System Fitness

The atmosphere is that of a family, members & staff treat each other like family. This is the gym where you truly are welcome and truly belong. Staff are committed to helping you meet your full potential. Through nutrition and exercise. with two separate levels, the bigger guys interested in body building and power lifting mainly stay down stairs, while beginners and people interested in using machines have an entire upper floor to them selves, And with the multitude of state of the art equipment, you will have a hard time finding a flaw with this gym.

I joined this gym in January because I moved to the neighbourhood. I was coming from Fit 4 Less so I had low expectations.
I like that this gym has a women’s only workout area and that they offer a variety of classes. I’d also say that its a fairly clean gym and in my average 1 – 2 hour workout I usually see the cleaning lady several times going around the gym and locker room sweeping up and picking up used paper towel off the floor.
The gym has a play room for kids and have day care hours for parents who want to get in a workout but have their kid with them. Call to check their day care hours though because the other day a man was turned away with his young daughter because he’d gotten the times wrong and the day care wasn’t open.
Occasionally they do not have an adequate amount of free weights in the women’s only area but I borrow some from the stretching area and bring them back when I’m done.
One thing that always grosses me out about the gym though is it has pretty poor ventilation (I mean it is in a basement) and so you can often see liquid dripping from the ceiling and coating the walls and I’m certain it is not just water from the showers… the walls are sweaty.
They were pretty good to me when I lost my job and I had to cancel the personal training I had signed up for before my first session and I was thankful for that.
The perfect time to sign up is a month or so before the new year because they slash their monthly prices to entice people to join. If you join shortly after January you’ll be paying a pretty penny.
I think the gym could use a face lift, some fresh paint and maybe try and figure out the ventilation issues but overall a gym that has everything I need.

We were members for a couple years. We originally joined because they have childminding.
Childminding — So, this is where our problem was. We had our 3^rd baby in August. When I went back to the gym with her things got bad. One night I was doing a class and another parent came to get me — she said my infant had been crying for over 20 minutes in a corner by herself. The girl who was working (alone) was too busy to pick her up. I went right up — her diaper was a mess and her bottle wasn’t touched. She was 6 weeks old. Not held, not changed, not fed. There were WAY more kids than capacity for one caregiver.
And when they say they will bring in another, they mean pull the front desk girl or a janitor to come in. The evening staff was often quite young and inexperienced. One girl even told me my daughter was the first baby she ever held!
Ok, so the incident that ended it for us: I saw through the childminding window that a lady I didn’t know was walking around with my baby. I saw her kissing her face, bouncing her — she was NOT an employee or anyone I knew. They were over capacity AGAIN and had a RANDOM person help out. This random also tried to stop me from taking my baby. I was LIVID. When I spoke to the manager I was told they were not overcapacity because a janitor was in the room. Yep… just sitting on the floor, being an extra person, but not helping with the children. We were given excuses and never a proper apology. The safety of my child was ignored and that is absolutely horrible — especially when you pay extra for the service.
I was notified that the manager made a change to «capacity» — there is no more cut off number for the amount of kids. They will just pull more staff off of the floor. Dangerous.
From there the manager said we could freeze our membership — not cancel because I would have to give 30 days notice — yep, even though THEY were neglectful in the care of my infant. Although our membership was frozen — they still charged us. Getting a refund has taken 6 phone calls with promises of a return call and nothing. Finally on day 6 I get an email back.
If you are looking for a gym with childminding — avoid this place. I know MANY women who left this gym for that exact reason.

I’ve been at System Fitness on and off for the last seven years now. I am really impressed with their overall fitness knowledge. Everyone is super friendly and really make it a welcoming and fun environment to work out in. The classes are challenging for all levels of fitness. Tony’s kettlebell class is a highlight! I’ve worked out with a few of the trainers and they are amazing! They motivate, inspire and encourage their clients to reach their goals. The gym is also very competitively priced which is very difficult to find in the area.
One of the biggest reasons I love the gym so much is there childcare facility.
System Fitness has some of the best childcare professionals working at their gym– most of them have an extensive background in ECE and/​or have kids of their own.
The daycare has gone above and beyond on more than one occasion to accommodate my needs.
Alicia and her team genuinely care about the kids and are nurturing and attentive. They come up with different and fun learning activities for the kids to do everyday (ie. arts and crafts). My son begs for us to go to the gym daily so that he can play with Alicia and her team. A safe, fun and loving environment for your children. It’s nice to know you can get a good workout in and not worry about your kids while doing so!

Is nothing sacred in this city?
The first gym I joined in Toronto was Fitness One in Dufferin Mall. It was so gross.
Then I joined the 99 Sudbury and THAT gym was clean but a bit too small… but overall good. Didn’t too much care for the resident dog; he looked like an angry pig. I like dogs, but not that one… not the ugly faced ones. Walked by the ugly dog every day and pretended like I didn’t see him – except when the owners were around. I had to be a HUGE phoney when they were around and tell lies, like, «oh your dog is beautiful!» and «he’s not hideous at all!»
THEN I moved and joined System Fitness (corporate special) and it wasn’t just good; it was great. But unfortunately, we’re coming full circle with my Toronto gym experiences and I’ll tell you why.
The ambient stench of Fitness One still haunts me to this day. I smelt that same stank tonight when I walked into System Fitness. Like a punch in the face, I could smell the vaporized body sweat of the Hot Yoga class being let out. That is the absolute WORST time to go to this gym. It’d be less disturbing if it was a women’s only class, maybe then I wouldn’t gag when I saw a couple of big dutty men exiting the room. Knowing that I was inhaling their exertions; their vaporized sweat was just nasty. The fact that there are no windows in the gym is just nasty.
The Hot Yoga class makes the entire gym stink (moreso) and the pipes above sweat onto you, your ipod and/​or your water bottle. EW. Another pet peeve of mine is that the cleaning lady has swept my feet TWICE while I was doing dead lifts. Like, COME ON. you coulda picked anywhere else in the gym to sweep!!! To make matters worse, all of the positive things I wrote in my original review were a non-​factor tonight. Broken TVs, No wifi and the change rooms smell like old mop water was used; it wreaks nowadays. Blech.
Get it together, I feel like Fitness One’s energy is seeping into this place. If I wanted to be a part of a ratchet gym I woulda signed up for Planet Fitness. $ 10/​mth + close proximity to Dufferin mall will bring about only the highest form of ratchet and system appears to be going down that road…
Disappointed
3 stars

It’s been a few months since someone has written a review on this place so here’s a more recent-​ish perspective on this place.
If you live in the neighbourhood this is one of the few options available for you, in fact if you were hoping for a big-​box gym that gives you a little bit of everything this is really your ONLY option.
So when I moved in the neighbourhood and was in search for a place to supplement my regular fitness classes I felt like I had no choice but to join System Fitness.
All that being said I’ve been a member since the fall of 2014 and here are my thoughts:
PROS:
* Proximity — this won’t apply to everyone but I live within walking distance of this place and that really is a plus for any gym
* Equipment — they have excellent variety for both cardio and weight lifting with separate areas designated for each (ie. free weights, machines etc.)
* Price — they offer much of the same amenities as your neighbourhood Goodlife but unless your have a corporate discount or have been a lifelong member this will most certainly clock under your typical gym membership
CONS:
* Shower Stalls — The photos in the website are deceiving in actual life the shower stalls are dank and the water pressure is miserable, this may not be a concern if you have no intent to shower but now I feel like I don’t even have the option.
* Toiletries — Another harp on their locker rooms… but most gym offer at the very least complimentary body washes in the shower stalls
* Natural Lighting — I know this is hard to achieve when you build your gym underground but sometimes working out here is a bit depressing…
If a Goodlife were to open in the neighbourhood I would probably make the switch but until then this will have to do.

I been through many gyms this one fits me best by far. Lots of classes, huge weight room, sauna and steam room friendly staff really superb place in my opinion.

I’ve been a member of this gym for about 8 years and I have no desire to leave or switch gyms. I find MY membership fee decent – that might be due to the fact that the fee I pay is the fee I signed up with. I’m pretty sure the fees have increased since then, and I have no idea what the current going rate is. I do find that the hot yoga membership add-​in fee is a bit extreme/​high. I had to join an independent yoga studio that was more decently priced.
The gym is currently in the process of replacing old equipment with brand new.
The change room/​bathroom is decent. I really don’t know what all the complaining is about. Sure, a toilet or shower may be out of operation every now and then, but I’m pretty sure this happens at all gyms.
The complain that I do have is the size of the women’s only workout area. The room was recently decreased in order to make space for an office. The room was small enough to begin with and now it’s even smaller. If the gym is busy, you can expect to be scrambling for a little space to work out in or be expecting to walk over people that may happen to be working out on the floor. Also, I’m glad to report that they FINALLY replaced the absolutely disgusting carpet that was in there with black rubber (or whatever it is) flooring.
I find that the gym is always clean. I know some reviewers have complained that the gym is dirty, but I find it to be the exact opposite. You want to talk dirty? Try working out at the gym where my trainer works out of. Now, that’s dirty. Layers of dust on the machines, old/​broken cardio equipment, smelly washrooms, dirty sinks. Need I say more?
I would definitely recommend this gym to anyone. There are a variety of classes to choose from: kettle bell, spin, yoga, hot yoga, pilates, and more.

Good facilities, reasonable price. But for a gym that extends two floors below ground, they should really offer wifi.

I have been to gyms in many places and cant generally fault this place. Sure there are little things that niggle everyone at any gym but its pretty good.
We have been on a PT plan for a few weeks with Joe. What I like best is the variety of our sessions: you always do something different!
The programme is really an all-​rounder as Kelly advises on a food plan and monitors body progress (fat %, measurements etc).

i like the place as it has a good vibe. people are friendly and they have started invest in upgrades and added on yoga classes. been a member there for 3 years. it gets busy around 5 – 7 but all other times are good.

System Fitness is a decent gym but there are better deals out there. For the neighbourhood it’s in though, it’s pretty much the only option as there are no big box gyms (Goodlife, Extreme, YMCA, etc.). Actually, System Fitness used to be a chain called Super Fitness until the late 90s.
THE PROS:
— a rotating stepmill. This is a rarity in gyms and I’m so glad System has one! It’s miles above the stairmaster as it simulates actual stair climbing because you have to lift your feet. It’s HARD. Usually I re-​enact a CN Tower climb and try to walk 147 flights if I can. Takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
— the classes. In particular, Natalli from SYTYCD Canada’s hip hop dance class, which I’ve been taking for years, is a colossal ego boost and tons of fun. She teaches music video choreography and basic dance steps in a non-​threatening, super fun environment and makes you feel great about yourself! The abs portion (as you can imagine looking at her abs) is deadly. Almost literally. The yoga classes are also good but there’s a lot of traffic on the lower level and it can be too noisy instead of relaxing.
— good personal trainers and packages
THE CONS:
— the place is under constant renovations. I’ve been a member for six years and the women’s changerooms are still seemingly unfinished.
— a bit pricey considering the hours (it’s not open late enough on weekends for my liking) and the lack of functioning sauna.
— the shower area is a bit scary. Actually, the fact that it’s in a basement entirely is scary.
— this last point isn’t the gym’s fault, but there’s way too much socializing. In particular, there are some people who show up to the gym wearing jeans and hoodies and then lean on the equipment chatting up their buddies or talking on the phone. We are here to work out, people. Stop monopolizing the weights area and go home.

Fat has never been the new thin, and those who claim it is are under a Twinkie-​delusion.
So.
Let’s face facts. In the winter, when things get too hairy outside to run (people who run in the winter are robots, not people), you’d like to join a gym. And sure, System Fitness is one of the better independent gyms to join. However, the fees are atrocious! At all gyms! And you have to sign for like, a year, so when the sun does come back out, you still feel like you have to go to the gym.
BAH!
So.
I wouldn’t normally write about a gym but I wanted to let you in on one good thing about System Fitness that other gyms don’t honour. It will let you out of your year contract (NO CANCELLATION FEE) if you move out of the neighbourhood. This is what the woman at the desk told me. And now you know. Spread forth the word.

It’s been about 6 months since I joined System Fitness and for the price and equipment, it’s amazing!
I pay $ 37 a month which is way cheaper than what I was paying at Eclipse Fitness at Yonge & Eglinton — $ 86!
Maria teaches the best yoga class with incense, soothing music and mediation — you have to get there 15 min early for a good spot.
The cardio kickboxing is intense but such a good workout. Your thighs will burn from all the squats and my arms are much leaner thanks to the hooks, crossovers, jabs and upper cuts.
For all the classes, fairly good equipment, separate women’s workout area and space — it’s a deal!