Planet Fitness

dbmata

I pay $34 an hour to use a private gym. (Along with my el cheapo YMCA membership.)

At that price, I make sure I get the value out of my work.

How many people do that with a $10 a month gym? It's interesting to me how the value of a membership is correlated to the amount it's used.

ETA - RE:PF : You'll totally get sweet free pizza nights there, and someone to tut-tut you if you work out too hard.

I'm TOTALLY getting my money's worth out of my 10 dollar gym. In fact, I'm not using it any differently than I used my last gym. Except that it's close, so I use it more often.
I DONT believe paying more necessarily equates to better or more use. Last year or so I belonged to an 80 dollar gym. Not much different, except no one's handing me a towel.
Oh, and it had pool parties with cheeseburgers.

I'm happy for your experience.

I pay for my expensive gym to avoid people, it's mine for that hour, and that's worth a lot more to me than cutesie pizza parties.

While you may value and utilize (or overutilize) your $10 membership, you have to give some thought to why there exists a $10 membership. It's simple, at the price point of two lattes, people have no problems forgetting about it, because the cost is neglible. What that does is increase gross revenue while not significantly impacting maintenance costs or wear and tear on equipment. Equipment being significant capital investment, that only makes financial sense. They have the cheap memberships because most people don't use them because they don't value the financial impact.

Now let's look at the body shaming, and the pizza parties. Those pizza parties are clever, the bulk of the people there have eating challenges and are trying to lose weight, so free pizza night directly works to erode any diets they have in place, and potentially increase future need of their membership services. It's an investment in the future. The cynical money guy that I am sometimes... I LOVE it. I think they should do it weekly.

No_Finish_Line

it goes against the prevailing paradigm of fitness on this site which is olympic lifts.

but one can still 'lift heavy'

that being said, you really can't do any barbell training there.

probably the majority of fitness minded people will find it to be enough for thier 10 bucks. but most of them will also think it a compromise of some sorts, lacking in some way; be that free wieights or classes or whatever.

if you like to work out on machines, especially cardio machines, you will be very happy there.

the best thing i can say about it is that they update thier equipment far more regularly then any other gym i've belonged to

willrun4bagels

I go to a PF because that is all I can afford. My black card membership is $20/month, and other gyms in my area are double that amount per month. I am switching to a new gym as soon as they open in the next few weeks - they offer more stuff than PF, and it'll cost me $15/month.

That being said, I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 at my PF since early May, and not one person said said a word to me about any of the barbell lifts I do there... including deadlifts. The free weights section is spacious, never crowded when I'm there at 5am, and it's clean. They have enough olympic bars, weight plates, benches, etc., just 1 squat rack (though I'm always the only one using it :laugh:). It works for me. I'll be switching to the new gym when they open because it's closer to my house.

dbmata

I've never seen a PF with barbells, that's cool!

The last one I went into they said they don't need barbells because their clientele wasn't on steroids.

I should have just gotten a $10 monthly account for the free pizza.

Sabine_Stroehm

I pay $34 an hour to use a private gym. (Along with my el cheapo YMCA membership.)

At that price, I make sure I get the value out of my work.

How many people do that with a $10 a month gym? It's interesting to me how the value of a membership is correlated to the amount it's used.

ETA - RE:PF : You'll totally get sweet free pizza nights there, and someone to tut-tut you if you work out too hard.

I'm TOTALLY getting my money's worth out of my 10 dollar gym. In fact, I'm not using it any differently than I used my last gym. Except that it's close, so I use it more often.
I DONT believe paying more necessarily equates to better or more use. Last year or so I belonged to an 80 dollar gym. Not much different, except no one's handing me a towel.
Oh, and it had pool parties with cheeseburgers.

I'm happy for your experience.

I pay for my expensive gym to avoid people, it's mine for that hour, and that's worth a lot more to me than cutesie pizza parties.

While you may value and utilize (or overutilize) your $10 membership, you have to give some thought to why there exists a $10 membership. It's simple, at the price point of two lattes, people have no problems forgetting about it, because the cost is neglible. What that does is increase gross revenue while not significantly impacting maintenance costs or wear and tear on equipment. Equipment being significant capital investment, that only makes financial sense. They have the cheap memberships because most people don't use them because they don't value the financial impact.

Now let's look at the body shaming, and the pizza parties. Those pizza parties are clever, the bulk of the people there have eating challenges and are trying to lose weight, so free pizza night directly works to erode any diets they have in place, and potentially increase future need of their membership services. It's an investment in the future. The cynical money guy that I am sometimes... I LOVE it. I think they should do it weekly.

My PF is never crowded when I'm there.
Body shaming?I've been lifting regularly since 1996.I've had personal trainers. I've been a member of a number of gyms. The most uncomfortable I ever was was at a Gold's style gym. The comments, the mindset, how they talked about other people. THAT was off-putting. It was 20-30 bucks a month. And farther away. And had dreadful air circulation.
The folks at my Y were nice. But the sunday hours were a pain. The folks at my fancy Wellbridge gym were okay. But I had a hard time justifying 90bucks a month when what I do there is lift. And the folks way way back in the 90s at my "world gym" were some of the nicest folks. But yes, by far, the least pleasant experience I've had has been at a more traditional "gym"

At PF I do my thing. There are others doing what I'm doing sometimes.

Never been to a pizza party there. I can't speak to who goes, what they eat, or what their relationship with food is. So I won't make assumptions.
My Y had donuts. My fancy wellbridge gym had cheeseburger BBQs. I didn't participate in those either.

And in fall, we'll see, I may go back to my FREE university gym. It has more free weights. It also has legions of 20 somethings, terrible hours, a lack of hygiene, and rape-rap music. So who knows. Oh, and classes? I take those at the university. The hours suck during the summer, but I go to those. So yeah, for now 10bucks gets me by just fine.

GretchenReine

My view is

It doesn;t matter what machines etc the gyn has, it what you "put in" in the gym that counts

It does for me, because my main goal is a 300lb+ deadlift and that's not going to happen in a gym that won't allow deadlifts, dropping of weights on the floor or grunting.

Is PLanet Fitness = Globo Gym?

Thats mental. My gym €29 a month, no contract, do whatever you want, hamemrs, tires, you name,

LMAO @ Globo Gym! Planet Fitness is the exact opposite of Globo Gym! I want to watch Dodge Ball now!

dbmata

My PF is never crowded when I'm there.

Exactly. At $10 a month it will be crowded a couple times a year, that's it.

Body shaming?

You're right, I neglected to mention the lunk alarm, and the derisive commercials.

First, the lunk alarm is predicated on shaming a minority of users, and essentially driving them out, because PF marketing knows that having too fit of clientele will push the non-fit users to competitors such as curves. By making the environment unattractive to people who work out hard, two things are achieved.

1. You prevent them from becoming overutilizers.
2. You don't run the risk of other clients seeing them and becoming overutilizers due to inspiration, or quitting due to perspiration.

So essentially, the shaming they perform is a great tool to craft the right environment for high membership rates paired with low utilization rates.

Sabine_Stroehm

My PF is never crowded when I'm there.

Exactly. At $10 a month it will be crowded a couple times a year, that's it.

Body shaming?

You're right, I neglected to mention the lunk alarm, and the derisive commercials.

First, the lunk alarm is predicated on shaming a minority of users, and essentially driving them out, because PF marketing knows that having too fit of clientele will push the non-fit users to competitors such as curves. By making the environment unattractive to people who work out hard, two things are achieved.

1. You prevent them from becoming overutilizers.
2. You don't run the risk of other clients seeing them and becoming overutilizers due to inspiration, or quitting due to perspiration.

So essentially, the shaming they perform is a great tool to craft the right environment for high membership rates paired with low utilization rates.

You've clearly given this a lot of thought and drawn your own conclusions. I leave you to it.

dbmata

Just looking at it through an economic lense. It's pretty well crafted. A few things I would do differently, but all in all, not bad.

I would change the following:
1. Hire competitive body builders to come in and lift during peak usage times, then have a staff member set off the lunk alarm, and then dramatically and loudly kick the lifter out, cementing the "lunk alarm" and "no-judgement zone" propaganda.
2. Increase the frequency of pizza feeds.
3. Re-label the weight plates on the workout machines, making them rated 10# heavier than they actually are.

I think that would be pretty effective.

JoRocka

Most PF don't stock free barbells- how are any of you squatting and DLing??

The lunk alarm?? I've only heard it a couple times at our location.

the fact you have to hear it all is an issue.


and Yes- planet fitness has an entire marketting campaign built around body shaming.

Anyone who doesn't get that doesn't understand that body shaming isn't just about making fun of fat people. It's about making fun of ANY body's body.

Including fit people- and yes- fit people get hated on- a lot.

For those of you who think you're self esteem magically appears when you lose weight and are fit- you're in for a big surprise.

Sabine_Stroehm

Most PF don't stock free barbells- how are any of you squatting and DLing??

EVERY PF I've visited has free barbells.

Oh. and I've never heard a lunk alarm.

dbmata

Most PF don't stock free barbells- how are any of you squatting and DLing??

I figured they were using dumbbells, the PFs I've been in were proud of not having barbells.

Sabine_Stroehm

Most PF don't stock free barbells- how are any of you squatting and DLing??

I figured they were using dumbbells, the PFs I've been in were proud of not having barbells.

Mine has barbells and dumbbells. The last one to which I belonged had barbells and dumbbells.

The PRIMARY limitation that I find are their darned smith "racks" and the lack of actual racks.

I'm not disagreeing that if one is primarily interested in doing compound lifts, PF is not for them.
But I see a lot of folks working hard to improve their health at PF. I see many of the same people each day.
Would some of those folks be as comfortable at, say, the Gold's style gym? I don't know.
Just as some folks prefer "curves". "Eat less, move more" , right? It's a good place to start, and a good compromise for others.

rexroars

I pre-paid for 2 years at 24 hour fitness (even if I move, it will be to another big city with 24hr fitness locations, so that's not an issue).

It came to about $20/mo after pre-paying AND they have a pool and way more equipment, and I feel no judgement from anyone whatsoever. Like, I read that Planet Fitness kicked a woman out of their gym for wearing a sports bra with no shirt because she was "too attractive and it would intimidate others." That is not body positivity!! That's just shaming EVERYONE instead of one group

No_Finish_Line

I go to a PF because that is all I can afford. My black card membership is $20/month, and other gyms in my area are double that amount per month. I am switching to a new gym as soon as they open in the next few weeks - they offer more stuff than PF, and it'll cost me $15/month.

That being said, I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 at my PF since early May, and not one person said said a word to me about any of the barbell lifts I do there... including deadlifts. The free weights section is spacious, never crowded when I'm there at 5am, and it's clean. They have enough olympic bars, weight plates, benches, etc., just 1 squat rack (though I'm always the only one using it :laugh:). It works for me. I'll be switching to the new gym when they open because it's closer to my house.

why bother switching? are you sure it says PF over the door lol? with a squat rack thats like the holy grail of PFs

No_Finish_Line

I've never seen a PF with barbells, that's cool!

The last one I went into they said they don't need barbells because their clientele wasn't on steroids.

I should have just gotten a $10 monthly account for the free pizza.

i've seen at least one woman and sevral men that i'm pretty sure are on some sort of illegal enhancement at my PF.

the odd thing is, dispite all thier 'lunk head' bashing, i've seen more jerks in that gym then anywhere else

May63

I am a member. I love the one in Massachusetts. no one looking at you or judging. i moved up to 19 a month when i got some bills paid off. and a tan and massage are my reward. as for the woman on treadmill, if you pick your program yes they are programmed to do what you ask. you can always say manual and it asks for your weight. and then you can make any adjustments to your workout.

JoRocka

Most PF don't stock free barbells- how are any of you squatting and DLing??

EVERY PF I've visited has free barbells.

Oh. and I've never heard a lunk alarm.

the fact they even have one is disturbing to me.

nyboer

planet fitness is for beginners and/or people who are looking to do cardio and some weights.

this is enough for women. (lol, not to be chauvinist), but i would never recommend this place to anyone who really wanted to make real gains but theyre mostly men anyway.

In to watch smackdown.

Seriously.

focusedfitness123

If given the choice of chewing my toe off or going to a PF, my only question would be what type of pizza they serve on Monday. If I'm limited to peperoni I'm going with the toe.