# PlanetFitness has a 'philosophy' that is ignorant and potentially dangerous **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456 **Category:** The BBQ Pit **Created:** [May 10, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456 "2012-05-10T01:28:43Z") **Posts on this page:** 20 **Page:** 6
### Author: ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/101 "2012-05-10T18:04:51Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I honestly don’t know anything about weight training but I’m more than a little surprised to learn that you don’t get _any_ benefit from lifting weights unless you’re pushing to the point of muscle fatigue every time. I’m not an expert either, and to say “no benefit” may be a bit of exaggeration— you can probably improve flexibility, at least, without working to fatigue. _Building_ muscle, at least from what I’ve read, requires working the muscle to the point of fatigue, which can be done with lighter weights and enough repetitions. (Even that’s likely to cause at least a couple of mild "oof"s near the end of a set, or at least it does for me…) Maybe the OP or someone with better credentials can weigh in. ---
### Author: ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/102 "2012-05-10T18:09:52Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’m not an expert either, and to say “no benefit” may be a bit of exaggeration— you can probably improve flexibility, at least, without working to fatigue. > > _Building_ muscle, at least from what I’ve read, requires working the muscle to the point of fatigue, which can be done with lighter weights and enough repetitions. (Even that’s likely to cause at least a couple of mild "oof"s near the end of a set, or at least it does for me…) > > Maybe the OP or someone with better credentials can weigh in. Building muscle requires that you tear the existing muscle. Working the muscle to fatigue is the best way to accomplish that. ---
### Author: ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/103 "2012-05-10T18:12:06Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > I never knew there were so many fat asses and weaklings that were not only intimidated by those of us that work out with heavy weights correctly and enthusiastically but actually work up enough hate to go to a pussy place like planet fitness to escape us. What actually bothers you people about heavy breathing or grunts? AND you’re too sensitive to hear weights drop? Wow just Wow. WE are the ones that don’t judge, we know everyone has to start somewhere and we welcome fat and/or skinny people to our palaces of body building. > > But on reflection, a business plan that caters to people that like to pretend to work out while staying fat and actually instilling a belief that muscles are bad, is a perfect place for most americans. > > I will stick to a place like the “Steel Mill” and places like it. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest, I was just mentioning their gimmick because that’s what it is. There are people out there who really do think that regular gyms are full of muscle-bound jerks just waiting to poke them in the belly and ask when the rolls will be done, and those are the people Planet Fitness markets to. The bodybuilders and athletes I’ve met tend to be nice, non-judgy people. Personally, if I wanted to seriously get in shape I’d go to a gym full of buff people just like if I wanted to learn about wine I’d go to a club full of wine experts instead of a bunch who think anything more expensive that Mad Dog 50/50 is snooty. ---
### Author: ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/104 "2012-05-10T18:14:24Z")
> [@Sinaptics](#): > > Building muscle requires that you tear the existing muscle. Working the muscle to fatigue is the best way to accomplish that. Ah, there’s the problem. Many people here assume everyone is going to the gym to build muscle. ---
### Author: ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/105 "2012-05-10T18:14:57Z")
I fit in to this gym perfectly fine. I am friends with the former manager; I am FB friends with him. He was an up and coming _bodybuilder_ himself, and he was an _employee_ ofPlanetFitness. He has since moved on to better employment opportunities. I was friendly with all the regular employees; they went out of their way to help me with accessiblity issues and such. Now other PFs may not engage their Lunk Alarms too often but here in Flint, the Alarm was deployed frequently. No one ever has any idea _who_ was responsible for causing it’s deployment however; it will just randomly go off. I do NOT grunt when I lift, and I do NOT slam down weights-I’ve said this numerous times now. The reason I stuck around at PlanetFitness for as long as I did was because the equipment they had for back workouts just happened to work for my body better than anywhere else I’ve found. I really think, upon reflection, that this employee who terminated my membership was the owner of the gym-or some other important figure there. All the other employees were very submissive around him and he had a self-important air about him that was unmistakable. ---
### Author: ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/106 "2012-05-10T18:16:05Z")
> [@ugly ripe tomato](#): > > Personally, if I wanted to seriously get in shape I’d go to a gym full of buff people just like if I wanted to learn about wine I’d go to a club full of wine experts instead of a bunch who think anything more expensive that Mad Dog 50/50 is snooty. _ **CORK ALARM!!!** _ _\\_ ---
### Author: ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/107 "2012-05-10T18:16:25Z")
> [@ugly ripe tomato](#): > > …anything more expensive that Mad Dog 50/50 is snooty. They make Mad Dog 50/50? Dude! I’m taking off work early and won’t be in tomorrow. ---
### Author: ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/108 "2012-05-10T18:16:39Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Eh, I think that if they make these policies and who they cater to that public, it’s on you if you went there expecting something else. It’s like a female body builder going to Curves and expecting a hard core atmosphere. Not going to happen. > > I don’t understand all the hate for the type of people that attend establlishments like Planet Fitness (apart from the pizza thing - that’s just weird). At least they’re doing \*something \*somewhat active. Do you understand the hatred coming _from_ the people from places like these? Calling people “lunks”, "jerks"and “slabs”, extremely loud alarms going off when you breathe too loud, and getting booted for questioning the alarm? ---
### Author: ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/109 "2012-05-10T18:22:40Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > They make Mad Dog 50/50? Dude! I’m taking off work early and won’t be in tomorrow. Clearly, I know as much about cheap wine as I do about bodybuilding 😃 Ima go sip some Manischewicz in the corner now… ---
### Author: ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/110 "2012-05-10T18:24:53Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I really think, upon reflection, that this employee who terminated my membership was the owner of the gym-or some other important figure there. All the other employees were very submissive around him and he had a self-important air about him that was unmistakable. Ahhh, the dreaded Visit from Corporate. In that case the normal employees probably hate his ass, too. ---
### Author: ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/111 "2012-05-10T18:49:11Z")
I have only once dropped a weight. I was doing arnold presses and my spotter wasn’t quick enough when I hit muscle fatigue.I could either drop the weight as it was swinging down or I’d probably tear up some muscle in a bad way. Even when I did some goofy exercises including the rows the OP talked about, but for some reason I didn’t need to lift up the bench and I’m 6 feet tall, I never dropped or slammed a weight. It’s bullshit that there was (allegedly) no warning on the OP’s part before getting the boot. But at the same time, it’s bullshit that he doesn’t understand the “no dropping the weights” includes him as well. For some reason, he keeps saying “I don’t slam weights”. In the OP, he says “I necessarily must drop the weights back to the floor”.[Now look at what the text on the Lunk Alarm says:](http://glpiggy.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/lunk-alarm.jpg) “One who grunts, **drops weights** or judges”. So while Planet Fitness isn’t a good gym (I’ve been to one and it made me think it was a step below Bally’s back in their death knells), the OP is also a twit for thinking the rules don’t apply to him. ---
### Author: ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/112 "2012-05-10T18:51:07Z")
How did they even know who’s file to mark? When you go into the place, they check you’re ID and you’re all set. It’s not like they keep tabs afterward. “There’s 24667 dropping the weights again, better mark his file.” Smells fishy to me. ---
### Author: ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/113 "2012-05-10T19:18:07Z")
I can imagine a gym that doesn’t want serious lifters, and the rules as stated would be a good way to exclude them. An 80 pound dumbbell max? Seriously? I’m guessing they don’t have a lot of chalk bins around, either. :rolleyes: Best gym I ever belonged to was two-phase - upstairs it was all pink vinyl 5-lb. dumbbells and Pilates and housewives who “just wanted to get a little toned”. The basement was power racks and knee wraps and guys with no necks squatting 400 for reps while the death-metal music peeled the paint off the walls. Damn, I miss that place. First time I benched 300 was there. Now I’m down at the local Y with all the other aging gym rats. One of the trainers there gave me some shit about dropping the 'bells when I was doing DB bench presses. I asked him to show me how he wanted me to put the weights down. He missed the first rep and dropped both of them, and never bothered me again. Regards, Shodan ---
### Author: ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/114 "2012-05-10T19:19:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Do you understand the hatred coming _from_ the people from places like these? Calling people “lunks”, "jerks"and “slabs”, extremely loud alarms going off when you breathe too loud, and getting booted for questioning the alarm? I guess I don’t. I don’t think I’ve never been in a gym that refers to anyone as a certain stereotype. ---
### Author: ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/115 "2012-05-10T19:25:59Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > I guess I don’t. I don’t think I’ve never been in a gym that refers to anyone as a certain stereotype. That’s what we’re talking about with Planet Fitness. Again, see the first video in post #34. ---
### Author: ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/116 "2012-05-10T19:30:23Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > For $10 a month I guess you get what you pay for, but just looking around the web reveals an ugly hypocritical judgemental side to this franchise, even in [their ads](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7o1tc7xDBU&feature=related) - because anyone who wants tone abs is a jerkass, right fellas. A bit off topic, but listen to their jingle at the end of the commercial. It goes “Dum Dum Dum … Dum Dum Cool.” Is it just me, or does it sound like Arnie saying “Cool”? ---
### Author: ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/117 "2012-05-10T19:42:52Z")
Ok did I read correctly in living-in-hell’s post that our resident handi-capable crusader blocked someone in at PF too?!?!?! I do agree that PF is about the worst gym ever. Why a “bodybuilder” would join there in the first place and expect to fit in is a more than fair question. ---
### Author: ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/118 "2012-05-10T19:47:40Z")
Wait, is PF $10 a month out the door? And don’t have people hogging the equipment (I don’t mind the grunts so much)? I might have to check them out! ---
### Author: ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/119 "2012-05-10T19:52:01Z")
Don’t forget your leg warmers. And nothing too flashy. ---
### Author: ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm) #### Post date: [May 10, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456/120 "2012-05-10T19:55:58Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Wait, is PF $10 a month out the door? And don’t have people hogging the equipment (I don’t mind the grunts so much)? I might have to check them out! Mind your breathing, and try not to look too healthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planetfitness-has-a-philosophy-that-is-ignorant-and-potentially-dangerous/621456.md?page=7)