What's wrong with Planet Fitness?

i deadlift at my planet fitness all the time and i have never had anyone tell me not to. there are always lots of people in the weight lifting area doing powerlifts and such... i don't know why people think they don't "allow" you to lift.... because they do.

No grunting and they don't like bodybuilders. I wish it was my gym. Mine is just the opposite (rhymes with Mold's Tim) but it's convenient.

My PF has a LOT of bodybuilding types. Even the staff trainer there is one.

It comes down to each location, they are are independently owned so it just depends on how the owner feels. I never hear the lunk alarm and most of the people who go to mine are very fit. I'd say mine is 70% fit people, 20% people trying to get fit and 10% elderly finding a way to spend their day on the recumbent bikes. :happy:

What's wrong? Nothing, unless you want to lift heavy with free weights. They simply don't have the proper equipment for it. Otherwise, they're cheap and clean and have plenty of other stuff you can use.

No grunting and they don't like bodybuilders. I wish it was my gym. Mine is just the opposite (rhymes with Mold's Tim) but it's convenient.

My PF has a LOT of bodybuilding types. Even the staff trainer there is one.

It comes down to each location, they are are independently owned so it just depends on how the owner feels. I never hear the lunk alarm and most of the people who go to mine are very fit. I'd say mine is 70% fit people, 20% people trying to get fit and 10% elderly finding a way to spend their day on the recumbent bikes. :happy:

^^ This right here.

I went to the PF in Providence RI and they had a ton of equipment that my normal PF doesn't have including a squat rack, olympic bars for benching, a lot more weight plates than my PF has, but then again it was also three times the size of the one that I go to.

Mine also has very fit, body builder types that go there and they hardly EVER pull the lunk alarm. If they do it's only because someone is being a complete and total *kitten* and it's usually on people they know.

I go there because it's close and affordable. I'm not a cardio bunny. I lift as heavy as I can. My goal isn't to be a power lifter but to be lean and muscular which I am. It doesn't matter how much equipment a gym does or doesn't have what matters is the person whose working out. You can go to a fancy gym and probably find just as many over weight people who aren't losing and just going through the motions of working out as you can when you go to a PF. To say that someone who goes there is just interested in cardio, is a fat @ss and will never gain any muscle is ridiculous. I work my butt off there and have the body to show it. It's all about the person and not necessarily the gym.

It's a matter of personal preference...some prefer Gold's Gym. As long as you accomplish your goals, it does't matter what gym you attend - as long as you are comfortable attending the gym.

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?

The one location by me has no free weights. All machines.

Might as well buy a bowflex

Um....no...just no

http://tinyurl.com/kqmh8pu

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?

The one location by me has no free weights. All machines.

Might as well buy a bowflex

Um....no...just no

http://tinyurl.com/kqmh8pu

1. craigslist.org
2. Search: squat + weight + bench [OR] Bowflex
3. Profit

I was a member of PF for quite some time. I liked it for a while. I could use cardio machines and do stretches and weight machines. Once I got into real weight lifting, I quickly realized it wasn't for me. I didn't go to the gym for a week because I was sick and when I came back there were signs all over the gym saying no cleans, deadlifts, overhead presses, or snatches. I was trying to do Starting Strength for the first time. I ignored the signs and tried learning Hang Power Cleans with an empty bar. Not bothering anybody and keeping quiet. The "personal trainer" came up to me and said it wasn't allowed. I went up front to talk to the manager about the rule. I said how that wasn't a rule when I signed my agreement when I joined two years prior to that. He gave me the "rules are subject to change" bull****.

I was basically told I'm not allowed to do half my workout for some arbitrary reason. Of course you can do it with dumbbells. Why? My guess is that people find it "less threatening." I was a super beginner trying to learn real lifts and was basically told to give up on it with no real guidance on what to do otherwise. And the reasoning was some ill-informed crap about them being "bodybuilding moves."

If you care about strength, you will not like Planet Fitness. Even if you don't right now, look into if you may want to lift eventually. PF used to be the only cheap option in town for me, but since they started jacking up their price (now it's $15 if you don't want to sign a one year commitment), and with other competition (check out Snap Fitness and YouFit), they're not the only game in town.

EDIT: For the lunk alarm, I had tried lifting other times before this incident. I had been the subject of the lunk alarm a few times. Why? Because I was doing One-Arm DB Rows and I my arm was tired and accidentally dropped a 35lb dumbbell about 5 inches from the floor. Yeah...

I was a member of PF for quite some time. I liked it for a while. I could use cardio machines and do stretches and weight machines. Once I got into real weight lifting, I quickly realized it wasn't for me. I didn't go to the gym for a week because I was sick and when I came back there were signs all over the gym saying no cleans, deadlifts, overhead presses, or snatches. I was trying to do Starting Strength for the first time. I ignored the signs and tried learning Hang Power Cleans with an empty bar. Not bothering anybody and keeping quiet. The "personal trainer" came up to me and said it wasn't allowed. I went up front to talk to the manager about the rule. I said how that wasn't a rule when I signed my agreement when I joined two years prior to that. He gave me the "rules are subject to change" bull****.

I was basically told I'm not allowed to do half my workout for some arbitrary reason. Of course you can do it with dumbbells. Why? My guess is that people find it "less threatening." I was a super beginner trying to learn real lifts and was basically told to give up on it with no real guidance on what to do otherwise. And the reasoning was some ill-informed crap about them being "bodybuilding moves."

If you care about strength, you will not like Planet Fitness. Even if you don't right now, look into if you may want to lift eventually. PF used to be the only cheap option in town for me, but since they started jacking up their price (now it's $15 if you don't want to sign a one year commitment), and with other competition (check out Snap Fitness and YouFit), they're not the only game in town.

EDIT: For the lunk alarm, I had tried lifting other times before this incident. I had been the subject of the lunk alarm a few times. Why? Because I was doing One-Arm DB Rows and I my arm was tired and accidentally dropped a 35lb dumbbell about 5 inches from the floor. Yeah...

This is an unbelievable post and illustrates why I hate PF. They seem to relish the idea of complacency vs. progress and that's just stupid. I feel sorry for you that this happened - here you are, genuinely trying to get better in your gym and THEY judge YOU for it. Judgment free my eye.

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?

The one location by me has no free weights. All machines.

Might as well buy a bowflex

Um....no...just no

http://tinyurl.com/kqmh8pu

1. craigslist.org
2. Search: squat + weight + bench [OR] Bowflex
3. Profit

Craig's list is a "no, no" in my book. Too many crazy people out there!

Planet fitness is a Franchise Indepentant owners so they could very well vary as far as operations and the gym in general. My daughter has a membership and she loves it. My wife and I I think will get one also failry inexpensive and we do mostly cardio anyways I do some bodyweight stuff.

I was a member of PF for quite some time. I liked it for a while. I could use cardio machines and do stretches and weight machines. Once I got into real weight lifting, I quickly realized it wasn't for me. I didn't go to the gym for a week because I was sick and when I came back there were signs all over the gym saying no cleans, deadlifts, overhead presses, or snatches. I was trying to do Starting Strength for the first time. I ignored the signs and tried learning Hang Power Cleans with an empty bar. Not bothering anybody and keeping quiet. The "personal trainer" came up to me and said it wasn't allowed. I went up front to talk to the manager about the rule. I said how that wasn't a rule when I signed my agreement when I joined two years prior to that. He gave me the "rules are subject to change" bull****.

I was basically told I'm not allowed to do half my workout for some arbitrary reason. Of course you can do it with dumbbells. Why? My guess is that people find it "less threatening." I was a super beginner trying to learn real lifts and was basically told to give up on it with no real guidance on what to do otherwise. And the reasoning was some ill-informed crap about them being "bodybuilding moves."

If you care about strength, you will not like Planet Fitness. Even if you don't right now, look into if you may want to lift eventually. PF used to be the only cheap option in town for me, but since they started jacking up their price (now it's $15 if you don't want to sign a one year commitment), and with other competition (check out Snap Fitness and YouFit), they're not the only game in town.

EDIT: For the lunk alarm, I had tried lifting other times before this incident. I had been the subject of the lunk alarm a few times. Why? Because I was doing One-Arm DB Rows and I my arm was tired and accidentally dropped a 35lb dumbbell about 5 inches from the floor. Yeah...

This is an unbelievable post and illustrates why I hate PF. They seem to relish the idea of complacency vs. progress and that's just stupid. I feel sorry for you that this happened - here you are, genuinely trying to get better in your gym and THEY judge YOU for it. Judgment free my eye.

I was a "black card" member for 2 years. Of those two years I only actively used my membership for about 5-6 months. During those 5-6 months I saw significant weight loss which was mostly attributed to diet. However, when I decided I wanted to shift my goals to more fitness oriented than just weight loss, I found out I wasn't welcome. Firstly, the gym itself was very under-equipped for it. My PF, like many, did not have a squat rack, only a Smith machine. Additionally, their dumbbell selection was limited to no more than 50 lbs. This was the entirety of their free weight selection. On top of this, there were rules limiting what exercises you were allowed to do with the dumbbells and Smith Machine. Many common exercises were prohibited.

PF is a franchise and you will find they vary greatly from location to location in terms of how the owner conducts it and the equipment stocked. However, there is a corporate policy which all franchise owners agree to (and many violate) that prohibits squats, deadlifts, and stocking the gym with dumbbells beyond a certain weight, as well as barbells.

If there was one near me with a full weight room... at $10/month I'd join in a heartbeat!

Ok - but why brand yourself as a "gym" and then offer a bunch of crap for people to eat? seems counter productive to me...that would be like going to AA and they have an open bar set up ...

I agree with you, in fact, I made that exact comment in one of these "Planet Fitness" threads a while back.

Where are the IIFYM people at? I thought there are no "bad" foods?

Not sure....I'd be all over free pizza, but besides that I'd be DQ'd from attending because I "guzzle water" and wear the wrong headgear.