Planet Fitness?

124

Replies

  • allisonlane161
    allisonlane161 Posts: 269 Member
    I started at Planet Fitness, but after around a year, I got bored there. That's not their fault, but I found I needed more options for cardio. I joined a gym with a lot of different classes and a lot more bells and whistles for a bit more money than PF. I love this gym. There are out-of-shape and super-fit people there and it's absolutely judgment free. Now I can't possibly get bored because there are so many options for cardio and strength, that I can just change up my routine.
  • seasideliving
    seasideliving Posts: 2 Member
    I go to an Anytime Fitness gym with free food on Fridays - fruit.
  • stacimarie1015
    stacimarie1015 Posts: 30 Member
    edited August 2018
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    Do you like it? Is it really a judgement free zone? I'm thinking about joining, but am nervous. I've never been a part of a gym before. I've done as much research as I can on it, and it's certainly the cheapest option around my town even with the $40 annual fee. Thoughts?

    Hubby and I joined last month. Check them out - you should be able to walk around & tour. We each did the black card, so $22/mo and $39 annual fee. We can each take a guest for free-and there are no limits to the guest. (Anytime Fitness one person could be the free guest but not come back for 3 months.) So I can take my daughter -who likes to go with me on SUnday mornings & Wednesday evenings. Hubby works out during the day (works nights) so can take a friend w/ him. For the $10-15 memberships, there was no free guest option. Plus can use any PF, and if I go before work it is more convenient for me to use a different location.

    Its very busy in the evenings after work, but people are good about wiping down machines when they use them. I never have a problem getting a cardio machine, but have to wait sometimes (Briefly) for weight machines. In the morning early hours, its fairly open.
  • denisekangas
    denisekangas Posts: 2 Member
    I have been a member of Planet Fitness and enjoyed it. I recently switched to Beachbody on Demand. I am doing the 80 Days of Obsession workout. It is a different workout every day. It also comes with an easy meal plan. I am getting great results from this and you do it from the comfort of your own home.
  • epr3996
    epr3996 Posts: 2,719 Member
    I have joined Planet Fitness I do feel like they are a judgement free zone. If you can go at odd times then they do offer some classes which can get you started. Also the 30 minute workout really does get your workout in if you do the work. The only thing I do not like about PF that I go to is I can not walk into the locker room without a couple of dudes standing there chatting in front of the lockers butt naked. Oh and the lack of free weights but with all the machines they have you can get a great workout done.
  • PWRLFTR1
    PWRLFTR1 Posts: 324 Member
    I belonged to a Planet Fitness for a minute. It was a secondary gym because my primary had odd hours, closed early on the weekends, no shower or cardio equipment. I used it mostly for cardio and light dumbbell work. My biggest pet peeve was seeing people use horrendous form or it was obvious they didn't know what they were doing and the so-called "trainers" would not correct or at least offer suggestions.
  • epr3996
    epr3996 Posts: 2,719 Member
    PWRLFTR1 wrote: »
    I belonged to a Planet Fitness for a minute. It was a secondary gym because my primary had odd hours, closed early on the weekends, no shower or cardio equipment. I used it mostly for cardio and light dumbbell work. My biggest pet peeve was seeing people use horrendous form or it was obvious they didn't know what they were doing and the so-called "trainers" would not correct or at least offer suggestions.

    I actually find the one trainer or yellow Jacket as they call her walks around and helps if she see's someone doing something wrong. All the past trainers never did this!
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    edited August 2018
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    annaskiski wrote: »
    annaskiski wrote: »
    hesn92 wrote: »
    The pizza and bagels seems kinda random but I have no issues with that. Don't eat them if you don't want. And there's nothing wrong with pizza and bagels even if you're trying to lose weight. From what I've heard it's just one day a month that they do that.

    I am not a fan of Planet Fitness and their business strategy as they promote being a "judgement free" zone but really they just judge the people who are perceived as being judgy in other gyms. I googled and watched a couple of their ads, and they just make fun of muscular guys, like all guys that lift weights are "bros" and extremely stupid. (And also, I've been a member of several gyms over the years and they all seem pretty judgement free to me) It sounds like a good business strategy to target the majority of people who are not super fit and are a little intimidated by regular gyms, plus they offer a super inexpensive membership option. (Although with that comes limited equipment)

    I say if you're ok with them not having barbells/power racks, then go for it. I'm usually always down for saving money and $10/month is pretty sweet.

    Look, there are lots of people who are afraid to go to the gym. They post on these forums all the time.
    You may tell them that no one will judge them, but lets be honest, that's not entirely true.
    MOST people will probably commend them for their effort, but there will be some that will mock them. (i.e. remember just recently someone took a photo of another woman in the showers and posted it on social media with the tag, "I should not have to see this in the morning")..

    Now PF is not the solution, I've seen 'bros' and catty women there too. But because PF caters to beginners, it is less likely. If someone who is just starting out exercising is too frightened to set foot in a 'regular' gym, but gets up the courage to go to a PF, why not let them?

    Surely you can't really be offended by their very humorous ads. (I roll my eyes at most of this 'fake outrage' at their judginess).

    The judgy ads are probably more silly than harmful - although if they convince people that they will be judged in regular gyms, they are harmful. But what is actually harmful is the ban on good compound lifts. Even a beginner should be deadlifting, unless there's some injury to prevent it. A real gym needs a squat rack. I'm a middle aged woman and within two months of the first time I went to a gym I needed dumbbells heavier than the ones at PF.

    And btw, you can deadlift in the Smith Machine, which goes up to about 400 lbs.
    You can't properly squat in them, so I'm not advocating them as a sub for free weights, but if all a person can afford is $10/month, you can still go a long way at PF...

    Deadlift in Smith machine is generally considered a bad idea.

    Smith machines should be eliminated...period. They basically do most of the work for you. I will never understand gyms that let machines do most of the work for you unless you have injuries preventing you from going to your maximum. In Canada, we have a similar thing like Planet Fitness called Buzzfit and there has been controversy lately when someone was deadlifting and some douche bag just comes in and kicks this kid's barbell while the kid was deadlifting claiming that the kid was ego lifting and shouldn't be deadlifting at all, he could've seriously injured him....it's supposed to be a judge free zone and then you have a stupid incident like that showing that it's not really a judgement free zone. As you can tell, I am not a big fan of that chain, but in the end, if someone doesn't want to maximize their muscle gains, who am I to tell them not to go there?
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    fb47 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    annaskiski wrote: »
    annaskiski wrote: »
    hesn92 wrote: »
    The pizza and bagels seems kinda random but I have no issues with that. Don't eat them if you don't want. And there's nothing wrong with pizza and bagels even if you're trying to lose weight. From what I've heard it's just one day a month that they do that.

    I am not a fan of Planet Fitness and their business strategy as they promote being a "judgement free" zone but really they just judge the people who are perceived as being judgy in other gyms. I googled and watched a couple of their ads, and they just make fun of muscular guys, like all guys that lift weights are "bros" and extremely stupid. (And also, I've been a member of several gyms over the years and they all seem pretty judgement free to me) It sounds like a good business strategy to target the majority of people who are not super fit and are a little intimidated by regular gyms, plus they offer a super inexpensive membership option. (Although with that comes limited equipment)

    I say if you're ok with them not having barbells/power racks, then go for it. I'm usually always down for saving money and $10/month is pretty sweet.

    Look, there are lots of people who are afraid to go to the gym. They post on these forums all the time.
    You may tell them that no one will judge them, but lets be honest, that's not entirely true.
    MOST people will probably commend them for their effort, but there will be some that will mock them. (i.e. remember just recently someone took a photo of another woman in the showers and posted it on social media with the tag, "I should not have to see this in the morning")..

    Now PF is not the solution, I've seen 'bros' and catty women there too. But because PF caters to beginners, it is less likely. If someone who is just starting out exercising is too frightened to set foot in a 'regular' gym, but gets up the courage to go to a PF, why not let them?

    Surely you can't really be offended by their very humorous ads. (I roll my eyes at most of this 'fake outrage' at their judginess).

    The judgy ads are probably more silly than harmful - although if they convince people that they will be judged in regular gyms, they are harmful. But what is actually harmful is the ban on good compound lifts. Even a beginner should be deadlifting, unless there's some injury to prevent it. A real gym needs a squat rack. I'm a middle aged woman and within two months of the first time I went to a gym I needed dumbbells heavier than the ones at PF.

    And btw, you can deadlift in the Smith Machine, which goes up to about 400 lbs.
    You can't properly squat in them, so I'm not advocating them as a sub for free weights, but if all a person can afford is $10/month, you can still go a long way at PF...

    Deadlift in Smith machine is generally considered a bad idea.

    Smith machines should be eliminated...period. They basically do most of the work for you. I will never understand gyms that let machines do most of the work for you unless you have injuries preventing you from going to your maximum. In Canada, we have a similar thing like Planet Fitness called Buzzfit and there has been controversy lately when someone was deadlifting and some douche bag just comes in and kicks this kid's barbell while the kid was deadlifting claiming that the kid was ego lifting and shouldn't be deadlifting at all, he could've seriously injured him....it's supposed to be a judge free zone and then you have a stupid incident like that showing that it's not really a judgement free zone. As you can tell, I am not a big fan of that chain, but in the end, if someone doesn't want to maximize their muscle gains, who am I to tell them not to go there?

    I find the Smith machine very useful for hip thrusts - it's difficult to balance a barbell across your hips, particularly when you start and aren't lifting with big enough plates to slide under it.

    @annaskiski - There's wide spread agreement among health and fitness professionals that all humans need to be doing some kind of strength work, regardless of what people may or may not have on their radar. And almost as widespread agreement that compound lifts are better than machines. It's called Planet Fitness, it should really promote fitness. Instead, it makes fitness more difficult to achieve.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
    edited August 2018
    love it. black card member here. I travel and its totally worth the little extra to be able to go into any pf
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    Cbean08 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Cbean08 wrote: »
    For the most part, I believe that you get what you pay for. You don't want to pay a lot, don't expect much in terms of service or personal attention. If you happen to get it, great, but don't expect it to be part of the package.

    As far as non-judgement... I love my club and I feel it's non-judgement. Clubs that have a full fitness staff, customer service staff, membership department, housekeeping and cleaning/operations are more likely to provide an environment that is welcoming and that feels tailored to you. This is just from my own observation, not offering a blanket statement here. Places like PF are cheap and they really don't care if you join, show up, stay or quit. You're just a number and there are thousands more who will join. A little more expensive club is going to work to keep you as a member because the influx of new members isn't nearly as high.

    I pay about 800 a month (including 2 training sessions per week) and it's worth every cent for the atmosphere, the staff, the environment, amenities, equipment and caliber of training. It depends what more important to you.

    Darn, seems high. If you don't mind me asking what area is this and what is membership vs personal training?

    I'm in Chicago. Honestly, a lot of things are expensive out here, but not nearly as expensive as where I grew up in California, so to me, it wasn't a huge price shock. However, I fully recognize that in the world of gyms, that is an expensive cost. The actual membership is about 150/month. The rest of it is for training. I go to a "club," not just a gym so there are perks to that membership aside from just access to equipment. If I just wanted a treadmill and a couple free weights, I'd be somewhere that costs less.

    Considering personal training is usually $60-$75 per session, it's really not *that* expensive for 2x per week in addition to the membership... But $800/month is rent or a house payment in some areas of the US! (Not where I live--I'm in Boston... everything is expensive here, too.)
  • DoubleUbea
    DoubleUbea Posts: 1,115 Member
    edited August 2018
    DoubleUbea wrote: »
    Forgive me, I judged someone today at Planet Fitness.

    Everything is okay, my card still worked this morning! :smiley: