Planet Fitness Visit = Facepalm

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Will do Seth.

.....you could always say to hell with it with the weights, get yourself a pullup bar or some rings, and join in the bodyweight fun. All the cool kids are doing it.

I'm a warrior by choice. Silly rangers. Seriously though I need to work on pull ups and they're in my next challenge.

Well for 10 bucks a month I'm good with planet. I just stay in either the stretching area or the free weights. I'll use the occasional machine. Not a big fan of the smith machines. Besides they are always being used at mine. Just wish they had a tbar. I do miss that. But hey, for 10 bucks, you could do worse.

Problem is, their biggest "free weights" are 60 lb dumbbells. Even with one in each hand (120 total) that's barely half of what a bench and nowhere near half of what I squat. It just doesn't cut it for me.

why not just prop a barbell in the corner... that's how we always used to do that exercise...

They don't have any free barbells. The only ones there are attached to the smith machines.

This!

Though all the really cool kids squat and deadlift alongside that. When their knees aren't injured.

yes, we do.

[WillVZ]

why not just prop a barbell in the corner... that's how we always used to do that exercise...

planet fitness doesn't have bars. the only things not connected to a machine are dumbbells. that is where the disadvantage is.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

planet fitness doesn't have bars. the only things not connected to a machine are barbells. that is where the disadvantage is.

You mean dumbbells right?

[WillVZ]

Problem is, their biggest "free weights" are 60 lb dumbbells. Even with one in each hand (120 total) that's barely half of what a bench and nowhere near half of what I squat. It just doesn't cut it for me.

Mine has 75 as their biggest. And I'm not even close to that yet in my dumbbell bench. I'm sure once I get there I'll be looking for another gym but I haven't outgrown it yet. Strength in time I suppose.

[WillVZ]

You mean dumbbells right?

shhhh, I edited it

[cline]

Philly is a weirdly gym-free zone.

Is SOOO true. Our downtown choices seem to be many but they really aren't. Try finding a straight up gym downtown. No dice. My gym is promising more for the cardio theater this summer! whoo hoo! We have tons. We need more barbells and squat racks. But I digress.

Corey - I'm on it. Will post shortly.

[cline]

What about university gyms? (I have no idea if they allow memberships - most do and I have no idea about quality). West Chester, Widener, UD? You might really get lucky at UD. Look at the pic!! But I don't know if it's open to other folks beyond the uni.

here's my search

Iron sport is famous.

Consider Crossfit - crossfit west chester is really well known locally

I know a great boot camp in Bryn Mawr and one at Rosemont but I'm guessing that's a no.

Philly meetup!!!

[The Tin Man]

I'm gonna be about 6.5 hours closer one night next month. It'll be my first business trip with the office, I'll have to see if I can snag one of the cars one night.

Meetup and lift heavy things at Crossfit Newton!

[JediNickD]

You should be able to find a boxing gym in Philly, right? ;-)

[LRB]

Meetup and lift heavy things at Crossfit Newton!

This! Just let me know when, and I'll arrange my schedule to make it happen!

[Anivair]

a: I have a furious hatred for Planet Fitness and their smug judging of people who are actually successful in a gym. Then again, if my gym model were to have people run on treadmills forever, I'd get rid of the scales, too. No sense in letting them KNOW they're not making any progress, right?

b: A smith machine can be totally helpful. Do you know how much those things weigh? I say deadlift the smith machine. And then play WallBall with the Lunk Alarm.

[Blueberries]

I didn't know anything about Planet Fitness before this thread, so I decided to look it up. This told me all I needed to know:

[cline]

b: A smith machine can be totally helpful. Do you know how much those things weigh? I say deadlift the smith machine. And then play WallBall with the Lunk Alarm.

I like the "privacy" the smith machine provides - I ignore the bars and stuff that are a part of the smith machine and bring in my own dumb bells or barbell and plates. See, when you are in that space, it's like your own little workout box and people don't encroach. I have used the smith machine for many great things:

• pullups
  
• chinups
  
• inverted rows
  
• decline or incline pushups
  
• regular old pushups (machine frame protects me from space invaders)
  
• situps (see above about space invaders)
  
• stretching
  
• and honestly, you might be able to set it so you really can use it as a squat rack (ours has 2 sets of hooks for the bars)
  
• DL (see space invaders comment) - just bring in a real barbell and plates
  
• bench work (e.g. flies)
  

It totally defeats the purpose of the smith machine but it gives you your own floor space at the gym. LOL.

[Anivair]

I didn't know anything about Planet Fitness before this thread, so I decided to look it up. This told me all I needed to know:

That's easily the best thing I have ever seen on the subject. I know it seems like a huge exaggeration, but it's actually not as wild as it seems. that's pretty close.

[The Tin Man]

That's easily the best thing I have ever seen on the subject. I know it seems like a huge exaggeration, but it's actually not as wild as it seems. that's pretty close.

Have you been there? They seem a bit silly but I always figured that a lot of the complaints were overreactions from people who aren't their target customer.

And Corey: I'd count it as a plus that she didn't see you as a "regular" person, given the fitness/health level of a "regular person".

[BadWolf]

You should have asked if they'll be providing space for abnormal people anytime in the future or if there is a gym for weirdos they can recommend.

[Anivair]

Have you been there? They seem a bit silly but I always figured that a lot of the complaints were overreactions from people who aren't their target customer.

And Corey: I'd count it as a plus that she didn't see you as a "regular" person, given the fitness/health level of a "regular person".

I had a membership for almost a year. While I was personally never attacked for lifting real weights, it was almost impossible to do. When i was there they had free weights, but no squat rack (so I tried to squat by first pressing a load up over my head, which damaged my shoulder ... mostly my fault, but also a thing that would not have happened if they'd had a rack). I did get a lot of nasty looks, and anything that resembled real fitness equipment was regularly in a state of disrepair.

I left because of the squat rack thing, but soon after I did I heard they were actually getting rid of the barbell weights, so that would have driven me away, regardless.

And lunk alarm is a real thing and TBH, I spent a lot of my time there afraid that I was goign to set the thing off. Not a good feeling when you'r trying to get strong.

[The Tin Man]

I had a membership for almost a year. While I was personally never attacked for lifting real weights, it was almost impossible to do. When i was there they had free weights, but no squat rack (so I tried to squat by first pressing a load up over my head, which damaged my shoulder ... mostly my fault, but also a thing that would not have happened if they'd had a rack). I did get a lot of nasty looks, and anything that resembled real fitness equipment was regularly in a state of disrepair.

I left because of the squat rack thing, but soon after I did I heard they were actually getting rid of the barbell weights, so that would have driven me away, regardless.

And lunk alarm is a real thing and TBH, I spent a lot of my time there afraid that I was goign to set the thing off. Not a good feeling when you'r trying to get strong.

Wow, that's lame. Since I had never been there I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's the part that I highlighted in bold that's the worst to me. It sounds like more energy is devoted to making sure nobody is uncomfortable than really helping those who come to work out. I understand the desire for a non-intimidating environment for first-time gymgoers, I do. I like to believe that people aren't so frail emotionally that a person of above-average fitness working hard would crush their spirit. Who is there to look up to at Planet Fitness?

[bigm141414]

They don't have any free barbells. The only ones there are attached to the smith machines.

*...hands Corey a wrench and a Sawzall.....*

Liberate the Bar!

Vive le BarBell!

[Raikas]

I'd never heard of these guys before - I'm blown away that they'd be so sneering towards potential customers in person. Crazy!

That said, having seen their ads now (I almost can't believe those are real - crazy!) it looks like complaining about the lack of weights at their gyms is like complaining about a lack of elliptical machines at a yoga studio or crossfit box - it's not as though it's a surprise, right?

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Cline: UD may be an awesome option in a few months, One of the areas we're looking at moving to is right next door. I'm gonna have to chrck out that snap fitness on rt 1. May have to check out CF West Chester, but it's likely too far.

Philly meet up for sure.

Blueberries: hilarious

Bigm: I was actually trying to figure out if I could pull the bar off when they weren't looking. Pretty sure I'd have to use those tools.

[cracked_belle]

I'm slowly creating my own home gym, buying weights and bands off Amazon and eBay for pretty cheap (all things considered).

when I first got into the fitness world, I used the Planet Fitness in my town. it was centrally located, and I knew that if I was giving money to something, I'd commit. moreover, mine did have a free weights section, so that was nice.

once I joined the Rebellion, I got better about my consistency. in doing so, I no longer needed to give my money to a company who didn't actually care about me, because I cared enough about myself and began enjoying working out.

so I cancelled my membership. the money I was spending on the gym then started being saved for my own at-home gym. in the meantime, I needed to find a new place to go -- for free.

REC CENTRES!! call your Recreation Coordinator and ask about rec centre locations. most rec centres have a little weight room, and many will even have an indoor pool. looks like there may be four or five in the Aston, PA area. and here's one more potentially useful link for ya.

[K Po]

Moved out of new jersey, back in Philly area. Will be moving to around Newark Delaware once we find a house.

We have a free gym at work that has a squat rack. The issue is I take 1 1/2 hours per workout and my wife takes 1/2 hour, and we share a car to and from work. She'd be waiting around for a hour for me, and since work is so far, it would mean no weights on weekends.

If you guys wanna help research, I live in zip code 19014 right now.

Ahh, I used to live in that area when I went to school. While Iron Sport would be awesome, I'd take a look into the various universities or Crossfit gyms for now.

Bunch of universities in that area, UPenn, St. Joseph's, University of the Arts, and University of the Sciences (my alma mater) that should all have gyms. I think my school only lets alumni work out there (and it's not a huge gym by any means, but it has a squat rack that people rarely used when I was there and it's close), but you could shoot an e-mail to Marc Caserio, the director there (nice guy, really helpful) (http://www.usciences.edu/lifeAtUsp/arc/about.aspx) and see if anything's possible.

I would just see if the Crossfit gyms have open hours or just ask to see if you could do your own thing while there. Plus they should all have the equipment you would want and need. Crossfit Center City, Crossfit Manayunk, Crossfit South Philly, and Crossfit 215 all are pretty close (but I've never been to any of them).

[cline]

If you want in a crossfit center city or crossfit south Philly, let me know. I know people.

I'm at a downtown gym that is okay. I train w an awesome place located in Bryn mawr You can do 2 for 1 training. You could also train only heavy weights. I train functional fitness and heavy lifting.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Can't come into the city, too far. Bryn Mawr is too far north during the week too. Actually in havertown as I type though. Gonna check out snap fitness, iron sports, and Ridley y and pick from them I think.