Current Events > What's so bad about Planet Fitness?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've started exercising about three weeks ago, alternating between cardio and strength everyday with two rest days (see footnote for my schedule).

I'm paying $30/mo for this gym. I went to a PF for a tour, and they seem to literally have the same shit, except for an indoor track (they have a shit ton of cardio machines though).

So..... what's the catch?


Schedule that I just made up that I've been sticking to for the past three weeks:
Day 1: Run/Walk for 30-60 minutes
Day 2: Use all upper body resistance machines; find weights that I can barely do 8-10 reps. Three sets each machine; then move on.
Day 3: Jog/Sprint (HIIT) for 15-30 minutes
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Use all lower body resistance machines (same weight strategy as before).
Day 6: Rest
Repeat.

Planet Fatness
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ctrl + f "pizza" not found

I don't think you're making the most out of your membership man

Does it have a power rack?
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Not enough equipment, they want the place to feel inclusive to everyone so they don't let actually muscular people come into the gym and they literally give away free pizza. What's the point of working out if you're eating pizza right after you finish lol?
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DifferentialEquation posted...

Does it have a power rack?

I haven't "graduated" beyond using resistance machines yet, so didn't focus too much on free weights. If I recall correctly, they had dumbells (up to 50lbs?), and they also had weight racks (I didn't care to see what weights nor what bars they had for those weights).

no deadlift

no care
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Printerscape posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

Does it have a power rack?

I haven't "graduated" beyond using resistance machines yet, so didn't focus too much on free weights. If I recall correctly, they had dumbells (up to 50lbs?), and they also had weight racks (I didn't care to see what weights nor what bars they had for those weights).

You're better off doing free weights. Just use however much weight you can handle. You don't need to "graduate" to it.
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DifferentialEquation posted...

You're better off doing free weights. Just use however much weight you can handle. You don't need to "graduate" to it.

I don't know the exercise movements/techniques to use the free weights (whereas the resistance machines are literally foolproof).

Printerscape posted...

I haven't "graduated" beyond using resistance machines

This line of thought amuses me. Like people that weight trained decades ago started out using machines.

Not saying machines don't have their uses, but don't be afraid of free weights.
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Printerscape posted...

They had a squat rack (I think). It was on rails, so you couldn't really get hurt; like this:

that's a smith machine, aka coat rack

inferior to free weights in most ways
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therin_lews_kin posted...

no deadlift

no care

I went to planet fitness a while ago and now that I think about it I never saw anyone do deadlifts.
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Printerscape posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

You're better off doing free weights. Just use however much weight you can handle. You don't need to "graduate" to it.

I don't know the exercise movements/techniques to use the free weights (whereas the resistance machines are literally foolproof).

YouTube videos prove that last thought wrong.
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trappedunderice posted...

therin_lews_kin posted...

no deadlift

no care

I went to planet fitness a while ago and now that I think about it I never saw anyone do deadlifts.

because it's against their code of conduct or some BS like that
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AlabamaLove posted...

YouTube videos prove that last thought wrong.

That's true. But they all have pictures and instructions on how to use them literally on the machine.

therin_lews_kin posted...

trappedunderice posted...

therin_lews_kin posted...

no deadlift

no care

I went to planet fitness a while ago and now that I think about it I never saw anyone do deadlifts.

because it's against their code of conduct or some BS like that

I don't know if they still do this, but I know they had something called a "lunk alarm". If you were making too much noise, either setting the weights down to hard or even just grunting too loud when exerting yourself, somehow an alarm would go off and an employee would start nagging you.
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Cons of Planet Fitness are dumbbells only go up to 75 lbs. and no free-weight squat rack or bench press. Deadlifts are fine to do as long as you're fine with using dumbbells or Smith machine. Pizza is weird at a gym, but they aren't forcing you to eat it. I see people of all different body types and fitness level working out without any hassle from staff. The only time you will hear from them is when you slam the weights down or are grunting ridiculously. One thing you must remember about Planet Fitness is that each one is a franchise meaning, like all businesses that use this model, there's good ones and bad ones.

DifferentialEquation posted...

therin_lews_kin posted...

trappedunderice posted...

therin_lews_kin posted...

no deadlift

no care

I went to planet fitness a while ago and now that I think about it I never saw anyone do deadlifts.

because it's against their code of conduct or some BS like that

I don't know if they still do this, but I know they had something called a "lunk alarm". If you were making too much noise, either setting the weights down to hard or even just grunting too loud when exerting yourself, somehow an alarm would go off and an employee would start nagging you.

Every now and then, I end up at PF with a friend or coworker and the employees there are pretty damn liberal with the alarm.

Much more irritating than the sound of a weight hitting the floor.
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For people who know more about fitness:
Since I can't really do HIIT on a treadmill, can I use a stationary bike/elliptical?

I might seriously just switch to PF...

I don't see why you can't do hiit on a treadmill
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In addition to everything already posted I just found out the one in my town is currently employing a convicted sex offender who assaulted his 3 year old niece. Clearly not my f***ing planet either if you say no to srs lifting and yes to chimos......
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AlabamaLove posted...

I don't see why you can't do hiit on a treadmill

The running app I use has the following HIIT layout:
1m walk
5m jog
30s sprint
1m jog
30s sprint
1m jog
1m sprint
1m walk
.......

That seems like a pain in the ass to adjust the treadmill every single time.

You should be able to do HIIT on a treadmill. If you can't run you can jog for the intervals or it will probably be better to run for shorter intervals. For example instead of doing 30/30 do 15/45.

If there is an issue with your knees or whatever and you are unable to have impact on your legs, you would be better off have medium intensity for 20 minutes. This means you must be within your target heart range. You can find this by using your resting heart rate and using the formula for your age. Look it up I don't remember it.

I used to go to plane fitness and it was a fine gym. This planet fitness was different. It had benches, squat racks, and I did deadlifts there and only had an issue once but they didn't sound the alarm. I liked it a lot more than the Golds Gym that I go to now. My gym now is turning more and more into shit and I feel like I'm being overcharged with my $27 a month fee. I wish I had more options where I live, but unfortunately I don't.

Question for the other people here that go to the gym. Have you guys noticed that there are a lot more women in the gym this week? I'm not sure if it's because the summer is about to start or if it's because they saw Wonder Woman and got inspired.
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GOATTHlEF posted...

What's hiit

High Intensity Interval Training. You basically want to alternate mild and extreme exertions (see post #25 for a sample). It's supposedly more efficient in getting you fit/losing weight.

trappedunderice posted...

therin_lews_kin posted...

no deadlift

no care

I went to planet fitness a while ago and now that I think about it I never saw anyone do deadlifts.

I visited one once because I was meeting a friend there and they didn't actually have barbells, just light dumbells and smith machines
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GOATTHlEF posted...

What's hiit

High intensity interval training
Short period of high intensity work followed by a short period of cool down
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HIIT is normally done doing 1 minute walking followed by 10, 1 minute intervals of running and jogging, and then 1 minute of walking. Normally done with 30 seconds running and then 30 seconds of jogging but you can change it to your fitness level.

I read a scholarly journal on it versus 20 minutes of moderate cardio, and 30 minutes of mild cardio. The HIIT and 20 minutes of cardio were neck in neck in benefits of V02 maximum. The greatest benefit was that the test subjects found HIIT to be more interesting and to do it when the trails were complete.
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bump

Hexenherz posted...

ctrl + f "pizza" not found

I don't think you're making the most out of your membership man

He's going 5 days a week for $30 a month, I'd say that is pretty good.

I got in at $21 a month for the blacj card membership. For what it is, it is pretty sweet.

I thought PF was only $10 a month according to the commercials
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Printerscape posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

You're better off doing free weights. Just use however much weight you can handle. You don't need to "graduate" to it.

I don't know the exercise movements/techniques to use the free weights (whereas the resistance machines are literally foolproof).

resistance machines are not fool proof, and they actually encourage bad form. They'll also make you think you can lift more weight than you actually can. I've seen people do over 200 on a squat machine that couldn't squat two plates on a bar if their life depended on it.
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ChromaticAngel posted...

Printerscape posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

You're better off doing free weights. Just use however much weight you can handle. You don't need to "graduate" to it.

I don't know the exercise movements/techniques to use the free weights (whereas the resistance machines are literally foolproof).

resistance machines are not fool proof, and they actually encourage bad form. They'll also make you think you can lift more weight than you actually can. I've seen people do over 200 on a squat machine that couldn't squat two plates on a bar if their life depended on it.

that, the really bad thing about planet fitness is their lack of free weights and 90% of it is cardio machines. They didn't even have a pull up bar
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Terryville posted...

Cons of Planet Fitness are dumbbells only go up to 75 lbs. and no free-weight squat rack or bench press. Deadlifts are fine to do as long as you're fine with using dumbbells or Smith machine. Pizza is weird at a gym, but they aren't forcing you to eat it. I see people of all different body types and fitness level working out without any hassle from staff. The only time you will hear from them is when you slam the weights down or are grunting ridiculously. One thing you must remember about Planet Fitness is that each one is a franchise meaning, like all businesses that use this model, there's good ones and bad ones.

This
PF is fine if you're a beginner as long as the pizza doesn't tempt you. You're not going to need heavy dumbbells. You can use an elliptical or treadmill. It's cheap.

You could also just invest in some cheap free weights for home and run outside until you grow into a heavier routine.
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I like Planet Fitness just because it's cheap. Golds near me has something ridiculous like a $250 sign up fee and is 60 bucks a month. Fuck that.

I just bought a bench press set for my house and just use that to do my bench, deadlift, press, and squats. Then ill go to PF for heavier dumbbells, machines, and cardio.
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ChromaticAngel posted...

Printerscape posted...

DifferentialEquation posted...

You're better off doing free weights. Just use however much weight you can handle. You don't need to "graduate" to it.

I don't know the exercise movements/techniques to use the free weights (whereas the resistance machines are literally foolproof).

resistance machines are not fool proof, and they actually encourage bad form. They'll also make you think you can lift more weight than you actually can. I've seen people do over 200 on a squat machine that couldn't squat two plates on a bar if their life depended on it.

Supposedly some of them, or at least a smith machine, can actually be bad for your joints too because they're not allowing your body to move in the natural/expected way.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/henkin6ttt.htm

I've remember at least one youtuber also saying that he caused some damage to his shoulders from using a smith machine for bench pressing.
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LinkAndEpona posted...

Hexenherz posted...

ctrl + f "pizza" not found

I don't think you're making the most out of your membership man

He's going 5 days a week for $30 a month, I'd say that is pretty good.

I got in at $21 a month for the blacj card membership. For what it is, it is pretty sweet.

No no, the gym I'm currently going to is not PF. It's a normal gym, with an indoor track, basketball court, swimming pool, free weights, resistance machines, etc.; the whole shabang.

But since I only use indoor track and resistance machines, I'm thinking of switching to PF.

What is your exercise goal? I only ask because your workout plan is very weak and can be tailored to meet your goals so you get the max out of your workout time.

BalisticWarri0r posted...

What is your exercise goal? I only ask because your workout plan is very weak and can be tailored to meet your goals so you get the max out of your workout time.

Lose weight.