Planet Fitness
piefeck
Posts: 12 Member
The membership fees sound too good to be true. Is there a catch? For those of you that go, what are the good & bad opinions you have?
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the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.7
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Most of the locations do not have a squat rack/much of a selection of free weights. They basically have dumbbells, cable machines, smith machines, cardio machines and strength training machines.
But it is a really cheap and convenient option if you mostly do cardio or use machines or dumbbells. Definitely worth the money if you don't lift heavy.0 -
Their business model is all about volume...$10 per month will generate a lot of volume in terms of membership. They do not cater generally to individuals who are serious about their fitness/training...they cater to people who may or may not show up...beginners...people who want to pop in and do a little cardio and maybe play around with the resistance machines a bit.
IMO, it's ok as a beginner gym or a 2nd gym. The fact that they portray anyone who is serious about fitness as a lunk is annoying. Typically, traditional compound movements such as Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, etc are not permitted...even though these are some of the best movements you could possibly do...if you do them, you're just way to serious and a lunk. Most locations don't have squat racks and none of them have Oly platforms or bumper plates...they might have a single bench possibly.8 -
They really want you to sign up for the $10 autopay and then to never darken their door again. If you can ignore the decor and the basic anti-athletic aspects of the place, then it's a cheap option for getting access to seated exercise bikes and the like. Make sure you don't leave any sweat spots anywhere. Their advice people really only have one script and don't know much.4
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Someone just mentioned to me about a discontinue fee. Have any of you ever heard of that?0
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I use it as my secondary gym for cardio, my primary is strictly for lifting. I go in, do 30 minutes and get out. Try to ignore the people not knowing what they're doing.0
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I really enjoyed planet fitness. I only quit because it was too hard of a drive and then I felt rushed to get back home. I was a no-show for the most part but when I was there, I easily spent 2 hours there. The cable machines are wonderful. The cardio machines were better than I had at home. At the time I was a member, I wasn't lifting weights and had no plan of action. I was just hitting all the machines. I didn't really start seeing results until I got my own weights at home and followed a plan off bodybuilding.com's site. Now I kind of wish PF was closer to my home. There are a lot of machines I would like to use now that I know more than than last year.0
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I go to a Planet Fitness across the street from my home about 5 times a week. For me it works great--low price, very convenient, pleasant atmosphere. $10 a month and an annual fee of $39.
I stick to machine-based strength training, and cardio machines. there is a freeweight section, but it's smaller when compared to other gyms I've been to, and as mentioned above, they don't want to hear any weights dropping or clanking, and they don't want to hear any loud grunting.
There are tanning beds, massage chairs, and water massage beds for people who pay $19 a month instead of the $10 a month I pay.
Depending on your goals, it might be great! If you're a more serious weight-trainer, you're gonna want to find a different kind of gym.4 -
I go there every other day - it's only a couple minutes from my house. I pay $20/month to get some of the extra perks (unlimited guests, tanning, use of every location, etc.). If you are training for competition weight lifting, it may not be the place for you. My location of PF is huge, has a lot of free weights. I like it because I do a combination of strength and cardio. I had a trainer (one down fall they only have one trainer and he's only there 3 days a week) put together a plan with me to achieve my goals of losing weight and getting in shape. It's cheap, clean, clientele primarily comes in to workout and go home. It's not a social club and I like that.0
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Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.12 -
SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
If you think a 70lb bench press is massive, then you're right, Planet Fitness is perfect for you.11 -
Someone just mentioned to me about a discontinue fee. Have any of you ever heard of that?
Not sure about the year contract since I cancelled after a year in. I had no fee when I cancelled. They just warned me to do it before the auto payment occurred and so I was not to be hit with another monthly payment. Ask the questions before you sign.1 -
I don't know this particular gym, but I do train at a chain gym which is okay. However, where I live no one complains when you do compound lifts and the gym has a rubber-ish floor in the free weight area as well as 8 barbells (including two 10 kg ones, 1 bench and 1 incline bench) and a couple of bumper plates.
- Ask if you can train there once to see if their assortment of equipment matches your goals and abilities.
- Check if it is busy on your preferred times/days. You don't want to train in a chain gym at peak hours.
- Check if they have a bench press station, a barbell rack high enough to (un)rack for squats and overhead presses, a couple of barbells plus weight plates and a lat pull down machine or a place to do pullups at the very least. You can do most exercises or similar with dumbells, kettlebells and some machines if you're not going too heavy but I like barbells more.
- Make sure that the commute there is do-able and will not become much of a chore.
- Whenever you're there, focus on your own workout.
You will be fine without a squat rack if you stick to training with loads that you know you can handle >3 times and lighten the load if you don't feel well, but you will never be able to ego lift, perform extra repetitions after technical failure, or max lift without putting yourself in danger. At this point let me kindly remind you that you always need to have a high enough place to rack the bar after overhead presses and squats, especially for the latter because you can Romanian DL after an overhead press. It's a really awful place to have a barbell on your back and no free rack. Walk. Of. Shame.0 -
SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
Lol..."massive 70 Lb bench press"...if a 70 Lb bench press is massive, PF is probably spot on your place to be. My bench is in no way impressive, but far more than 70 Lbs...
And a deadlift is always going to clank when it hits the floor...I can't imagine you're deadlifting much without bumpers and a platform.
Note that I'm a cycling enthusiast and not at all a big "lunk" body builder or anything like that...but the notion of someone training hard enough to need to grunt a little to get the weight up being offensive is why PF is ridiculous...if you don't have to work at it, you're not pushing or pulling enough weight...you're spinning your wheels.5 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
Lol..."massive 70 Lb bench press"...if a 70 Lb bench press is massive, PF is probably spot on your place to be...
And I read "massive 70 Lb bench press" as a sarcastic dig at grunting showboaters.13 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
Lol..."massive 70 Lb bench press"...if a 70 Lb bench press is massive, PF is probably spot on your place to be...
And I read "massive 70 Lb bench press" as a sarcastic dig at grunting showboaters.
Anyone who needs to put some effort into the lift is going to make a little noise...that's not show boating, that's actually working out...and nobody is grunting with 70 Lbs...0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
Lol..."massive 70 Lb bench press"...if a 70 Lb bench press is massive, PF is probably spot on your place to be. My bench is in no way impressive, but far more than 70 Lbs...
And a deadlift is always going to clank when it hits the floor...I can't imagine you're deadlifting much without bumpers and a platform.
Note that I'm a cycling enthusiast and not at all a big "lunk" body builder or anything like that...but the notion of someone training hard enough to need to grunt a little to get the weight up being offensive is why PF is ridiculous...if you don't have to work at it, you're not pushing or pulling enough weight...you're spinning your wheels.
Yes, this!!0 -
SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
If you think a 70lb bench press is massive, then you're right, Planet Fitness is perfect for you.
Pretty sure that was an ironic use of the word massive.
Because at any gym I've ever been at. It's not the guys doing actually massive lifts(250-400lb) screaming... it's the puffy(not to be confused with fluffy) guy who's doing 70 or 90 lbs. And it's not like he's grunting on the last press he's screaming like he's on the electric chair for 30-90 seconds.5 -
It's like a gym with training wheels.
I would have never entered a "regular" gym at 330lbs. I did, however, join PF, and felt like I was among "my people" (grey and fat!).
I still go 5x a week, and have lost 67lbs so far, so it's working.
I may go to a "regular" gym as I get closer to goal weight to get more personalized training, but for now it works for me.10 -
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To answer the original question.
Every PF is a little different. Mine(and many others) are very little different from a regular gym.
Others are hostile towards "lunks"
Where I go...it's my rainy day plan... there's folks doing DLs in the Smith's, there are kettlebells and folks swinging them. No screaming... but an occasional grunt or sigh.2 -
stanmann571 wrote: »SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
If you think a 70lb bench press is massive, then you're right, Planet Fitness is perfect for you.
Pretty sure that was an ironic use of the word massive.
Because at any gym I've ever been at. It's not the guys doing actually massive lifts(250-400lb) screaming... it's the puffy(not to be confused with fluffy) guy who's doing 70 or 90 lbs. And it's not like he's grunting on the last press he's screaming like he's on the electric chair for 30-90 seconds.
I must have lucked out most of my life with gyms...I've only ever been a member of one like this and it was a Gold's...I've been in and out of gyms most of my life and I've rarely encountered this kind of stuff.
I'm at a small studio gym now that isn't open to the public...pretty much everyone there is just serious business...and Oly lifting is part of what everyone does, including my 70 year old lifting buddy...who would obviously be considered a lunk at PF...super intimidating 70 year old man doing clean and jerks...0 -
I know that type of puffy guy, he's likely on 'roids and uses bro technique. In my gym this type of guy grunts like there is no tomorrow and also drops the weights without reason. I usually ignore them, but sometimes groups of them hog the bench press and lat pull down which is annoying.
Provided the equipment is half decent and you're just beginning (especially for women who tend to start at a lower level than men) it's fine to train with machines, a couple of dumbbells, kettlebells and do some cardio to build up strength and fitness for a year and then switch to another gym if needed. Just make sure you challenge yourself and use progressive overloading like ordinary barbell training. If you don't know whether you'll like strength training it's a bit of a stretch to join an oly or power lifting gym but if it's something you'd like to try out certainly do.0 -
PF is alright. The massage chairs are nice, the equipment is generally well taken care of and clean.
The problem is the lack of barbells makes it quite limited.
But it's alright for light dumbbell workouts and cardio.0 -
I think it depends on the size of the gym and the area you are in. I LOVE the 2 Planet Fitness gyms that I frequent. They actually have up to 150 pound dumb bells but i do not need them. There are also lots of them, but these are both very large gyms. They both have quite a few "lunks" that are members. The Lunk gym in our area closed so they had to go somewhere. I see people with tank tops, carrying jugs of water, and doing the movements that I keep reading you aren't allowed to do. No dead lifts? Really? I do them every week. I hear regular grunting and sometimes someone even drops weights! There are also quite a few personal trainers on staff and they don't mind if you train with your own trainer. I love that it is clean, large, open 24 hours with staff and CHEAP. I pay extra for the massages etc as well. You have to do what works for you!1
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cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »SeikoMonster wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »the catch is they don't like people who take their workouts too seriously - no deadlifts, no noises, no supersets, no benching, no overhead press. if you like just cardio I guess it could be ok.
You are incorrect in almost everything you said.
I dead lift, super set, bench and overhead weekly.
They don't want people screaming and dropping weights. If you are referring to that as noise. Actually its nice, not having that guy doing massive 70 pound bench press grunting like he just lifted a car.
It is not the gym to turn you into mr olympia. But for the other 80% of people that don't need more than 75 pound dumbbells, and are okay using a smith machine its a good place.
Cheap, clean, never much if any wait for using a machine or spot to use the dumbbells.
Lol..."massive 70 Lb bench press"...if a 70 Lb bench press is massive, PF is probably spot on your place to be...
And I read "massive 70 Lb bench press" as a sarcastic dig at grunting showboaters.
Anyone who needs to put some effort into the lift is going to make a little noise...that's not show boating, that's actually working out...and nobody is grunting with 70 Lbs...
I had my wife quit her idiot trainer a few months ago and have her lifting with me now. She has made incredible progress and now benches two 25# plates - so about 95#. She grunts a little on her last few reps of her last set. She'd kill me if I tried to make fun of the weight she was pushing. It's HEAVY for her. It's all relative.12 -
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cwolfman13 wrote: »
Anyone who needs to put some effort into the lift is going to make a little noise...that's not show boating, that's actually working out...and nobody is grunting with 70 Lbs...
The 70 pound massive lift was a true story from yesterday... I am not kidding in the slightest. You would have thought he was lifting a car that was stuck on his chest.
I'm in agreement with you. I can only speak to the 2 PF's I go to. A little grunt or sharp breath as you lift is not a problem at either of them. Its the idiots that are the problem. Ive only had the "Lunk Alarm" go of twice in my 4-5 months there. Some jack wagon intentionally dropped a 60 pound bar bell while doing bicep curls. And the 70 pounder.1 -
I would be in for the client retaining pizza parties $10 a month is a cheap price to pay for a pizza dinner once per week. good commercial quality cardio equipment ain't cheap you could buy about 10 years worth of PF before you bought a treadmill. This all being said PF is certainly not for me. I don't make a ton of noise when I workout but I don't need a siren going off if I grunt through my last rep nor do I need a smith machine forcing me into an unnatural bar path.1
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