Written by Josko Kraken and Brandon Ngai, who own Kraken. We have an obvious bias, so every fact about another gym on this page comes from that gym's own website, with the date we checked it, and we say where they beat us.
If you already know what to do in a gym, Evolve Strength Brentwood is the best room in Burnaby: 845 Google reviews at 4.9, a membership from $33.49 bi-weekly, and coaching sold separately by independent trainers. If you want to hire a trainer by the session, FantasFit and Uplift Fitness are well-reviewed studios that sell exactly that. If you compete in a sport, Performance Institute is built for you. If you have never felt like a gym person and want one coach responsible for the whole thing under one contract, that is Kraken Fitness, from $122 a week, with your first week free.
Sources: each gym's own website and Google Business listing, checked September 17th, 2026.
Open 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. weekdays, saunas, physio and chiro down the hall, $33.49 bi-weekly on a year. Hire a coach there only if you want one.
Both 5.0 on Google. Both sell 1-on-1 sessions. FantasFit publishes every trainer's certifications.
Inside Scotia Barn, with a youth athlete program and the most kinesiology-heavy staff of the five. If you compete, start there.
A 2,000 sq ft studio that independent trainers rent. You pick the trainer; they set the terms.
One coach, one contract, the gym included. Nutrition, a monthly 3D scan, and someone who texts you when you don't show up. Built for people who have never once felt at home in a gym.
Start my free weekEvolve Strength Brentwood sells a gym membership, from $33.49 bi-weekly with no enrolment fee, per evolvestrength.ca. Coaching is a separate arrangement with one of "over 200 independent coaches", each running their own business with their own rates and methods, for members only. Kraken Fitness sells the coach, the program, nutrition coaching, a monthly 3D scan and the gym as one contract, from $122 a week. Evolve is the better room. Kraken is the one where a single person is responsible for whether it worked.
Where Evolve wins: the facility, the hours, price per month, 845 reviews. Source: evolvestrength.ca/locations/burnaby-brentwood, checked September 17th, 2026.
FantasFit, at 4501 North Road, sells 1:1 and 2:1 personal training with a free 30-minute assessment that includes an InBody scan, and publishes every trainer's certifications on fantasfit.ca/team. Prices are not published. Kraken Fitness sells a coached program on a 3-to-12-month term with a 3D scan every month rather than once at intake, nutrition coaching in every plan, and a published price. If you want to buy sessions from a well-credentialed trainer, FantasFit is a good place to do it. If you want the part between sessions handled, that is the difference.
Where FantasFit wins: published credentials, 5.0 on 155 reviews, HYROX and golf-specific coaching. Source: fantasfit.ca, checked September 17th, 2026.
Performance Institute, inside Scotia Barn, publishes a membership from $209 a month for coached semi-private sessions, caps those at 5 people, names 14 staff with credentials, and says it is for everyone from "new to the gym" to "an elite athlete", per pitraining.ca. One-on-one rates are not published. Kraken caps semi-private at 4, publishes its coaching price, and does not do sports performance. If you compete in a sport, PI is the better fit and we will say so on the tour. If you are 45 and your knees have started deciding things for you, that is who Kraken was built for.
Where PI wins: athletes, 14 named coaches, published membership pricing. Source: pitraining.ca/pricing and pitraining.ca/more-info, checked September 17th, 2026.
Capitol Hill Athletics, on Hastings since 2013, is a 2,000 sq ft studio that independent trainers rent; the trainer you choose sets the price, the method and the terms, and none of it is published. Uplift Fitness on Royal Oak sells personal training, 5.0 on 195 reviews, with no prices, trial contents or nutrition described on its site. Both are good places to find a trainer. Neither publishes what it costs, what the first week includes, or how progress gets measured. Kraken publishes all three.
Where they win: Capitol Hill lists 14 trainers with credentials and has manual osteopathy on site; Uplift has 195 five-star reviews. Source: capitolhillathletics.com and upliftfitness.ca, checked September 17th, 2026.
Membership: evolvestrength.ca, 1-year rate, checked September 17th, 2026; coaching there is sold separately by independent trainers. Trainer rate: the national average reported by The Canadian Press via MoneySense, January 2025; Burnaby trainers set their own rates and most do not publish them, and the monthly figure is our arithmetic. Kraken: semi-private, twice a week, 12-month term. Individual results vary; among fat-loss clients we tracked for 90 days, about 4 in 5 lost weight, averaging about 12 lb.
"I have been doing squats for years without knowing my posture was incorrect. Nobody ever corrected me, not even my last PT."Kelly C. · Google review, March 2025
"I signed up for many commercial gyms with personal trainers, but it didn't last long, because I didn't feel at ease with so many people packed in the same space."Linda L. · Google review, October 2024
"Since it's not crowded like other gyms, I finally get to use a bench press or squat rack."Nick B. · Google review, October 2023
"Doesn't have that big box gym vibe, which I didn't realize was a bad thing until joining this gym."Vik · Google review, October 2024
All opinions are those of the individual members, about their own experience, quoted from public Google reviews. They are not statements by Kraken Fitness about any other business.
| Kraken Fitness | FantasFit | Performance Institute | Evolve Strength Brentwood | Capitol Hill Athletics | Uplift Fitness | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What the price buys | Coach, program, nutrition, monthly scan, gym. One contract | PT sessions | Semi-private membership. 1-on-1 separate | Membership. Coaching via independent trainers | Studio time. Trainers rent it | PT sessions |
| Coaching price on their website | From $122 a week, published | Not published | From $209 a month | Not published, varies by coach | Not published | Not published |
| People per coached session | Max 4 | 1:1 and 2:1 | Max 5 | Varies by coach | Varies by trainer | Not published |
| Free before you pay | 7 days of training | 30-minute assessment | Intro consult | Tour only | Not published | Consultation |
| Body scan, how often | Monthly | At the free assessment | None named | None named | Not published | Not published |
| Trainer credentials published | Yes | Yes, in full | Yes, 14 staff | Yes, 18 trainers | Yes, 14 trainers | Names only |
| Client results published | Yes, 152 clients | No | No | No | No | No |
| Google rating, September 17th, 2026 | 5.0 · 408 reviews | 5.0 · 155 | 5.0 · 73 | 4.9 · 845 | 4.9 · 25 | 5.0 · 195 |
The room. Evolve Brentwood is a full club: a much bigger floor, saunas, physio and chiro on site, open 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. We are a coaching gym, and 845 people rated theirs 4.9.
Published credentials. FantasFit, Performance Institute, Evolve and Capitol Hill all list their trainers' certifications more fully than we do. We are fixing ours.
Athletes. Performance Institute is built for competitive sport. We are not.
Price per month, if you train alone. Every one of them is cheaper if what you want is a place to train. We are only cheaper if what you were going to do is hire a trainer on top.
Between September 10th and 17th, 2026, we opened every page of each gym's website and their Google Business listing, and recorded what was there. Where a gym does not publish something, we say "not published" rather than guessing. Screenshots are on file. Google ratings are as of September 17th and will drift. If you run one of these gyms and we have something wrong, email contact@krakentraining.com and we will fix it within two business days and note the change here.
Trademarks belong to their owners. Kraken Fitness is not affiliated with any business named on this page.
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