The Athletic Playground Reviews

Lots of fun equipment, welcoming instructors, availability of classes, a focus on safety

My favorite place of both learning and community. I will recommend this place to everyone looking for some amazing skill- and community-building.

Classes expertly scheduled and run. Teachers very knowledgeable, prompt, and safety-oriented.

Made some amazing friends here for my life. Can t wait to visit again now that i have moved away. There s nothing like this place and these people.

Great place to have fun and exercice for the the little monkeys and the grown up ones! I did AcroYoga and handstands class already. Can t wait to do aerials!

My daughter is the youngest, least experienced student in the Sunday 4:30 aerial class, but Caitlyn Kilgore still manages to teach her skills at her level while also juggling teaching up to 5 other older, more experienced girls so they all learn things within the one hour class. And she was understanding when we were late b/c the seat belt in our car got stuck and I lost 10 minutes dealing with that; took some of the stress away. My daughter has only gone a few times but loves it! She positively beams when Caitlyn teaches her a new trick.

Very friendly staff. They have a dance studio at the top room. I wish they had a bigger single room like head over heels.

Great variety of challenging classes, relaxed atmosphere, & knowledgeable instructors. The emphasis on functional mobility and body awareness is a great compliment to my triathletic endurance activities. :)

I've never been to such a welcoming gym. It's like the Cheers of gyms.

Athletic Playground is the best! Love the way the teachers are able to teach skills and technique in an environment devoid of the tight strictures of "professional aspiration" -- which is not to say the teachers don't know what they're doing (they do, and they know it well), but rather that they understand that movement-based skills are better acquired when the motivating factor is simple jouissance, pleasure, enjoyment, rather than competition.

This is my second review...now entering my sixth year of training at the Athletic Playground (AP). I can truly say that it feels like a giant extended family. Not only are all the teachers friendly and approachable but also highly skilled & knowledgeable athletes. As a 48 year old, higher than the median age of attendees, I do not feel any age discrimination either. Everything is geared to personal challenges and goals. You progress at your own rate and not a week goes by where I don t feel I m making slight improvements in my technique, flexibility, or strength. Since making AP my go to place for physical activity I have hardly set foot in a standard gym. I hope to continue learning and training at AP for many years to come!

The instructors are really great. Very enthusiastic and helpful. The atmosphere is encouraging, accepting, and goofy.

My child is here every weekend taking parkour, and I often take stretching classes. It's a relaxed but well-run place, where all the teachers and students take responsibility for themselves, each other, and the facility. Definitely recommend.

Variety of classes and times, awesome teachers, open play, clean facility, focus on safety and respect, non-competitive community feel :)

Unique place to monkey around, face fears, and sweat your ass off!

Its a really good place and I learned a lot of flips and tricks here

Great facilities and teachers supporting an amazing community who are welcoming and helpful

Athletic Playground has fabulous instructors and staff, all of whom are fun, knowledgeable and inviting.

This place have changed my life I love all the classes. But my favorite is aerials.
The environment there is amazing . You gotta try

Took my boys to try Parkore and acrobatics and they loved it!!! Said they had loads of fun. The staff were super helpful. We are visiting from overseas and wish we had something like this at home. Only improvement to make would be to offer better casual rates for one off visitors. At $30 per person for a weekly pass, this didn't suit us. The staff were able to assist however and gave us a better deal.

The whole family can take classes at AP. My daughter has been enjoying Adv Monkey University, my son loves Walker s parkour class and any class that Homer teaches. Now that I have become familiar with the process oriented environment I am loving all the classes I take at AP! Yesterday, I took Kate s level 1 aerial class for the first time and I have to give her teaching ability a huge shout out. She is an ace at differentiating instruction. She taught me a piece of what I would need to know for the much more difficult sequence she was working on with the more experienced students. This made me feel so comfortable being new and less intimidated being inexperienced and like I was part of the group. Coach Kate is a gem. I am proud of myself because I could barely climb a silk 8 weeks ago, but since I ve been attending monkey conditioning with Kelton and Shira and acro with Colin I ve been getting so much stronger and it was so much easier! I m also happy I can do a proper cartwheel. Being in my 40 s it s very important that I stay fit and get strong! We drive to AP from Castro Valley because we love it!!!

Adult aerial L1 classes - love it! More playful than improv, more fun than crossfit. Excellent instruction.

The class was super fun. High energy and very playful. The desk staff was very friendly and helpful and the instructor (Zach) was super sweet and tons of fun. Want to play? check it out!

Great staff and facility. Intro deal was awesome for trying out new classes

Absolutely love it here - the instructors are all super professional and informed, and wonderful to be around.

The guy at the front desk was so friendly and helpful.
The coach was amazing with my two girls, extremely patient and explained every thing to them in a calm and reassuring voice.
The bathroom was clean and so was the room the girls practiced in.
It's not a huge place and it's kind of in a weird location but I liked that is wasn't a super fancy facility just trying to get money out of you. You could tell the employees really liked their jobs and had a true passion for teaching the classes.
My girls had the best time and begged to go back the next day,

I'm definitely signing up and will be joining notm classes!

The energy of Athletic Playground is so positive and welcoming! I've only had one class so far and I'm already hooked! Zach was such an enthusiastic coach! He described and demonstrated the acrobatics in a comprehensive way. It still took several tries to correct my form but I felt supported and joyful the entire time!! And Eventually I nailed that cartwheel down the giant cheese wedge! ;P I'm looking forward to returning this Sunday for parkour!

My twin boys had their first parkour experience with Coach Maya and assistant and they both loved it!!! They're always tumbling and rolling around at home so I wanted to find a place where they can do just that and have fun. We will definitely be back.

AP has teachers who are truly passionate about movement! You see them pop into each other s classes for the pure joy of it. That wonderful energy is contagious, attracts great people, and makes me want to play there more!

It's a little expensive, but the equipment and creativity of the classes are outstanding.

I love the classes at Athletic Playground. They usually leave me feeling absolutely destroyed, in a good way. All the instructors have been great, and if I am around the bay area on the weekend without any specific plans, my default is to take a class at Athletic Playground.

Everyone was so nice there, the teacher was amazingly helpful and a great instructor plus inspiration, 10/10 will go back

A happy place to improve one's handstand and movement skills.

One of the best facilities I ve been to! Highly recommend

Excellent Parkour workouts and the ability to practice in open play when times work out for you.

My children consistently enjoy classes here. they get wonderful exercise, while always having fun- a rare & priceless combination.

It s a lot of fun, and I ve never felt bad or judged for being horrible at most of the activities. I ve also got hard core ADHD and a tendency to talk, which other students and teachers have been great about tolerating while creating clear boundaries for me. Often in larger classes, more experienced students will jump in to help walk me through sequences that I forgot several seconds after hearing them. The classes I ve attended seem to have a very group oriented goal of success rather than individuals focusing on purely themselves.

My teachers have also all been super attentive and have noticed physical issues in me that I wouldn t have noticed myself, particularly given my generally sedentary lifestyle. I m sure that the steps I m taking now will greatly improve my quality of life in my later years, which is something I m grateful to the staff for noticing.

Also really cool that there s a PT somewhat associated with the place. Jaimie is super nice and has thus far tolerated all of my uneducated/nonsensical questions. My lack of awareness about my own body is impressive, if not sad, and students and teachers alike are down to help me find different bones and inform me if I m accidentally bending my joints in a creepy way.

While I enjoy all the classes I take, I d like to specially mention Homer s 12pm Wednesday mixed apparatus class. It s a good class to get a taste of what each aerial apparatus is like, and there s all kinds of switching around which has incredible appeal to my ADHD lifestyle.

This place is an amazing workout and a really supportive environment. Weirdos who want to have fun and meet other alternative spirits, come out!

I loved Level 1 Aerial Skills with Katherine-- she's hilarious and amazing and I learned a lot. I'll be back!!!

Great Classes. Great energy. A place my son, who is on the wild side, can feel safe and welcome.

Loved the monkey conditioning class. Great workout in a fun and welcoming environment.

Great teachers, and a variety of movement classes to take. I have learned so much already in my short time being a member and have had so much fun each time!

Instructors are great, and classes are fun and motivating.

LOVE the classes so far! I've taken a couple weeks of flexibility and level 1 aerials. The pace is great and the instructors make sure all levels are engaged and attended to. As a fairly non-flexible beginner in the aerial arts, I feel very welcome and energized to get more bendy and strong. It's also very inspiring to see the more experienced people working and training. They are all very willing to share their journey and offer encouragement. Great place!