Athletic Playground

Fantastic experience: The classes are small and top-notch! And practicing on their padded floors is a real treat.

Fantastic experience: I've been training here for years and I guess never left a review. I love the Athletic Playground! All of the classes here are fantastic! I've specifically done a lot of aerial classes here and although The teachers have come and gone over the years they always find experienced and friendly teachers. The community, staff both and other students, is warm and welcoming no matter your skill/experience level. I especially recommend Homer's classes. He teaches a bit of everything - kids aerial, adult aerial, tango and I think handstands now, too!

Fantastic experience: Friendly atmosphere and my son really enjoyed his first class.

Fantastic experience: My son loves it, he says: It is so much fun! Walker is a great teacher. I have learned to do flips!

Fantastic experience: Great instructors, my kid loves it

Fantastic experience: The studio offers a variety of interesting classes. Instructors are very good and personable. The environment is cool and very friendly

Fantastic experience: I love the classes here. This is the coolest place in the bay to nurture the part of yourself that wants to do cool things, go upside down, learn new skills, and have a ton of fun. I've enjoyed every teacher that I've had. I've made a lot of progress here. I wish they had classes in the evening on weekends since I can't do morning and mid day classes. And one other downside is that class packs expire, so if you don't use your credits quickly enough you might waste them or have to take classes that you didn't really intend on doing

Fantastic experience: I love the Tuesday hammock class - the primary teacher is phenomenal. She knows so much about physical therapy and caring for the body, and she provides new and challenging sequences every week that are flexible for different skill levels.

Positive experience: On the good side I do think the teachers are nice and there are upsides to the flexibility allowed in enrolling for adult classes. I've been going here for a while and I haven't really had major issues with safety or classes and I've been going for a few months now. That being said, I have noticed an issue with class levels and lack of structure. Because classes are drop in you don't have to worry about missing part of a series. However that also means that instruction can be all over the place. I have been in introductory/beginner classes where a significant number of the students are more advanced swinging the class harder with less time given to a beginner skill. A mixed level (or beginner/intermediate) class might be based around a specific skill, and if you do not have that skill it can be hit or miss if the teacher will take the time to work with you and troubleshoot or give an alternative sequence. If they do give an alternative sequence then it could be a well thought out progression to work towards the skill or it's something they pulled out at the last minute and they don't spend a lot of time on it. Broadly speaking I wish the teachers of mixed level classes were more consistent with planning out alternative material and spending a fair amount of time with everyone in the class.

Fantastic experience: I've lived many places in the US and having a studio with beginner adult classes for all these skills is just an incredible resource. Plus knowledgeable teachers and a welcoming vibe!

Fantastic experience: The teachers were so fun, kind, and accomodating to Beverly, who was brand new to aerial arts and the youngest in the class. She loved it, despite her risk aversion, and was able to make progress throughout the three days. We'll definitely come back. We'd love more aerial classes and intensives for her age (5).

Fantastic experience: Welcoming environment and cool classes.

Fantastic experience: Woop! Padded walls, mats and hanging ropes, silks and rings: this place has all the freedom for kids who need to move and staff who communicate clearly and sensitively with children about safety and acrobatics. (Looks like they also have cool adult classes though I can't speak to those.)

Fantastic experience: The classes at AP are life-changing! Today I did a spontaneous handstand while teaching class, right up against the blackboard and balanced! Thank you Mike!!

Fantastic experience: Great place for kids to learn physical skills. My daughter learned how to rope-climb, vault, and take flips off a mini-trampoline in one lesson. Excellent instructors, excellent space.

Fantastic experience: The Soft Acrobatic series is so fun! Mike leads us through movement patterns individually and then combine them into mini-flows, so that by the end of class we put everything together into a slightly longer sequence. Mike is excellent at teaching and giving corrections, and everyone is very encouraging so that we get to feel a sense of community and belonging.

Fantastic experience: nice place for chireidn

Fantastic experience: Nice

Fantastic experience: Allie is a great teacher!

Fantastic experience: My 5 year old LOVED the parkour and acrobatics camp. She was drawn in right away, and had a lot of fun and learned to do some really cool things. She's normally pretty risk-adverse and cautious so I was really happy that she tried some things outside of her comfort zone, even if they took a few attempts.

Fantastic experience: Great place for aerial arts and other circus training. Has a small parking lot. Surrounding neighborhood seems very safe.

Fantastic experience: Great place to take children who are sensory-seeking and enjoy movement. This is a safe space for my son to get all of his wiggles out and enjoy other children. The instructors have been kind and welcoming.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely love working with Brittany and Coco in this Friday night hammock class! They break everything down with great explanations and detail. Can't wait to continue taking classes in this series!

Fantastic experience: Love this place! Many class options so you'll never be bored.

Fantastic experience: Very well designed place which provides kids options to make their way through different acrobatic moves. The classes offer a good mid-ground with respect to systematic vs open play for kids 5-8 years old.

Fantastic experience: Marria and Walker are beyond amazing on every level. I'm blessed to have them coach my child.

Fantastic experience: She had an excellent first time and already loves it!

Fantastic experience: Great little place to get some circus training. I particularly like the aerial classes here. As an adult I cannot do better than those who trained since they are kids, but it is a lot of fun.

Fantastic experience: So far so great! Great community. No snobs. And all the instructors I've had so far are really engaging and supportive. I take aerial silks as somewhat of a beginner and I really appreciate the patient personalities--thank you, instructors! The facility is great, no nonsense, tidy and clean. Parking is pretty painless. They have enough classes so that if I can't make one class, I can choose another within the same week. At least, that's been my luck. I will keep going back and I highly recommend them.

Fantastic experience: Best space for movement and play in the Bay Area! Great classes, good atmosphere and professional instructors. HIGHLY RECCOMMEND!

Fantastic experience: Love it here!

Fantastic experience: Amazing place to play!

Fantastic experience: 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.

Fantastic experience: I love this place! :-D

Fantastic experience: Best gymnastics class for kids in the Bay area

Fantastic experience: A place to become active and do exercise while having fun

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fantastic experience: 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,

Fantastic experience: 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.

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

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

Fantastic experience: Loved open gym!!

Fantastic experience: 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'm a big fan of Creative Conditioning, which involves innovative equipment to build strength while having fun, and All Levels Acrobatics, during which coach Zach proved to me that, "Yes, you can learn how to do a backflip!" After an excellent, total body warmup & activation routine, he expertly guided us through a series of conditioning exercises that address the fundamental movements involved in backflipping. Then he set up a series of stations that progress the skill from basic to advanced levels. He provided individualized pointers to each student (covering a wide range of different abilities), engendered great camaraderie and a supportive environment. Challenging and lots of fun! ‍♂️

Fantastic experience: 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!

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

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

Fantastic experience: 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!

Fantastic experience: 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,

Fantastic experience: I lurv this place!

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

Fantastic experience: 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.

Fantastic experience: Solid teaching, nice people.

Fantastic experience: Love the variety of classes and times, awesome teachers, open play / training space, clean facility, focus on safety and respect, non-competitive community feel :)

Fantastic experience: 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.

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

Fantastic experience: One of the best facilities I’ve been to! Highly recommend

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

Fantastic experience: 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!

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

Fantastic experience: 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!

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

Fantastic experience: I love this place!

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

Fantastic experience: 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!

Fantastic experience: Wonderful people, fun classes

Fantastic experience: 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.

Fantastic experience: Instructors are great, and classes are fun and motivating.

Fantastic experience: 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!!!

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

Fantastic experience: The whole family can take classes at AP. My son 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!!!

Fantastic experience: Bring your kids here for parkour!

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

Fantastic experience: Great space to practice and explore movement!

Fantastic experience: 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.

Fantastic experience: 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.

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

Fantastic experience: 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!

Fantastic experience: 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!

Fantastic experience: Great space to practice and explore movement!

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

Fantastic experience: 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.

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

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