PLANET FITNESS

RoseBud1717

Does anyone have a membership to Planet Fitness? Yeah or nay? Opened one by me and special pricing ends on 31st going to check it out this afternoon. TIA

PRMinx

Depends on your fitness goals. If you are just looking for cardio machines and light weights, PF is fine.

MakePeasNotWar

From everything I've heard, it seems like a good beginner gym with light to moderate weights and lots of cardio equipment. If you get serious about strength training, you'll need to move on to another gym, but if you are looking for an inexpensive "first step", PF is probably not a bad idea. Better than no gym, certainly.

JoRocka

PRMinx wrote: »

Depends on your fitness goals. If you are just looking for cardio machines and light weights, PF is fine.

also makes for a great second gym/beginner place.

It is probably not going to work out well if you have long term training goals- and if you do have long term training goals and chose to go here- you'll taper out and move beyond the gyms abilities to provide quickly. It's a choice- but it's got stuff in it to do stuff- so if you're only goal is to just go do a quick workout- then yes it's fine.

CricketClover

I really enjoy mine (haven't gone in a while) going to start going again this week. It is cheap and has what I need. I also take aqua aerobics and yoga through my local parks and rec to supplement since PF doesn't offer any classes.

nuttyfamily

I belong and it works well for me. I love that it is also clean and if a piece of equipment breaks down, it is fixed quickly. There are many heavier lifters or at least muscular/bulky folks in ours. I think ours carries some of the heavier weights where it sounds like not all locations do.

Azexas

It really comes down to what you would like to accomplish at the gym. I started at Planet Fitness and outgrew what they had to offer and moved to another gym (thankfully for the same price). I feel like it was a good gym to start at and did learn a lot while I was there. Since each Planet Fitness is independently owned each PF can be different. Some don't have free weights/squat racks/ or benches. And I'm pretty sure (could be wrong) that almost all do not allow dead lifting.

Slasher09

PF seems to be disliked from many people here. Here is my two cents. I had a membership from about Nov 2009-May 2011. I liked my membership. I get very "gym-shy" and I used to get very intimidated at my college gym (If I asked how to use a machine I would get an eye roll by staff and "well...its written on the machine.." I told PF at signup that I was a very big gym novice so they set me up with a free appt with a staff member to show me the machines and some simple free weight moves. I loved that they were open 24/7 and that they had so much cardio equipment I never had to share or wait. I've never once seen the "lunk alarm" go off...and until reading posts here never knew it actually worked. The men at my gym did deadlifts and squats, it was never an issue (although many of the staff were very built so I am assuming they do it too). I had the $20/m membership so not only did I get to bring a guest every time, I could also tan..which yes back in my younger days I did used to do here and there. The gym is what you make of it. If you want a cross-fit like experience, you will hate it. If you want cardio machines, some weights and such...its a good deal

JenniferIsLosingIt

I would say yes if your in the beginning. I plan on joining as well because they just opened a new here too.

lishie_rebooted

Every location is different so remember that if you pick the black card.

I've got a membership so I can use the treadmill when it's raining or icy, otherwise I run outside and I left weights at home.

It's not great but it's not bad. Again, it depends on your location.

goddessofawesome

I like mine. The people who work there are nice and rarely is that stupid lunk alarm pulled. I can dead lift, do step ups on the benches, high intensity workouts (someone in a previous post said you can't do high intensity workouts but you can). Depending on the branch (the one in Providence comes to mind) they may have squat racks and olympic bars. It's affordable: $19.99/month for both my husband and I vs. $80/month for both of us at another local gym. It's also closer to us than the other gym and more convenient.

I get that they don't have a huge array of free weights but it suits my needs. I don't do Olympic lifts -- that's not my goal -- so I don't need all that equipment. My goal is to drop a couple of vanity pounds and lean out. The gym at the company I used to work for had pretty much the same equipment as PF (with the exception of a cage and an Olympic bar which I rarely used, mostly because I never had a spotter) and I was in great shape when I worked out there with their "limited" equipment. Oh, and with that "limited" equipment and the shape I was in from it I was often told that I should do a figure competition.

Basically what I'm saying is it's not "all about the equipment". One can get a good workout, drop weight and meet whatever goals they have at their local PF just as they could do the same at a "fancy" gym. One could gain weight and be fat going to PF just as they could gain weight and be fat at a "fancy" gym. It's not the equipment that gives the person results it's how much time and effort they put into the workout.

Oh, and FWIW: the gym my sister works at got rid of all their aerobic classes and her comment was "We're no different than Planet Fitness now".

zoeysasha37

Its definitely better then no gym , but the one here doesn't have heavy weights. but I do know they have great prices and no contract deals. The gym I go to, is $60 per month, two year contract. But it has all the weights that anyone could ever want , an Olympic size pool , spas, saunas and so on. So it really depends on what your looking for in a Gym. I say that you should go for it and give it a try. In the future, if you want more then you can always find somewhere else

funfang

I belong to one just because it's only 8 min walking from my house and it's $10 a month. There's no free weights/squat. I use dumbbells ( up to 60lbs) pre-load barbell ( up to 50lb) and the cable machines.

I have been doing dead lift with no problem, I think it depends on the gym.

MKEgal

I've been a member for several years, transferred among several locations in my metro area, and have found good & bad about all of them.
It's a basic no-frills gym, good for beginners and general fitness.
Depending on the size of the gym, they'll have more or less of all the equipment.

You're going to have to be largely self-motivated & self-taught, though if you catch the trainer at a slow period s/he will probably explain the machines to you. Or make an appointment for a personal training session. There are pictures on the machines, and you can research online (including youtube videos).

The staff are generally more into sales than knowledgable about fitness. Even the trainers, be sure to get their qualifications & understand what they're allowed to do (by their licensing organization).

The pizza varies greatly by location. One place I went it was better than I'd make at home, 2 that I've been to it was more like frozen.

The clientele vary greatly by location, and sometimes time of day.
Parking & general safety vary greatly by location.
Maintenance & sanitation vary by location.

Check out the size of the lockers to see if they'll fit your gym bag (only one of the locations I've been to fit it adequately; the others I've had to squash it in or stand it on end).

Bellodesiderare

MakePeasNotWar wrote: »

From everything I've heard, it seems like a good beginner gym with light to moderate weights and lots of cardio equipment. If you get serious about strength training, you'll need to move on to another gym, but if you are looking for an inexpensive "first step", PF is probably not a bad idea. Better than no gym, certainly.

^^ This. Planet Fitness helped me to lose 78 pounds. I had my membership for just over a year. It was a great place where I felt comfortable, but now my needs have changed and I have joined a gym that better meets those needs. Good Luck, OP!!

martyqueen52

I started out at PF before I really got into power-lifting. I made a good amount of muscle gain and lost a lot of BF, WITHOUT cardio.

If the price suits you, and you're not going to be power-lifting or getting on stage for a bikini show.... it's fine, despite what others say.

randrews0407

It's fine, open 24hrs at $10/mo with no cancellation fee. If you get the $20 membership, you can go to any of their locations and they are all across America like a popular fast food chain, you can bring a guest each time, you can tan (which I don't since I'm Black, lol) and use their chair massage and hydro-massage - they are also teen/tween friendly. It's a supplement, I am a member at another gym but they aren't 24/hr, I can't bring a guest and they have no massage.

dbmata

Give it a try. Might be good for you, might not fit right.

jenglish712

For a starter place, it can be great, as long as you are not looking for a lot of guidance or knowledgeable staff. It's clean and cheap (at least the one here). I go to a somewhat dingy local gym that has the free weights I want to use now, but my wife still goes to PF and it meets her needs.

takumaku

Try out the free week trial and see how you feel about it. Then try a few free sessions at other gyms (CrossFit gyms, running clubs, YMCA, etc.). Pick the one that feels right to you.

No_Finish_Line

If your dead set on lifting a certain way, then you will not be happy.

However, just the fact that you are asking the question says to me that your more concerned with getting from point A to point B more so then exactly how you do it.

PF is lacking in free weights but they have an over abundance of machines. You can get adequate to pretty good resistance training at PF, but not optimal.

The good news is that you don't need optimal just to be in really good shape.

If you don't already belong to a gym and your willing to compromise some what on your exact form of resistance training then PF isn't a bad place for you.