Planet Fitness

bpotts44

I would invest in some simple home equipment. This will do you just fine until you want to get real advanced.

vjohn04

I go to planet fitness every weekday morning with my hubs. We even upgraded to the black card so I can use the gym when I travel for work or when we go to our vacation home in Florida. They keep the equipment in good working order, and they have a nice 30 min circuit set up.

Locker rooms are clean and showers are nice.

What else do you want to know?

DrMAvDPhD

60 pounds of free weights is NOT a lot, even for a woman. I lift more than that on almost every exercise. Do you have a LA Fitness around? That's what I use and they have a REAL collection of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, and unlimited classes for $30/month.

wswilliams67

Quality free-weights can get very expensive to buy at home. Just join a gym. YES the Y is EXPENSIVE!

I'm a current Black Card member. No complaints at all except the toolbags that stand around talking instead of lifting. $20/mo and my wife can come with me for FREE! Plus nearly 24/7 hours.

If you have a friend who is a member try going for free with them one day and see if you like it.

Someone had posted that they don't allow benching? That's incorrect. Most have 3 benches and Smith machines. True about the no barbell dead-lifting, but honestly are you wanting to be a power lifter? There are alternate dumbbell exercises that achieve the same work.

Some do only go to 60 on the dumbbells but mine goes to 80. I'm sure 'someday' I'll outgrow PF but that isn't gonna happen any time soon.

PF isn't perfect, but for a beginner you cannot beat the price and you WILL lose weight if you use the gym as part of your journey. It's not about the gym though it's about your plan. Find one or make one and just do it. I've lost 30 pounds in 9 weeks and it's not because of the gym I go to. The gym is just a tool I use to meet my goals.

PF gets a bad rap, but I'm not planning on competing so I have no need for slamming racks and dropping weights. ;-)

wswilliams67

60 pounds of free weights is NOT a lot, even for a woman. I lift more than that on almost every exercise. Do you have a LA Fitness around? That's what I use and they have a REAL collection of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, and unlimited classes for $30/month.

There's a ton of free weights at PF... the DUMBBELLS only go to 60-85, but there's plates all around. What they need is pre-weighted barbells, some have them some don't.

No_Finish_Line

60 pounds of free weights is NOT a lot, even for a woman. I lift more than that on almost every exercise. Do you have a LA Fitness around? That's what I use and they have a REAL collection of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, and unlimited classes for $30/month.

what dumbell lifts are you doing that 60 lbs is not enough?

My PF has dumb bells up to 75 lbs. I've been to many gyms and i've only seen a handful of rather large men routinely use anything higher then that for any lift other then bench press or shrugs.

Bakkasan

PF is fine for many people. But a deadlift is a staple of almost every lifting program. It's not about powerlifting, it is the single most effective lift.

No_Finish_Line

bottom line - if dead lifts, squats, cleans are your thing... and you have another option, don't bother with PF.

otherwise, it might very well be exactly what you want.

RedHeadDevotchka

PF is fine for many people. But a deadlift is a staple of almost every lifting program. It's not about powerlifting, it is the single most effective lift.

This times 10!

No_Finish_Line

PF is fine for many people. But a deadlift is a staple of almost every lifting program. It's not about powerlifting, it is the single most effective lift.

agree that any lift that envoles that many muscle groups is going to give you more bang for your buck, and everyone can benefit from them. Up until recently you could get away with doing them at the PF by me, then they removed the extra barbells and when down to one and only one bench press. so there is one and only one barbell in the place lol.

yea its pathetic, but its that or drive 30 mins in the opposite direction after work. nobodies going to stop you from doing any of these lifts on the smith machine as far as i know.... but i hate the smith machine lol.

Its not perfect but i make do. I get my real work out at home anyway

AmberLee2012

I paid $1.00 down and $10.00 per month with a yearly fee of $28.00 which is charged in October. I just joined last month and I really like it so far. I have belonged to other gyms in the past and didn't really like going because of the weight lifters. They would hog all the weight machines and have over 100 lbs on them and get mad when you asked them to move their weights, even though they weren't using the machine at the time. PF is different. Anytime someone grunts loudly or drops weights, an alarm goes off and everyone looks at the person (which they call a lunk). It pretty much eliminates the musclehead behavior I was referring to. They also have a 30 minute circuit training area which is perfect for when you are running short on time. I would check it out. With my $10.00 membership, I am not under contract. Our PF just opened about a month and a half ago and they were running a special on that. You do have a contract with the $20.00 membership if I am not mistaken.

MoreBean13

PF is fine for many people. But a deadlift is a staple of almost every lifting program. It's not about powerlifting, it is the single most effective lift.

If they have dumbbells up to 60, that means you can DL up to 120, right? That's enough for a lot of people.

(Not me, I've PR'd to 250. :bigsmile: )

DrMAvDPhD

60 pounds of free weights is NOT a lot, even for a woman. I lift more than that on almost every exercise. Do you have a LA Fitness around? That's what I use and they have a REAL collection of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, and unlimited classes for $30/month.

what dumbell lifts are you doing that 60 lbs is not enough?

My PF has dumb bells up to 75 lbs. I've been to many gyms and i've only seen a handful of rather large men routinely use anything higher then that for any lift other then bench press or shrugs.

I can squat, deadlift, bench press, and do most lunge variants with over 60 pounds. So, since as far as I know there are NO barbells, I would have no alternative for any of these.

And I am not a meathead, body builder, or competitor. I have been lifting since July and I'm already up to these weights.

MoreBean13

60 pounds of free weights is NOT a lot, even for a woman. I lift more than that on almost every exercise. Do you have a LA Fitness around? That's what I use and they have a REAL collection of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, and unlimited classes for $30/month.

what dumbell lifts are you doing that 60 lbs is not enough?

My PF has dumb bells up to 75 lbs. I've been to many gyms and i've only seen a handful of rather large men routinely use anything higher then that for any lift other then bench press or shrugs.

I can squat, deadlift, bench press, and do most lunge variants with over 60 pounds. So, since as far as I know there are NO barbells, I would have no alternative for any of these.

And I am not a meathead, body builder, or competitor. I have been lifting since July and I'm already up to these weights.

I'm guessing you're not their target demographic.

ETA: I'm impressed with your bench. I've been lifting longer than you and can't seem to get over 105lbs. It's my most challenging lift.

No_Finish_Line

60 pounds of free weights is NOT a lot, even for a woman. I lift more than that on almost every exercise. Do you have a LA Fitness around? That's what I use and they have a REAL collection of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, and unlimited classes for $30/month.

what dumbell lifts are you doing that 60 lbs is not enough?

My PF has dumb bells up to 75 lbs. I've been to many gyms and i've only seen a handful of rather large men routinely use anything higher then that for any lift other then bench press or shrugs.

I can squat, deadlift, bench press, and do most lunge variants with over 60 pounds. So, since as far as I know there are NO barbells, I would have no alternative for any of these.

And I am not a meathead, body builder, or competitor. I have been lifting since July and I'm already up to these weights.

well obviously 2 x 60 lbs dumbells = 120 so if you lung between 60 and 120 you should be fine.

Assume that you do lung 120 with the barbell, have you tried doing it dumbells? its quite a different excerise.

but i guess thats kind of your point, you can't do the exercises you want, exactly the way you want to do them. Believe that i know how frustrating that is lol.

I'm not saying its perfect or even good, but you can do something close to what you want to do most of the time.

most people do all the lifts you mentioned on the smith machine

Sloth_TurtleGirl

Thanks for all of the things to think about. I'm going to go check it out on Saturday. I was not planning to be a body builder or anything, but I have a lot of abdominal fat and lost a lot of muscle there when I was pregnant years and years ago. I just gain there and it comes off there last. I really want to work on getting that muscle back. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Sloth_TurtleGirl

I finally took the plunge and joined over a month and a half ago and I love it. I'm not having weight issues with the weight not being enough because to be honest I'm so out of shape and sedentary that sometimes 10 pounds on some of the machines makes me think my muscles are going to go on strike.

Thank you to everyone for all of the tips.

stanmann571

JustANumber85 wrote: »

I think you should go back to the Y- they have a membership for all program that goes by your income. The classes are free- the Programs (gymnastics for example) you have to pay for. They have trainers, but i think they cost? They have a new program Activtrax that helps come up with a strength program for you based on your goals and a Strength Test. My Y is open 5am-9pm and i LOVE it!

FTR- With my hubbys work dscount (without the membership for all) and a family membership we pay $70/mnth.

How is that better than 24 hours a day for 10-20 a month?

stanmann571

slickrocka wrote: »

By my area i heard theres no dumbbells past 60, no grunting or dropping weights i guess that the "buzz thing", but my biggest issue is NO DEAD LIFTS AND NO BENCHING, as a guy who is serious about losing weight and putting muscle on i cant see why you would go there. I say its good only if you are not too serious and a good stepping stone before you go to Golds gym or Xsport. Not that you have to work your self up to those gyms.

Obviously this varies from location to location.

At my location there are LOTs of people benching.. and quite a few doing smith Deadlifts

middlehaitch

avengeflipper wrote: »

I finally took the plunge and joined over a month and a half ago and I love it. I'm not having weight issues with the weight not being enough because to be honest I'm so out of shape and sedentary that sometimes 10 pounds on some of the machines makes me think my muscles are going to go on strike.

Thank you to everyone for all of the tips.

As with your thread about the treadmill and walking. Do the weights at your own pace. If 10lbs is heavy enough for you that is the weight you should be working with. Do up your weights and/or reps so you are continuously challenging your muscles.

If you can get a PT to design a full body plan for you and teach you the correct form. If you can't do that find a full body workout on line that you can follow.

People may tell you that machines are not the best, it's true they aren't- free weights recruit mode muscle, but if you are comfortable starting with machines that is what you start with. You can move to free weights at another time.

Cheers, h.