Planet Fitness or Planet Fatness?

cwolfman13 wrote: »

fidycixer wrote: »

Awolturtle wrote: »

fidycixer wrote: »

AtlasDidShrugs wrote: »

They're carbing up before they hit the squat rack. Oh wait.....my bad, no squat racks.

Is this truth? PF has no squat rack? They serve pizza once a month and have no squat racks. Seriously people. This is not a gym.

I said it earlier in the thread... But it depends on the PF. Mine had 2 squat racks and a huge free weight section. The one down the road was a different owner and only had free weights. YMMV depending on the location.

Thanks for clarifying. Sounds like the pizza fitness plan varies by location as well.

I think squat racks at PF are not the norm...I've never seen them at any of the PF locations in my area. I don't doubt that some have them, but I don't get the impression that it's the norm.

“Our clubs don’t have equipment like squat racks and Olympic benches. Our dumbbells only go up to 80 pounds.”
~McCall Gosselin PF Director of Public Relations

from this article...

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/planet-fitness-is-not-a-gym

The sad truth about that article and the PF business model. They are just sheering the sheep.

excerpt and observation from the article:

At Planet Fitness, it’s always January. They drive away the lifters who would be expensive to accommodate, in favor of those who’re least likely to swipe their cards more than a few times a month. Many, I suspect, don’t swipe their cards at all; the $10 monthly charge seems a small price to keep alive the dream of getting in shape.

PersianKitty94 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Soccermavrick wrote: »

It is their "thing". I do not fault them because in moderation pizza is food and a carb. And honestly If It Fits then what is the issue. (Would you rather it be Cake, or Beer, or Alcohol?) Personally, I am not a Planet Person, I have other issues with them, I need free weights.

But if their members enjoy it. It builds brand loyalty, maybe some friendships, and hopefully they preach healthy diets, then more power to them.

Having used a PF as a secondary cardio gym at one point, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that many, if not most people there aren't practicing any kind of dietary moderation or "fitting it in" to their calories. I could say that about most gyms I've ever belonged to though...

This one guy yesterday ate around 4 pieces of pizza. Let's say each piece was 250 cal ×4=1000. He worked out maybe for like a half hour. Idk how 1000 cals within 45 mins fits into his calories.

Not to mention what four slices of pizza will do to your blood sugar and insulin levels. Just because you burned the calories off doesn't mean the after effects on your body are completely offset.

PersianKitty94 wrote: »

km8907 wrote: »

It's only once a month -_-

And then there is bagel Tuesdays. Lets not forget.

Yeah ok twice a month.

Can you eat pizza and still be fit & healthy? YES, of course you can.
However, no matter which way you twist it, there is nothing healthy about pizza. It's nutritionally poor.
And for that reason it has no business getting served up at a gym.

HeliumIsNoble wrote: »

PersianKitty94 wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

PersianKitty94 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Soccermavrick wrote: »

It is their "thing". I do not fault them because in moderation pizza is food and a carb. And honestly If It Fits then what is the issue. (Would you rather it be Cake, or Beer, or Alcohol?) Personally, I am not a Planet Person, I have other issues with them, I need free weights.

But if their members enjoy it. It builds brand loyalty, maybe some friendships, and hopefully they preach healthy diets, then more power to them.

Having used a PF as a secondary cardio gym at one point, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that many, if not most people there aren't practicing any kind of dietary moderation or "fitting it in" to their calories. I could say that about most gyms I've ever belonged to though...

This one guy yesterday ate around 4 pieces of pizza. Let's say each piece was 250 cal ×4=1000. He worked out maybe for like a half hour. Idk how 1000 cals within 45 mins fits into his calories.

maybe he hadn't eaten all day because of schedule and that was an opportunity for him....

So you don't eat all day so you can go to the gym and eat.

I can see how that could happen.

For example, maybe the mad rush of getting the kids to school and yourself to work on time meant you only had time to grab a cereal bar, or maybe nothing at all, then you didn't have time for lunch. However, because you knew PF had pizza today, you went there and did a bit of exercise instead of going straight home and ordering pizza delivery.

this could easily my day unless I put specific time on my schedule to eat - my desk mate occasionally comments about how he never sees me because I'm running from meeting to meeting.

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haha I confess I google map-sed it

lilawolf wrote: »

Is it Good pizza? I've always been curious. Because the worst thing I can think of is having sh***y pizza while smelling gym smell and then trying to do a workout. Maybe it would be ok if I could do the workout without smelling the pizza (and being distracted by tummy rumbles), kill it, then eat good pizza....ya.. I could get on board with that.

Same. And if I want to do that...I'm just ordering takeout from the pizza place where I know the pizza is what I want. End of discussion.

I get it. It's a free meal (kind of) and a gimmick to get people in the doors (mostly), but the debate will never be settled. As long as they serve pizza(and bagels) at a quasi-gym/fitness facility that has a business model built on selling memberships for people to become healthy. It's just a slight oxymoron, in practice. Minor contradiction. Just enough to get us talking about it endlessly on an internet forum.

Time for lunch y'alls. Got me some Dominos on the way...gonna have it delivered to the locker room over at Work Out World.

zachbonner_ wrote: »

also I have a serious question. Is the pizza good quality?

Mine uses Papa John's cause it's right next door.

http://www.businessinsider.com/free-pizza-propelled-planet-fitness-gym-growth-2014-3

Once a month, national gym chain Planet Fitness has a free pizza night.

So many members come in for these food-filled evenings that the health club franchise usually gives away 250,000 slices each time, for more than 3 million pieces a year. That's probably not surprising when you consider that Planet Fitness recently hit 5 million members and is now the fastest-growing gym chain in the U.S., according to co-founder and chief executive Chris Rondeau.

Most health clubs, Rondeau explains, cater to the roughly 15% of Americans who consider themselves fitness nuts and love to work out. Planet Fitness's goal, on the other hand, is to attract the much larger percentage of people who want to be healthier but may only use the gym a few times a month.

"The rest of the industry is fighting over that 15%," he says. "We're going for the other 85%."

To accomplish this, Planet Fitness has mixed fitness with fun through its monthly pizza nights and a bagel breakfast on the second Tuesday of the Month.

Beyond being affordable, Planet Fitness has built its reputation on maintaining a non-competitive workout environment. If someone attempts to lift too many weights or seems to be grunting under the effort, staffers can set off a loud siren called the "lunk alarm." On some occasions, particularly egregious lifting offenders have been asked to leave and then escorted out by police.

At least right now, Rondeau isn't planning any big changes in the model. He says the $10 price tag and the uncompetitive atmosphere are the two big reasons Planet Fitness has been able to differentiate its product. As he likes to put it, if all the other gyms are selling hamburgers, then Planet Fitness is offering pizza.

blackcomaro wrote: »

So.. you can only have 1 slice?

Nope, you can have as many as you want. They buy plenty of pizza to last all day. I always walk past it since Im not trying to gain all the calories back that I just worked off. It does smell good but its all mind over matter.

denversillygoose wrote: »

Is it good pizza? That's really all that matters.

Yeah, its Papa Johns very good pizza which makes it even harder to pass up.