Yeah, to get the free pizza and bagels.
I dated a woman last year who had a membership. I went for several months. I went 4x a week. I worked out with weights and ran on the treadmills every workout. They never gave me a second look. It’s not the best gym in the world but it was handy at the time… And cheap.
Well they are franchises. Each one will be run differently. But Ambivalid is hardly the only one to complain about PFs practices. It shouldn’t be a surprise.
From the Planet Fitness website.
Some Judgement Free Zone, they blow a horn when someone acts like a “musclehead” and call attention to a behavior they don’t like.
Bingo. Their money-making strategy is to offer low cost memberships to the sort of people who won’t actually use the gym much. They don’t WANT anyone there who will work out hard, as those folks might make their target demographic feel bad.
That said, given the low price and the OP’s currently modest goals, Planet Fitness might be worth trying out. Heck, it’s not like he’ll be out much if he later needs or wants to switch to a different gym.
Huh. Interesting discussion…y’all have cleared up what the Lunk™ Alarm is and it sounds really cheesy. I’m definitely going to ask about that when I go.
No Yelp or any other reviews of the Burton PF.
Wow, really? Horns? OK, now I am having second thoughts.
When I belonged to a gym before (Genesys Athletic Club) I was not hard core, but I was definitely more than casual; I worked out strenuously. I’d use the outdoor trail there for a three-mile warm up, then go in and work out. It’s a great gym and I’d rejoin but it’s quite expensive and now I don’t live that close to there.
Hmmm. I’m still going to check it out, but cautiously.
PF is okay. I had a membership for a year, stopped going sooner than I should have (like most people). The lunk alarm was never once used at the PF I belonged to in Naperville, IL. There were some relatively-serious dumbbell-lifters who I saw working out there without getting hassled, but nobody who I think would be classified as a bodybuilder.
I wouldn’t get another membership there, but only because they don’t have a pool. The price was definitely right for the services they offered. They even had tanning beds, although I only used them a couple times (just because I never had before and wanted to see what it was like).
That’s good to know, thanks Rachellelogram.
I was just checking the website of the only other gym that would be convenient for me, and noted that in a few weeks when I turn 55, I’ll be eligible for their “silver” senior membership at reduced rates. :eek:
Senior discounts. Yay.
You know, it was obvious and I don’t know why I reacted like that. Sorry.
I have to agree here - you can get kicked out of PF by simply doing deadlifts. Keep in mind, I’m not talking about concentric only deadlifts, where you simply drop the weight.
Olympic lifts seem quite out of the question.
Also, no dumbbells over 55 lbs?! That’s ridiculous. I thought my gym was bad by only having them go up to 100 lbs.
I used to belong to an “upscale” gym, but changed my membership to a $10/month, no contract competitor. It’s Just Fitness 4U, not PF, but a similar model (minus the lunk alarm). I never used the smoothie bar, pool, basketball/raquetball courts at the other gym, so it made sense to switch. I love it. Plently of equipment, waits are non existant for cardio and rare for any given weight machine. There are many cheap, no contract gyms around these days.
My gym doesn’t offer pizza and bagels, but I can show my ID for a 20% discount at the Waffle House next door! :eek:
Seriously though, for their target population it makes sense. They do not have a lot of informed expert staff around. A higher weight used by someone who is simply innocently ignorant of proper form can cause serious injury. That includes doing deadlifts of course. A relative newbie, or minimally less serious/experienced exerciser, may see what you are doing and get inspired to give it a try themselves. It takes some mental discipline to not use higher weights with poorer form for many, especially when they do not appreciate what good form means.
Their model (at its most generous interpretation) is low entry barrier exercise: low cost, low perceived intimidation to those insecure about their current physical form and fitness state, and low risk of harm. Boot camp, CrossFit, HIIT, serious strength training, personal coaching, etc., it aint. Those who are looking for anything of that ilk should look elsewhere (or create a home gym) and some who start out at a PF style place may end up looking for more as they progress. But let’s face it, most Americans are not regularly exercising at all, and of those who do, most are at a level within a PF style range, not doing Olympic lifts and not needing dumbbells over 55 lbs.
So how is a PF person supposed to learn proper form? I suspect that all PF have flat benches for bench press, right? More people die or get seriously injured from that exercise than from deadlifting or squatting (at least if memory serves, so take with a grain of salt).
You can seriously mess yourself up with quite a few lifts/exercises that are available at PF.
So what happens when you start getting fit? Are you supposed to go elsewhere?
I kind of get what you are saying DSeid, but I can’t help shake the feeling that once you start getting fit or if you want to incorporate quality compound movements into your routine that you are then expected to go elsewhere.
They’re not supposed to learn proper form there. They are supposed to move some and hopefully at least get up to a moderate intensity aerobic level. With light enough weights they are at least at low risk for injury even with poor form and probably are still getting some strength benefits. I have never been in a PF but I suspect that the risk of seriously messing yourself up with what is available there is actually pretty low. I doubt they even have the option to use a barbell for bench press heavy enough to cause harm.
And yes, as you start getting fit enough to need more than that you are not only expected to go elsewhere, you *need *to go elsewhere, either because they show you the door (see Ambi’s experience), or they lunk alarm you, or just because you want more than what they offer. Yes, if you want to incorporate quality compound movements into your routine, especially if you either don’t already know how to do it or you know well enough that you are up to over 55 lbs dumbbells, then PF is not for you. That describes a enough small segment of the potential fitness club membership that PF can get by ignoring them just fine and there are many other options for that group … many will set up basement and/or garage gyms instead.
No need to shake that feeling, because it’s right. But remember, many, many people never reach the stage where they’d want to do “serious” training. For them, Planet Fitness is fine. So I don’t see any reason for the OP not to check it out, as long as he understands that the day may come when he outgrows the place. It’s affordable and it’s on his way to work, and both of those features may be the most important for him right now.
This is the best post I’ve read in ages. “Potemkin gymnasium” is the perfect phrase, and “fitness analogue to homeopathy” is priceless.
However, this thread does lack the vitriol I’d been expecting.
You don’t want to set off the vitriol alarm now, do you?
PF is not a fake gym. They have all the same cardio and weight machines you find at other gyms. They do have a free weight area if you prefer that, although they may not have the higher weights. It’s not the best place to train for the Mr. Universe competition, but you can get plenty fit.
If you’re really expressive when you work out–lots of grunting and noise–PF is not for you. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t get a good workout at PF. It’s just up to you.
This is just counter intuitive to me. I suppose that’s where my difficulty in grasping this is coming from. When I’m shopping for gyms I look at price and what they have to offer. I’ve seen PF a few times (there seems to be a plethora of them) but I know better than to sign up there because I’ll just get kicked out.
The idea that I would sign up for a gym and once I start getting into shape I’d leave is bizarre.
So is it more for a social atmosphere then? If it were only populated with cardio equipment, that would be one thing, but PF’s do tend to have free weights and such. I recognize that not everyone will either want or get to a stage of where they need heavier than 55 lb dumbbells, but what do you do if you hit that level?
I guess the other factor in all of this is that my job has a little gym downstairs that they provide to their employees for free. It has some cardio equipment and dumbbells that go up to 50lbs. I use it for cardio. Even some hotels have that sort of set up and the idea that a PF, a gym, is only a bit better than a hotel weight room seems very odd to me.
It seems to me to be an oddly restrictive gym. You can only get so strong and then that’s it. Now, I will admit that there are work arounds that PFers can probably use (say switching to primarily barbells), but it’s a gym. You are supposed to get stronger, slimmer, etc at a gym.
This could just be my hang up on what a ‘gym’ is supposed to be though - I can admit that.
I don’t typically grunt or make a lot of noise - however I do deadlift and from what I can tell, that’ll get you kicked out of PF alone, since it’s not the quietest of activities.