6 Reasons Why Planet Fitness is Great

With all of the recent debates and memes bashing Planet Fitness coming up ever since they removed squat racks from their facilities, I thought this would be the perfect time for me to write this article.

What is Planet Fitness?

Planet Fitness’ Mission Statement:

We at Planet Fitness are here to provide a unique environment in which anyone – and we mean anyone – can be comfortable. A diverse, Judgement Free Zone® where a lasting, active lifestyle can be built. Our product is a tool, a means to an end; not a brand name or a mold-maker, but a tool that can be used by anyone. In the end, it’s all about you. As we evolve and educate ourselves, we will seek to perfect this safe, energetic environment, where everyone feels accepted and respected. We are not here to kiss your butt, only to kick it if that’s what you need. We need you, because face it, our planet wouldn’t be the same without you. You belong!

Judgement Free Zone

For those of you who may not know what exactly Planet Fitness is, it’s a fitness facility that offers tools for an active lifestyle, lots of cardio equipment, machines, and some free weights. They claim to be the most innovative health club brand in the Unites States and offer low prices and an environment free of intimidation.

Why so Great?

Check out my 6 reasons why Planet Fitness is great below.

1.) No Contract

Having to sign a contract for everything is getting to be the norm. Nothing like spending time thinking about if you really need whatever it is and then feeling trapped after you sign the contract.

Planet Fitness offers memberships without a contract so you can come and go as you please. This helps persuade new gym goers to come and get active and try to reach their goals of losing weight or toning up. It really makes it easy to come in and try, knowing that you won’t have to pay a year or more in membership fees if you stop going.

2.) Price

Planet Fitness Advertisement

“I can’t afford to go to the gym.” I’ve heard this said more times than I would like to admit and I think Planet Fitness really hit this nail on the head. For $10 a month you get access to the training facilities and a free t-shirt.

To break it down for those who still “can’t afford to go to the gym” this means if you make coffee one day instead of going to Starbucks out of the whole month, you can afford your membership fees.

They also have an upgraded membership fee of $20 a month which includes many perks including unlimited tanning, massage chair access, and unlimited access to other Planet Fitness gyms. Even if you went with the more expensive package, $240 a year is pretty cheap when you are talking about your own health.

3.) Creates an Atmosphere for People to Get Active

When I first started going to the gym, I was overwhelmed of all of the weights and the people. Creating a facility that people feel that they can go to and not be overwhelmed is great. Whatever gets people off the couch and in motion is a great thing for me.

4.) They Know Their Market

With rules such as no deadlifts, not tank tops, no grunting, no dropping weights, and the recent removal of squat racks from their facilities, Planet Fitness is very forward about showing who their market is.

Planet Fitness Lunk Alarm

Finding a niche in a market is hard to do. For those who might now know what a niche is, it’s targeting a very specific group of people. A comparison of another gym to Planet Fitness would be comparing Walmart (which sells everything) to a scrap booking shop (which sells only scrap booking stuff).

What I’m trying to say here is Planet Fitness is openly showing they don’t want the powerlifters and bodybuilders as customers. They would like to have the average gym goer who hits a few machines, does some cardio, and goes about their day. This is very apparent and I applaud them for thriving in such a saturated market as the fitness industry.

5.) Marketing Geniuses

Whoever is in charge of marketing for them should get a raise. I don’t appreciate being categorized in a “dumb meathead, can’t tie their shoes” category, but when they produce commercials depicting such stuff (see below), it really pisses people off.

[youtube id=”PdccUsn8N4Y” width=”600″ height=”350″]

When people get pissed off about something, they share with other people. This is exactly what they want. “There is no bad publicity.”

When Planet Fitness removed the squat racks from their facilities, the internet was flooded with people talking about it and spreading the word about them. So next time they put out a commercial or they do something that a lot of people don’t agree with, watch the social world blow up. Word of mouth marketing at its best.

[youtube id=”vQfmpXsLV_4″ width=”600″ height=”350″]

No one is safe from their commercials.

6.) Awesome Food

Planet Fitness Pizza Bagel

Every first Monday of the month is pizza night, and every second Tuesday of the month is bagel morning. Some might ask why they would offer pizza and bagels to people trying to lose weight, but I’ll tell you why I feel they do this.

Two days out of the month you can indulge in pizza and bagels and reward yourself for going to the gym. This means that if you can make a commitment to come to the gym regularly, you can treat yourself to this delicious food. I don’t know about you but I would come into the gym and run a mile to have a piece of pizza.

If you change your dieting habits and actually try to eat better, having two cheat meals a month is not going to ruin you. Moderation and hard work is the key to achieving weight loss and getting in shape.

Conclusion

In short, Planet Fitness has cheap, non-contract hassling laid back environment that helps people get active and off of the couch. They know exactly who they are marketing to and make it well-known who they are not marketing to. The people they openly say they don’t want in the gym talk badly about them and spread the word for them which makes them marketing geniuses. Mix this in with some free awesome food and you have yourself a great business.

Planet Fitness Facility

For the most part the facilities are well-kept and equipment seems to be the newest and up to date. Overall, if you’re looking for a gym to go hit some machines, do some cardio, and get active then Planet Fitness is for you. If you go to the gym to train for bodybuilding, powerlifting, or any strength sport, I would recommend a different gym.

Planet Fitness

Questions and comments below.

6 thoughts on “6 Reasons Why Planet Fitness is Great”

  1. LOL Cutty, you crack me up. For a minute I thought you lost your marbles. I will be sharing this with my Dad who is an avid PF member. Side note: he enjoys their tootsie rolls.

    1. Planet Fitness isn’t for me or most people that visit this website, but they have their place in the industry I suppose.

      Cutty

  2. The PF I go to actually has loads more strength training equipment than any other gym I’ve been to. If it weren’t for their marketing, I don’t think anyone would ever know or even care that they don’t have certain pieces of equipment or don’t allow certain moves.

    1. That’s one thing I tip my hat off to them about. They are being “offensive” and make sure to get the “wow factor” out of their marketing. That’s cool that your PF has more strength equipment than the other gyms. They are pretty loaded with stuff.

      Cutty

  3. No…it’s not for show-offs, wearing the latest workout fashion. A real workout place for real people of all sizes, shapes and ages. The facility I go to is constantly being clean with friendly employees.
    Dianne from Minnesota

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