Cambridge Athletic Club
Information about Cambridge Athletic Club
Opening hours
- sunday: 8h-18h
- monday: 5:30-21:30
- tuesday: 5:30-21:30
- wednesday: 5:30-21:30
- thursday: 5:30-21:30
- friday: 5:30-21:30
- saturday: 8h-18h
A Cambridge fitness staple since 1980, CAC offers a full gym experience; with group exercise classes, squash and basketball courts, and ever-upgraded equipment, we strive to create a community in our clubs.
Our comment from Nutrifinder.net about Cambridge Athletic Club:
Cambridge Athletic Club is a popular gym located in the heart of Cambridge, MA, offering a friendly and welcoming environment to all its members. With its spacious facility, the gym is well-equipped with a variety of machines, free weights, and dedicated areas for classes, including a women's only fitness studio. Members appreciate the cleanliness of the gym and the consistent maintenance of the equipment.
Key Benefits:
- Excellent amenities including towel service, saunas, and showers.
- Friendly and approachable staff who are always ready to help.
- A wide variety of workout classes and activities, including CrossFit, Body Pump, and squash courts.
- Convenient location with access during holidays, making it ideal for fitness enthusiasts.
- Community vibe with individualized support from trainers and staff.
While most members rave about their positive experiences, some concerns have been raised about the quality of the locker rooms and showers, with occasional comments about water quality. However, the gym is proactive in addressing these issues and maintaining an open dialogue with members to ensure improvements.
Overall, Cambridge Athletic Club is highly recommended for its diverse offerings and commitment to member satisfaction, making it a leading choice for fitness lovers in the area.
Cambridge Athletic Club: Reviews
Fantastic experience: Very clean and nice gym. Staff is super lovely and everything about this gym is great. I made the right choice to switch my old gym by CAC. One other very good aspect is they are open during holidays, albeit shorter hours. A very big plus for gym addicts like myself.
Fantastic experience: Great and friendly staff!
Thank you so much, Krys! Happy to have you as a CACer
Negative experience: Peace family! This gym has some great amenities but the water has chemicals in it and I don’t recommend anyone who cares about their health to use the showers after workout. My skin turns white every single time. My shoes turn blue every single time. You can see the chemicals on your skin and on your shoes after you shower. I’m going to have the water tested and I will return the results when I get them. I will send the water to 3 different water testing facilities and will report them to both the CAC General Manager (Carla Bettencourt) and I will post here! To be quite honest, they should shut down the whole shower facility for a day, two, or however it long it takes to test and treat the water. I’ve never had such an experience this bad with water being this full of toxic chemicals that penetrate your skin immediately. The skin is the largest organ on the human body and we have to learn to protect ourselves better. Ever Fitness gym on 14 McGrath Highway has water that’s just as bad. Mind you, I am highly melanated and the chemicals pop up on my skin much clearer than others who are pale skinned, so you see the results of the chemicals immediately. I’m hoping that other people will take heed to this message and if you don’t believe me, go test the water yourself. I’m hoping that Carla, the district manager, or regional manager sees this and takes this seriously. They may be violating health codes with this one! Hope everyone has a great day’ I’ll see you soon! (CAC 215 First Street, Cambridge, MA) they also have a minor roach problem lol
Hi Hebrew, We apologize that this has been your experience here. This is the first I (Carla) am seeing anything about this. Did you send any emails prior to this review? Our fountain water system is run by Quench, a service we pay for, and is massively filtered, so there would be no chemicals there in the drinking water. Then in regards to showers, that is Cambridge Public water system that our landlord/building is on. So, that seems like it would be more of a City of Cambridge position than it would be with the gym. I do know that the building has private showers throughout the units and I have not heard of any of these items being a concern with other tenants. The gym is fully up to code in regards to all health codes. We have around the clock cleaning and go above and beyond for all preventative measures. My only assumption on skin turning white is if it's harder water it can dry the skin out. Again, we are on Cambridge Public water and that would also affect the residents around us. We are also under the impression that City does routine water checks for all bacteria/chemical issues. As they send out monthly reports to all residents of said items. I would think this is something that they would have to bring to everyone's attention should it be an issue. As for the bugs, they are unfortunately just a part of life in the city. Again, we are on the piping system of Cambridge (which is very old) and we do our due diligence everyday to make sure our space is as clean as possible. We have pest control come weekly for preventative measures and our staff is always quick to react should one come in through the building. I do appreciate you bringing all these items to our attention! We will gladly follow up if you'd like to email us at [email protected] as well. I hope you have a healthy day!
Fantastic experience: A great place with lovely people! We searched and found a drop in place for our kids to play basketball while it was raining. They made us feel welcome! Will certainly return
Fantastic experience: My housemates and I loved this gym! It was always well cleaned and machines were up to date. The classes offered are fun as well, shout out to Julie from Body Balance. It is a little cramped, but they do their best to space out machines/classrooms, exercise space. Women’s gym was well maintained and full of machines/equipment. The only reason we cancelled is because we’re all moving out of Cambridge, and the cancellation process was straightforward. Hoping to find a gym as good as CAC next!
Fantastic experience: I love the gym - it's in a cool building and has all sorts of amenities like towel service and wet/dry saunas. The staff maintains the equipment very well - if a machine breaks, it's never down for long.
Fantastic experience: Gym has everything I use: Locker rooms with plenty of space/storage, well kept machines, and plenty of space during the off peak hours I use the facilities. I tried a few classes and thought they were fun, but not for me. I would highly recommend this gym for people who love fitness classes or for people who live in the area and just need a no frills fitness space.
Positive experience: Been working out here since about 2019. Generally pretty happy with it. Helpful and available staff when you have questions or want your billing receipt. If you do want to cancel, there's a 2 month transition window but that's it: nothing like the big chain gyms. Five power racks are great, but during rush hour expect them all to be taken up. Like all gyms, there's an issue of people just sitting staring at their phone for 10 minutes between sets, doing nothing. Or super-setting half the machines in the gym. They have put up signs asking people to be respectful but I haven't seen any behavior changes in this. Going off hours is much less busy, but then you have to deal with the cleaning staff mopping right around your feet. Trying to squat when you have slippery floors isn't very safe at all, I've had to start getting a towel from the front desk to dry the floor to I don't kill myself. Cleaning staff should stay away from anyone using a squat rack, including the area near the sides where we change weights, otherwise it's just a slippery mess. The main negative and my reason for only four stars is access. Before COVID, we could walk right in the First Street or the Linksey Way entrance. During covid the building locked the Linksey way entrance, which is annoying as you have to walk around the block to the front. However, they eventually locked the front entrance, too. Gym members don't have access badges to the outside door, so we had to ring the visitor doorbell. That was annoying enough, but now they not only make you ring the door bell but have to speak to the security guard. The intercom is completely unintelligible and you have to shout 'I'm going to the gym!' to be let inside. Not a great experience during winter, or in the rain, since you are not covered. They really need to make getting inside easier. The gym is a tenant of the building, we should be granted come/go access through all doors without having to wait for security to buzz us in.
Fantastic experience: I recently joined this gym and I love it! They have a variety of machines/equipment and it never seems too crowded. A lot of workout classes and access to squash courts, a basketball court, saunas etc come with membership. I also like the rewards program!
Fantastic experience: Great gym with some excellent amenities! Always clean and not too crowded. Friendly staff. They offer a lot of deals and reward opportunities
Fantastic experience: The facility at 215 First St. is roomy with lots of equipment, including a women-only studio, so I rarely have to wait to use any machine. Recently they've added new classes, so there are varied options for cardio, flexibility and balance exercises. The staff and other members are friendly and encouraging. With the help of my personal trainer weekly training sessions since December 2021 I've lost 35 pounds. I'm feeling good and I look forward to continuing to improve my health with the support of the CAC community.
Fantastic experience: Been going here for a couple months. The gym is great - plenty of equipment, not too crowded, friendly staff. Can’t ask for more in a gym
Fantastic experience: Small but compact gym with 5 power racks and two weightlifting platforms, which are very nice. I go to CAC during rush hours but always can find a rack. They allow me to use chalk! It is a big bonus to me, maybe it is the main reason I still go here even living far away from here.
Fantastic experience: great facility for a reasonable price! the women's only fitness studio was a big sell for me
Fantastic experience: One of the best gyms in the area
Fantastic experience: I came to this gym from June 2021 - July 2022. Only reason I left was due to moving to a new state. I wish I could still come to this place! It is incredibly well-kept and offers a lot to do. I came for weightlifting and they offered more than enough equipment for my desired goals, though they also offered squash, basketball, crossfit, and fitness classes. During peak hours between 5pm - 6pm the gym was busy, but you could get a squat rack or a deadlift pad within 5 minutes of waiting. I always saw someone pass by cleaning the floors, which was a nice touch, and cleaning wipes were always in a convenient reach. I had a great experience here and will miss it!
Negative experience: I had such HIGH hopes for this gym since it is right around the corner from where I live and has a great sauna. There are lots of good things about it but the woman's steam room is full of mold and it is right next door to the sauna. I am quite sensitive to mold so I am unable to join after trying out the day pass. I would consider if they truly fixed it by removing the tiles and cleaning the mold that is likely grown behind the tiles. I've never seen such a bad mold problem in a stream room before: it was smelly and visible. I am glad that fixing the steam room is in the fix list but it smelled musty and the black discoloration is often normal in the grout but it was beyond the grout and on the tile and that should wipe off. Mold is nothing to mess around with especially in basements and when there are ducts and vented air. I will certainly consider once the steam room has been fixed.
Hi Biella, thank you for the review. We clean the steam rooms three times a day and our Maintenance Manager has determined that it is a discoloration of grout and we are sure that it is not mold. Restoration of the steam room is a project that is on the list however due to the nature of the size of the project, that would mean we need to have the steam room shut down for a long period of time and we are looking into a convenient time to have that happen.
Fantastic experience: Amazing club, I usually go for squash and working out. The courts are great and they have enough equipment and good variety of machines. Recommend especially if you want a good gym to go to after work.
Positive experience: The instructors & the equipment are great. Carla is the best. Wifi isn’t fantastic though
Hey Ava, thanks so much for the review! We're so glad you're enjoying the instructors and the equipment.
Fantastic experience: Great gym, plenty of space and machines. Wonderful friendly staff that also take the mask mandate seriously and enforce it. The majority of people follow the rules and wear their masks, but there's a minority that try and play games. Just flag these selfish jerks and management will be on them - a few people have had their memberships suspended for repeatedly unmasking. So if you've been someone concerned about returning to a gym due to COVID, CAC Anthenaeum is about as good as it gets.
Thank you for your review, Michael. Our safety and comfort of guests is our top priority and we are so glad you are enjoying our facility :)
Fantastic experience: Great composition of basketball court, squash court, cross-fit box, gym and freestyle area! Friendly reception, great trainers. Very clean and no waiting times at fitness machines! Great place!
Hey Mark! Thanks for your review. We're so glad that you're enjoying our club! :)
Fantastic experience: * It is clean and orderly, we usually see cleaning staff taking care of the environment * They have complete set of weight lifting equipments and cardio machines * Plenty of equipment and we never had to wait for anything
Hey Farzaneh, Thank you for reviewing CAC! I'm excited to hear you're happy about our cleanliness and equipment. Our housekeeping staff works super hard to make sure everything stays clean, and we're always upgrading and switching up equipment according to member feedback. Thanks for being a member of CAC :)
Fantastic experience: I love how I am always greeted when entering and farewelled on my way out.
Hi Mr. Frank! Thanks for the awesome review. We love that you're enjoying our staff's friendliness. Thank you for being a part of what makes CAC great!
Fantastic experience: Great equipment, friendly staff, well-maintained.
Hey Kyle, Thanks for the review! We work hard to keep the gym a place that's welcoming, clean, and always updated, so it's nice to hear you agree :) Stay healthy!
Fantastic experience: Staff are friendly and the equipment is consistently cleaned. This location has a great variety of equipment available, convenient location, and large locker rooms.
Hey Aly, Thanks for your review! Our staff and housekeeping team are always working hard so they'll be happy to hear such positive feedback. Thanks for being a part of CAC. Hope you're staying happy and healthy :)
Fantastic experience: Best gym to workout in the Kendall Square area! Equipment is up to date and clean. Love it here!
Hey Mike, Thanks for the lovely review! We work hard to keep our equipment modern (and of course clean!) Hope we continue to be the best gym in Kendall for you. :)
Fantastic experience: Really clean gym, staff is always super nice, and the app makes everything easy to book. I've never had to wait for any equipment and there always plenty of towels. The locker rooms are roomy and super clean.The women's room makes stretching and doing floor work really comfortable. The trainer I have worked with has been super knowledgeable and encouraged me the whole way.
Thank you Prapti! We're so glad you've been enjoying your experience here. Keep up the good work!!
Fantastic experience: Location, price and equipment is great. Friendly staff. Never have to wait long to use something. Towel service. Weakest point would be the shower/locker room. It's fine and is clean, but I've seen nicer, more modern facilities. Very happy with my decision to join and I'd recommend it to anyone, particularly if you work or live in the area. Thanks!
Thank you Leo!
Fantastic experience: Maria keeps the gym spotless. I also appreciate how many classes there are to choose from.
Thank you Elise. We will be sure to pass this along to Maria.
Positive experience: Pretty good basic gym, I usually go in off peak times so have never had to wait for any of the equipment. Staff are for the most part friendly and regularly say hi to those whose faces they recognize. I recommend this gym.
Thank you for the recommendation David!
Negative experience: Staff is very sparse, and few of them know about the equipment. The screens on the treadmill don't turn off, so great if you enjoy ads. The locker room reminds me of my freshman year dorm.
Hey Kevin - We're really sorry to see that you're so unsatisfied with the club and your experience here! We don't have a giant staff as we aren't a "big box" gym, but we think we have a great small team of front desk staff, membership, trainers, cleaners & group exercise instructors. Many members comment on how much they love community. We do offer complimentary Personal Fitness Evaluations for each member when they first join to go over the equipment (among other things). It looks like you met with Joe, if you still have lingering questions we're sure he'd be happy to follow up on this. Regarding the treadmills, we just upgraded to all brand new Precor treadmills last week. The new touch screens offer interactive workouts, bluetooth connectivity & the ability to track your progress (and also watch Netflix if you choose). I'm not sure what the ads are you were seeing but we'll look into this (there's always a bit of learning curve when we get in brand new machines - but for the most part the pros far outweigh the cons). My freshman dorm didn't offer towel service, steam room & sauna, but lucky for you if yours did ;)
Fantastic experience: Great trainers. Unthreatening environment. Decent equipment
Thank you for the kind review Don!
Fantastic experience: Super friendly staff!
Thank you from the CAC staff!
Fantastic experience: Ally Hochman is an incredible instructor that pushes people to their limits.
Thanks Jeffrey - We agree that Ally is incredible (as are our other instructors!), and so are our members like you who keep attending classes and pushing those limits!
Fantastic experience: Satisfied long-time member. Clean facility, friendly staff, variety of class offerings, smart trainers.
Thanks for the kind review, and for being a long-time member!
Fantastic experience: Great gym in the community
Thanks Terry. We <3 this community!
Fantastic experience: This place has been great, I initially had a problem and left a bad review but I was immediately contacted and the issue was resolved. I'm so happy and it makes me really like this place, I felt valued.
Hi Bradley- Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We certainly do not tolerate behavior like what you've described here towards our staff or our members. While we do have Olympic lifting platforms, weights are not meant to be dropped. Luckily we find a majority of our fitness community here to be very courteous and respectful of our staff and one another. We'll definitely follow-up on this incident and get to the bottom of it! Thanks again for letting us know.
Fantastic experience: I recommend this gym to everyone at work. It's clean, offers lots of classes, provides a workout AND shower towel so you don't have to carry that around with you. Just so much to offer if you're in that area.
Thank you Susan! We are so glad to hear you are enjoying the club and amenities!!
Fantastic experience: Great staff and awesome classes! Highly recommend!
Fantastic experience: Wonderful
Thanks Alpdogan!
Fantastic experience: Free towel service and basketball court.
Thanks for the review Abouzar! We appreciate it and we are glad you enjoyed the club and amenities!
Fantastic experience: Well maintained. Upgrades equipments regularly. Now has four power racks and two weightlifting pads.
Thank you Colin! We appreciate the feedback and the photos!
Fantastic experience: Great staff, amazing squash group instructor, the Body Pump classes are really good. I haven’t tried all classes but there are many and the ones I’ve done I like. I like having a women’s only exercise room mostly because sometimes it can be empty (off-peak hours) and the 5am-midnight unstaffed location is nice for when I end up working out really late. Carla resolved all my membership questions very easily, this gym does not try to make it tough to quit if you need to, she made the process super easy when I wanted to quit, then decided to stay for another month or so (no longer best location for me).
Thanks Marina! We're so glad the CAC has been able to meet your fitness needs. Trying all the classes would definitely be hard- there are a lot!
Fantastic experience: Good range of lifting equipment for serious lifters; decent lockerroom facilities.
Thank you Arthur! Happy lifting!
Fantastic experience: Friendly staff, clean and well equipped facility, steam room, good location
Thank you, William! We’re glad you’re enjoying the club and amenities!
Fantastic experience: Great Staff, love the sauna and women's room.
We’re glad to hear you’re loving it here Anju. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic experience: Classes included, great selection of strength-training and cardio machines, nice sauna and steam room, convenient to Kendall Square.
Fantastic experience: Gym + Crossfit at same place. Close to Kendall Square.
Positive experience: Has a variety of machines and free weights. 2 benches and 4 squat racks. A room for classes, a room for racquet, a room for crossfit, and a basketball court.
Fantastic experience: Amazing gym for busy professionals. They offer great classes with friendly and motivational instructors.
Fantastic experience: To the comment about old equipment - they just renovated in the past year and the equipment is all new. And there is a cafe/juice bar next to both locations. The people there are wonderful and the classes are fantastic!
Fantastic experience: The First st location is clearly the best of the three, great new weightlifting equipment and friendly, helpful staff.
Fantastic experience: Great gym...
Fantastic experience: Great gym! Lots of amenities like group fitness, CrossFit, Squash courts, women's only section, yoga / Pilates room, steam & sauna. Towels are free, nice staff
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