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Custom Fitness
Categories: Active Life Fitness & Instruction Trainers Active Life Fitness & Instruction Gyms Trainers, Gyms [Edit]
650 Castro St108
Mountain View, CA 94041
(650) 210-8018
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 9 am - 7 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
7 reviews for Custom Fitness
7 reviews in English
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Review from Petros M.
Mountain View, CA
1/4/2012
Custom Fitness is a small personal-training gym in downtown Mountain View, CA. It is a clean, friendly, well-located gym and has a decent complement of equipment. Dale, the owner, is friendly and always welcoming.
Make no mistake. This is not Gold's or 24-hour fitness. The selection of equipment is modest compared to gigantic full-service gyms. You can't play squash, you can't do water yoga, and you won't be playing Xbox games while rowing at Custom Fitness.
But in practice, it's not the equipment that matters the most, it's what you do with it. I have been training at Custom Fitness with personal trainer Dan Green for a little over 8 months (both endurance and strength training), and I can say unequivocally that he has changed my life (for the better!).
First of all, Dan is extremely knowledgeable. You ask him "why does it hurt here?" and he can rattle off how this muscle attaches in between that bone and that other one so that when you do exercise X with higher weights you have to turn your back just so to avoid injury. And so on and so forth. The guy knows his stuff, he knows a lot, and he knows what he doesn't know, as well. I have a good BS detector, and this guy does not BS. Ever.
Second of all, Dan is a competitive powerlifter himself (keeps bringing back medals whenever he competes). He's continuously reading about how to be a better competitor, he explores new techniques, new research, new ideas, and that shows in how aware and responsive he is to his clients' needs. He doesn't just tell you what to do to be healthy and strong, he does it as well. That gives me great confidence in his ability to do a good job for me. And I've been seeing the results.
Third, Dan is a mellow, approachable person. He is not a drill sergeant. He does not yell. He does not berate his clients to get them going. He is motivating without making his clients uncomfortable or shaming them into action (shaming is not, in general, a sustainable long-term strategy...).
Fourth, Dan works! He does not relax, he does not phone it in with long-term clients. Every workout I've done with him (5 or 6 times a week for the past 8 months) has worked me hard, has had a clear focus (what muscle group to strengthen, what kind of endurance circuits augment the strength training, etc.), has been interesting (there's always some new exercise or circuit he devises to work muscles in a different way), and has been comprehensive (working muscles to exhaustion, which is the key to growth).
Fifth, he gets results! He's helped me put on 10 lbs of lean muscle, lose 30 lbs of fat (a total loss of 20 lbs of weight) in the 8 months I've worked with him. I look better. I feel better. I am confident that I will get even better as long as I stick with it and entrust myself to him.
So, while I do wish there were people spritzing me with scented water while I work out there (joking, really!), Custom Fitness does perfectly well what I went there for: it gives me a clean, equipped place where I can train at my capacity.
I am absolutely ecstatic with my dumb luck to bump into Custom Fitness and Dan Green. Thanks to them, I'm in the best shape of my life in my late 30's, and will be even better when the big 40 rolls along. -
Review from Guy K.
Mountain View, CA
11/10/2010
The people at Custom Fitness are a class act. Dan is super knowledgeable and is a great motivator. I'm strong than I have ever been. I also appreciate how conscious he is of my many injuries.
If you are looking for a great gym and great group of people, this is the place. -
Review from Dianna P.
Mountain View, CA
7/2/2009
I have been training at Custom Fitness for about a year now and it has been great! I train with Jamie, and she has really been the perfect fit for me. She adapts to my level of fitness, but always pushes me to go further. She is positive and very friendly! I have seen great results and never miss a session!
The facility at Custom Fitness is great. It is clean and well maintained, and the equipment is new and top of the line. I love working out here because it is never too crowded. It is also very convenient; located right off of Castro with easy parking.
Although I only workout with Jamie, the other clients here are diverse in age and level of fitness. I would recommend this facility to anyone looking to workout with a personal trainer. -
Review from Jessa D.
Los Altos, CA
11/5/2009
Dale, the owner, is a fabulous trainer and Custom Fitness a friendly relaxing place. Hip pain was waking me up every night and the doctor said arthritis and age were the problems...the solution: strengthen my core.
After one session, Dale had assessed what was wrong and started me on exercises to help...that first night I had no pain and now I can absolutely control the problem thanks to her.
But the BEST thing is her technique. I have a bad neck, a bad shoulder, and weak knees (let's just say I'm very active, but getting older!!). Dale is so knowledgeable that she is able to switch around the exercises to hit the muscle groups without making anything worse while still strengthening my body. I'd recommend Custom Fitness to anyone who wants caring people interested in making you the best you can be physically....plus they all make it a fun hour! -
Review from surai j.
8/26/2010
I'm notorious for cancelling on my personal trainers. After the 1st few sessions, I get bored, lose interest, and start flaking, especially at the last minute. I've never cancelled a session with Karen due to boredom and I've been here a year. I even RUSH to get there 30 minutes late, risk getting a parking ticket, just to reap the rewards of a session here, nomatter how short it is.
If you want some personalized attention to address YOUR specific aims and issues, this is the best place I've found. I've worked with trainers at 24 hr, equinox, ymca and the place in mp that I can't remember the name of. The price at custom fitness is mid-range (group circuit start at $25/hour and one to one sessions start at $68). The best part is people. Dale and her trainers have found the secret to making clients come back.
After working with so many trainers, I notice that Karen is different in key ways. You know how at your first meeting, you tell a trainer your goals? Karen hears me and I know that because the excercises have to do with the problems I raised. Somehow my goals seem to get lost in translation with previous trainers and I end up lifting 360 pounds on the leg press machine (why do I need to do that again?) but not being able to put the 45 lb plate on the machine without help. Secondly, Karen will initiate corrective excercises specific to weaknesses that she observes during my sessions. I'm so use to trainers standing around and just counting the reps, especially after I've been with them for a few months. After a year, Karen is still coming up with new stuff for me to work on and I see results. So I come back, wondering what she'll have me fix next. It's beyond what other trainers have done. They tend to merely increase reps, pounds or speed,creating a very predictable (and boring) routine that I find hard to sustain over time. Finally, other trainers that I've been with for a year get tired of pointing out my cheating ways so they let me get away with it. I am the master of finding short cuts to excercises. After a few sessions, they just stand beside me and pretend that they don't know that I'm cheating. Not Karen, after a year, she's still on my case about EVERY excercise and she won't let me do my shortcuts, ever! If you see my sessions with her, you'd think I was a new client, being correctted so much. But a cheater like me needs that cuz if I get away with short cut excercises, I won't feel/see results and I'll use that as a reason to give up. See how the mind of a cheater works? :-) Karen is the right person to train me because she's constantly looking for ways to change things up, improve you, help you feel and look better.
Another lady lost 15 lbs in only a few months after coming to the group circuit classes lead by trainer Jamie. I've lost 20 lbs through the personal training and group circuit workouts, in addition to cardio that I do on my own. At $25 a session, custom fitness offers a great deal for those looking to shed some pounds. -
Review from Paul C.
Oakland, CA
11/2/2009
I started working out at Custom Fitness years ago when I was rehabilitating a back problem. I worked in the same building, and Dale allowed me to use the gym for free to do my basic floor exercises -- stretching and exercise ball work.
When my back got strong enough, I started up weekly personal training sessions with Dan and the occasional circuit class. Dan is very conscious of my back problem and has worked to develop a good routine that keeps me strong and fit without flaring up my back. Custom Fitness has played a major role in my overall health and fitness in the last few years. -
Review from Harriet B.
Palo Alto, CA
3/2/2010
The Kaiser ad says something about wanting to be old when I grow up. I actually want to be healthy when I grow up!
I'm old enough to be on Social Security now and am healthy, thanks to Dale at Custom Fitness. Over the many years that I've entrusted my body to her, I have had incidents during my life to cause a sore hip, sprained ankle, dislocated shoulder, and bruised foot. (Am I accident prone???) Dale has helped me with every ailment, restoring my functionality and fitness while looking after the balance and strength of the rest of my body. She recommends what steps I should be taking between my visits with her as well.
I've also worked with Dan, who was also very helpful.
Well worth the money!
