannot compete with the University's much cheaper and cleaner and more proessional facility. read more