Animal House Gym

I am a bodybuilder. Whenever I come to Milwaukee, this is where I go to train. Only $5 for a day pass! All of my favorite Hammer Strength machines and a no BS environment. Milwaukee doesn’t have many great bodybuilding gyms… So once you graduate from PF and you want to get more serious WAC, find your way to AHG…it’s worth it

By far the best gym in the area.

All high end equipment that is maintained impeccably. A huge variety of machines that will hit any part of your body.

Free weights. Dumbbells. Cardio. Step mills. Hammer strength. Flex. All laid out in a 12,000 sq ft brand new facility.

There are personal trainers who work independently toward a variety of different training philosophies, from core training, power lifting, bodybuilding or whatever you’re looking to accomplish.

There is tanning available.

A posing room to check out your progress.

Locker rooms with private showers.

A huge variety of clothing, hats, gym bags or whatever AH gear you can think of.

Reasonable rates. Yearly discounts. 1 day pass is only $8.

10-day punch cards.

A huge assortment of supplements. Chilled pre and post work out drinks. Protein bars.

Really east to find. 1 block south of Cleveland ave on 160th st in New Berlin. Across from the Ale House.

I travel weekly and I’m always trying to find a GREAT gym to workout at. If your in the area look no further. I read the reviews to this place and I still felt like I was taking a gamble checking this place out, so let me tell you exactly what’s going on here!

Free Weight: Dumbells range from 5lbs to 140lb dumbbells

Cardio: there are a good amount of options

Locker rooms: Are very clean and this place takes pride in how clean it is!!

There are a ton of Hammer Strength equipment here!!

Supplements/clothing: He has top of the line product to purchase before and after not to mention they have animal house clothing…Cool stuff to!!

I promise you won’t be disappointed and this is a no nonsense kind of place. It’s old school and your there to train not mingle and shit chat and you will understand when you get there!!

I was in town on business and was looking for a great gym… and I found it.

As you drive down the street, you get increasingly worried that your car may not be safe when you finally find the gym, but that’s Milwaukee for you.

Walking in, you look down a long hallway and simultaneously the smell of sweat hits your nostrils and the clanging of barbell plates hits your eardrum. The hallway opens up to approximately 7,500 square feet, and by square, I mean square; no sectioned off rooms or studios, just 7,500 square feet of lifting space. As you turn to the right, you see a small sales counter that probably has one of the owners sitting at the desk (Karen and John) and a number of huge lovable dogs laying on the floor or under the display cases. I asked for a day pass and it was $5… that wasn’t a typo, a $5 day pass is unheard of!

The locker rooms are small and smell of sweat and urine, but in an endearing way that you imagine Gold’s Gym at Muscle Beach must have smelled like with Arnold, Lou Ferrigno, and Frank Zane training there in their heyday. The equipment is mostly Body Masters with a dose of Hammer Strength thrown in and it’s all red and gray, which adds to the badassery of this gym. While most gyms have went to rubberized dumbbells and barbell plates to reduce noise, the dumbbells and barbell plates at Animal House are old school metal with no rubber edges so you constantly hear the clanging of iron instead of the chatter of voices.

And speaking of voices, you don’t hear many of them at Animal House. It’s not a pickup gym like so many fitness facilities have become; it is a true gym for serious athletes. That doesn’t mean you have to be an elite athlete to train here, but it does mean that you have to be serious about why you’re there. Women throw their hair back and grunt while lifting, men drip in sweat, there is a sign that reads “Deodorant is Mandatory”… that’s the kind of gym this is. And it’s heaven.

In my gym, I feel like I am in the top 5-10% strength-wise, even though I’m 6’3” so weight is heavier to move when you have longer limbs. At this gym, I was in the middle of the pack and it motivated me to have a better workout than I’d had in several months. I was inspired to do my best by all the hard-working hardbodies around me.

My only regret is that the day I went to Animal House was shoulder day for me. If it was leg day, I would have been able to crush myself in the squat racks, leg presses, and various other stations that surely would have left me hobbling out the door, loving every step.

The owner said he’s moving to a better location in about four months. That should take care of the smell, but I hope they don’t lose the authentic vibe.

I started going here in 2018 and took a long hiatus until December 2022, but so happy I returned.

I have a trainer, but come here even on my off days to work out here. Everyone is welcoming and friendly, especially the owners.

They have plenty of machines so I’m never just standing around waiting and lots of free weights too and plenty of cardio equipment. It’s also very clean which is a plus!