FITNESS SF - Soma

Personally a fan of this fitness sf location.

It has a wide range of machinery and isn't overcrowded early in the morning or mid day, or weekends. Machinery is clean, well maintained and has enough to go around. The only time it's really a wait time is 6pm weekdays which is to be expected at most/all gyms.


The massaging chairs and hypervolt station is a nice finishing touch and it has been incorporated in the daily routine.

Free parking lot is also splendid, makes it that much more appealing to come to the gym.

This place is getting too corporate.
Right now they are playing 70's hair rock, despite the fact that the crowd is mostly gay men and moms.
When I recommended they change the music, the gym attendants said they weren't empowered to handle music choices - that was handled by - you guessed it - corporate.

This one is my favorite because of the saunas and massive parking lot. The cardio place is open so it doesn't feel stuffy.

They don't enforce dress code. Dudes walking around wearing literally just underwear, or other inappropriate attire. Decent facility and equipment. Specialty bars and different brands of machines. Lots of platforms and racks but oversold. Parking, have to wait in line for a spot, then inside wait in line for a platform. They use hammer strength and the spacing is too wide so it's useless for setting the safeties to the right height. Bad culture around reracking weights and wiping down benches. Music is not good. I keep getting flat tires from nails in and around the parking area. Like at least 6x got a flat tire in 1yr. There are usually homeless encampments lining the perimeter.

I've been going to this gym for 2 years now and I can say it's very well-equipped with tons of equipment for powerlifting, bodybuilding, and cardio. In comparison to the Transbay location (also a great gym), this gym feels much more open with the higher ceilings, and it also has a greater variety and quantity of strength training tools. Sure it gets crowded during peak times (weekdays from 4:30-7:30pm) but that's to be expected. The gym is big enough that you can always find what you need, even when it's packed. It also has a parking lot across the street which is very convenient for those who plan to drive here. Another thing to note - ever since Clean Bites took charge of the smoothie bar, there's been an uptick in quality. Overall a wonderful facility and I highly recommend coming here to work out.

I purchased a membership and 24 training sessions ($3k total paid) at the end of May to start resistance training/body building. In the 17 sessions I've had with my Master Trainer so far, a bench press has been available only once. Another time he improvised by having me hold a Smith Machine while he brought over a dumbbell bench. My training session times have varied from 10 a.m. on a Saturday to 4 p.m. on Fridays to 6 p.m. on some other days.

The Trainers have only 55 minutes to get your workout completed, and the unavailability of basic equipment like a bench press has made me return to my condo's gym. This location is very high-volume, and if you're on your own without time constraints then you can wait around (drop a gym bag next to the machine that you want to reserve). I honestly don't know what I'll do with my remaining training sessions. I wish I could at least donate them to charity. I joked with the Trainer once that we should go outside on the sidewalk for push-ups and pull-ups, but that's my honest feeling about this gym.

The customer isn't always right at Fitness SF SOMA.

This morning, our regular staffer was out, leaving us with a substitute who decided we needed "new music."

When I asked if he could change it, he asked what would be better.

"Something that the crowd of 40 and 50-year-old gay men and housewives would like," I offered.

"I'll look, but I don't like hearing the same thing every day," he said.

I was too dumbstruck to alert the sub that his very utterance had turned customer service on its head. I am a dues-paying member. In essence, I am paying to hear whatever I like every day.

This is not unusual for this gym. Whenever they have a substitute, the music is off. The last time I complained, a manager told me they were trying to play "new music."

Oh, yeah? Do you think people in their 40s and 50s who work out at 5 a.m. are thirsting for that hot, new, undiscovered sound?

If that's the case, why not play Troye Sivan? He's a relative newcomer.

Or... if he's too much of an ingenue, perhaps Beyonce's "Cowboy Carter?" I've yet to hear that in my workout mix.

Ultimately, music is an important part of a gym's vibe--and that vibe should match the crowd, not the taste of one staff member trying to "educate" the rest of us on his music preferences.

Good customer service should recognize that.

And good management should insist on it.

I thought it would be appropriate for me to update my review. First and foremost, I'm still very much a FIVE star fan. When COVID happened, Fitness SF rolled out an outdoor gym that allowed members to get back! Was it weird at first? Sure. But isn't it fair to say that 2020/COVID was a weird crazy time? Gym life is back to normal and I appreciate the staff, size of the gym, gym cleansers/bottles provided, towels, amenities, etc. Bonus feature - DOG FRIENDLY.

They are updating the equipment which is pretty awesome!

I find the complaints on here hilarious...like the person who complained about the water pressure and hairdryer. Seriously? If you want the fancy pants stuff, go to Equinox and pay 300+ a month. Or complaints about the gym being packed during peak hours (4pm-7pm) that's pretty much every single gym in the City.

I will agree that there are crappy inconsiderate and annoying members (won't point them out here, we all know who they are) but I don't think there's much the management can do about them.

Great gym with variety of equipment and clean environment. Also, love the natural sunlight! :)

Sooooo many squat racks and awesome clean equipment. Clean bathrooms too and great protein shake booth.