Working Out at Women’s Athletic Club in Santa Barbara

The walls may be painted in sherbet tones, but the Women’s Athletic Club (WAC) is no pastel palace for conventionally feminine fitness. When I arrived for my first workout, a whiteboard behind the front desk exhorted, “You made it!! WAC is so happy you are here! Now … go kick ass!!”

If that doesn’t sound very ladylike, that’s kind of the point. Owner Alice Huang had worked in other women’s gyms and wasn’t necessarily a fan of the category, noting that many women’s gyms are owned by men. She founded WAC in 2007 with her own vision for women’s fitness and an emphasis on great customer service.

That means you will find a push sled at WAC (something I’d previously only ever seen football players use). What you won’t find is body fat testing, which Huang notes is not reliable, depending on the method used, and also not a great predictor of fitness. She went so far as to cover up the display on one piece of equipment that purports to show the user’s body fat percentage.