I’ll wade into this somewhat reluctantly, mainly because I don’t post here that often anymore, but I have a bit to offer.
I happen to be a trainer at a Planet Fitness. We used to be a private facility, and took on the Franchise about 18 months ago. I cannot say that I would personally subscribe to all of their philosophies if I had the choice, but I can say that I understand and respect them across the board.
To explain a little: Planet Fitness is a chain that takes pride in not marketing itself to or really offering services that cater to serious lifters (myself included). To that end, we do not allow dumbbells over 60 or 80 pounds (location dependent), squat racks, deadlifting platforms, and plate-loaded equipment. In fact, some locations do not even have an Olympic bench press.
Grunting, screaming, dropping weights and the like are discouraged by various means. Signage is present in all locations, and most have what is called a lunk-alarm to hassle anyone who breaks the rules. You are informed of all of this when you sign up. If this is not what the member has in mind for their workout, it would be in the best interest of all parties that that person joined another gym.
All gyms have their niche, and Planet Fitness is no different. PF as a company provides a pretty valuable service in the fitness world: we market and cater to first time gym users and general fitness enthusiasts. If you want to train like a bodybuilder, without serious compromise to that type of training, you would be hard-pressed to do that at PF. Join a more hard-core gym.
QUICK SIDEBAR: Before anyone jumps on me calling me a wussy or a sellout or whatever for defending PF, I should say that my own club does have an oly bench press, DBs up to 60, and no squat rack, and I still get great workouts and results for my clients.
I deadlift after the gym is closed or before we open, I can still bench as heavy as I want, and there is no rule against strapping on weights for pullups or dips. I have an arrangement with another gym where I get to workout for free on my leg days and do squats and so forth, but that’s really the only thing that has changed.
I’m not going to bother qualifying my lifts or anything, but for those that remember me from either my posts or my articles here and elsewhere, you know I don’t fuck around.
On a related personal note, grunting and screaming isn’t necessary. If it helps you have better workouts, great. I’m not debating your right to do it, or making any judgements, but you just can’t do it at a PF. In terms of dropping weights…seriously. Grow up. If you’re strong enough to lift it, you’re strong enough to put it down. Don’t be a d-bag.
Since this person was told that before he signed up, he is clearly in breach of the agreement and management can handle him however they want.
In defense of the manager, PF has pretty much a zero tolerance policy, and the manager was just doing his job and maintaining corporate policy. Why risk getting in trouble by being “understanding” to accommodate someone who clearly does not respect him?
As the head trainer/manager at my location, I’ve had to throw people out. Never for grunting or screaming, but for other things. It sucks to have to do it, especially as someone who understands, but my job is my job.
END SIDE
To a greater or lesser degree, all fitness clubs are in business to make money, and Planet Fitness is no exception. We work on the principle of commoditization: low price, high volume.
Memberships run from 10-20 bucks per month(which is crazy in an area like mine, where the second cheapest gym is 60 per month and the most expensive runs 119 a month). Again, we market to first time gym users; those who–due to their inexperience–would be very hesitant to join a gym for $60 a month, but are willing to give it a shot for $10 a month. Resultantly, we have a lot of members. And make a lot of money.
To connect this back to the topic at hand, such people are often intimidated by gyms in general, and having a lot of sweaty, grunting lifters scares them off.
For every BB’er we lose, we gain 100 members. Can’t really be mad at the club for enforcing the rules when you put it like that.
There is no need to hate on that club or the franchise specifically. For whatever type of gym-goer you are, there’s probably a place out there to suit your needs/wants. Join it and be happy, instead of whining about the unfair regulations set upon you by the club YOU elected to become a member of.
I guess I’m back.
