Denton A. Cooley Center 1620 McElderry Street, Baltimore, MD 21205

"I'm new to the gym so maybe I'm naive but at first visit this place looks awesome and huge. There's three different rooms for weights: circuit room, general weight room, and women's only room. So I'm highly doubtful there will be any trouble finding a machine to use. For the "huge" part, this Center has 4 levels. One has a track. One has a court for basketball/volleyball. Another floor for the weight rooms. This is a dream for a newbie gym goer, all I could ever ask for. Also the staff was really nice, even giving me a tour of the building because it was my first time going."

"Honestly, I would never use this gym if I were not a student. I've seen more accidents because of poor equipment than at any other gym. A man was taken down by a barbell because the base wasn't properly anchored to the ground. Another almost took out a mirror because of the old squat rack. It's too tight. The layout makes no sense."

"I have been going to the Cooley Center gym since the last 8 months. The entire staff are very friendly, resourceful, and helpful. The gym conducts group sessions on the weekdays from 5:30pm - 6:15pm. These sessions vary from spinning, battlerops, kettlebells, and bootcamp. Sara, the Director of the Cooley Center is a phenomenal person. She goes out of her way to make sure that everything in the gym is up and running. I had never gone to any spin classes before I took her spin class. She was so nice and cordeal to me. She taught me how to go about with the different levers on the bike and how to get the most out of her spin class. I would totally recommend taking her class. Tavon is a fitness instructor who teaches bags and ropes group sessions on Tuesdays. I love his class. A lot of skips, battlerops, bags and ropes, and just cardio with small breaks in between. This 45 min workout is worth a treat. Diane teaches the kettle bells class on Wednesdays. Simply amazing. She got me into swings and it's one of the best workouts I have ever had. She is a very good teacher and extremely fit. Very knowledgeable and takes her time to teach her students how to perform the right exercises. Ali teaches the bootcamp class on Thursdays. He will make your work for it. He will push you to the limit, you will cry for pain, and yet you will come back the next week begging for more. Phenomenal guy and a phenomenal class. After attending these sessions for 6 months, I started taking personal training session with one of the fitness trainers (Tavon Copes). Tavon is very professional and organized trainer, who meets the clients requirements. When I first told him that I wanted to get fit and wanted to take sessions with him, he first had a nice phone conversation with me regarding my fitness goals. He has a very holistic approach towards training and got me into a very healthy fitness routine, which involved having a balanced diet to sleeping regularly for 8 hours a day. He completely changed my concept of fitness and training. I initially only trained with him once a week but now I like his sessions so much that I do the sessions 2-3 times a week. He targets my lower body, upper body, and core. I have noticed myself getting muscular, getting fitter, and running faster. Tavon is always full of energy and he caters his training sessions towards each individual. Every workout session involves different exercises, so that the body does not get used to the same set of exercises. He has been a positive influence. He has become more of a friend now to me and I enjoy every session with him. I totally recommend anyone who is either trying to lose weight, trying to get fit, or just simply wants to have a healthy lifestyle, to definitely workout with him. I have had a pleasant experience with all the professional trainers at Cooley Center and would strongly encourage anyone to definitely take out 45 mins of your day to go workout with these wonderful trainers."

"A little on the smaller side, but basically had anything a gym rat would need. Peak times of course are always a problem given the size but if you go late a night or early in the morning you rarely have a problem. Staff was always super nice and generally awesome!"

"Great gym - has everything you need, even if it's crowded there will be a machine open and everyone is friendly. They have good hours, a nice locker room with showers and a women's only cardio room in addition to a general weight room. Downsides - they charge extra for fitness classes, long-term lockers are impossible to get unless you want a mini one in the basement and there is no sauna."