No.

Well maybe, depends on what you need.

First, the good:

• Planet Fitness is amazingly cheap
• It’s open 24/7
• It has some dumbbells, machines, and a solid cable system
• There is free tanning, massage beds of some kind, and designated rooms for stretching and abs

Sounds pretty good actually, but it only gets worse from there.

On to the not so bad:

Lunk alarms?

So you can’t drop weights or make lots of noises… Well without barbells, dropping the weights on something like deadlifts isn’t a problem. I rarely make a lot of noise with weights anyway so this would rarely bother me. I don’t grunt or yell much either but I suppose if you do maybe that’s a factor.

The bad:

There is candy at the front desk.

The set up makes no sense at the one in my neighborhood. There’s cardio equipment that separates the “free weights” and the weight machines. For a no judgement zone the cardio equipment is a foot from the free weights making it seem like anyone on cardio is staring at you.

The gym is stretched when it comes to the free weights. There are dumbbells and then smith machines and then (8 smith machines later) there are some cable machines – all in a narrow strip making it obnoxious if you want to use dumbbells and cables in some sort of superset.

The dumbbells aren’t heavy enough. This may not be true for you today or even this year. At one point though you may be hitting 15 reps of some exercise with the 60s which means you probably should have gone up in weight a while ago. There’s almost a feeling that Planet Fitness doesn’t want you to be a “gym rat.” I can think of worse things to be.

There are no barbells, which forces members into machine based exercises and to miss out on stability and full functionality of their bodies. You can’t learn to back squat on a smith machine. You can learn to smith machine back squat on a smith machine. You should learn to back squat first with body weight squats, then with some body bars if the barbell seems too heavy, and finally you use the barbell.

The mentality of this gym is awful. There are plenty of “no judgement” gyms. Planet Fitness just took it to the extreme. They however have done it wrong. If you are a “gym rat” you’re not welcome. Compare that to a place like the YMCA, which welcomes everyone.

Many gyms have the same rules, you can’t slam weights or yell or grunt. At every gym you’ll have people snickering about someone doing something really wrong (usually it’s snickering about the ego lifters or kids). I’ve been in gyms many hours and days and while I’m sure it happens I’ve never heard anyone judge people for trying to change their life for the better based on how they look.

If you don’t know proper form, ask. If you can’t control the weight, pick a different one. If you don’t know what to do, don’t guess, research.

Lastly:

I generally don’t notice what anyone is doing at the gym (unless you’re ego lifting, and then everyone notices). If you aren’t sure how to use a machine ask the staff, or read the instructions. My point is not to be afraid of your average gym, or gym goers, of course everyone won’t be nice but just because Planet Fitness advocates a judgement free zone doesn’t meant members won’t still be assholes.

In the end, you have to choose what’s right for you. Planet Fitness does not work for me, but if it’s what gets you comfortable then by all means go!

You going back to the gym and not being upset when you have to go is key.