Article: "How Low Cost Gyms Like Planet Fitness Psychologically Manipulate Members Into NOT Going"

cwolfman13

Pretty much any gym I've ever belonged to is hoping you don't show up...that's how they all make their money.

I've also belonged to any number of gyms and I've never paid $500 as the article suggest for a "good gym"...my current gym is awesome...it's a locally owned gym...it's called Power Flex...as the name would suggest, the emphasis at this gym is lifting which is the only reason I go to a gym...it's $33/month with 24/7 access.

sdado1013

not true for me, however I pay a lot more than $10/month for my gym membership. my gym actually values its members and I have made friends with so many of the trainers and they give me crap if I am gone even 1 week. lol. definitely not the type of gym who doesn't want its members to show up. I love my gym.

WalkingAlong

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Pretty much any gym I've ever belonged to is hoping you don't show up...that's how they all make their money.

I agree. It's not the only business that oversells its capacity. It's pretty common. It keeps rates low for the go-ers so people should be glad.

I was reading that Anytime Fitness and Snap Fitness are hot franchises right now. They are unmanned, 24 hour gyms. There is one by me. I've never checked it out but it looks sad. A little cardio room, a little weight room, a little video room, in a strip mall. But I guess if you want cheap access to a treadmill and weight without having them in the house...

I can see those more than say Curves or Tone Zone, where it's only open like 8-12 and 3-7, Mon-Sat.

There is a new concept out there that seems cool... I think it's this that I read about:
http://classpass.com/faq/
It's around $99/month for limited access to the higher end fitness places. I'm assuming CrossFit, yoga studios, Orange Theory, barre studios, etc. I think that might be a popular thing.

MKEgal

If that's really their goal, they're failing miserably with me.
.

AllanMisner

There are places for the niche gyms. Globo gyms are good for full service, anytime gyms for people who just need access to equipment at odd hours (although the anytime I go to is kinda awesome), curves/pf for people who wouldn’t go to a gym due to fear, crossfit/boxing/mma/powerlifting/yoga for people who want something a bit more hardcore/focused. The point is to find something that works for you. All gyms have their place.

Same goes for trainers. I won’t train anyone who isn’t 100% committed to changing their fitness level and know exactly what they want. Of course, I have the advantage of not needing training revenue to fund me (I have day job).

MKEgal

fenshae wrote:

the majority of people I found online complaining about Planet Fitness sounded
like people I would never want to be around. My personal favorite complaint was that the
gym had "more heifers than hotties."

I kind of love the idea of a gym that is actually somewhat hostile to the "usual" fitness crowd.

Yes. This. All of this.
I don't want to go someplace where there are cliques, people more interested in looks than
health, bullies being intimidating, etc.

Of course, the worst intimidation I've had at PF was from one manager who told me he had
video of me in the locker room "doing something inappropriate"... but wouldn't say what,
and when I reminded him that he'd committed a crime he backpedaled & claimed he had
video from outside the locker room, showing me "doing something inappropriate" in the
locker room. He cancelled my contract, the jerk. Could have let me transfer, but noooo...
That's been 6 months ago, and even though he promised me a refund, I still haven't seen it.
Will have to ring up the DA's office & let them loose on the peeper.
(Oh, and he didn't throw out the employee hitting on people in the locker room, or the
member who walked in on people in the shower, or the member whom the old manager SAW
on videotape spraying cleaning chemicals into someone's face. Warped values there.)

AllanMisner

MKEgal wrote: »

fenshae wrote:

the majority of people I found online complaining about Planet Fitness sounded
like people I would never want to be around. My personal favorite complaint was that the
gym had "more heifers than hotties."

I kind of love the idea of a gym that is actually somewhat hostile to the "usual" fitness crowd.

Yes. This. All of this.
I don't want to go someplace where there are cliques, people more interested in looks than
health, bullies being intimidating, etc.

Of course, the worst intimidation I've had at PF was from one manager who told me he had
video of me in the locker room "doing something inappropriate"... but wouldn't say what,
and when I reminded him that he'd committed a crime he backpedaled & claimed he had
video from outside the locker room, showing me "doing something inappropriate" in the
locker room. He cancelled my contract, the jerk. Could have let me transfer, but noooo...
That's been 6 months ago, and even though he promised me a refund, I still haven't seen it.
Will have to ring up the DA's office & let them loose on the peeper.
(Oh, and he didn't throw out the employee hitting on people in the locker room, or the
member who walked in on people in the shower, or the member whom the old manager SAW
on videotape spraying cleaning chemicals into someone's face. Warped values there.)

I kinda think I’d rather go to a hardcore gym than deal with those things. Realize that the quote you have is likely from a 19 - 22 year old, not the majority of gym rats out there. The majority of us just go in, lift (and yes, we grunt, the bar isn’t bending because it’s low quality), and go home. We see the hot girl, and we’re motivated. We see the new (not so hot) girl and figure she’ll be the hot girl if she keeps at it.

MKEgal

JoRocka wrote:

The entire premise of the gym is built on demeaning and mocking serious athletes
or people who love their training. It's literally a gym that hates on fit people.

Terpnista84 wrote:

You mean the commercials (that they play all the time in the gym) mocking the in shape people?

They're not being mocked for being in shape, they're being mocked for their attitude and
lack of knowledge (talking about "cleanses", for example, or building each other up for
being "hot"). Or there's the one commercial where the gal is absolutely lost in the high-power
aerobics class. That's a teacher who doesn't care, didn't explain, doesn't lead well. The one
I haven't seen for a while is the drill seargeant.

AllanMisner

MKEgal wrote: »

JoRocka wrote:

The entire premise of the gym is built on demeaning and mocking serious athletes
or people who love their training. It's literally a gym that hates on fit people.

Terpnista84 wrote:

You mean the commercials (that they play all the time in the gym) mocking the in shape people?

They're not being mocked for being in shape, they're being mocked for their attitude and
lack of knowledge (talking about "cleanses", for example, or building each other up for
being "hot"). Or there's the one commercial where the gal is absolutely lost in the high-power
aerobics class. That's a teacher who doesn't care, didn't explain, doesn't lead well. The one
I haven't seen for a while is the drill seargeant.

The problem is, there are more stories out there than ads. A woman was asked to leave because she was too muscular that she was intimidating. Not to mention your story. What exactly were you doing near or in the bathroom that was inappropriate?

MKEgal

GoGoMary4 wrote:

I paid for a personal trainer who was so unprofessional.

You should contact her certifying agency & let them know.
You did investigate before you hired her, right? You made sure she was certified by a
reputable national body, right? You knew what her education/training was, right?

For me, the first time she tried to pull something like that would be the last, and she would
not get paid for the session where her friends were there chatting.

MKEgal

AllanMisner wrote:

What exactly were you doing near or in the bathroom that was inappropriate?

He wouldn't tell me what it was he thought I was doing that he deemed "inappropriate".
I went in, changed clothes, worked out, took off the sweaty clothes, took a shower, put on
clean clothes, and left.
My workout partner suggested that maybe it's because I don't wrap myself in a towel going
to/from the shower. Apparently the guys wear towels.
But even if that's so, is that really a reason to throw someone out?
Just mention that there have been complaints (if there were) & please wear a towel.

One day they had a repair guy doing something in the women's room, only they didn't put
up a sign warning that there was a man there. I saw the tools in the entry, figured something
was being fixed, but also thought that it would be a woman doing the fixing, since it was
the women's room & there was no warning sign. Oops. At least I had my back to him the
whole time, and only got down to my underwear before another woman stopped me.
Probably traumatized him more than me.

marjikaparji

Troutsy wrote: »

My issue with Planet Fitness is how hypocritical it is. "Welcome to the judgement free zone".....except our staff....our staff get to be judgmental.

I've never had an issue with the staff or anyone when I've gone. On the contrary they have been very friendly and supportive when I go. I'm a big girl to. Maybe it's just because of the locations I've gone to I've lucked out, or the time of day. I love it at mine though! I'm sorry you've run into issues with them! Maybe report the employees that are being judgemental since the company has the judgement free policy!

AllanMisner

MKEgal wrote: »

AllanMisner wrote:

What exactly were you doing near or in the bathroom that was inappropriate?

He wouldn't tell me what it was he thought I was doing that he deemed "inappropriate".
I went in, changed clothes, worked out, took off the sweaty clothes, took a shower, put on
clean clothes, and left.
My workout partner suggested that maybe it's because I don't wrap myself in a towel going
to/from the shower. Apparently the guys wear towels.
But even if that's so, is that really a reason to throw someone out?
Just mention that there have been complaints (if there were) & please wear a towel.

One day they had a repair guy doing something in the women's room, only they didn't put
up a sign warning that there was a man there. I saw the tools in the entry, figured something
was being fixed, but also thought that it would be a woman doing the fixing, since it was
the women's room & there was no warning sign. Oops. At least I had my back to him the
whole time, and only got down to my underwear before another woman stopped me.
Probably traumatized him more than me.

Seems like more drama than fitness and health, but it works for some, so I’m not going to knock it.

dragonmaster69

I've never had a problem at my PF. People of ALL fitness levels go to my gym. The staff at my gym is awesome and I have become familiar with most of the staff that work during my usual visiting times. They ask that people just wear proper attire, but people will wear jeans and boots anyway. Perhaps some franchise owners are jerks, but I feel it shouldn't give the entire company a bad rap. I go to a smaller gym with my boyfriend's mom as her guest, but I prefer my PF. There's 24/7 staff and it's well lit and spotless. I guess if someone doesn't like a particular place, they can back out and join a different gym.

As for the article, who isn't after the consumers dollar for the least amount of work possible?

vhoneynyc

My roommate has had membership at Planet Fitness for years. He calls it his "fat tax" - I'm sure he isn't the only one paying without caring.

JoRocka

MKEgal wrote: »

JoRocka wrote:

The entire premise of the gym is built on demeaning and mocking serious athletes
or people who love their training. It's literally a gym that hates on fit people.

Terpnista84 wrote:

You mean the commercials (that they play all the time in the gym) mocking the in shape people?

They're not being mocked for being in shape, they're being mocked for their attitude and
lack of knowledge (talking about "cleanses", for example, or building each other up for
being "hot"). Or there's the one commercial where the gal is absolutely lost in the high-power
aerobics class. That's a teacher who doesn't care, didn't explain, doesn't lead well. The one
I haven't seen for a while is the drill seargeant.

Per your logic:
Mock the fat people not for being fat but for being lazy.

Cool- straight from the horses mouth- it's all good guys- we can start mocking the fat people just because they are lazy and they are happy being fat!!!

hooray- time to mock the fat people.

tomatoey

MKEgal wrote: »

AllanMisner wrote:

What exactly were you doing near or in the bathroom that was inappropriate?

He wouldn't tell me what it was he thought I was doing that he deemed "inappropriate".
I went in, changed clothes, worked out, took off the sweaty clothes, took a shower, put on
clean clothes, and left.
My workout partner suggested that maybe it's because I don't wrap myself in a towel going
to/from the shower. Apparently the guys wear towels.
But even if that's so, is that really a reason to throw someone out?
Just mention that there have been complaints (if there were) & please wear a towel.

people have walked around without towels at every gym i've ever been to, it's beyond normal. i really can't imagine anyone, much less someone actually working in the industry, having issues with it.

but seriously wth were they doing filming in there??