Personal Trainer Near Me in SoMa: Inside DIAKADI's Two-Floor Gym

Most gyms sell you a membership and leave the trainer question for later. DIAKADI works the other way around: you fill out a questionnaire, a referral director reads it, and within a day you get a short list of coaches picked for your goals and personality. The facility at 290 Division Street, on the edge of SoMa where the Mission and Potrero Hill meet, is 14,000 square feet over two floors, and it has been home to more than 50 trainers and health consultants at a time. If you are typing personal trainer near me from anywhere along the Division Street corridor, this is the largest dedicated personal training gym in the city by its own measure, and it has been at it since 2004.

The story starts small. Billy Polson earned his first personal trainer certification and opened an independent practice in 1998 out of a basement gym in San Francisco. Mike Clausen began coaching in 2002 after finishing paramedic school. The two spent two years working side by side at a private gym, and in 2004 they opened their own place, first called DIAKADI Body, so their clients could train in a large open space.

The name is an acronym the staff still repeat: Do It All, Kick Ass Doing It. The business is LGBTQ owned and operated, a point it states plainly on its mission page alongside a zero-tolerance line on bullying and harassment. Polson now focuses on new business, runs the DIAKADI NEXT intern program and The Business Movement coursework for fitness entrepreneurs, while Clausen manages operations and still trains a few long-term clients. Both volunteer with dog rescues, and the site notes that rescue dogs sometimes nap in Polson's office.

DIAKADI is built around independent coaches rather than staff instructors, which explains the matching step. Each trainer sets their own rate, and the published average runs $170 to $225 per session. Every trainer holds a credential from an NCCA-accredited certifying agency, and the gym says its coaches average more than ten years of experience, with specialties spanning fat loss, strength, sports performance, longevity and post-rehab work.

New clients start with a full-body assessment that looks at strength, mobility, old injuries and daily habits before any program is written. In-house physical therapists, massage therapists and nutrition coaches work under the same roof, so a trainer can hand off a cranky shoulder to a PT down the hall instead of guessing. Teachers, first responders and military members get 50 percent off every level of Access Pass, and companies that sign up five or more people get a group rate.

On top of your trainer's fee, the gym charges a monthly Access Pass. The Training Access Pass is $49 and covers the facility while you work with your trainer. The Performance Pass is $110 and adds Open Gym time for your own workouts. VIP Service is $165 and adds laundry with storage for your gym clothes, so you can walk in empty-handed.

The Open Gym privilege comes with a rule: you must keep training with your coach at least once a week to hold it, and solo workouts are limited to non-peak hours. Open Gym runs 11 am to 7 pm Monday to Thursday, 11 am to 5 pm on Friday and 8 am to noon on Saturday. To cancel, tell the front desk or file the online form a week before your next monthly charge; the FAQ states that no refunds are given, so time a cancellation before the billing date.

The two levels include a turf lane for sled pushes and carries, a boxing area, an escape and recovery room, and one of the larger collections of strength equipment in the Bay Area. Because every person on the floor is following a coach's plan, the room feels busy but never chaotic, and you will not be waiting behind a line of strangers for a rack. The gym also hosts an artist gallery on its walls and rents space for events.

The doors open ten minutes before the posted opening time, which matters if you book the first 6 am slot. Trainers often use that window to set up your circuit, so arriving early tends to buy you a few extra minutes of work rather than standing at a locked door.

Business hours are 6 am to 7 pm Monday to Thursday, with the last session at 6 pm, and 6 am to 5 pm on Friday, with the last session at 4 pm. Saturday runs 8 am to noon, and Sunday is closed. The 2026 holiday list closes the gym November 26 through 29 for Thanksgiving, December 24 and 25, and December 31 through January 1, with shortened 7 am to 5 pm days on December 28, 29 and 30.

Parking is easier than in most of the city. The gym lists two-hour meters on Alameda Street at Potrero ($2 an hour) and Ninth Street at Brannan ($1.50 an hour), plus unmetered stretches: Potrero Avenue south of Division has no time limit, and Division Street east of Potrero allows four hours. Cyclists can bring their bikes inside to a corral on either floor, and a bike share dock sits across the street.

The building sits a short walk from Showplace Square, the cluster of interior design showrooms at the foot of Potrero Hill, so an early session pairs easily with a morning of browsing furniture. Walk south on Potrero Avenue and you climb into the hill itself, with views back across SoMa toward downtown. Heading west, the Mission District begins a few blocks away, which makes a post-workout burrito an easy reward.

Our take: book a tour before you commit. The gym recommends it for anyone who has not seen the space, and a 20-minute walk-through tells you more than any review about whether a big, social training floor suits you or whether you would rather train somewhere smaller.

Address: DIAKADI Fitness Performance Life, 290 Division Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94103. Hours: Monday to Thursday 6 am to 7 pm, Friday 6 am to 5 pm, Saturday 8 am to noon, closed Sunday. Training: each trainer sets a rate, averaging $170 to $225 per session. Access Pass: Training $49, Performance $110, VIP $165.

Fill out the new-client questionnaire on the website and expect a call within 24 hours with trainer recommendations. Bring training shoes and water, and mention old injuries in the questionnaire so the referral director can steer you toward a coach with post-rehab experience. To compare DIAKADI with smaller SoMa and Mission studios before you book, ask in the Karpo APP for trainers near your home or office.