07/16/09

Best Personal Trainers

by RachelBeider

The equipment is modern, its always clean, and I love the friendly neighborhood vibe.

Larry, the owner, is super intelligent and always helpful.

I also love to work out with Paul Kostas, and would highly suggest training with him.

It's an overall great experience!

• Pros: Clean, bright and Friendly Gym
• Cons: none

10/12/08

Needs a lot of work!

by Williegal

This gym needs a lot of repairs and training for its staff. The machines are from the 80's and the staff are just plain rude with their, "(Sigh), what do you want" attitude. Did they ever hear of 'customer service'?

Just wait until that Crunch comes around the corner and all will change. Bottomline is - they're overpriced.

• Pros: exposed bricks
• Cons: everything else

10/10/08

Best Gym around

by rharlow29

I have been going here for about 3 years, It is one of the best fitness centers I have ever been a member of, and I have been involved with a lot of them. Larry recently sat down with me and drew up a fitness plan taking in mind my immediate and future goals, the staff is very knowledgeable and the facility itself is fantastic. Not cold like some gyms very warm and has everything you need and more. It seems as though they are adding new equipment daily to fit everyone's fitness desire from the serious power lifter to the normal trainer for men and women. Larry has a strong knowledge of and love for fitness and it shows in the constant evolution of this gym. I am happy to be a member and will remain one for a long time.

09/26/08

Locally owned, very knowledgable, very non-jock-friendly

by badback

The staff at Maxim has the knowledge, experience, and attitude to help you get fit. Larry Betz (one of the owners and head of the personal training program) is up to speed with the core principles of fitness and the latest stuff like Kettle Bells and CrossFit. Larry hooked me up with one his trainers, Anna Leszczynski. I have mobility problems from a back injury and quit exercising years ago, and Anna crafted a program for me to get fit and flexible. I have never used a personal trainer, assuming it was just for Hollywood stars and Wall Street widows. I was wrong. My everyday sessions in the morning were the highlight of my day. Each day was focused, within my capability, and best of all, effective. I was motivated to continue working out and my eyes were opened to what discipline and applied knowledge can achieve. Anna kept it fresh, fun, and challenging. Thanks Anna!

The facility itself is clean, inviting, and the equipment is quality. The vibe is distinctly "come as you are". I never had to wait for equipment. Everything we needed for exercises was available (kettle bells, ropes, weird rubber wobble things, a freakin tractor tire, etc)

Unfortunately I moved out of state in the spring of 08 and have desperately been trying to find a gym similar to Maxim but have had no luck. It is very difficult to find a gym with an on site owner like Larry Betz and enthusiastic staff. I miss you guys!

• Pros: staff, equipment, attitude, location
• Cons: cramped locker room, crowded mats

09/17/08

Honestly, how can you complain?

by liljbella

I have been a member of this gym for over 3 years and I love it. Yes, sometimes a machine is broken.. guess what? it gets fixed as soon as possible plus there are tons of other machines in the facility that you can replace it with. For those people who are complaining about Maxim, there is the YMCA 20 minutes away however it is dirty, smells, and their equipment is from the stone age or Otom in Greenpoint where you can work out with "OTB" Polish "juice-heads" yet clearly nobody would like to demote themselves down to that. It is unfair to compare this gym to the ones in the city for it isn't part of a chain, it is privately owned. The owners are always more than happy to help someone out if they are approached in a polite manner (not attacked!). There are plenty of machines which are always available and plenty of average people who won't look at you as if you're inferior or a "gym- retard". Both the equipment and the overall facility is clean and there are even sanitary wipes mounted on the wall so you can clean your machine before using it or for those people who are rather considerate, wipe the machine down after your done using it. The staff is very friendly and have no problem answering questions. And one time when the girl at the front desk couldn't answer my question, she was kind enough to call one of the owners and have him answer my question for me. The gym is a little pricey but I definitely think that you get what you pay for. I'm 3 years in and not planning to quit any time soon.

• Pros: nice atmoshphere, state of the art machines, friendly staff and members
• Cons: hmmm... none!!!!

09/04/08

A Comfortable Gym for Real People

by nicokwan

I've never really been a gym person because I always hated all the muscle heads & fitness "girly-girls". Maxim is nothing like that! It's a great gym for real people like me-neighborhood people who work out after work, before work, late evening. You never have to wait for a machine and they'll put just about anything you want on their flat screens!

I just started working out with Larry the head of Personal Training and am learning how to correct all the things I was doing wrong in my workouts. Plus, they have this online nutritional planning service that builds daily menus based on your weight goals & foods you like. I love it!

There's always an owner around to answer questions about workouts, machines, or whatever. There also seems to be tons of improvements going on, which I love! They're happy to hear suggestions & usually will look into making those changes. It's the first gym I've felt comfortable in & I think you would too!

• Pros: Great Personal Training Staff, Online Nutritional Planning
• Cons: Haven't found any yet!

08/05/08

By far the best Gym in Brooklyn, maybe all of New York for the price.

by Hargasm

-First off: it's gorgeous. Hard-wood and exposed brick, the entire second floor of an old converted warehouse.

-Second off: the equipment is state of the art and they're getting new machines it seems like weekly

-It's NEVER crowded. Even at their busiest (seems to be weeknight evenings) there is never a wait for equipment.

-The personal trainers are exceptionally knowledgable and way more important than that, there is a large variety of personality and body types to choose from. None of those brain-dead Maguillas that seem to be the exclusive trainer type at other gyms.

-The head trainer and part owner Larry Betz is a fitness GURU. Even if you are too poor for personal training (like me) he is always available with tips and tricks to improve your workout and keep from hurting yourself.. and more importantly than that, he genuinely seems to want everyone he meets to be able to shape up like him (he's a bit of a brickhouse)

-It's a neighborhood gym where most of the members are from the neighborhood. There is a super-friendly, super laid-back vibe that just makes working out there all the more enjoyable (if you like friendly and laid-back that is)

• Pros: Equipment, Training staff (and regular staff for that matter), asthetic and ambiance
• Cons: Hipsters are a take-em or leave-em kind of crowd

01/03/08

Overpriced, compared to others

by thunder79

For a yearly commitment contract, you pay $70/month minimum, and have to pay an extra $10/mo for towels, and $10/mo for a locker. There is not a good selection of machines and when they break, they take a long time to repair. There is a nice boxing set in the aerobics room, but good luck finding time when there are no aerobics. The TV's on the treadmills randomly work, but the brick-wall view is nice. The last gripe is that their web-site boasts a nice cafe, with internet and fresh-brewed coffee, and fruit/power drinks......uh, no. This is non-existent.

• Pros: Only decent gym that could be found in the area, so only option.
• Cons: Way overpriced, gearing towards the yuppies that have to go there.

12/22/07

Terrible

by frizzle

This is by far one of the worst gyms I've ever been a member at. There is one good thing, the gym has exposed brick. As everone knows exposed brick is very important when working out. The cardio machines are constantly broken, it takes months for this over priced, mediocre gym to fix the equipment. The gym has a poor selection of machines. There's not that much to choose from. But it does have nice, exposed brick. Also please be advised that the last 1/2 hour the gym is open you must work out in the dark. The management likes to turn off the lights so you know the gym is closing shorlty. This I feel is very rude and quite disrespectful. The gym is very, very expensive for what you get in return. All you get is avarage equipment, below average selections, rude mangement and broken equipment. You do however get exposed brick, and who doesn;t like looking at exposed brick for $74/month

07/08/07

Average

by vgemini

Clean and modern looking but really a throw back to the stone ages when it comes to cardio equipment. Maxim has the cheapest cardio equipment in existence. The cardio equipment manufactures must have paid Maxim to take the equipment off their hands! There are many treadmills and some elipticals. What is needed is some quality cardio equipment and more variety of the cardio equipment, like the other new gym in the neighborhood called SOMA has. SOMA is the same monthly price as MAXIM, but at SOMA the cardio equiment is varied and the TV's are integrated within the equipment. Additionally, they have top of the line equipment- like PRECOR not the cheap stuff like Truelife at Maxim. Since the monthly cost was about the same, I cancelled my Maxim membership and joined SOMA.

• Pros: Beautiful looking facility
• Cons: Owners are too concerned with making money and will not upgrade the current cheap cardio equipment to a higher standard such as Precor.