Monday, May 9, 2011

Planet Fitness vs the lunkheads

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I have a piece out today over at Slate called Gym Rat Control Why is the Planet Fitness chain of health clubs trying to alienate people who love to work out? which is generating even more conversation than the last one I did for them, and only half as many people seem to think I'm asshole. Not sure if that's good or bad? Probably would have been a bit higher if I'd gone with my original idea of just writing about how fat and lazy everyone is, which my editor talked me out of for some reason. 

I don't really enjoy the Planet Fitness gyms I've been to, as they don't have the types of weights available that I'm used to. That's fine, they aren't designed for me. I'm all in favor of people doing whatever type of exercise they want, incidentally. What's that thing they used to say about Harry Potter and Oprah's Book Club? May not always be great literature, but, hey, at least they're getting people reading.

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6 comments:

said...

I could go on and on with my complaints of that place. They keep handing out memberships, even after the place is 300 people over capacity and there's a line of people waiting for the few working treadmills.

said...

Well, it seems like your location, much like most gyms, counted on people not showing up. Woops.

My gym takes the opposite approach to hoping people won't show up: everything is broken.

Anonymous said...

PF's are pretty strange.I joined a PF b/c it was cheap as hell and I was going to be living at home with my parents for a year. Every work out there felt like bullshit, being surrounded by terrible form, lifting divas, and dudes who must have come only to check out chicks. My PF wasn't so much a gym as it was a really smelly cafe.

said...

I heart Slate, and I read your article out of all the news feeds I got and didn't realize it was YOU again until I got back to your blog.
Again, excellent writing, I hope you get to continue working with Slate.

Anonymous said...

PF is run by unethical dirtbags.

said...

Most gyms are.


@Dani, thanks! Appreciated.


500 comments and 1,108 likes! I finally made the 500/1000 club ;)

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