What's wrong with Planet Fitness?

taso42

They claim "judgement free zone" yet judge (i.e., prohibit) anybody who wants to do legitimate powerlifting. At $10/month, it's an easy choice for someone who wants to use machines, but not for somebody who is interested in real weight lifting.

mtaylor1980

I love it! It is super cheap, very clean, and they have great, modern machines!!!

tabulator32

I notice they have three different plans and monthly fees.

What is the difference between the plans? Its not clear to me on the website.

pamperedlinny

I went to PF for 2 years. I loved it. I only stopped because I started going to classes and they didn't hold aerobic class there. In my opinion though it's the best bang for your buck since you can go for $10 a month with no contract, do circuit training, weight lifting or machines, use the massage chairs afterwards and even tan (though I didn't do the last part).

I've heard some negatives but personally never experienced them. In fact, since it was mostly open 24 hrs I really loved that if I went early or late there was almost no one there.

Lastly, when I started going I was 300 lbs literally. I tried Baily's & Gold's. I always felt like an intruder. At PF I wasn't the heaviest or skinniest person there. And even if I was I never felt judged. It's the motto but that doesn't always mean anything to some people. At that gym I felt like it actually was practiced. And if I join a gym again (which I probably will this winter) it will most likely be PF.

rader1

I am a PF member and I love it. It's affordable ($10/ mo.) or $20 if you want to tan and use massage equipment. You can also bring a friend for free with the $20 black card. I never have to wait for equipment. They have some free weights but not enough for bodybuilders. PF is targeted towards everyday people that wanto to get or stay in shape. Did I mention free personal training., either group or one- on- one. The equipment and facilities are clean and the staff is always friendly.

contingencyplan

There's nothing wrong with planet fitness at all provided that:

1. You are a beginner at fitness (they don't have the type of equipment that caters to people who have moved past the beginner phase, what with no free weights--only machines and light to medium weight dumbbells).

2. Your goals are strictly weight loss oriented (see above--lack of "heavy lifting" tools mean people looking to build legitimate athletic conditioning are left out in the cold).

3. You have the willpower to resist the treat temptations (free pizza one night a week to all gym members, and all the candy you can eat 24/7).

4. You can get through your workout without grunting (along with dropping the weights, it is a violation of their policy and will have you publicly humiliated via an air raid siren-style alarm they sound whenever someone breaks the rules. They call it the lunk alarm, and on top of the public humiliation, they eject you if you do it again).

I could keep going, but basically here's the gist of it: The gym has only machines that do isolation training, cardio equipment, and dumbbells that go up to no more than 50-60 lbs. The only thing they have that other gyms don't is a designated circuit training center that guides you through a half hour circuit training workout using numbered stations. While this is a good and novel idea, I feel it really only benefits beginners who do not yet know how to put their own program together. The fact that they have no free weights to do more advanced exercises, and rules designed to discourage people who are at a more advanced level of fitness from using their facilities, mean they are really only capable of catering to beginners on a budget who either cannot afford a trainer or do now have a workout buddy to guide them through proper workouts.

BigMike915

A Lunk Alarm, really?!? Are you absolutely kidding me? That is insane.

tigersword

I have a Planet Fitness coming near me, but I've heard a lot of negative reviews on this gym.
What's bad about Planet Fitness?

I don't go to one but I've read from several folks that they have limited to no free weights and they don't allow deadlifting or olympic style lifts.

That's exactly it. Between the lack of free weights, restriction of lifts, and the silliness of the "lunk alarm" (we don't judge you, unless you want to lift heavy, then we immediately ridicule you.)

No power racks either, just Smith machines, which are the absolute worst things in the world, imo. Unrealistic movement path, supports most of the weight for you, bodyweight exercises are better than Smith machine exercises...

I had a membership for a year, when I first started getting into shape. Cardio machines were great, but once I really started getting serious about strength training, it just wasn't adequate at all.

I guess it's an ok beginner gym, and a decent general fitness gym (tons of machines,) but not a very good strength training gym.

litnerd4life

I have been going to PF for about 6 months or so. At first I really liked it, and I still do, for the most part. But as others have said, as I am progressing in my fitness, I am starting to feel a little out of place. I am a girl, and I lift fairly heavy on leg days. Their barbells are all pre-weighted, and only go up to 60lbs. I am now using the 60 lb. for most of my leg exercises. I also really like HIIT, and do a fair amount of jumping around, burpees, etc. There really isn't a designated area for this, so I just do it by my weight bench. I have no idea if this is OK or not, but I have never heard the lunk alarm go off (I thought it was just for looks, honestly). It is super clean, always a treadmill handy, and the employees are great. The price is awesome also...but if you think you may ever want to get more "extreme" with your workouts, it's definitely not the place for you. I will probably switch gyms once my year commitment is up. No kettle bells, boxes, or weight racks is really starting to get to me

tinyrah

I'm a member, I love it. It's clean, plenty of machines, 30-min circuit area, never a wait. I don't do any power lifting though so I can't comment on that. I've never ever heard the lunk alarm go off.

trixirn

i just started going there.. 10 a month.. cant beat it.. its clean, friendly and has alot of weights.. over 75 pds i belive.. but dont quote me on that. also free pizza on the first monday of the month.. which normall i would say who cares.. but i happen to be there on that night and needed something to eat as i ran out the door for my zumba class.. yummy..

my only complaint is that i dont feel there staff is very knowlegable. even the "trainer"..

A gym that gives out PIZZA!

tigersword

i just started going there.. 10 a month.. cant beat it.. its clean, friendly and has alot of weights.. over 75 pds i belive.. but dont quote me on that. also free pizza on the first monday of the month.. which normall i would say who cares.. but i happen to be there on that night and needed something to eat as i ran out the door for my zumba class.. yummy..

my only complaint is that i dont feel there staff is very knowlegable. even the "trainer"..

A gym that gives out PIZZA!

They give out bagels, too. Brilliant business model, really. Feed your clients pizza, bagels, and tootsie rolls, and they'll stay fat. If they stay fat, they keep working out. It's like an evil genius type plan.

Serenstar75

There is nothing "wrong" with Planet Fitness. Some people just don't like it.

I joined the PF that opened near my home back in January, same time as I started here and working out there as helped me to lose 60 pounds since January 1, 2012.

I like it much more than the 24hr Fitness in town which is the kind of gym some folk here seem to prefer. Dumbbells go up to 75 lbs which is fine for me, the Smith machines are great for me since I am in there before 5am and don't have a spotter when I am doing bench presses and what not and I appreciate the fact that they don't allow the gangsta crap I had to put up with at 24hr Fitness.

^^^^^

This. I love PF and have no issues with it. I hear people complain about the free food etc too. Then don't eat it! It's silly. I also have a good trainer though at the one where I go. There's an area off to the side at mine too that allows you room to stretch, do non-machine crunches, jump around do whatever. All of the rooms have mats you can use as needed too.

ninerbuff

The colors. When you represent team colors of the Minnesota Vikings, it's gotta suck.:laugh:

Sarcasm aside, when I first when to work out there (in Pennsylvania while on vacation at Hershey Park) first thing they said to me (because I obviously looked like a bodybuilder) is that I "may not" like to lift there. I'm told them I was doing cardio and some arms that day. So for a "judgment free" zone, they seemed pretty judgmental.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Serenstar75

4. You can get through your workout without grunting (along with dropping the weights, it is a violation of their policy and will have you publicly humiliated via an air raid siren-style alarm they sound whenever someone breaks the rules. They call it the lunk alarm, and on top of the public humiliation, they eject you if you do it again).

I've read about this, never, ever, ever, ever seen it.

aimforhealthy

I don't think there's anything wrong with a gym that caters to fitness beginners on a budget. That describes quite a lot of people, myself and my 15yo special needs son included. For us, it's been well worth the $20/month.

It isn't really a "judgment-free" zone. I'm a size 12 (at 5'8") and my son is "skinny-fat" at 5'10" and 140 lbs. We could both fit into the XXL "free" t-shirt they gave us when I joined because "we only make one size due to being a judgment-free zone." I was like, "Accurate sizes are a judgment? What?" But I do see a lot of very overweight people working out there, older people, etc. and as everyone has said, it's extremely clean and has tons of machines. The free personal training is great, too.

The strength-training machines at ours go to over 200 lbs, so I guess every facility is different. Ours also has massage chairs and tanning booths, and 75-cent half-liter bottles of water in case you forget yours. I'm really happy with what we get for the price. I'm sure eventually our fitness levels will outgrow it and I'll be able to take up, say, kick-boxing and Zumba without feeling like dying 5 minutes in, but for now, we're happy with it.

BostonMatt

Nothing wrong but it all depends on what you want to get out of it. It wont have any of he extra classes, pool or high tec stuff. It's just an affordable no frills gym.

Blaqheart

Nothing! I love my gym it's always clean, the staff is friendly knowledgable, and everyone is accepted. I love it so much I'm a Blackcard member. They do have free weights just nothing you'd find in say Gold's Gym because that is something they don't have nor will you find people domineering the free weights or intimidating anyone who wants to use them. Seems this has been a problem with others in different gyms. Not at Planet Fitness.

I do lift and we have quite a bit of free weights available. I'm not a pro bodybuilder, but I am building my body just not following their plan. I follow my own.:bigsmile:

I've never experienced anything negative and I've been there since a week before Mother's Day.

I'm glad no one is slamming or throwing weights because this sounds quite dangerous not only for the one doing it, but anyone around.:huh:

mcrowe1016

There's nothing wrong with planet fitness at all provided that:

1. You are a beginner at fitness (they don't have the type of equipment that caters to people who have moved past the beginner phase, what with no free weights--only machines and light to medium weight dumbbells).

2. Your goals are strictly weight loss oriented (see above--lack of "heavy lifting" tools mean people looking to build legitimate athletic conditioning are left out in the cold).

3. You have the willpower to resist the treat temptations (free pizza one night a week to all gym members, and all the candy you can eat 24/7).

4. You can get through your workout without grunting (along with dropping the weights, it is a violation of their policy and will have you publicly humiliated via an air raid siren-style alarm they sound whenever someone breaks the rules. They call it the lunk alarm, and on top of the public humiliation, they eject you if you do it again).

I could keep going, but basically here's the gist of it: The gym has only machines that do isolation training, cardio equipment, and dumbbells that go up to no more than 50-60 lbs. The only thing they have that other gyms don't is a designated circuit training center that guides you through a half hour circuit training workout using numbered stations. While this is a good and novel idea, I feel it really only benefits beginners who do not yet know how to put their own program together. The fact that they have no free weights to do more advanced exercises, and rules designed to discourage people who are at a more advanced level of fitness from using their facilities, mean they are really only capable of catering to beginners on a budget who either cannot afford a trainer or do now have a workout buddy to guide them through proper workouts.

If you had read a whole three posts into the topic you would see that most (all that I have been to) do have free weights.

Your second two points are valid, though personally I have no problem saying no to the pizza and I can put weights down with out grunting. I guess those two are specific to each individual.

If I could avoid pizza at home as well as I do at the gym, I would be all set!

itsuki

Before you make any decisions about the PF near you, visit it.

PFs can vary widely from location to location. I never understood why people didn't like them until I realized that most of them are not like mine. Mine has a lot of free weights, squat racks, power racks, dumb bells, the whole nine yards. A lot of people use the cardio machines, but there are a LOT of weight lifters too.

Everyone is friendly, I've only heard the lunk alarm go off like twice in my year here (once I didn't see what happened, and once a guy literally threw his bar on the ground and walked off without re-racking). People grunt all the time and no one sets off the alarm.

So yeah, it differs from place to place. Some are bad, some are great. Go check yours out and see if you like it. The other nice thing about it is the $10 a month plan has no contract, so you can try it out for a while and see if it meets your needs, and if it doesn't, you can just cancel the membership.