Part 1 was here. Part 2 - Jeff wrote:
Mehdi,
Today while at Planet Fitness, I was approached by a staff member and asked to stop doing deadlifts. I asked for a reason for this and was told that corporate no longer allowed people to do this.
I know the motif of Planet Fitness, the "Lunk" alarm and such, but BANNING the deadlift?? I emailed them and asked for clarification as to why, and was given the answer: "The deadlift does not fit our "general fitness model". Most of our gym members are first time gym users, thus we are geared toward the first time gym user."
What kind of bullshit is this?? They are geared toward the first time gym user, yet they are banning one of the most beneficial exercise and strengthening exercises known to man??? This is absurd, and thought I would just run this by you.
I am still emailing their corporate office to fight this, because this is literally insane. Do they want us to just run on the treadmills or do pointless bicep curls? I think they should ban bicep curls!! What is next, banning squats?? Do they only let us do exercises which they permit us to do? Just letting you know, and maybe you could spread the word to other Planet Fitness members to join in on this.
Thanks,
Jeff
Their thinking is that Deadlifts are intimidating to the gym bunnies, curl monkeys and captain upperbodies working out there. Or how to perpetuate stereotypes. Anyone who has followed the training logs of StrongLifts Members Deadlifting 600lb like Jake, Norman, Greg, or Jim knows that these guys are anything but bullies - they're friendly, humble, and always willing to share advice.
And yet, I too felt intimidated by the huge guys lifting big weights and grunting when I joined the gym at age 18, weighing a skinny-fat 132lb at 5'8". Maybe you've also felt that way once. Easy to forget what you were like hundreds of pounds on the bar later, but you can't ignore it's how many beginners feel.
This isn't in defense of Planet Fitness - they should be educating their clients instead of forbidding weight dropping and grunting. Then again, I don't think they care about you actually achieving something. Seems they prefer you to just pump those arms, work the treadmill and pay your fee. Frankly, you shouldn't have joined that gym in the first place - StrongLifters don't belong there.
I wouldn't waste my time with their dumb corporate office trying to change their rules. Every second invested in this is a second wasted on what you should be doing - training. Just sell your 1y subscription, tell all your friends not to join Planet Fitness unless they just want to "workout", and find a REAL gym where you are more likely to meet strong guys who you can learn from.
Or just invest in a home gym. I'm happy I got kicked out of the gym where I trained for 5 years when the new management decided they no longer wanted the "hardcore crowd". Training at home will not only save you a lot of money, you'll NEVER have to deal with this kind of crap in your life ever again.
This is exactly what happened to me few weeks ago. The staff approached me after I finished my warm-up set Deadlifts and told me to move my weight inside the room and lift there. He told me that the owner asked him to inform me that my lifts tend to make the glass curtain downstairs to break. That’s ridiculous I was working on my 185kg Deadlifts and they told me to move my barbell in the middle of my lifts. They put the squat rack in front of the gym and expect me to do my Deadlifts elsewhere.
Luckily, after I went downstairs and talked to the owner, she’s kind enough to understand my routine. The next day I went to the gym she had her staffs move the rack inside the gym just for me.(I’m the only one who deadlifts in that gym) My story end happily. :)
This happened to me also. Not being ‘allowed’ to deadlift, isn’t this ‘discrimination?’
“Most of our gym members are first time gym users, thus we are geared toward the first time gym user.”
This would be a little more snappy rephrased as “Planet Fitness: We expect you to suck, and we hope you don’t get better.” Or maybe just “Planet Fitness: Come suck with us.”
At first I thought Mehdi was too quick to judge, but then I read the Planet Fitness Wikipedia page. If the chain literally brands itself as a place where physical signs of exertion are forbidden, there’s kind of no middle ground. Though it’s pretty funny that they ban deadlifting, considering that they’re currently selling T-shirts that say “I lift things up and put them down.”
We’re not allowed to drop weights, do any of the olympic lifts, or take shoes off. Doesn’t stop us. My friend has been escorted out by security at least 10 times haha.
We’ve ended up getting chucks and doing cleans in the corner where no one can immediately see us. /shrug
It seems that I’m lucky I don’t have this problem.
The girl at the gym is completely uninterested in what’s going on around her, I could break my back and she wouldn’t blink. If I broke a mirror… WELL….
I’m putting this out on twitter. Let the public know about this! Link it back to this article too! RT @obiwonder: #PlanetFitnessSucks “Planet Fitness: We expect you to suck, and we hope you don’t get better.” http://ow.ly/4qf0q
Lifted from Wikipedia “Planet Fitness also provides its members with free pizza, bagels and tootsie rolls, as well as Axe body spray.”
What the hell is axe body spray?…..jokers.
Thanks Mehdi for your constant blogs. They have helped me stay focused and better my poor form. I am now squatting and deadlifting 105kg (1.3 x body weight) which I would never have thought possible 3 month ago.
Squat and deadlift on people!
I paid Planet Fitness to terminate my membership after they removed all of the benches and dumbbells over 60lbs. I invested a couple hundred dollars in some bumpers and a squat rack and its in my garage along with a home made pull up bar. Best workouts ever happen right at my own house!
Lucky they just didn’t kick you out. Planet Fitness is not for strength training. Just check out their “I Lift Things Up and Put Them Down” commerical.
Do what I do and flirt with the girls at the front desk, I deadlift bare foot and I use chalk and nobody tells me anything!! But I do clean up and wipe after I’m done and I don’t leave a huge mess of chalk behind me!
I’m a little confused as to why anyone would want to go to a gym that’s basically a Starbucks with a treadmill in it. This sort of “fitness” centre is only interested in lycra-clad bimbos (of both sexes) parting with ridiculous sums of money so they can “work out” a couple of times a month, and not feel so guilty about the fact that they eat and drink total crap. I’ve seen a few decent gyms (run by bodybuilders), but personally, I’d rather work out at home!
I’m surprised that this still happens , I thought the year is 2011 right?
I thought more people are being informed about the benefits of strength training.
In Canada, we have decent gyms, most of them are a combination or a little bit of everything.
The gym I go to , goodlife, has a power rack, and a squat rack, of course it also has a smith machine to round things off.
I guess it’s just balanced out, because we have a stretch room area, aerobics classes, a machine area, and treadmills, bikes, and elitypicals, so a bit of everything for everyone.
Oh, no chalk though, that I got to bring my self.
You can tan though? Right?!
Is this even a real email? C’mon. The policies of Planet Fitness are pretty well documented at this point. Did you really do that little research before joining the gym?
Planet Fitness, and most globo gyms, care little about your health, fitness, or success rate. They care about raking in your cash for as long as possible. You’re just stating the obvious here.
If your email is real, stop wasting your time. Invest it in locating a gym that will allow you to do what you need to do in order to meet your objectives.
Hmmm.. that kinda sounds like our gym, which is also in err.. Canada. We have two deadlift stations, 2 power racks & a squat rack. They’re normaly all occupied. A quick ‘count in my head’ and I think there are 8 benches, enough free weights for everyone and spare bars in the corner. They took out the Smith about 6 months ago.
Can’t tan there tho!
Stopped reading at “Today while at Planet Fitness.”
I joined Planet Fitness for one day when I was between gyms and after attempting to workout there and reading about their banning of certain exercises and clients I asked for my money back. I joined my local Gold’s instead where I felt a little intimidated by the giant bodybuilders and grunting but I’m free to workout how I want and most of the guys seem nice.
I got the impression that Planet Fitness (which I call Planet Fatness) is content to keep their clients blissfully unhealthy and out-of-shape as long as they pay their monthly dues. It’s really sad how many popular they are.
Damn i guess im kinda lucky. I live on a college campus and the two gyms on campus don’t have the underlying motivation of keeping people weak so they can make more money. However they still don’t let use do any ‘olympic’ lifts because they dont have a platform or bumber plates… Its kinda funny since they just spent $20 million on a new fitness center and countless new machines but they can’t buy a platform or a set of bumper plates… ridiculous. /endrant
One of the many reasons to train at home.
Planet Shitness!
Wow, I have also had a membership at Planet Fitness, and after weeks of doing squats using the smith machine, I decided to ask why they have no squat rack and when they might be acquiring one. I recieved a similar answer, “Our gym is geared toward first-time users and we feel the squat is unsafe for the beginner.” I promptly terminated my membership, citing “no squat rack!” as my reason for leaving. This gym DEFINITELY sucks! Thanks for this article, I hope more and more people avoid this place until they cease to perpetrate their backward principles.
PS: That stupid “Lunk” alarm went off at least once every time I walked into the place :P
My gym was a “lifestyle” gym and after getting frustrated with the gym bunny socialites just sitting around on the machines and the lack of good weight plate provision, I put my own together. Best thing I ever did! Always open, no queue, no travelling and no card to lose! :)
Funny how they say it’s a ‘no judgment zone’, but yet, it seems they judge serious lifters very much.
Home gym is the way to go. I’ve really got my money’s worth. The commute is 0, it makes working out so much easier. I honestly think that having the gym at home is a key factor in the consistency i’ve been able to keep.
-Russ
Planet Fatness
There was a MASSIVE ruckus on bodybuilding.com a few months ago because of their ads trying to make people that lift heavy weights look like a bunch of braindead idiots while still being a ‘judgment free zone’, all the while having FREE PIZZA NIGHTS, go figure. Needless to say the majority of the ‘misc’ section decided to bomb their page and start to go into PF just to annoy them by deadlifting and seeing how many times they could set off the lunk alarm before being kicked out. I’m glad this monstrosity of “gym” isn’t in Australia. I actually don’t think you’re allowed to squat either, unless it’s on the Smith machine.
I too was a member of Planet Fitness, and left the gym after a year of wasted time. The red flag should have been raised when I joined because every first Monady of the month they provide free pizza and cola to the members. Ironic isn’t it? The breaking point for me was when the staff activated the “Lunk alarm” on me and they told me to stop what I was doing. It was not deadlifts that I was doing…it was dumbell shrugs!!! Really?!!!
join another gym….boycott planet fitness
Gyms like these are what kept me out of weight lifting for nearly a decade. I need the energy of a hardcore gym, its hard to sustain momentum at home. Thankfully, I have found one. I will never make a move again without first finding a decent gym in the area!
My wife goes to that gym (i go to Golds); it works just fine for her needs. When she signed up she asked what a “Lunk” was. They told her, “it was a huge man in a bodybuilding tank top lifting his bodyweight with a gallon of water beside him.” HAHA.