I left Ultimate Athletics after a year of membership in early November. I wanted to separate my experience before I wrote a review. I came from an outstanding gym, Coach J Fitness located in Thornhill. We relocated into the city and so I joined Ultimate. Throughout the year I had repeatedly tried spin with Vlad, one of the owners as well as his more inexperienced staff, palates with Paula also an owner, Abs & A** with Sam, conditioning with Victoria and Vlad, boot camp with Victoria, TRX with both Paula and Barb, and Athlete with Al. Overall it was a frustrating, disappointing year. There was no redeeming value in the spin. Simply put it was awful whether taught by Vlad or one of his employees. There is way more to a spin class than blasting the music to a deafening volume and being directed to stand up, sit down and go fast. The music for the most part had little, if anything, to do with the beat of the spin. Try a spin class at Spynga with Tamar or Casey---there is no comparison. I attempted going 3-4 times a week to the above mentioned choices. My needs were specific to maintaining strength and keeping healthy. Although Victoria was more attentive than others there was little attention to correcting form or the offer of a modification according to a participant's particular needs. Vlad's consistent direction was watch, this is going to be easy ---fast fast fast. No direction or correction on selection of appropriate weights let alone correct form. Paula had a huge following for palates. I cannot comment on the quality of her classes as this is a type of class I know little about. I will say, however, that there should have been a cutoff in the number of participants allowed in a class. It was so tight you were forced to continually bump or kick your neighbour. Speaking of crowding let me address Ultimate's TRX classes. The TRX straps are attached on a bar across the centre of the room no more than 30 centimeters (1 foot) apart. The instructor bellowed from the front of the room with, once again, very little direction. You could not do a single exercise properly given the ridiculously tight space and lack of direction. Try a TRX class with Sari at Philosophy. The class is small with an intelligent cut off. Well planned and unbelievably attended by the careful watch of the instructor, Sari. You will be blown away. There is no comparison. I carefully, I thought, selected this gym because of the variety of class types offered. Throughout the year I asked when Circuit, listed as one of their offerings, was going to be on their schedule? The answer was always not at this time. A whole year passed without Circuit ever making it on to the schedule. Remember please, as I have learned, you get what you pay for. Apparently Ultimate opened charging a monthly annual commitment fee of $190.00. When I joined it had gone down to $140.00. You would have to question why? A boutique gym at Yonge and Summerhill moments to the subway and they had to significantly reduce their rate. Why? I've returned now to Coach J Fitness bringing all my injuries, thank you Ultimate, with me. I am so happy with my return to the club. Immediately all my needs were addressed and modifications were made to also accommodate my injuries with the focus on rebuilding my strength. Don't waste your time or money on this club. The only thing it has going for it is location. read more