Planet Fitness is an American chain of “gyms” that aims to lower the barrier for people who want to step into a gym. However, the Planet Fitness way of doing this is at least dubious.
How high should the bar be set? So low that everyone steps over it, but no one gets higher? So high that (you feel like) it doesn’t even make sense to jump? Or somewhere in between?
Why am I starting about an American chain? Because it’s probably just a matter of time before the franchise gets international aspirations or someone here tries out the same concept in an orange jacket instead of Planet purple.
Low Threshold
In theory, I understand the concept behind Planet Fitness. To illustrate: I am training in the gym and see a new face come in with a lot of body underneath. The insecure look, the awkward movements, the guidance by the instructor, and of course the body itself: Everything indicates that this person has never, or has not been to a gym for a long time.
Therefore, I tip my hat. “Kudos!” I think then. With a little empathy, you don’t need to have been overweight to imagine what it’s like for that person to walk into the gym. Unknown environment, but especially all people there with the same goal and apparently all more successful in achieving it given their bodies. Compared to others, you feel inferior.
Moreover: You can’t pretend that your weight doesn’t bother you when you walk into a gym apparently intending to do something about it. This is important because the perception of self-control forms a large part of your image. People who say money doesn’t bring happiness say this to delude themselves into thinking they are consciously broke and thereby better off. It’s always men with a small one who say size doesn’t matter. Similarly, many people with overweight convince themselves it’s a choice. A “state of denial” you might call it, or escape behavior. However, when you enter a gym with a lot of overweight, you’ve apparently convinced yourself that your weight was not a choice. Moreover, this is now clear to every visitor of the gym. Confronting, therefore.
That’s why I find it fantastic when someone dares to take the step and goes for it. Doesn’t care about the opinions of others and works on his/her dreams. The reality is probably, however, that for every person with severe overweight who steps into the gym, there are 20 or more who do not dare/can’t get over this threshold.
“Judgement Free Zone”
And this is where Planet Fitness cleverly capitalizes by offering a so-called “Judgement Free Zone”. The funny thing, however, is that none of the “gym” rules are aimed at people who would judge. Instead, it’s entirely focused on things that might make people judge themselves less. Planet Fitness does everything to eliminate sources of intimidation in the gym, “gymtimidation” as they call it. In practice, this means that everything is banned that could lead to people who are not completely comfortable with themselves being confronted with a higher standard. By a higher standard, I mean, among other things:
- People who go to the gym to achieve results and work hard for it
- People who have achieved this result and show it
Take me for example…Ok, that sounds rather wrong in the wrong context, but I mean in the example where I see someone with severe overweight entering the gym. If I do “judge” and thus make a judgment about that person then it is a positive judgment. As I said: “Kudos! Nothing but respect for the fact that you are here.”
But what I actually think or say, apparently doesn’t matter. The fact that I am more muscular/leaner and don’t always hide it under multiple layers of clothing would cause him/her to feel intimidated. The fact that I want to get the most out of my training and have a good reason to groan (see also: The power of groaning) during the last efforts apparently makes another feel judged/intimidated.
What Planet Fitness actually says is that as long as everyone in my street drives a Lada, I am not allowed to drive a Ferrari. Even though I won it in a lottery and it doesn’t change the way I think about my neighbors.
“Not his Gym”
To make it clear that I especially need to bugger off with my macho tank top and breasts ridiculously filled with muscle fibers instead of fat, Planet Fitness has set up a whole series of commercials to make clear who the gym is not for. Commercials that make me laugh and cry at the same time. Before I show these, I want to first show some videos and other things that indicate how this actually works in practice.
For example, the girl in the video below who is shown the door because she would be dressed too scantily. The 17-year-old Allison Roth wore a (still very modest) tank top instead of a T-shirt once. She was approached by an employee that another customer had complained about this. She was allowed to change or leave. Allison chose the latter. There would be few people left in the gym where I train (which I deliberately don’t want to advertise for free) with this as a criterion.
When asked, the headquarters of Planet Fitness refers to the individual management of the various franchises. In other words: It was not due to the policy of the chain, but the execution thereof by the respective operator. They call it an incident. “An incident” that apparently happens more often because recently Tifanny Austin experienced the same because she looked “too tight” in her tank top.
Lunk Alert
Then we have the “Lunk alert”. A “lunk” in Planet Fitness terms is a person who in any way could make another feel intimidated. The ladies mentioned above would therefore be “lunks” according to others. For this, Planet Fitness invented the “Lunk Alert”. A big red alarm button with an even bigger red light that goes off when pressed, accompanied by a loud alarm. In the video below, a man is training and apparently groans a bit during the last efforts to squeeze out the last bits. Exactly what you want to achieve the best result and exactly what Planet Fitness doesn’t want. Who cares about the result? You should mostly feel comfortable (if you missed the sarcasm, Planet Fitness is the place for you). So the man groans and someone thinks: “Oh no, he’s groaning, I feel intimidated and get traumatic associations with my time as a cleaner in the porn sector!” Subsequently, this intimidated and traumatized person presses the red button. The video starts with the alarm still sounding in the background and the Planet Fitness employee asking the “groaner” to be a bit quieter. The video ends when the man has eloquently made clear what he thinks of this request. Only pity that the video is called “roid rage at Planet Fitness” as if the man freaks out due to steroid use.
The commercials
Planet Fitness of course works hardest on the image that on the one hand has contributed to the fact that it is the fastest-growing gym chain in the U.S. and at the same time the most vilified. They are commercials that are annoyingly enough quite funny, however questionable the message may be. A few examples, judge for yourself:
Why those bodybuilders in these commercials lend themselves to put bodybuilders in such a bad light? Well, they probably hope to eventually become movie stars and governor of California. And by that, I of course only mean the men in these commercials. I will of course be the last to lump all bodybuilders together. I came across one video of one of the bodybuilders in the commercial. Honestly: This bodybuilder didn’t seem very intelligent to me, but I’ll leave it in the middle which “actor” from the above videos I mean.
Essentially, it’s just a form of discrimination. What would happen if we turned the story around and banned people with overweight from the gym? “Sorry, as a man you may have a maximum body fat percentage of 10% to train here”. Suppose those “hot” ladies from the first commercial walk into a gym followed by the “less hot” and insecure woman from the same commercial. Now suppose those “hot ladies” are cheerfully let in, but the “less hot” woman is told: “Sorry, you are not attractive enough for this gym”. Maybe an interesting experiment to find out how ethnic minorities feel when they are denied access to a nightclub, but the Netherlands would be too small for the outrage that would follow.
“Planet Fatness, Planet Fagness, Planet Bitchness”
The criticism of Planet Fitness is not mild. From wordplay like “Planet Fatness” to articles calling for Planet Fitness to be burned to the ground (2).
Are you a member of the “Planet Fitness” gym chain? If so, we regret to inform you that your gym must be doused in gasoline and set alight immediately.
Hamilton Nolan, Gawker.com
I wouldn’t go that far, but I understand such reactions. Much funnier I find the criticism in the form of parodies on the commercials of Planet Fitness.
Ronnie Coleman
Because I found it so cleverly thought, I’m placing this separately. What would happen if Ronnie Coleman would train at Planet Fitness (in a moment of insanity)
Perfect for the Netherlands
Actually, Planet Fitness is perfect for the sober Dutch attitude. Under the motto of “Just act normal…” we should especially not stand out, not even in a positive sense. Here you will almost never see someone in the gym taking off their shirt in front of the mirror and posing. If you do that in the Netherlands, you will never get rid of the image of a narcissistic show-off. In the U.S., it’s the most normal thing in the world.
I have once told the story that I was hesitant to take off my T-shirt on a beach for fear people would think me a show-off. Then next to me sits a German who saw it as his duty to confirm the stereotype. Unashamedly with a huge beer belly reaching halfway to his knees. And then I’m the one who should feel embarrassed? Such thoughts I attribute to my own reserved character, but if it were up to Planet Fitness, this is how it should be. I should put on a sweater so that the fat German can turn himself into a lobster in bare torso, feeding Somalia for a month.
“If you look tight, then especially hide it because imagine how you make another feel.”
Suddenly, the world is turned upside down. Suddenly you are punished for being disciplined with nutrition and training for years. Suddenly it’s rewarded to have zero discipline. Suddenly it’s normal to eat pizza while you’re training.
Free pizza day at Planet Fitness
As I said at the beginning, I can somewhat understand the concept. Indeed, it’s difficult to enter a gym when you think everyone there has a better figure. Planet Fitness specifically targets these people. The problem is that attracting and keeping these people is more important than the results they achieve.
This is evident, among other things, from “Free pizza night”. Once a month, people can get free pizza slices at Planet Fitness. That these pizzas fly out the door is evident from the figures. More than three million pizza pieces are consumed per year by Planet Fitness members (1). And for people who don’t feel like pizza in the morning, there are bagels.
This gives a whole new meaning to the concept of “McDonaldisation of gyms” as the rise of large fitness chains is sometimes called (3).
Eating while you are training
I wasn’t joking when I said: “Eating pizza while you are training”. The direct cause of this article is actually a video I recently came across on Facebook in which a man with quite some overweight is doing the back-extension exercise for the lower back. Nothing wrong with that if it weren’t for the fact that he is stuffing himself with (free?) pizza during the exercise! It is characteristic of the attitude with which some members enter Planet Fitness, but especially the culture in the “gym” where apparently no signal is given that this is not exactly optimal.
Not squatting, not deadlifting, actually not doing anything heavy
The advantage of the popularity of Crossfit is that it has led many people who previously wouldn’t do typical weightlifting exercises (especially women) to now enthusiastically perform hardcore exercises. Planet Fitness does the opposite. All hardcore exercises are banned because imagine you do an exercise that someone else finds intimidating. So no squatting and no deadlifts. Preferably no bench press if you do this with serious weights. In fact, in some locations, you have to make quite an effort to find strength equipment in the enormous space that is crammed with cardio equipment. Barbells (bars) and dumbbells are often not there, especially not in the heavier weights.
Oh, about the crossfitters: Skipping rope is also forbidden. Then people get traumatic experiences about their time in the schoolyard when they weren’t allowed to play. That’s what I think, at least, because how-the-f#ck can skipping rope be intimidating? According to Planet Fitness, this has to do with their insurance. Yes, skipping rope is indeed life-threatening! I think more accidents happen with people on a treadmill (to the great amusement of every YouTuber) than people who are skipping rope.
Regarding deadlifting, they state it’s not desirable because it “is a powerlifting exercise and Planet Fitness targets the ‘first time gym user'”
“The gym that isn’t a gym”
In the movie “8 mile” by Eminem, he is dissed in freestyle rap battles because of his poor background. He uses this as a weapon in the final of the film by emphasizing this fact himself. The management of Planet Fitness must have thought then: “Smart, let’s do that too”.
We’re not a gym, we’re Planet Fitness
Official slogan Planet Fitness
And with that, they hit the nail on the head. You cannot decently call this a gym. What they also don’t mention is that they might not prevent the so-called “disadvantages” of a gym, but also the results that a “real” gym offers. This obviously doesn’t apply to everyone. There are plenty of people who train at Planet Fitness as a kind of “necessary evil” because they are just dirt cheap ($10 a month). These people, who already have experience with training, often don’t need external motivation to achieve their goals.
However, the people Planet Fitness targets, according to their own statements “the first time gym users”, often do need this external motivation. “Sporty people” usually learned to push themselves physically during their youth. People who have never been active and decide in their thirties that they need to do something about their overweight, often have a lot of trouble bringing up the necessary discipline. A trainer who pushes you and people around you who you see training hard and sweating, many need that to teach themselves the right mental attitude.
How high should the bar be?
Even in the exaggerated way the lady in the previous video is encouraged, I’d rather be trained like that than go to “the little-girl-gym across the street” (Planet Fitness). You do want results, you do want to be pushed, right?
Yes and no. Many do want results, but don’t want to be pushed. The downside of “normal gyms” (which naturally have big differences nowadays) is that some people don’t feel comfortable there. This can result in them choosing not to train at all.
The other extreme is Planet Fitness where you do feel comfortable, but get zero encouragement, no examples around you for motivation, but do get free pizza and bagels while trying to lose weight.
For this, you “must” assess what you yourself need and be honest about it. You can fool yourself with the illusion that you are doing well because you’ve entered a gym, but if you want to achieve something, you’re better off forcing yourself to really change and go for it.
References
- http://finance.yahoo.com/news/free-pizza-helped-planet-fitness-145134780.html
- http://gawker.com/burn-planet-fitness-to-the-ground-1548050224
- http://article.wn.com/view/2014/04/23/McDonaldisation_of_gym_culture_spreading_fast_Study/
