Planet Fitness

Chowder_17

So, I can already work out on the military base for free, but their hours are limited and it's always crowded. I was thinking of giving Planet Fitness a go, since it's only $10-20 a month, plus I can tan for free.

What can you tell me about the gym? Are they crowded? How are weight/cardio equipment?

Give me the good, bad, and the ugly

live4turns

I'd also like to know about Planet Fitness...I've been a member of NYSC for a long time now but a Planet Fitness just opened up and they are $10/month...that is $50 less than what I pay now.

Chowder_17

BUMP

kag1526

We can't really tell you if they are crowded, it depends on the area, the one I go to isn't but that doesn't mean yours won't be.

Mine has a long row of each treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes. Then two of most machines (the usual ones you find at most gyms)

Then it has a few of those multi excercise ones with different types of grips that people do many things with. A few racks that you can do weighted squats or other standing things with bar bells, a huge rack of handweights, a bench for bench presses, and area with mats for floor stuff and some weighted balls and balance balls.

I think that covers most of it.

NanP135

I use Planet Fitness and there is plentyof cardio equipment, but I have been to a few of them and they do vary. I am going to a brand new one and it is clean and well stocked with machines. The only thing I think they need more of are bicycles. As far as crowded I expect it to be crowded until mid february whne the new years people all stop exercising like they do every year. also it depeds on what hours you plan on going mine is open 24 hours.....

Good luck

Nancy

KimmieBrie

My PF is newer.... lots of cardio equip etc. Never used the tanning but the booths are there.


The one I go to is crowded in the evening... very crowded till about 730-8p and it was that way before the new year. It's just a busy gym because it's so inexpensive.

I also go to BSC (probably similar to NYSC) - so for comparison - BSC is cleaner, has more amenities in the shower/locker room (but I don't shower at PF just BSC) BSC has towel service, classes and a sauna, PF does not. Some BSCs have a pool - not sure if your NYSC does but PF doesn't.

thefuzz1290

Planet Fitness is the biggest joke of a gym. They have pizza and bagel parties for their customers (guess to keep them coming back) and they have that lunk alarm that sounds if you make the slightest noise while exercising. Deadlifts aren't allowed and squats are frowned upon. The PF closest to me has dumb bells that only go up to 50lbs.

If you're going to the gym just to get on a treadmill, buy one with a no interest credit card and pay $10 a month. If you want to get serious and not be afraid of having your workout cut short by being kicked out for "grunting" (or making any other noise for that matter), then go somewhere else.

TheGeezNeez

Planet Fitness is the biggest joke of a gym. They have pizza and bagel parties for their customers (guess to keep them coming back) and they have that lunk alarm that sounds if you make the slightest noise while exercising. Deadlifts aren't allowed and squats are frowned upon. The PF closest to me has dumb bells that only go up to 50lbs.

If you're going to the gym just to get on a treadmill, buy one with a no interest credit card and pay $10 a month. If you want to get serious and not be afraid of having your workout cut short by being kicked out for "grunting" (or making any other noise for that matter), then go somewhere else.

I agree with you completely. I went to Planet Fitness recently with a friend and was apalled at the bagel & pizza parties, especially since they are a sponser of Biggest Loser. Also, they are supposed to promote a "no judgement" atmosphere, yet as you said before, they have the Lunk Alarm. That is considered judging, correct?

However, if you are looking for a inexpensive gym membership to get started I think they will fill that need. I personally don't like their treadmills. It may seem silly, but the treadmills at my gym have more options, such as an interval button.

ashlielinn

Honestly, I absolutely love it. It definitely depends on the person, though. I don't need any structure or classes or extras. Gives me some cardio machines and weights, and I'm good to go. Mine's been pretty crowded since the new year started (selfishly, I can't wait until people stop caring about their resolutions lol) and they have enough equipment that I've never had to wait for anything.

AmyLRed

pzza and bagel parties? under what premise? how do they even pretend that makes sense?!?!

KimmieBrie

Planet Fitness is the biggest joke of a gym. They have pizza and bagel parties for their customers (guess to keep them coming back) and they have that lunk alarm that sounds if you make the slightest noise while exercising. Deadlifts aren't allowed and squats are frowned upon. The PF closest to me has dumb bells that only go up to 50lbs.

If you're going to the gym just to get on a treadmill, buy one with a no interest credit card and pay $10 a month. If you want to get serious and not be afraid of having your workout cut short by being kicked out for "grunting" (or making any other noise for that matter), then go somewhere else.

This depends on a person gym needs. The machines there are the same as any other gym. Some people don't need heavier free weights or do dead lifts. Although I know they do Pizza - I have yet to see it. I have also yet to hear a lunk alarm go off. I would never discourage anyone from joining a gym. What PF provides is certainly better than nothing and it's inexpensive and has free training for the newbie.

My house doesn't have room for a treadmill/elliptical/home gym - we also move around due to my husbands job and I'm not lugging all that stuff with us every time. The black card allows us to use any PF when we travel.

I don't understand why people feel the need to discourage a person from going to any gym or putting it down because they don't prefer it. There are a lot of fantastic fit sexy bodies walking around my PF. Whatever works for you.

LuciaLongIsland

NO pizza and bagels at mine, but call and ask first. The gym is spotless. They have your basic machines and weights. No classes. It depends what you are looking for. Bodybuilders would not be happy as it is not a place with extremely hogh end machines, as I don't even know what that is. The people are friendly and no one is looking at you or judging you like I have heard other gyms do. It is so inexpensive and yes does have tanning and a massage chair. No pool. it depends on what you are looking for and your budget.

LuciaLongIsland

Planet Fitness is the biggest joke of a gym. They have pizza and bagel parties for their customers (guess to keep them coming back) and they have that lunk alarm that sounds if you make the slightest noise while exercising. Deadlifts aren't allowed and squats are frowned upon. The PF closest to me has dumb bells that only go up to 50lbs.

If you're going to the gym just to get on a treadmill, buy one with a no interest credit card and pay $10 a month. If you want to get serious and not be afraid of having your workout cut short by being kicked out for "grunting" (or making any other noise for that matter), then go somewhere else.

This depends on a person gym needs. The machines there are the same as any other gym. Some people don't need heavier free weights or do dead lifts. Although I know they do Pizza - I have yet to see it. I have also yet to hear a lunk alarm go off. I would never discourage anyone from joining a gym. What PF provides is certainly better than nothing and it's inexpensive and has free training for the newbie.

My house doesn't have room for a treadmill/elliptical/home gym - we also move around due to my husbands job and I'm not lugging all that stuff with us every time. The black card allows us to use any PF when we travel.

I don't understand why people feel the need to discourage a person from going to any gym or putting it down because they don't prefer it. There are a lot of fantastic fit sexy bodies walking around my PF. Whatever works for you.

THIS!

LuciaLongIsland

Planet Fitness is the biggest joke of a gym. They have pizza and bagel parties for their customers (guess to keep them coming back) and they have that lunk alarm that sounds if you make the slightest noise while exercising. Deadlifts aren't allowed and squats are frowned upon. The PF closest to me has dumb bells that only go up to 50lbs.

If you're going to the gym just to get on a treadmill, buy one with a no interest credit card and pay $10 a month. If you want to get serious and not be afraid of having your workout cut short by being kicked out for "grunting" (or making any other noise for that matter), then go somewhere else.

I agree with you completely. I went to Planet Fitness recently with a friend and was apalled at the bagel & pizza parties, especially since they are a sponser of Biggest Loser. Also, they are supposed to promote a "no judgement" atmosphere, yet as you said before, they have the Lunk Alarm. That is considered judging, correct?

However, if you are looking for a inexpensive gym membership to get started I think they will fill that need. I personally don't like their treadmills. It may seem silly, but the treadmills at my gym have more options, such as an interval button.

I have NEVER seen pizza and yes it is a no lunk zone. It is perfect for me and being so negative is not nice.

KEN1013

love planet fitness,,,im a purple lover and yellow colors,,very youthful,,,love the music too,,everything is what is now on the billboard charts...nice big locker rooms/showers,,,,on every first monday they give you pizza,,and the second tuesday bagel and coffee,,i never eat thou:embarassed: ,,,,IT IS A JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE,,,i went to ask did they have a scale just to get a different number then the one at home and he says ah NO we dont judge you so you cant judge yourself,,,and crazy thing is that it was great to hear,,,no hidden fee too:bigsmile: ,,,,now about the tanning,,,sorry i cant help you on that:ohwell: :laugh:

thefuzz1290

I claimed to be nice, but I'm honest. I never discouraged anyone to join, I just stated my opinion that they're a joke. When you're not allowed to deadlift (which you can get kicked out from moving a bench press bar to the floor) and can't squat safely (you risk injury on the Smith Machine), you rule out the two most effective weight training exercises.

This is taken straight from their corporate website:

• On our once-a-month Pizza Night, we give away 120,000 slices. That's more than 1.4 million slices of pizza a year.
• We hand out more than a million Tootsie Rolls every month.

If they were really concerned about their member's health, they wouldn't hand out candy and give away free pizza.

Now they may not use the lunk alarm that much anymore after they got sued by a guy getting kicked out from doing squats on the Smith Machine. But the fact that it exists is an insult gyms everywhere. Working out is about exerting force and pushing your body to its limits, and sometimes people make noises (men and women alike). To be punished for pushing yourself to improve contradicts their "no judgement zone" philosophy.

withervein

We got one in our town recently, and I went to check it out, but I don't care to be somewhere to train when I can't push myself with weights. I would say that I am hardly a "lunk" and I don't give two ****s if you wanna do 100 reps with a 2 pound hand weight, that's you and your thing, but I DO want to be able to rack up some weight on a bar for deadlifts and squats. And if I'm going to go for a PR, yeah, I'm likely gonna make a bit of noise while asserting myself against gravity's cruel laws, setting off that ever-so-nonjudgmental alarm.

caitmarshhh

I LOVE Planet Fitness. I joined at the beginning of last summer and just transferred my membership to one by school so I can continue going. Both gyms have lots of cardio equipment. It's obviously going to be busy around like 4 - 8 (when people get off of work) but still I've never had trouble finding an open machine. They also give you a calendar that show their busiest times so you can try to avoid them.

The whole idea behind Planet Fitness is that it's a "judgement free zone". They don't want big beefy men showing everyone up and making them feel as though they're inadequate, which is why they don't have really heavy weights and also why they have the "lunk alarm". I've never ever heard the alarm go off - I think it's more of a reminder.

The pizza and bagels once a month also goes along with the idea of being "judgement free". It's not that they don't want you to lose weight or be healthy, but they don't want you to feel like you need to be eating nothing but salads. I've never eaten either but I think that's the idea they're going for. Maybe this isn't the best approach but I think it gets the point across.

If you get the $10 a month membership there's no commitment so you can cancel whenever you want. The $20 membership gets you free tanning, massage chairs, you can bring a guest whenever you want, and you can visit other gyms as well.

Another thing I love is the circuit workout area. There's 10 machines that give you a full body workout. It if weren't for this I'd have no idea what machines to use.

Anyways just look at their website for more information. I definitely recommend joining. Unless you're like a bodybuilder or something, they'll absolutely have what you need.

caitmarshhh

I LOVE Planet Fitness. I joined at the beginning of last summer and just transferred my membership to one by school so I can continue going. Both gyms have lots of cardio equipment. It's obviously going to be busy around like 4 - 8 (when people get off of work) but still I've never had trouble finding an open machine. They also give you a calendar that show their busiest times so you can try to avoid them.

The whole idea behind Planet Fitness is that it's a "judgement free zone". They don't want big beefy men showing everyone up and making them feel as though they're inadequate, which is why they don't have really heavy weights and also why they have the "lunk alarm". I've never ever heard the alarm go off - I think it's more of a reminder.

The pizza and bagels once a month also goes along with the idea of being "judgement free". It's not that they don't want you to lose weight or be healthy, but they don't want you to feel like you need to be eating nothing but salads. I've never eaten either but I think that's the idea they're going for. Maybe this isn't the best approach but I think it gets the point across.

If you get the $10 a month membership there's no commitment so you can cancel whenever you want. The $20 membership gets you free tanning, massage chairs, you can bring a guest whenever you want, and you can visit other gyms as well.

Another thing I love is the circuit workout area. There's 10 machines that give you a full body workout. It if weren't for this I'd have no idea what machines to use.

Anyways just look at their website for more information. I definitely recommend joining. Unless you're like a bodybuilder or something, they'll absolutely have what you need.

hjfischer

I just joined last night. I went over to the PF by my office and thought, if they are pushy sales people like 24-Hour Fitness, I am outta here. The guy was nice. He specifically told me that it is a Judgement Free Zone, there are no bodybuilder types there, it is for people that want to work out and move on with their lives. It was clean, small, had new equipment. The ladies locker room was clean, didn't smell sweaty. I pay $19.99 a month (higher rates in SF), but that is the Black membership. I can bring a guest with me every time I go, I get free tanning (YEAH) and reduced prices on drinks. Overall, I am looking forward to going. I have no clue how busy it will be at lunchtime, but I go for the weights not the cardio.

Good luck!

thefuzz1290

But you were just judgmental against "big beefy men," or "lunks" as PF calls them. I can honestly tell, from working out in gyms ranging from Golds and LA Fitness, to World Gym where all the WCW wrestlers and pro/semi-pro bodybuilders worked out, to my current gym which is geared towards body builders and power lifters, the guys in there lifting heavy weights aren't judging you. They're not looking down on you. They just want to workout.

PF has created this paranoia that physically fit people automatically judge non-physically fit people. That's typically not the case (there is always one idiot out there) and your fellow PF members are probably judging you more so, because they may be more insecure with their bodies. Heck, I've done a deadlift workout next to a power lifter who asked to borrow my plates when I was done. Just like bowling, we took turns, and he actually helped me with my form. He didn't judge that I was lifting 200lbs less than him.